Kids' Charity Co-director
July 24, 2016 10:56 AM
I help run a winter gift drive for homeless kids in Madison, WI and need more dedicated high-level organizational help this year. I'd love to start working with someone(s) soon so we can get to know one another and integrate you into the existing team as we get this year's program off the ground. The exact time commitment is up to you, but we ask that you do treat it as a real commitment and give us as much notice as possible if something needs to change!
Santas Without Chimneys is really cool program (I think) that carefully selects presents for specific kids instead of, say, just giving sportballs to all nine-year-old boys, but that means it's a ton of work. If the growth projection is to be believed, we'll have about 500 kids enrolled this year. Meanwhile, not only is my own baby turning into a toddler, two of our best people have moved out of state. We have plenty of general volunteers, but really really need at least one more core team person, and I'd feel better adding two or three. I'm hoping to find someone(s) excited to jump in and help make things run better than ever, be that on the database backend, coordinating other volunteers, sourcing donations, or wherever else you would like to focus.
IDEALLY, you and I would get along swimmingly and make a great duo. Realistically, I'm an introvert with odd hobbies and obscure interests, so you might have to make friends among the rest of the team, but they're good people.
Specific sorts of traits/skills/experiences that might lend themselves well to this program: homelessness outreach, database management, an utmost respect for client confidentiality, volunteer organization, retail stocking, web design/HTML, general computer literacy, budgeting, dedication to causes, nonprofit board membership, community outreach, feminism, marketing, delivery driving, creativity, childcare/being a parent or otherwise involved enough with kids to know about toys, media relations, librarian, Spanish or Hmong conversational skills (reading/writing not necessary), teaching experience, a love of decorating, flexibility, patience, motivation, independence.
Please don't let non-Christianity keep you from participating! We use the trappings of Christmas and Santa because it's a great rallying point and a way to reach most of the kids where they are, but we're always willing to accommodate families of any (or no) faith. Our volunteers are likewise rather diverse in this regard; I personally am an atheist. Politically, we tend to be a very left-leaning crowd, particularly when it comes to the causes of and solutions to homelessness, but we certainly won't shun you unless you just can't get behind our mission. That said, if you couldn't deal with giving a boy a (requested) dress or a girl a set of weights (again, by request), it's not going to work out between us. The only hard lines we hold are "no weapons or realistic facsimiles" and "no cash"; all other gift requests will at least be considered, and generally the only reason anything else would be denied is expense.
This is not a paid position; none of them are, mine included. I will happily say incredibly nice things about you to others who might want to pay you! This will be our fifth year doing the program, so I like to think we have some decent cred built up at this point.
payscale: 0
job type: volunteer
Santas Without Chimneys is really cool program (I think) that carefully selects presents for specific kids instead of, say, just giving sportballs to all nine-year-old boys, but that means it's a ton of work. If the growth projection is to be believed, we'll have about 500 kids enrolled this year. Meanwhile, not only is my own baby turning into a toddler, two of our best people have moved out of state. We have plenty of general volunteers, but really really need at least one more core team person, and I'd feel better adding two or three. I'm hoping to find someone(s) excited to jump in and help make things run better than ever, be that on the database backend, coordinating other volunteers, sourcing donations, or wherever else you would like to focus.
IDEALLY, you and I would get along swimmingly and make a great duo. Realistically, I'm an introvert with odd hobbies and obscure interests, so you might have to make friends among the rest of the team, but they're good people.
Specific sorts of traits/skills/experiences that might lend themselves well to this program: homelessness outreach, database management, an utmost respect for client confidentiality, volunteer organization, retail stocking, web design/HTML, general computer literacy, budgeting, dedication to causes, nonprofit board membership, community outreach, feminism, marketing, delivery driving, creativity, childcare/being a parent or otherwise involved enough with kids to know about toys, media relations, librarian, Spanish or Hmong conversational skills (reading/writing not necessary), teaching experience, a love of decorating, flexibility, patience, motivation, independence.
Please don't let non-Christianity keep you from participating! We use the trappings of Christmas and Santa because it's a great rallying point and a way to reach most of the kids where they are, but we're always willing to accommodate families of any (or no) faith. Our volunteers are likewise rather diverse in this regard; I personally am an atheist. Politically, we tend to be a very left-leaning crowd, particularly when it comes to the causes of and solutions to homelessness, but we certainly won't shun you unless you just can't get behind our mission. That said, if you couldn't deal with giving a boy a (requested) dress or a girl a set of weights (again, by request), it's not going to work out between us. The only hard lines we hold are "no weapons or realistic facsimiles" and "no cash"; all other gift requests will at least be considered, and generally the only reason anything else would be denied is expense.
This is not a paid position; none of them are, mine included. I will happily say incredibly nice things about you to others who might want to pay you! This will be our fifth year doing the program, so I like to think we have some decent cred built up at this point.
payscale: 0
job type: volunteer
This job has been filled.