Remember, when you are dealing with non-profits, you will need to be flexible. Most non-profits are short staffed, so patience is truly a virtue when working with them to set up giveback opportunities.
Take note of this list of questions you may want to have in front of you when making your calls:
Ask yourself these questions:
On what date are you interested in making a difference in the community?
What time will you begin serving?
What time will you end your community service?
Ask the Executive Director at the non-profit these questions:
What are the non-profit's hours of operation?
How many volunteers can be assigned to their organization?
What needs do they currently have? (It is important to get all the details. The volunteers will want to know exactly what is expected of them during their time of service.)
Who will your contact be on the day of your giveback opportunity?
What is his/her contact information? (exchanging phone numbers is a must.)
For the event I organized, it was important to me that the non-profits I chose were within walking distance of the Bobcats Arena in downtown Charlotte, NC. A good question to ask would be, is the non-profit within walking distance from where your event will be taking place. This was especially important because a lot of my volunteers signed up from all across North America - they flew to Charlotte and had no transportation to and from the Arena. They walked everywhere they needed to go during their stay.
Once you have the giveback opportunities organized, you can move forward with registration.
We had online registration - where volunteers chose the event in which they wanted to participate.
In 2007 our options were:
Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreational Facilities: (the job description looked something like this: painting basketball courts, picking up trash, painting fences, mulching flowerbeds, etc.)
Homeless Shelter: (giving of your time to those in need and making a difference in their lives by encouraging them that others care.)
Crisis Control Ministries Store: (organizing clothing in their store, helping them get things in order in their stock room, etc.)
Second Harvest Food Bank: Every individual who came to NAYC was to bring a canned food item. We placed collection bins strategically around the Arena. Second Harvest came to the Arena, on the day of our event, where we had approximately twenty-five individuals working right at the Arena to create Kid's back packs. We also had a team of volunteers who signed up to work at the Second Harvest Warehouse. They boxed Senior Meals for distribution to the elderly.
Classroom Central: Every individual who came to NAYC was to bring a school supply. We had four Smart Box's (small storage trailers) placed strategically around the Arena where we collected tons of school supplies. On the day of the event, the Smart Boxes were moved from the Arena to Classroom Central - the student volunteers came to the Classroom Central warehouse, unloaded the Smart Box trailers and helped the staff at Classroom Central organize the supplies we collected.
The organization of which I am a part, sponsors two non-profits that we felt may be able to use our assistance: The Lighthouse Ranch for Boys and the Children's Mansion. I worked with these organizations to receive a list of their needs. I then connected with twelve Student Pastors who made this collection opportunity a month long event in their youth groups.
I sent the following to the Student Pastors who took on this giveback opportunity:
A list of the needs from the organization they were supporting
The box size that was acceptable for their collection
The weight that was acceptable for each filled box
What I wanted to see as far as package labeling
I had to be very specific, because these boxes were given to the organizations in a presentation during one of the services at NAYC.
There were other giveback opportunities as well, I will share more with you in my next post.
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