[Nfb-web] [NFB-web] Looking for Affiliate Website Assistance

[Gary Wunder]

Since I seem to have stirred a boiling kettle of fish, let me clarify just a few things. When we search for volunteers in the NFB, we are not making them do anything. We don't want someone to volunteer their skills and cost them their livelihood. When I worked as a computer programmer, I gladly gave programming time to the NFB for free. I did it because I wanted the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri to be able to produce mailing labels. I was already being paid by the University of Missouri for what programming talent I possessed, so this was my way of giving to blind people. People didn't presume that I would do it or force it upon me; it was my gift to an organization I care a great deal about.

I think it is not fair to say that what separates the duties of a webmaster from other positions in the National Federation of the Blind is that they don't really require much talent. Many of our volunteer webmasters are highly skilled, and some of them are paid to create and manage websites, networks, and other technology infrastructure. The accountant who volunteers his time to be a treasurer is highly skilled. The lawyers who do some pro bono work for us are similarly talented and well-trained. Certainly we hire accountants and lawyers and writers and people to help us market the NFB, but there would be precious little to market were it not for the volunteers who sustain us.
Whether we hire or are given the services of a volunteer will in some part depend on the people willing to volunteer and the scope of the work to be done. I appreciate all of you who serve as webmasters, and I also appreciate the blind men and women who are actively making their living by providing quality training and products. It takes all of us to make the NFB what it is and even more of us to make it what it should be.

Warmly,

Gary