VOLUNTEER TRAINING POSITIONS at
WOMEN'S SOUTHWEST
Question:
What’s different
about volunteering at Women's
Southwest?
¨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 15 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.
¨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,
1990s, or 2000s;
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.
Help
build consensus. Develop—and/or
demonstrate—leadership skills. Meet for about 1.5 2 hours.
To remain on the board, you need to 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 or let us help you figure one out.
¨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
“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 & telephone
number. 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:
-
Contact the newsletter editors of the non-profit organizations from which we're allowed to draw our members. Arrange for a Women's Southwest staffer or volunteer to send them an article about how they can get their members to contribute more money to their organization; improve their credit qualifications; buy a car; check their credit. How many members of our Qualifying Organizations know that they're eligible to join us?
Program Chair Liaison: Scan the newsletters of our Qualifying Organizations (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 free from Women's Southwest.
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 too about a year so that you won't have to send them an Escheat Notice.
Volunteer
Coordinator: Recruit, guide, and/or remind other volunteers.
Help place those who express interest in volunteering. .
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Ready
to test the waters?
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
¨Which kind of volunteer work 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.)