Volunteers are often the most important resource to the success of an outreach event; however, this may be overlooked in the big picture of planning everything else. Remediate this problem by developing a plan to ensure volunteer coordination is not a last minute effort for your event. In this session, you will learn ten easy steps for managing volunteers. From organizing the sign-ups to communicating with your helpers, you will gather tips and tricks to guarantee your volunteer needs are addressed. In addition, the session will include lessons learned while using these ten steps for an outreach event.

1. VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR DESCRIPTION AND RESPONSIBILITIES
As the Volunteer Coordinator for Wichita SWE Engineering Expo, it is your responsibility to
make sure the event is staffed with enough volunteers to help the day run as smoothly as
possible.
Your duties will include:
- Working with the Expo Planning Committee to:
o Determine what and how many “behind the scenes” jobs need to be staffed for
the event (welcome table, volunteer room, floaters etc.)
o Collaborate with the booth coordinator to determine how many extra booth
volunteers are needed throughout the day
o Recruit SWE members to volunteer for the event
o Advertise the volunteer opportunity to other professionals in the community
o Assist the booth coordinator with the final meal voucher list for all day
volunteers
- Working individually to:
o Create and monitor a sign up system to gather volunteers
o Contact past volunteers with the current volunteer opportunity
o Coordinate volunteer assignments
o Communicate assignments and other instructions to volunteers before the event
Help volunteers and booth leaders the day of the event as needed

2. NOTES ABOUT USING SIGN UP GENIUS
This is my go-to tool for creating sign ups. It allows you to create an online location for volunteers to
sign up and stores all their information for you to download to excel. It is very customizable, and you
can tailor it to suit your needs.
Notes from using it the last two years for Expo:
- It works well to keep everything in one spot
- People seem to like having the ability to see who else has signed up for what
- Easy to shift volunteers to other categories if needed
o They can log in and move themselves
o The administrator can move them too (with the option to send them an email about it)
- Both years the sign-ups have been broken down by times slots
o Having the option to work morning OR afternoon seems to appeal to people
o Could break it down by responsibilities instead
Would need to know how many booths volunteers, floaters, check-in workers,
etc. early in the process of creating the sign up
Might get more complicated to approach it that way
- Good idea to ask for phone numbers as well
o we called a few people
o I left it as an optional item – I didn’t want to deter anyone if they were not comfortable
sharing that information with me
- Built in a half hour overlap between morning and afternoon volunteers
o could probably use more bodies around lunch time to get people upstairs (11 – 1 shift
maybe)
- Sign-up genius also sent out a reminder to everyone as well (maybe stagger that date more
from the emails I sent out)
SIGN UP GENIUS DETAILS FROM 2015
General Details Tab
Title of Sign Up:
2015 Engineering Expo Volunteer Sign Up
Description:
The 2015 Engineering Expo outreach event is on Saturday, February 21, 2015. The event is in a
NEW LOCATION at Century II Exhibition Hall (225 West Douglas Avenue, Wichita) and will again
operate from 9am-2pm.
There are multiple opportunities for volunteers to help make the day a success.
Friday, February 20, 2015
4:00pm - 8:00pm: Set Up

3. Saturday, February 21, 2015
7:30am - 9:00am: Set Up
8:30am - 12:00pm: Morning Volunteer
11:30am - 2:00pm: Afternoon Volunteer
8:30am - 2:00pm: All Day Volunteer*
1:30pm - 4:00pm: Clean Up
*All Day Volunteers will receive 1 free meal ticket at the event.
Please indicated on your sign up if you have any specific requests for your volunteer
assignment. We will do our best to accommodate your requests, but we appreciate your
flexibility if this is not possible.
Your requests may include (but are not limited to the following):
Booth Volunteer - assist an exhibitor with their booth's activity
Floaters - extra helpers to walk around booths throughout the event to help make sure
everything is running smoothly (may be assigned to a booth as needed)
Welcome Table - greet guests, pass out maps and passports
Workshop Registration - sign older students up for the workshops throughout the day, maintain
communication with workshop instructors
Prize Table - check passports and help distribute prizes as students leave the event
Volunteer assignments and instructions will be communicated by Thursday, February 19th.
If you have any questions about volunteering, please contact Michelle.
Theme Tab
Used “School Supplies 2” with an uploaded picture from 2013
Dates and Times Tab
Figure 1. Example break down of time slots in 2015
The above dates and times were used to include these shifts: Friday set up times, Saturday set up
times, Saturday morning shift, Saturday all day shift, Saturday afternoon shift, Saturday clean up shift.

4. Slots Tab
Figure 2. Example break down of shifts and quantities needed
I started all the shifts out as “Unlimited” when I first set up the sign up. I used the “Edit” box to adjust
the quantities once I started finalizing numbers closer to the event.
- I added a limit to them after I started to get a better idea the total number of volunteers I
would need for the morning and afternoon shifts
- I capped off the all-day volunteer sign up when we had to turn in final numbers for catering
Settings Tab
Figure 3. Example requirements for those signing up
Contact Info: It is important to get contact information from your volunteers, but you want to make it
as simple of a process for them as possible. I did ask for phone numbers in case I needed to get in
contact with anyone the day of the event (which I did call a few no-shows).

5. Public Sign Up Comment: The comment box was for volunteers to request where they wanted work (if
they had a preference). It was not required because everyone did not need to fill it out.
Miscellaneous Preferences:
- Since I had a dedicated email for this, I was ok with getting notifications every time someone
signed up
- I had it set up to send a reminder emails to people who signed up – not sure if this was
necessary since I sent out a more detailed email with assignments and instructions
Figure 4. Example of extra options used for the sign up
You can add one extra question for free with a basic account. The past two years I have asked if texting
was ok the day of the event, and in the past two years I have never had to text anyone. However, I
have called no-shows.
Something to consider: Spirit Aerosystems usually asks for a list of their employees that volunteers at
the event. This may be a good spot to ask “Are you a Spirit Aerosystems employee” instead (especially
since they are the sponsor for the 2016 event, they might appreciate us doing that).
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Once you get the sign up organized, you should have the help of the rest of the group in promoting it.
The link to the sign up was posted on the Wichita SWE newsletter, emailed out to Wichita SWE
members, and shared to engineering companies in town by our members. In addition, I sent an email
(through the website) to the previous year’s volunteers to notify them of the new sign up.

6. Figure 5. Example email to previous volunteers
The volunteers from last year are already loaded in as a group called “Expo 2015 Volunteers.” Additional groups
can be created each year after expo to keep previous volunteers informed of future opportunities.

7. Figure 6. Example of how to access and create email groups
Groups and Messages page can be accessed from the left tool bar to add previous volunteers and email them
about upcoming sign ups
SIGN UP GENIUS REPORTS
Reports can be accessed from the left tool bar or the top toolbar. All fields can be included, or you can pick
which ones are populated into the spreadsheet.

8. Figure 7. Example reports page

9. EXAMPLE VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENT EMAIL FROM 2015
NAMES,
Thank you for signing up to volunteer at the 2015 Engineering Expo. The Wichita section of Society of Women
Engineers appreciates your help with providing this free event for our community!
Volunteer Logistics:
The event is this Saturday, February 21 at Century II Exhibition Hall (225 West Douglas Avenue, Wichita). If you
are not familiar with the building, the Exhibition Hall is the circular part located on the north side of the facility.
Doors open at 7:30am, and the event will be open to the public from 9am – 2pm.
Parking: I have attached a parking map with this email. Please allow enough time to park and walk to the
Exhibition Hall. That weekend there will also be a Women’s Fair and a Gymnastics Meet in the other buildings at
Century II, so please plan accordingly as parking will be tight and the parking meters will be enforced.
Check-in: When you arrive at the event, please find the t-shirt sales table to check in. YOUR NAME will have
your volunteer buttons, and all-day volunteers will receive their lunch vouchers. If you pre-ordered a shirt, you
can pay for it and pick it up at that time. YOUR NAME will direct you to your assignment location from there.
Lunch: If you have signed up as an all-day volunteer, you will receive a voucher for a complimentary lunch
(please do not lose it!). Lunch will be served in the Volunteer Area on the mezzanine beginning at approximately
11am. “Floaters” will be making the rounds throughout the day to relieve people for lunch breaks. Other food is
also available for purchase at the concession stand throughout the event. No outside food is allowed at the
event.
Contact: If you have any questions or something comes up, please contact YOUR NAME either by text (number)
or email (email).
Check-out: You do no need to sign out when your shift is over. However, we do ask you to please return your
volunteer button as we reuse them from year to year.
Assignment Details: WHERE THEY WILL BE WORKING
You will be in charge of the following:
- WHAT THEY WILL BE DOING
Event Tear Down:
We still need some volunteers to help with cleaning up after the event. If you are able to stay after 2pm to assist
with this, we would greatly appreciate it.
Tear down includes:
- Pick up all supplies
- Remove all drop cloths
- Collect flags, posters, and signs
- Assist booths with moving supplies/equipment out
Please let me know if you have any questions leading up to the event. Thank you again for donating your time,
and we look forward to seeing you Saturday!

11. EXAMPLE THANK YOU EMAIL FROM 2015
Thank you so much for volunteering at the 2015 SWE Engineering Expo. We had over 615 kids and their
parents attend the event (one of our highest attendances ever!), and we could not have done that
without you. We truly appreciate you volunteering your time and energy on Saturday!
If you have not seen yet, The Wichita Eagle wrote an article about the event:
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article10889246.html
Due to the positive feedback we have been receiving about the new venue, we have tentatively
scheduled next year’s SWE Engineering Expo for Saturday, February 20th
at Century II. Please save this
date on your calendars.
The planning committee will be meeting soon to wrap-up this year and discuss lessons learned for
future years. If you have any feedback from volunteering, please email sweictexpo@gmail.com.
If you are interested in becoming more involved with the 2016 Expo, please email
sweictexpo@gmail.com as well. We would love to welcome new ideas to the event. We are always
happy to have more people on the planning committee, new booth leaders, etc. So don’t be shy about
joining in on the fun – we’re already thinking up ideas for next year!
Once again, thank you so much for volunteering. We hope you had as much fun (if not more) as the
hundreds of kids in attendance!
P.S. If you have any pictures from the event you have shared on social media, please use the hashtag
#SWEexpo15 to add to our collection.