Hands On Greater Portland

Referral Opportunities are created by your agency and advertised through the Hands On website's referral listing. On-going opportunities are often found through keyword, region, impact area, and other searches using the search box. Done-in-a-day calendared referrals appear on our calendar underneath the regular calendar projects for that day. When volunteers find a project they are interested in, they will click a button to have their contact information sent directly to the agency contact. From this point, the agency is in charge of initiating further communication with the volunteer (ideally within 24-48 hours); Hands On is no longer involved.

Calendar Projects:

DESIGN:

- Done-in-a-day (usually 2-4 hours)

- Group-based (minimum of 3 volunteers)

- Hands-on

- Volunteer activities directly serve Partner Agency mission

- No advance training aside from on-site training the day of the project.

- Partner agency has overall responsibility for managing the project: designing the project, arranging to have necessary tools or supplies, providing orientation and/or training to volunteers at the beginning of the project, and being present during the entire project.

TIMELINE:

- Posting must be received 3-6 weeks prior to the day of the project to allow time for volunteer sign-up and project leader recruitment.

- Volunteers register for the project directly through the Hands On website.

- Partners should contact Hands On project leader the week before project to confirm meeting place and volunteer numbers.

ON THE DAY OF:

- On the day of, Calendar project leadership is shared between the Agency Contact, who leads and supervises the work being done, and the Hands On Project Leader, who serves as a Hands On ambassador and helps manage the volunteers.

- Introduction/orientation before the project's start is lead by the agency contact.

- Wrap-up reflection at project’s end is lead by a Hands On Project Leader

Referral Opportunities:

DESIGN:

On-going Referrals:

- Volunteer positions often require a long-term or on-going commitment

- Positions may call for specialized skills or advanced training

- Requests for single volunteers (as opposed to group projects)

- Almost anything that requires a background check

Calendared Referrals:

- One-time opportunities requiring less hands-on, mission-oriented tasks (e.g. mailings.)

- General fundraisers (e.g. walks, runs, gala dinners, etc.)

- One-time volunteer opportunities that may not meet the Standards of Excellence for Calendar projects

- Done-in-a-day projects that are submitted less than 3 weeks in advance.

- Opportunity is available to three or more volunteers (no single-volunteer requests).

TIMELINE:

- For on-going referrals, postings can be submitted at any time, though the longer a posting is up, the more opportunity there is for volunteers to find it. For Calendar Referrals, we require one-week advance notice before the day of the volunteer event.

- Interested volunteers' contact information is sent to the identified agency contact, after which it is the agency's responsibility to follow up with more information and assign the volunteer to a shift.

- On-going volunteer opportunities may be posted for up to six months, at which point the agency must renew the posting by contacting Hands On.