Digital Basics for Volunteers

The tools a volunteer actually needs: documenting, coordinating, and protecting other people’s data. This is not a generic computer course.

⏱ 60 min📚 3 modules🎓 Pass mark: 70%

What you will learn

Document an activity in a way that still makes sense a year later

Organise files with names and structure others can follow

Use a simple spreadsheet for attendance and counts

Protect beneficiary data on your phone and computer

Recognise scam attempts and malicious links

Follow the rules for using social media as a volunteer

Module 1

Documentation that is useful later

Documentation is not administrative routine — it is what makes an organisation’s work provable to anyone who asks.

A simple test for any record: if someone who was not there reads it a year from now, will they understand what happened? If not, the record is incomplete however tidy it looks.

Date, place and activity type — always at the top
Number of participants and number of beneficiaries — two different figures, never conflated
What was actually delivered, not what was planned
What went wrong and why — the most useful section and the most often skipped
Names of those responsible for the activity
Photos: handed to the organisation, noting whether publication consent exists

⚠️ Participants ≠ beneficiaries

If 15 volunteers distribute parcels to 80 families, participants are 15 and beneficiaries are 80. Conflating the two corrupts the organisation’s reporting, and it is one of the most common field-documentation errors.

Check your understanding

Which file name is best for an activity report?

Module 2 · Important

Protecting people’s data

Your phone carries names, images and family circumstances. That is a trust, not content.

A screen lock on your phone and computer — no exceptions
Beneficiary lists are not kept on your personal phone after the task ends
Never send beneficiary data through personal chat apps
Never screenshot a screen containing names or numbers to share it
Delete what you no longer need — keeping it “just in case” is risk without benefit
If your phone is lost with data on it, tell the organisation immediately

🛑 Why this genuinely matters

A list of families receiving aid is not just a file. Leaking it can expose those families to stigma in their community, to exploitation, or in some contexts to real danger. Do No Harm covers their data as much as their persons.

Field scenario

What is the right action?

A teammate sends you a WhatsApp screenshot showing a list of beneficiary names and phone numbers, asking you to check it quickly.

Module 3

Digital safety and social media

What you post as a volunteer is read as the organisation’s position, even from your personal account.

Suspicious links

Do not open a link from a source you do not know, even from a number that looks familiar.

Impersonation

If someone claiming to be from the organisation asks for money or data, verify through the official channel before responding.

Passwords

Never share an organisation password over chat, and never reuse one password everywhere.

Posting personally

You may share your experience, but never beneficiary data, images of children, or political positions in the organisation’s name.

Field scenario

What is the right action?

A post criticising a distribution your organisation ran is spreading, you feel it is unfair, and you want to reply from your personal account.

Standards this content is built on

• Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (2024 edition) — data and accountability
• IFRC Volunteering Policy (August 2022) — volunteer conduct and confidentiality
• Do No Harm principle in humanitarian action