2014 Day of Caring overview for agencies hosting projects

1. Day of Caring 2014
Thursday, May 8 & Friday, May 9, 2014

2. Day of Caring
• Day of Caring is an event that supports United
Way’s mission to bring people together to
improve lives and strengthen communities
through volunteering
• A day when local businesses partner with
nonprofit agencies to make a difference by
completing volunteer projects
• A way for more volunteers to advance work in
Education, Financial Stability and Health

3. Benefits of Day of Caring
• Complete projects (wish list)
• Opportunity to market the services your
organization provides
• Develop and build relationships with local
companies and their employees
• Create a positive volunteer experience
• Captive audience to recruit on going
volunteers

4. Partnership Responsibilities
• United Way
– Recruit companies and volunteers
– Planning, administration and evaluation of DOC
– Training agencies, company coordinators and
volunteers
– Provide best practices and other resources

5. Partnership Responsibilities
• Agencies
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Register on Volunteer Now site
Accurately represent and describe projects
Provide tools, materials necessary to complete project
Provide snacks/lunch when possible
Meet with company coordinator prior to DOC
Obtain liability and photo releases for volunteers
Report volunteer hours and outcomes
Provide proof of insurance
Provide safe environment

6. Partnership Responsibilities
• Company Coordinators and volunteers
– Designate project leads
– Register volunteers through Volunteer Now site
– Meet with agency representative prior to event
– Consistent communication to volunteers

7. Project Needs and Assessment
• Brainstorm with entire staff. What is on your
Wish List?
• Think outside the box
• Staff capacity to lead projects
• Review project ideas in the agency leader
manual
• Skilled volunteer needs

8. Examples of Day of Caring Projects
• Build a deck, playground, park bench or ramp
• Organize toys, food pantry or books
• Landscaping, yard clean-up, prepare and plant
community gardens
• Prepare emergency medical kits, literacy kits or
personal hygiene kits
• Assist elderly clients with grocery shopping, play
games or read to kids
• Design a brochure, develop a marketing plan or
set up IT

9. Project Details
• Determine type of project
– One Basic Category/Project-unskilled
– Variety of small unrelated projects- if you have several
projects that only need 2-4 volunteers for each project
you can tie them together as one project to attract a
larger group.
– Special Skills Projects-special skills needed
• Number of volunteers needed
• Time it takes to complete project
• Additional tools needed by volunteers

10. Submit Projects
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Name of individual filling out the spreadsheet
Agency Name
Address
Project Leader (may be different for each project)
Phone Number
Secondary Project Leader
Email address of Project Leaders
Length of project (morning/afternoon, all day)
May 8 or 9
Minimum/maximum number of volunteers
Project description
Food and supplies provided by agency (lunch, water, bug spray, gloves)
Tools provided by agency
Supplies and equipment volunteers need to bring
Special skills volunteers will need
Additional comments about project

11. Submit Projects

12. Next Steps
• UWECI will enter all the projects into Volunteer Now.
• Not registered? UWECI will register your agency with
basic information.
• Receive a password and login information.
• Each agency is responsible for checking the project
information for accuracy.
• Changes should be made by March 25

13. UWECI.org/Volunteer Now

14. UWECI.org/Volunteer Now
Benefits of UWECI/Volunteer Now:
• Promotes your agency and creates awareness of the programs and
services provided.
• Most of the major volunteer websites throughout the state work on a
shared database platform. This connects you to websites and
opportunities across the state.
• Volunteer Opportunities: List ongoing opportunities for your agency
• Board Connections: a great resource to list board and committee
positions need to be filled in your organization.
• Calendar: a way to display one time volunteer opportunities for your
events.
• Product Connections: a place to list the needs of your organization.

15. UWECI will enter all the projects into
Volunteer Now
Painting Project, Indoor, Full Day
• Agency: Area Substance Abuse Council - IA - Cedar Rapids
• Project Name: Painting Project: Indoor, Full Day
• Primary Address: 3601 16th Avenue SW Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
• Description: Help us paint our adult residential bedrooms! All you need to participate is basic
painting skills. We will provide all painting supplies, snacks, lunch, and water. If volunteers could
bring extra painting stools or ladders, that would be very helpful.
• Participants Still Needed: 8
• Date / Time: May 10, 2012 - 09:00 am to 05:00 pm
Drywall Repair: Indoor, Morning, Construction
• Agency: Boy Scouts Of America, Hawkeye Area Council
• Project Name: Drywall Repair: Indoor, Morning, Construction
• Primary Address: 660 32nd Ave. SW Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
• Description: Replace a 3' X 8' section of drywall and insulation in our volunteer service area. We'll
provide lunch, water, and cleaning supplies. We'd like volunteers with experience hanging and
finishing drywall on metal framing. Volunteers will need to provide one sheet of drywall, insulation,
drywall tape, joint compound, drywall finishing tools, and gloves for handling insulation.
• Participants Still Needed: 2
• Date/Time: May 10, 2012 - 09:00 am to 12:00 pm

16. Check project accuracy
Visit: http://volunteer.truist.com/united-way-of-east-central-iowa/user/login/
Click on “Agencies” so that it is highlighted blue
Enter Agency Name
Enter Password
Go!

17. Check project accuracy
• Click on
Events tab
• Click Details

18. Check project accuracy
• To preview what
the project
looks like online
to volunteers
click on the link
next to Project
Name
• To edit, scroll
down. Click on
Edit Project:

19. Next Steps
• UWECI sends companies a sneak peak of
projects
• Company Coordinator’s sign up all the
volunteers for projects through online system
• Agency lead of each project should receive
email with company information
• Agencies may also check online

20. • Click on
Participants to
see information
for volunteers
that signed up
for projects
• View company
coordinators
contact
information

21. Contact Volunteers
• You may have multiple companies signing up
for your projects
• Assign agency staff leads if you have more
than one project or are at different locations
• Email or call Company Coordinators/Project
Leads as soon as possible
• Thank them for selecting your project
• Set up a host site visit to go over checklist

22. Review Day of Caring Checklist

23. Preparing for the Day of Caring
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Have a contingency plan (rain, finish early)
Obtain materials and prepare work space
Have appropriate number of tools available
Make arrangements for snacks, water and
lunch (if possible)
• Prioritize projects
• Meet with staff leads

24. Preparing for the Day of Caring
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Print instructions of how to complete tasks
Review Risk Assessment Checklist
Review your contingency plan again
Print liability waivers and sign in sheets
Prepare orientation
Continuous communication with company
coordinator

25. Elements of a Successfully Structured
Volunteer Projects
• Volunteers sign-in and out (calculate hours)
• Complete liability waivers and media releases
• Provide brief agency orientation
– Mission and overview of organization
– Service provided
– Impact of the volunteer project on your
organization
– How it ties back to United Way goals in Education,
Financial Stability and Health

26. Elements of a Successfully Structured
Volunteer Projects
• Complete the project
– Provide clear instruction
– Have materials/tools ready
– Complete most important projects first
– Do not assign yourself tasks. Be available to
troubleshoot issues
– Be available, do not leave the project
unsupervised

27. Elements of a Successfully Structured
Volunteer Projects
• Schedule clean-up time and assign volunteers to
help
• Reflection time
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Thank the volunteers
Talk about the impact of the projects completed
Ask for feedback and how they felt about the project
Remind them of other volunteer opportunities with
your organization
– Collect contact information from interested volunteers

28. Liability Insurance
• Liability Insurance- contact insurance provider ask for
“Certificate of Insurance” or “Addendum” to your policy for
the DOC.
• All agencies are required to fax copy of Certificate of Liability
Insurance to 319 398-5381 Attn: Sue Driscoll or email to
sdriscoll@uweci.org.

29. Volunteer Comments
• Give information on how to continue volunteering after the Day of Caring.
• Make a time schedule to make sure there are enough tasks.
• Maybe have some backup activities ready in order to fully utilize the
volunteer's time.
• Agencies need to be better prepared with tasks
• Better description of tasks.
• Alternate plan for jobs during inclement weather
• It would be nice to know in advance some items that the agency needed
for the project
• I would like to see the measureable impact we made
• Have larger projects for bigger teams
• Our group was given little information on how to handle our task
• I would like to hear an explanation of the services the agency provides to
the community

30. Success Stories

31. Dates to Remember
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Agency submit project form 3/10
Agency final project review 3/14-3/21
Company registration opens up 4/1-4/4
Companies register by end of April
Site visits by 5/1
Day of Caring 5/8 & 5/9
Submit hours and waivers by 5/12

32. Questions or Comments
• Sue Driscoll, 398-5372 ext 22,
sdriscoll@uweci.org
• Tara Paulsen, 398-5372 ext 45,
tara.paulsen@uweci.org