Best Practices: Sharing Your VSP Experience

Sharing your experience as a Virtual Service Pilot Participant is an exciting way of achieving Peace Corps' third goal. This toolkit will help you get started in sharing your Virtual Service story.

The Peace Corps Virtual Service Pilot (VSP) is an opportunity for individuals to engage virtually in support of the Peace Corps mission. You, as a Virtual Service Pilot Participant (VSPP), have been strengthening the capacity of host country partners in alignment with the three Peace Corps’ goals. You are a member of a small but growing community of VSPPs. This page is intended to support you as you share your story in an ethical, meaningful, and engaging way.

Goals

To generate awareness of the Peace Corps' Virtual Service Pilot via social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.
To inspire individuals to submit expressions of interest to participate in a VSP engagement.

Important to remember

As a Virtual Service Pilot Participant, you are a private citizen donating your time to the agency. We appreciate the gift of your time and understand the sacrifices you've made to be part of VSP. When posting online, please represent yourself as a Participant or VSPP, not as a Volunteer. Please be respectful of the people you engage with during your project, and please get permission from all parties involved before posting or tagging photos on social media.

Social media

Images

Zoom screenshots are not engaging, and we discourage using them. Consider asking a friend or a family member to take a photo of you collaborating with your counterpart. If you are a Returned Volunteer, consider posting a photo from your previous in-person service, alongside one from your virtual experience. This side-by-side comparison of the two different forms of engaging is compelling. Additionally, if you have photos from your host country counterpart’s perspective (of the project in action) feel free to share, with their permission. Do not post images of adults or children without a signed media authorization form from every individual. A good way to do this is to share any posts your organization makes on their own social media accounts.

Helpful links to consider adding:

Suggested Hashtags

#VirtualService

#PeaceCorps

Virtual Service Pilot (VSP) language guide

Please follow this language guide when communicating about the VSP:

Words to avoid

Volunteer
Work
Deliverables
Must/should
Assignment
Applicant
Application
Legal clearance
Extensions/extendees

Recommended language

Virtual Service Pilot Participant or VSPP
Task/engagement/activity/collaboration
Tasks
May/contribute
Engagement/service
Prospective Participant
Expression of interest
Legal review/vetting/due diligence
Donating for a second time/third time

Answering questions

Answer any question you feel comfortable with. If there is a question you don't know the answer to, you can always share the Virtual Service email address, [email protected]. We are happy answer any questions that come up.

Take the next step.