Looking for a place to volunteer or for a career in non-profit work? Well,  I have an idea that may be the catalyst you need.

During my senior year in college, I had to find a non-profit organization to partner with for my Senior Public Relations Capstone Project. I needed to find a non-profit organization located  in the Atlanta area that possessed all the qualities that interested me in regards to a future career opportunity. After unsuccessfully utilizing various search engines, my professor and a classmate told me about Idealist.org.

With a database of thousands of organizations,  Idealist.org is a straightforward search engine that connects you with the desired organization of your choice. I was able to search the site and receive information on all the organizations that focused strictly on my interest.

Starting as the brainchild of Action without Borders, a non-profit organization founded in 1995, it originally was named  Contact Center Network. They wanted to create a physical space where people could network and share their ideas on things that could be done in the community.

During this time, the World Wide Web  started becoming increasingly popular, so they decided to utilize this resource. After a summer of researching, Contact.org was launched.  A few months later, it was relaunched as Idealist.org.

It was designed to be an “Idea List” for people who wanted ideas on how to become more involved in their communities. It allows organizations to post their programs, job listings, volunteer opportunities and contact information, which in turn allows them to reach a broader audience–while letting the general public access the necessary information to become more involved.

A decade and some years later, idealist.org serves as a portal for those who want to take action in their communities or even abroad.

Idealist.org is the ideal resource. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.