Most of you know what freelancing is, but have you heard of prelancing? According to an article Jon Gray wrote for the Wall Street Journal prelancing is pre compensation freelancing. Because of the current job market, many software programmers are seeking prelancing positions as a way to gain work experience and keep their skills fresh during a lapse of employment. Not only does it keep the coding blood flowing throughout an engineer’s veins it is also a way to build your network and resume, build your brand, and lend a helping hand to companies or organizations that might not have the means to hire a full time employee. If you are interested in doing something like this here are some resources to get you started:
This happy hour is a place for job seekers to meet up with new or strapped startups that have a great product, yet don’t have the bankroll to pay for full time programmers. The JobNob Happy Hour is for 
unemployed engineers who want to keep their skills sharp. They are matched up with startups that could use their help and in return for a few hours of their time the startups buy you a drink. As a job seeker this is a good opportunity, if the startup gets funding down the road your name will be fresh in their heads as a possible hire.
SourceForge.net is a website that hosts open source project. They have a specific section on their site devoted to projects that need volunteer work. 
VolunteerMatch matches up individuals with volunteer opportunities. You can search by zip code, and chose to only see volunteer work dealing with Computers and Technology.
4. SimplyHired:
Since SimplyHired mines the web for job opportunities, do a search on there for nonprofit/volunteer opportunities in programming.
SmartVolunteer connects skilled professionals with volunteer opportunities that utilize their professional expertise. At the same time, SmartVolunteer matches nonprofits and charities with the individuals necessary to fill the critical needs of their organization. From their site you can do a search by category/skill and area and see a list of organizations that need assistance.
There are many opportunities that are not on these sites. I suggest doing a search on the internet for volunteering programming skills, or look on Facebook or Twitter for nonprofit companies looking for help. Any way you go about it, reaching out and helping will keep the programming wheels moving, keep you updated with new technologies and get you connected with potential permanent opportunities for the future.
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