ST Parents,

In order to help coordinate events this year, we are setting up a "Volunteer Hub" to allow everyone to easily see what events are coming up that need help, to be able to sign up to help at those events, and to track those events that you have signed up for.

The site is at: http://stmaa.volunteerhub.com/

Volunteers

Using Volunteer Hub is easy. You need to register for an account. Pick a user name and password for yourself. In your account, you can also put an email address and a cell phone number. This information is used by event coordinators to get in contact with you about events.

Once you have an account and have logged in, identify the events that you want to participate in and signing up is easy. Later you can check back into Volunteer Hub to see the latest details, and to get a list of events that you are signed up for. If your plans change, and you can't attend an event, log back in to the site, and remove your name from the event, so that the coordinator knows that another person is needed.

If you want to know what this looks like, here is a powerpoint file with screen shot of the site as you access it, create an account, and sign up for the Test Event: Volunteer_Hub_Screens.ppt

Event Coordinators - Running An Event

If you manage a pool of volunteers to accomplish a specific goal, (and you know who you are), then you an "Event Coordinator". Assuming that the event has been set up (see below) and that people have volunteered, then just before the event you can

• Get a report showing all of the people who have signed up (as well as their cell phone numbers in case you can't find them at the time).
• If you wish, you can print a "sign in" sheet that lists everyone and a place to indicate that they were there. It depends upon the nature of the event as to whether you need this.
• After the event you can go back and indicate who showed up, and for how long. This allows them to get recognition at the end of the year for all of the good work they have done.

At any point in time leading up to the event, there is a way to send email to everyone who has volunteered, so if there are some last minute changes or special news you can easily send this to everyone who has volunteered.

Event Coordinators - Event Setup

Volunteer Hub was set up to ease the job of tracking volunteers, so you can focus more on getting the goal done. Each time you need volunteers on a particular day for a particular task, we will call that a "volunteer event". If you need volunteers for a couple of different things at the same time, we can make multiple events so that people can volunteer for the job of their choice.

If you are planning an event, you need to let Keith Swenson know the details of the event. This must include

• date of the event
• start time - that you want people to show up
• end time - that you expect people will be able to leave
• title - explain it in five or six words
• description - A detailed description which should include what the job is, where it is, what you need to bring, how to get there, what to expect, who to contact if you have questions, etc. The more information about the event that goes here, the more likely people will show up and do the right thing.
• how many people needed - allows people to sign up individually until this number is reached, and then the event is closed. There is an option to be "waitlisted" so that people can sign up for a waiting list to be included in case someone else cancels.
• coordinator name - that is you!
• How long before the event to cut off registration. At some point you need to get the list of people out of the system that have signed up, and communicate them to those involved in running the event. We close registration so that no one can sign up after that. Do you want that to be the day before? Several days? A couple hours? Depends on what you have to do for that list. Also the detailed description should probably have
• (optional) content of an email to send to people reminding of the event and let me know how many days before the event you want the reminder sent.
• event group - each event can be grouped with other similar events to make it easier to find the event that a volunteer might be looking for.

A proper description should be complete enough to let volunteers know what is expected. When to show up, what they should bring, when things are likely to be wrapped up.

What the system will do is to list all of the events that volunteers are needed for, and it allows people to sign up for specific days. Then, it allows you, on the day of the event, to print out a list of all the people who volunteered, including their contact information. Also, we can get some reports like a list of future events, and which ones look like they are fully staffed, and which ones do we need to rally people toward. I will show you how to use this. Anyone with internet access can access the system.

What I need from you is a list of such events, the dates, and how many volunteers you would like to have. I will set up all the events in the system, and then people can sign up at any time. There is even a "wait list" feature that allows additional people to sign up to fill in, in case someone else has to cancel. You still need to ask people to sign up, as you have done below, but hopefully this system will allow us to keep track of who is and who is not going to make it. It also automatically sends out thank-you emails and tracks how much each person volunteers over the year.

If it helps: paste the following into an email and enter the details:

Date:

Start Time:

End Time:

Event Group:

Title:

Description:

How Many Volunteers:

Coordinator:

How long before event to cut off registration:

STMAA: Santa Teresa Music & Arts Association

• STMAA