VOLUNTEER TRAINING POSITIONS at
CAL FEMINIST
Question:
What’s different
about volunteering at Cal
Feminist?
¨Casual Atmosphere: we encourage even the shyest to express their opinions
in a friendly, informal setting. No cliques. Experience respect and good-natured
kidding (sense
of humor helpful).
¨Minimal Time: only about 1-1/2 to 3 hours per visit, only one to 13 times/year.
¨Flexibility: if a committee’s next meeting date and time don’t fit your schedule,
they’ll try to change it to suit you. If you prefer to create your own training position,
you can volunteer in our office any afternoon or evening that a staffer can arrange
to be here. Or, work out of your
home.
¨ADA-Friendly location: disabled spaces in the parking lot, ramp to the lobby
(we’re on the first floor of the building), a wide door; low-pile carpeting, relatively
wide aisles
¨Try before you buy: sit in on committee meetings, sample or suggest tasks,
receive training before
you decide. If you wish, rotate
from time to time.
¨Continuity & Variety: some of our volunteers have been with the credit union
since the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s;
others began volunteering only recently.
¨Orientation: no mandatory, lengthy sessions in an auditorium before you start in.
Begin volunteer work
soon after you arrive.
¨Food: snacks are always available. 30 minutes before some board and
committee meetings, a staffer provides food-to-go (those who wish to eat chip in).
Let us know your food-preferences and allergies.
¨No prior or outside-the-home business or financial experience needed.
Some of our most useful volunteers have included biologists, homemakers, and
veterinarians.
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TRAINING & SKILL-SHARING
OPPORTUNITIES
we normally draw board members from other committees after a volunteer has
proven to be reliable and cooperative with others. Before meetings, read info such
as minutes, expenses, income, feedback, proposed policy changes. During meetings
use the written agenda and “Recurring Business” as an outline to zoom through 3 to
4 hours worth of business in half that time. Help build consensus. Develop—
or demonstrate—leadership skills. Meet for 45 minutes to 2 hours (most meetings
last an hour to an hour and a half). To remain on the board, you must attend 9 to 10
meetings per year, on a
weekday evening or a weekend.
Computer Software/Web site: are you familiar with Microsoft Word, Excel, Front
Page, Outlook or Publisher? Then either (a) teach our staffers how to use them
(or use them more efficiently), (b) copy some of our old Word Perfect forms into
one or more of the above, or (c) help us update our Web site. No minimum time
commitment. Schedule: flexible: once week, once a month, twice a year, etc.
Work at home, with our
staffers, and/or with other volunteers.
Create Your Own "Job": What are your interests? Your skills? Figure out a job
on your own; ask us what we think. Or let us help you figure one out. Either way.
¨Loan application review: review the loan applications that our Loan Officers
have approved. Ensure that our Loan Officers continue to use sound judgement.
When our Loan Officers are uncomfortable approving an application, the entire
committee decides whether to deny the application or make a counter-offer.
Your group also writes lists of suggestions for staffers to pass along to applicants
to help them improve their credit qualifications. Best for those who are good
money-managers--or want to become better ones.
¨Scholarship application review: once a year scholarship applicants submit
a budget, a brief application form, and a 50-word essay. You will not evaluate the
applicant’s grammar or spelling. The applicant may use her award to attend a
vocational or technical school. Our scholarship is not limited to a 4-year university.
To
learn more, click on Scholarship
Meet (usually) 5 times per year, on a weekday evening or a weekend, for about
1 to 1-/12 hours each time.
“Fraud Squad” (Internal Audit) Committee: (aka Supervisory Committee):
Perfect
for detail-oriented sleuths who want to ferret out fraud—and prevent it.
Was that account really closed—or
did someone else take the $?
A staffer claims that she made a loan to Carmen Creditunionmember.
Did
she really make it to her best friend?
Felicia Feminist e-mails the committee: “My statement shows $2,000
was transferred out of my account. I haven’t made a withdrawal since I opened
my
account!”
The committee has its own separate PO Box & e-dress.
Meet
5 times a year for 2.5 to 3 hours each time.
Membership Officer Assistants: send form letters and enclosures to new
members to welcome them to Cal Feminist. Neat printing or legible handwriting,
and attention to detail helpful. Time is flexible. Once every three weeks would help,
but is not required.
Work near a staffer. OK
to work during open hours or after
hours.
Organize Office & Store Room: create storage solutions; rearrange contents
of files, improve neatness & efficiency.
Outreach: figure out low-cost/free ways to inform those who need them most of
our
services. Examples:
·
Arrange speaking engagements at
women’s shelters.
· Only 2 SD county CUs—including Cal Feminist--offer loans on mobile homes,
the
only homes that many with low incomes
can afford. How
can we reach them?
Parking Lot "Guard": Save the spaces in the lot outside
our building for those who drive cars to attend our annual event. It's usually an informal
buffet with one or more speakers. (For instance, in 2006 we featured Cal Feminist
members who shared ways in which they'd made their homes more "green." In 2007
our members told what it is like in real life to own their alternative-energy vehicles.
Parking lot volunteers get to wear orange vests.
Once a year for 1 to 3 hours.
(see below) or contact the group itself to find out if they hold meetings for their
members. If so, learn who their Program Chair is. Do they need speakers (they
usually do)? Offer to send one from Cal Feminist, free under the right
circumstances.
Time
is flexible. Once a year
OK, but more often is great.
Qualifying Organization Updater: we draw our members from dozens of feminist
and women’s organizations. We give these groups free publicity in our brochures
and on our Web site. Sometimes new depositors send them money. Scan their
newsletters to spot changes in their contact information and dues. If we’re not on
their mailing list, ask them to add us to it. When a letter we send to a Qualifying
Organization is returned, contact them for a new mailing address. This work is
critical to helping us thrive.
Flexible. Once or twice a year OK; quarterly would help even more.
Savings Protector/Encourager: You can do this as part of a committee
or on your own.
Protect: Keep State Controllers from grabbing the balances of accounts
that have been "inactive"--no deposits or withdrawals--for 2 to 2.5 years. This
is called "escheating." Send these depositors a reminder notice that they
need to add $1 or withdraw $1.
Encourage: Send form letters to those who need reminders to help them
save on a regular basis. Send reminders to folks whose accounts have been
inactive for about a year so that you won't have to send them an Escheat
Notice.
Volunteer
Coordinator: Recruit, guide, and remind them.
+++
Ready
to test the waters?
Contact us to let us know:
- What
your favorite school subjects were
- Types
of work—paid and unpaid—you have done
- Do
you prefer to work on your own or in a group?
- Skills
you’d like to share—or learn
¨What you’d like to try first (if you are unsure, we’ll start your off where we
think you’ll fit in--or we need help the most.)
on a sheet of
paper or in an e-mail.
¨By post:
Attn: Volunteer Placement
Cal
Feminist FCU
- By fax: 6192981412
- E-mail: info@feministcu.org.
- By phone: