Volunteers

Useful tool from 2011 conference in Boston was an online volunteer registration system:

http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/3223456325422100123

With the free version, the report-generating capacity is somewhat limited, but it still was infinitely better than trying to manage it all on a spreadsheet. Took a bit of time at the outset to enter in each volunteer slot, but very easy after that. Automatically sent out reminder emails to volunteers 48 hours before their shift, and could generate an overall list of all volunteers, as well as day-by-day schedules. Here are a few things off the top of my head.


 * Wish I could have had the volunteers enter a t-shirt size when they registered - I am pretty sure you can do this if you use the paying version
 * Volunteers did not have to create a new login...just had to enter an email address to use the site and sign up for stuff
 * I sent out reminders asking vols to provide their cell numbers in case I needed to reach anyone urgently, which I did use on one day when vol numbers were tight
 * Sent me an email automatically if a volunteer resigned from a shift on short notice
 * We incentivized participation with a free tshirt for all vols, plus a free lunch card (value $11.25) for any that signed up for more than one shift. Also had some donated markers that were given out to volunteers. Truth is, in the end, some really involved vols got 2 or 3 lunch passes, but it was worth it. Some asked if their parking could get reimbursed as well, but we hadn't promised to do this at the outset...being rather costly. Vols were encouraged to come via public transportaiton
 * Useful to have some volunteer coordinators (assigned from the volunteer pool), particularly for managing Concurrent session volunteers...we had a little checklist of all the tasks needed to be done with this job
 * Info table - plan in advance what you want to have there...we scrambled last minute to get a FAQ sheet together, maps, etc. useful to have locals (in our case, university students) on this task as a lot of these requests pertained to where to find good bars, sightseeing, public transit, etc.
 * Useful to have one reliable volunteer assigned to assist with registration...this was not a requirement of USM, but it was helpful I think...this person ended up being the one to hand out tshirts and sell surplus stuff.
 * Useful to have a few reliable souls on hand who were willing to be told what to do at the last minute...never turn anyone down who wants to help!!
 * Sent out my own reminder emails, as well as map/directions so that folks would be totally clear about where to appear and when (10 mins before start of shift). I had them report to our INfo table, but this was not always ideal...having a specific room number may be better.
 * Having a job description/FAQs/things to know for each volunteer station would have been useful...we ad libbed this...but would be good to hand a new volunteer something in writing about their job duties and questions they may get asked
 * Ws nervous about using total strangers as volunteers, but it worked out just fine
 * Attrition rate of vols who committed but then backed out or no-showed was probably about 10-15%....just make sure to have some backup folks or folks you can call upon at the last minute (i.e. chapter Board members, etc.)

I uploaded a simple excel file called volunteers which summarizes the approximate times/numbers of vols needed for each "task". This changed a little towards the end, but it's a good start.

I'd be happy to speak with future organizers with this task! Call me or email!

Carole McCauley Northeastern University Marine Science Center 781-581-7370, x321 c.mccauley@neu.edu