FFC's legacy training catalog defined three volunteer tracks — Researchers, Business Analysts, and Web Developers — built around a “win-win-win” model: volunteers gain portfolio-grade skills, partner charities receive needed work at no cost, and FFC builds sector capacity.
The charity-facing version of this page lives at freeforcharity.org/free-training-programs/ and is targeted at prospective volunteers. This page is the operations-team view: what the legacy tracks were, what their modern equivalents are, and where to send incoming volunteers today.
How to use this page
If a new volunteer asks “which track should I follow,” route them to the modern equivalent in the table below. The legacy track descriptions remain useful for framing the salary outcomes and the win-win-win pitch — those numbers come from US Bureau of Labor Statistics data and still hold up.
The three legacy tracks
Researchers
Level: Entry to mid-level
What the track did: Move beyond casual web searches to professional data-collection and research methodology. Output feeds the FFC service / technology / consultant directories on freeforcharity.org.
Reference salary range: $24,000 – $52,000 (average $31,000)
Intake notes: Lowest barrier to entry of the three legacy tracks. Today this work is covered by the Global Admin path and a research-flavoured contributor ladder rung.
Modern equivalent: Contributor ladder
Business Analysts
Level: Entry to high-level
What the track did: Translate research into recommendations — pick the right tool for the charity, the right plan tier, the right vendor. Closest legacy analogue to product management.
Reference salary range: ~$52,898 annually
Intake notes: Required Excel, Word, and PowerPoint then. Required equivalent in Google Workspace / Microsoft 365 now. Modern FFC absorbs this into the Global Admin training plan.
Modern equivalent: Training plan
Web Developers
Level: Entry to high-level
What the track did: Build and ship charity sites. The legacy curriculum centered on PHP and Divi; the modern curriculum centers on Next.js, GitHub Pages, and Cloudflare.
Reference salary range: ~$69,781 annually (full-time positions)
Intake notes: Volunteers entering through this track today should be routed to the Web Developer training guide and the WordPress-to-Next.js conversion guide.
Modern equivalent: Web developer training (WordPress era)
FAQ — legacy answers, modern context
Will employers value the experience?
Yes — every FFC engagement produces a shipped artefact (site, directory entry, audit report). Volunteers leave with public links to point at, not just certificate PDFs. That has been the consistent feedback from hiring managers since the legacy tracks launched.
Does it cost anything?
No. FFC operates on a donation-supported model. Successful charity engagements generate sponsorships that fund the next intake cohort.
Eligibility?
Two requirements: motivation to learn and commitment to ship work that actually helps a charity. Selection prioritizes candidates who show up consistently to the weekly stand-ups and finish their first project before chasing the next one.
Where to point volunteers today
The modern FFC volunteer pipeline starts at /get-involved, splits into the Global Administrator and Canva Designer paths, and progresses through the contributor ladder. The legacy three-track catalog feeds into those paths but is no longer the primary intake.