Virtual organisation

The Net4kids organisation does not have a central office, but thanks to the internet, is able to work as a virtual organisation. Volunteers are supported by intranet facilities, and task-specific teams meet online, by phone or in person in order to ensure everything runs smoothly. Additionally, everyone is kept appraised of overall developments by team e-mails from the chairman. The project newsletters, introduced in 2006, provide an added impetus. They report on the projects, the grim conditions and the impressive results achieved. The project newsletters provide a key emotional component to the contact moments present within the virtual organisation to date. In 2006, we were again successful in inviting a project partner to attend one of the team meetings. Vi@frica told us about their programme, their drive and the issues they have to deal with.

Four times per year, the entire Net4kids team meets in person. During these meetings, business plans and work overviews are discussed, but a great deal of time and attention is given to keeping in touch with the status and progress of the child aid projects. These team meetings are relatively informal, and also serve to keep volunteers involved despite the fact they don’t often meet each other in person.