ALIVE (Artificial Intelligence for Volunteer Empowerment) helps volunteer leaders use AI confidently and responsibly to ease administrative workloads, simplify reporting and improve communication.

Through practical, hands-on learning tailored to everyday volunteer management, the project builds digital skills and confidence, with clear ethical guidance to help organisations make the most of AI.

 

Project Overview

ALIVE (Artificial Intelligence for Volunteer Empowerment) helps volunteer leaders build the skills and confidence to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly in their everyday work.

Volunteer leaders face growing demands, from administration and reporting to keeping volunteers informed and engaged. With limited time, funding, and digital support, exploring new technology can feel like another task on an already long list.

ALIVE makes AI more accessible through practical, hands-on learning based on real volunteer management needs. The project explores where AI can help, how to assess its output and when human judgement is essential.

Practical Skills: Making Everyday Tasks Easier

ALIVE focuses on tasks that volunteer leaders already do, helping them explore how AI could support their work. These include:

  • Administration: Helping draft documents, organise information and reduce repetitive work.
  • Communication: Supporting clear, engaging messages for volunteers and wider audiences.
  • Reporting: Helping structure reports and turn information into useful summaries.

Participants learn by trying out practical tasks, reviewing the results and adapting them to their organisation’s needs.

Responsible AI: Building Trust and Confidence

Using AI effectively means understanding its limitations as well as its possibilities. ALIVE helps volunteer leaders develop the confidence to make informed decisions about its use, with a focus on:

  • Protecting information: Recognising what should and should not be shared with AI tools.
  • Checking results: Reviewing AI-generated content for accuracy, bias and suitability.
  • Keeping people at the centre: Using AI to support human judgement and relationships.

Ethical guidance is built into the learning, helping participants apply these principles in everyday situations.

Accessible Learning: Helping More Organisations Benefit

AI can seem complex, particularly for organisations with limited digital experience or resources. ALIVE uses clear language, practical examples and opportunities to learn through experience.

The aim is to help volunteer leaders build their skills at a manageable pace and identify useful applications for their own organisation.

What the ALIVE Project Aims to Achieve

ALIVE aims to:

  • Build volunteer leaders’ digital skills and confidence.
  • Develop practical learning activities tailored to volunteer management.
  • Provide ethical guidance for responsible AI use.
  • Strengthen organisations’ capacity to manage everyday workloads.

By helping volunteer leaders use AI thoughtfully and effectively, ALIVE aims to free up more time for supporting volunteers and the communities they serve.

ALIVE Training Needs Analysis Survey

The ALIVE project is developing practical guidance and learning resources to help volunteer leaders and coordinators use Artificial Intelligence confidently, responsibly and effectively.
This survey asks about the tasks you carry out, the areas that create the greatest workload and your current experience of AI. You do not need to have used AI before.
Your answers will help Volunteer Ireland and Volunteer Centre Zagreb decide what practical guidance, resources and learning activities should be developed through the ALIVE project.
The survey should take approximately 10–12 minutes. Responses will be analysed collectively and individual respondents will not be identified.

Take survey

Project Partners:

We're working with Volonterski centar Zagreb (Croatia) on this project.