Rocky Start to Prime Time's Volunteer Initiative

I Participate, prime-time TV's weeklong campaign to encourage volunteerism, got off to a rocky start Monday. While the shows' volunteer-themed plotlines have been well-received, the practical side of the campaign—to match viewers with volunteer opportunities at iparticipate.org—has been disappointing. VolunteerMatch, the organization that receives TV viewers and potential volunteers through I Participate’s Web site, reports that only 2.57 percent of Monday’s traffic came from iParticipate.org (943 of 36,644 visitors). The organization says that fewer than 30 of those 943 people will actually become volunteers. The VolunteerMatch site also experienced technical issues that caused missing listings, incorrect dates, and expired opportunities. These online bugs deterred the progression from awareness to action that the programming hoped to inspire, and VolunteerMatch has been working with iParticipate to try to resolve the glitches. More than 90 prime-time, daytime, news and talk shows, from Desperate Housewives to The View to 30 Rock, are participating in the special programming, which airs from Monday through October 25 and was encouraged by John McCain and Barack Obama last November.