Recruiting Volunteers for Cross Border Summit Event SOP - Shadstone

About Task

We need volunteers! These people help a ton during the event to keep things running smoothly. This task is about finding, training, and preparing the volunteers for their tasks on the day of the event.

Do This In Advance - at least 2 Weeks

TRY TO DO THIS AT LEAST 2 WEEKS IN ADVANCE - then the volunteers are trained and ready to rock - to reduce confusion and stress on the day of the event.

We want this event to run smoothly. We have done a lot of events, and those that look out of control are those when the organizers don’t know what to do.

If everyone knows their role before the event, and has clear idea how to do it - then when the event happens, this happen much more smoothly.

Review Roles For Different Volunteers

We have another SOP for Volunteer Manager, which lays out the different volunteer roles, so please review that document.

Also, we have a list of tasks for the volunteers with SOPs for each volunteer to read, so please review that as well. It is in the Volunteer Manager SOP.

However it is easiest for you to track, please write down all the different types of tasks a volunteer can do and then try to find volunteers.

Get 2 - 3 Volunteers Per Role

On most cases, having at least 2 volunteers is enough. Why more than 1? Because this is an all day event, they may get tired. They may also be sick on the day of the event. We need to have backups and then can have shifts during the event to move people around.

Having backups is never a bad thing!

##Idea - Find 1 Volunteer who Seems like a Leader

Another good idea, if you can do it, is find one of the volunteers who is a networker and a leader. He or she can help you a lot! They may be able to get their friends to come, and they may be able to coordinate the other volunteers before and during the event.

##Ways To Market To Get Volunteers

How to find volunteers? A few ideas here

##How To Attract / Convince Them

So why would someone want to volunteer for our event? Here are some ideas:

  1. Network with International business owners - we will have business people from around the world at this event.
  2. Practice Their English - this is a good chance to talk to English speakers!
  3. Get Something for their CV / Resume - This is a good experience and they can put it as an item on their resume.
  4. We can write letter of recommendation - We can write them a letter of recommendation for their job or a job they are applying for in the future.
  5. Maybe they can join our team full time later - Maybe we will enjoy working with them so much we can hire them to join our team!
  6. Make Friends with Other Volunteers - It will be a fun time!
  7. Get free gifts - t-shirts, other prizes, and food, drink.

##What Do We Require From Volunteers?

What are we looking for in a volunteer?

  1. English speaking - This is an English event, so it is most effective if they can communicate with our attendees, speakers, and others.
  2. Positive Minded - We want happy people. This is a live event, they will interact with people.
  3. Generous and Willing to Share - we want open minded people. Not ones trying to just get a direct benefit.

##WRite Down All The Volunteers Contact Information

To keep track of all the volunteers, we need to keep a list here

9999

This will have all their contact information, such as:

Name - Chinese

Name - English

Their “job” / role / task - what task are they responsible for at the event?

Phone number

Email

Wechat ID

Notes - anything to say about them.

#Make Volunteer Wechat group

Once the volunteers are confirmed, or as the volunteers slowly confirm, start to make a wechat group. Add them in this group and introduce them to the others. Make them comfortable with each other.

##Sign Contract?

Should we have them sign an agreement? This is not paid, but we still want 100% assurance they know what this event is about.

We also need to make sure they COME to the event. We rely on them to make sure all pieces of the event are working.

Still considering a contract or not.

##Once They Confirm - Email Them Their SOP

We have SOPs for each function, in English. Once we confirm the volunteer and their task / roles - we will email them the SOP.

##How To Download Google Doc to Word Document or PDF

Because google docs is blocked in China, it is just easier to email them the SOP as an attachment. You need to download it from Google docs (hopefully you have VPN!)

To download it, when you are viewing the google doc, go to FILE - and then you will see “Download as” and then pick the file format.

We recommend PDF as it is sure to not get corrupted on a computer or changed later and confused. If you need to edit something, edit it in the google doc and then re-download. This is our master copy.

Tell this team member they need to review this SOP and understand all the items on it.

If they have any questions, they can ask you.

##Arrange a Meeting Before the Event

Now that the event is getting closer, and the volunteer team is confirmed - it is time to meet everyone face to face.

WE can treat them to a dinner, and thank them for being a volunteer.

###Idea Print SOPs?

Hopefully they reviewed the SOPs in advance. An idea we are thinking about is to print out the SOPs and give it to them at the dinner meeting. We can sit with each one of them and confirm they understand all the steps in the process.

The volunteers should also get to know one another. They will be coordinating with each other during the event.

##Confirm their Schedule

Make sure they know what time they need to arrive and how long they need to stay until. We will work on different shifts.