Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) is a web-based genealogical

Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...

 research co-op that functions solely by the services of volunteers. Volunteers from any part of the globe may offer services to any requester, such as research of birth and death records, public records

Public records

Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" or "Public"...

, obituaries, marriage records and deeds. Other volunteers photograph burial sites, cemeteries and tombstones. Any fees requested by the volunteers are reimbursements for actual costs involved, such as gas mileage, photocopying, record fees, or postage. However, in most cases, the services are rendered free of charge in the spirit of offering a random act of kindness

Random act of kindness

A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual person or people. The phrase may have been coined by Anne Herbert, who claims to have written "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" on a place mat at a...

 to a stranger in search of family ties. Thus the name of the organization came into being from the nature of the services offered.

It was originated by two researchers in 1999 who saw the need for such a service in their local area. The small website grew very rapidly from being solely a statewide offering to an international service with some 4,300 volunteers around the world and a staff of about eight, also volunteering their time. In 2007, more than 71,000 requests were handled by the system, 10% of them to volunteers outside of the USA.

As of October 16, 2011 the website is down indefinitely. Bridgett Schneider, the primary person behind RAOGK, passed away on November 12, 2011. Schneider's husband, Doc, who also helped start RAOGK, has stated that RAOGK will be back online shortly.

Awarded
101 Best Websites 2010: Best Big Genealogy Sites
by Family Tree Magazine.
RAOGK has won many awards and has been featured in smaller local papers such as The Daily News, Jacksonville NC, the Lorain Morning Journal, OH , and the St. Petersburg Times, Florida — as well as AARP Magazine and the New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

for the unique service it offers to researchers.