Re: [Organizers] Volunteers

Hi, David, I run a weekly (49 dances per year minus weather cancellations) Thursday night contra series in Portland, Maine. We started in June and we've had about 70-100 dancers each week since then. Our in-dance volunteer structure is largely based on Will Loving's structure for the weekly contra series in Amherst, Massachusetts. We have five volunteer positions at each dance: setup/breakdown (shows up an hour before the beginner lesson and stays 30 minutes after the last waltz to arrange and breakdown signage, tables, fans, sound baffling blankets, etc), 3 greeters for the door (one hour each), and one dance manager (makes sure the performers and all the other volunteers have what they need, counts the money, pays the band, etc). Each of these volunteers is offered free admission in exchange for their service. Because so much of the value that our in-dance volunteers bring is that we can rely on them showing up, they are only offered free admission if they sign up ahead of the dance. Some dancers help out anyway, which is a bonus. We tell those dancers that if they want to get in free next time, they can get in touch about a volunteer slot. We keep track of dancers who offer to volunteer so we can make these arrangements. When new people express interest, we add them to the list. Our dancers have have expressed appreciation for the training documents we offer them in advance of their service so it is very clear what they are and are not responsible for. These documents are also largely based on similar materials used in Amherst. Here's our guide for greeters: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CkWK5swVLJejYfUdcDwMeJHUzjKCdYPtD4YB5cS… Here's our nightly checklist, which includes actions by setup/breakdown volunteer, dance manager, and greeters: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m1HNwV2pzx0n6qqoueuD4KQlhXYSVVneez538_H… As our series matures, I am finding it easier to recruit volunteers at the same time that it is becoming more common that dancers help out without being asked. Though it is becoming more common that dancers show up early and stay late to help without being asked and though it is becoming easier to recruit a greeter on the fly when someone doesn't show up, I really appreciate having volunteers for each evening worked out in advance. I'm thinking about your concern, David, of removing the financial incentive to volunteer by changing to a pay-what-you-can system. Keep in mind that financial incentive likely is not the motivation for dancers to volunteer. Most of them likely also carry some degree of responsibility to help the series prosper. Many also likely appreciate the opportunity for extra socializing. Those benefits of volunteerism won't go away with a pay-what-you-can system. Dugan Murphy Portland, Maine dugan at duganmurphy.com www.DuganMurphy.com www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com www.NufSed.consulting Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2017 17:46:21 -0500 From: David Chandler via Organizers Subject: [Organizers] Volunteers I'm interested in how other groups handle in-dance organizational tasks - collecting admissions, putting out refreshments, sound and perhaps checking shoes at the door. Do you use volunteers? Pay people? If volunteers, do you have a structured corps of volunteers you rely on or just ask for volunteers as needed? It would be very helpful if you mentioned how frequently you have dances, and roughly how many attend your dances. We (Country Dance New York) have a pretty formal system, and put on roughly 80 dances a year (weekly Tuesday and Saturday 9.5 months a year), getting roughly 40-50 for English and 60 plus for contra. Some people volunteer for only one or a few dances, but a lot of the work is done by "full-time volunteers," who do at least 8 tasks during the fall and/or spring. In exchange for this they get in free to every event. The tasks are also pretty structured - only members can work the door in order to increase security of funds, and attendance is kept on an iPad using Square so there is some training involved; refreshments involve buying food, refilling water pitchers and putting out a number of different things to eat at the break, then washing dishes and cleaning up. Volunteer coordinators line up people for each task in advance. In general this works very well - tasks get done, and volunteers who are short on cash can get in free. The downside, in my view, relates to our feeling dependent on the system and thus reluctant to consider other options for fear we would lose our volunteers. In particular, some have suggested that it would be more fair to lower our admission rate for those most likely to be in need (students in particular), or to go to a "pay what you can" system of some sort. The reports I've read suggest that "pay what you can" usually works out well, with perhaps increased attendance and no loss of income. However, we can't do that because if people could get in by paying what they can the incentive to be a volunteer would vanish and we are afraid we would not be able to get things done (or a very small group would have to do them, and burn out since we have so many dances). However, I have heard rumors that other dances don't have such a structured volunteer system and still manage to get these in-dance tasks done. I would love to hear how you manage getting tasks done with volunteers, especially if you have a "pay what you can" or very reduced rate for those in need. Thanks! David