ProZ Pro Bono news, August 2025

Dear volunteers,

First of all, a heartfelt thank you to each of you for your support and commitment during this transition period. Over the past two months, the new ProZ Pro Bono team has been learning the ropes and working hard to keep translation projects running as smoothly as possible. It hasn’t been easy, but every day we discover more about the many moving parts that make ProZ Pro Bono what it is — and we’re deeply grateful for your patience and encouragement. Please know that we’re putting our hearts into serving both our volunteers and partner organisations, so that together you can continue to meet your personal and professional goals through meaningful projects.

In this newsletter, we’d like to share some updates on:

• LOOP (Language Operations Outsourcing Portal)

• The onboarding process (volunteers and partners)

• The need to bring in new partner organisations

• Reigniting the work of Ambassadors, Ninjas and Crews

LOOP

Thank you to all the volunteers who reached out about the challenges you’ve faced when trying to access LOOP. Your feedback has been invaluable, and we’ve already passed it on to Jared, our Interim President, who is looking into solutions.

The main issues we’ve heard include:

• Links in notification emails not working

• Inability to access LOOP

• Missing “Apply” buttons

• Not receiving notifications

While improvements are underway, please don’t hesitate to email us directly if you’d like to apply for a project and are experiencing difficulties. We’ll be more than happy to help from our side.

Onboarding process

The onboarding of new volunteers has been going wonderfully! Every day we welcome new colleagues — from seasoned translators and interpreters eager to share their skills with humanitarian and environmental organisations, to newcomers who bring energy, enthusiasm, and a strong desire to learn from real-world projects and experienced peers. Thanks to you, our community is growing into an incredible network of talents and abilities.

At the moment, we’re also looking to increase our translator pools in a few specific languages, as several projects have been coming in: Pashto, Farsi, Dari, Tamil, Somali, Swahili, Yoruba, Amharic, Zulu, Hausa, Igbo, Oromo, and Shona. If you know colleagues or friends who work with these languages, please feel free to invite them to join our community!

At the same time, one of our main priorities now is onboarding new partner organisations. During this transition period, we lost touch with some of the NGOs that previously collaborated with us, and we’re working hard to reconnect. Expanding our network of partners will open new opportunities for our volunteers to put their skills to work in meaningful ways.

Ambassadors, Ninjas, and Crews

After a well-deserved summer break, we’re excited to restart the wonderful projects led by our Ambassadors, Ninjas and Crew members. We are so grateful for the positive response from those who have shared their advice, experiences, and suggestions in recent weeks. ProZ Pro Bono is like a big machine — and every single part is essential to keeping it running. Thank you for your continued dedication!

We’d also love to invite more volunteers to become Ambassadors. The role involves researching NGOs, charities, and non-profits in your country or region and helping us reach out to them about our language services. If you’d like to know more, we’d be delighted to tell you all the details.

Looking ahead

This newsletter is just the beginning of renewed communication with our community. We’ll continue addressing different issues as they arise, and we’re committed to keeping you informed and engaged.

Some of our volunteers have suggested bringing back the Open House meetings, and we’re giving it a lot of thought. We want to make sure the format, duration, and content truly add value to your experience in the ProZ Pro Bono community. These informal gatherings are also a great chance to meet each other, share ideas, exchange tips, and connect with people who share your interests. More news coming soon!

Stay connected on Discord

For quick questions, announcements, or simply to connect with fellow volunteers, we also encourage you to join our Discord server if you haven’t already.

Thank you once again for being part of this incredible community. Together, we can make ProZ Pro Bono thrive and continue to support organisations making a difference in the world.

Warm regards,