Glad it was helpful!

Yay! Glad it helped!

You are so welcome!

Ahhh, yay! Thank you so much for watching!!

Glad it was helpful!

My pleasure!

You're very welcome!

Glad it was helpful!

You're welcome!

Aw thanks!

😀

Thanks!

@@AmberMelanieSmith Working with volunteers is a tremendous opportunity to learn how to interact with others. I like how you put emphasis on clear communication,which is critical to success.

You got this! :D

Ha ha, thank you! Do you have some experience with this issue I talk about in the video?

@@AmberMelanieSmith yes but maybe not what you might think. I've had interest in starting a non profit before but thought its years away. I'm currently somewhere in design and marketing. I'm still new so I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to label myself so people get what I do. I got to thinking that when I work with a client or project, it just comes out and I just do it. So I thought maybe I should pause for a bit at times and describe what exactly I'm doing and why. This turned out harder than I thought because I usually get immersed and so I forget to write. After a couple reiterations I ended up writing a list of best practices instead. I have a client who's drawn up their plans to start their non profit and along with designing their app and tidying up their branding and presentation, I'm proposing an entire marketing or basically customer relations strategy for them to include.. since I dont think they have one clearly thought out. Now I dont have experience running a nonprofit so it felt really good to watch your video and see I touched upon all your points! I must be on the right track! For example I thought it was kind of funny that i was contemplating to lead with an exit strategy. I admit it's meant to jar their thinking, so I can get their attention but really, I wanted to address the idea of, 'how do I know it's working?' Also I go heavy in to the idea that we really ought to cater to the volunteers. Sure you might be helping children or whatever. but it's the volunteers who will be helping the children so we need to support them and make sure their experience is top notch and catered for them so it's easy for then to take action and by taking on a lot of little easy successful actions so they'll be motivated to do more. That's pretty much user experience design. I go into detail about immersion and using visuals, sounds, environment and evoking emotion by being in the front line affecting the cause, not some office somewhere or handing out tickets. A lot of these are just based on principles that have always proved useful in other areas however I have no real experience with non profits. Except for maybe past experience like over the summer with volunteering and meetups. I was really disappointed in the follow up and lack of interactions, especially when I was highly interested. I didnt know what I could do next other than just wait for some next event which made me feel I was missing some information. I really would have appreciated clear instructions, some follow up or feedback and definitely a clear call to action. Anyway this is getting long, not sure this is appropriate for the KZfaq comments, I really appreciated seeing your video, from the very beginning which answered why I should be watching, (you had tons of experience), you included a story and you gave me very valuable information. Even though I didnt go into it thinking I'd find this specific information, it was still, full of value and so I found use for it.

@@gian2ooo I like the idea of applying user experience thinking to volunteering. That's smart. I'm glad I was able to help! Are there any other topics you think I should make a video on that could be useful?

@@AmberMelanieSmith Have you done one on the importance on choosing your board or how you choose, maybe like a reminder what the purpose of that is.. if you can clarify how people do get paid salaries and such. What expenses are part of the budget and what are not or shouldnt be. Maybe what is the right way and not the right way like in principle-- hmm.. I have a feeling this area might be sensitive area to breach ethics and all.. I live in San Diego and I found out from that we have a ton of non profits here.. like more than normal. And I have no proof of this but I feel like not all of them are legit. They're probably abiding by the law but still.. Its kind of disruptive but the whole point of disruptive is to get to the truth that actually works better, no? anyway--- (whoa that got dark really fast lol) . You could do top pain points. How the highs are from the ups and the crash from lows are like.. actually i don't know if non-profits have those, but I don't see why not-- they may even be more susceptible, i would think..🤔 Or..! Actually I have a whole series one lol but maybe this is not the right place. (Hello KZfaq) . 🤗

I like the board and budget topics! I've added them to my future list. :) As for knowing if a charity is legit, the first thing I'd look at is how they are talking about their impacts - DO they talk about their impacts / progress made at all? I'm actually about to post a video about how to know what charities to donate to this morning!

Good luck on your campaign!

Thanks for watching!

Yessss. I can attest this works 😆

Usually a few hours to a few days is what I mean. :)

Short time commitment can also mean 1 day commitment for a volunteer position. It just depends where you volunteer. A year or six months would mean enough to gain some job experience to put on your resume. A month might be more like seasonal. So to give you an example, if you were to do Self Help Graphics, their arts and crafts program only happens for 1 month only. As for 2021, 1 day commitment for the company called Chinese Herald Crusade did have a 1 day volunteer position. People volunteered there after 1 day and then they get their Moderna Vaccine as their payment. Instead of money, they get a vaccine so that they have covid immunity.

Hey there! I want to be sure I am clear on what you're asking - are you asking if people can volunteer for a for-profit business? Or if people can volunteer together without having to have a nonprofit (yes, of course!). People can volunteer whenever and however they want. Many companies have employee volunteer programs too. Regarding helping different organizations, there are plenty of ways to do that! You can start a service club (no nonprofit status needed), or just casually gather your friends to volunteer for whatever causes you like.

I know it can depend on the organization and opportunity; anything serving vulnerable clients (children, etc.) certainly needs to have the extra screening in place for their protection. But there are also many hands on opportunities you can sign up for quickly! Check out Points of Light chapters in various cities.

You mean like earning points? :) You could try it as a way to recognize commitment, but I would just be careful not to make the other volunteers feel 'less than' or not included somehow - they are giving their time generously! Maybe measure by something concrete like how much time given in a month? That's pretty objective. :)

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that.

Do you mean court-ordered service specifically, or do you mean "community service" in the broad sense? For either, you'd be a 501c3 nonprofit first. For court-ordered, if you're 501c3 you just have to determine if you'd like to accept court-ordered volunteers and any liability that might come with that. Alerting local law firms who refer clients to do service hours might be a good idea too.

Court ordered

There are various options! How big is your current volunteer base?

@@AmberMelanieSmith Small, 15-20 but I'm hoping to see it grow.

Hey there! That's totally valid -- if it helps, please know this video is for volunteer managers who might be thinking about how to improve their strategies to help people sign up who are in a position to do so / interested in doing so. But to your point, yeah, society is a bit messed up right now, and we need mutual support and community connection so that those who aren't in a position to give at this particular moment are getting the love and help they need too. Not everyone can give all the time! It's all about doing what you can, when you can.

@@AmberMelanieSmith, it's why financial backing makes a giant difference. Delivering meals is one great cause. People want hope.

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