Functional Area Lead Team Members: Kirk Miles – Vice President of Competition, Ceremonies & Events Brenda Perraux – Sr. Director of Volunteer Services -VeiwPoint Technologies (consultant) Deb Savory – Director of Volunteer Services – ViewPoint Technologies (consultant) Managers of Volunteer Services: Renee Jones, Micah Umphrey, Ginger Street, Alice Loveridge (volunteer) Kathy Steele (volunteer), and Marissa Reynolds (AmeriCorps) 2009 World Winter Games PDL: Volunteer Services Overview/Purpose: Volunteers are an essential element of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, as well as the movement. The 2009 Games Organizing Committee (GOC) successfully involved approximately 4,700 volunteers including general volunteers (3,000), medical (400), security (400) and the Healthy Athlete program (900). The department was instrumental in ensuring that 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games volunteers were recruited, trained and provided a positive experience with Special Olympics that will perpetuate an involvement with the movement that outlives the existence of the 2009 Games Organizing Committee. The importance of a strong plan for recruitment, training, scheduling, and utilization of volunteers became painfully clear during the 2008 Invitational Games where “a perfect storm” was experienced as related to the volunteer system. Effectively there was no volunteer staff with any experience and a volunteer management system that was non-functional. This resulted in a disastrous experience for many volunteers involved at the 2008 Invitational Games. Every effort was taken to insure that this did not occur during the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games with great success! Goals & Objectives: In collaboration with other GOC departments and SOI, clearly define volunteer needs and job requirements for 2009 SOWWG. Build systems and processes that will enable effective, seamless recruitment and management of 2009 SOWWG volunteers. Serve as the sole volunteer registration data collection point for GOC and provide volunteer advice and guidance to other GOC departments. Assure effective recruitment, screening, general orientation and on-site management of all 2009 SOWWG volunteers. Assure all registered volunteers are either placed in suitable positions commensurate with their skills/and desires against the needs of the organization, or are notified in the most respectful way that their services are not required or they are placed in other positions that are needed outside of the games organizing committee. Assure the needs of the organization in terms of the required number of volunteers per shift per task at each venue and functional area are met. Assure that all volunteers are well trained in order for them to undertake their duties in a safe and effective manner and that the training is done in the most efficient/effective manner. Assure that volunteers are provided all the tools for them to undertake their jobs, and supported in a respectful and comfortable manner at all times. This specifically entails the process of accreditation, uniforming, feeding, and transport support. Assure that there are the required policies and procedures in place to ensure the safe conduct of the games and that the interests and care of both volunteers and Games family as well as spectators and general public is always in place. Assure that the volunteer program is delivered within agreed to budgets. In collaboration with other GOC departments and SOI, clearly define volunteer needs and job requirements for 2009 SOWWG. Highlight and celebrate the experiences of the volunteers. Build the foundation for a lasting volunteer legacy and a committed Special Olympics volunteer force in Idaho and across the United States. Key Interfaces: Special Olympics International (SOI) International Festival & Events Association (IFEA) All GOC Functional Areas (Particularly Marketing Department, Human Resources, and risk management) ViewPoint Technology Local Schools and Youth Groups AmeriCorps Program Idaho State Police Advanced Data Systems Special Olympics Idaho Key Responsibilities: 1.Needs Assessment 2.Recruitment 3.Volunteer Communication & Awareness 4.Placement & Assignment 5.Orientation & Training 6.Scheduling 7.Credentials and Uniform Distribution 8.Games Time Support 9.Policies & Procedures 10.Coordination with Marketing Department on development of volunteer uniform plan Key Learnings: Experienced volunteer management leadership is crucial (must have experience in large multiple sport events! Volunteer Management System software is vital to success of volunteer services department. The VMS should include a web based registration and scheduling component allowing each volunteer individualized sign-in and management capabilities. Incorporate volunteer recruitment campaign into the overall marketing plan from beginning not as an afterthought. Quality vs. quantity of volunteers should be emphasized…training/training/training! Establish high expectations for volunteers and require a minimum of 4 volunteer shifts. On-line orientation was highly effective and efficient (Brainshark). Simplification of the background check (no fingerprints) was improvement for volunteers. Venue walk-thru training at all venues, not just competition! Policy for dealing with group volunteer requests established. Implementation of a highly organized Uniform Distribution & Credential Center (UDAC) is key to displaying highly organized fact to registered volunteers. Pre-games training of volunteer commissioners and supervisors is essential. Meetings with commissioners began in early August and ran through Games time. Volunteer services needs to develop a framework for the FA volunteer training to assure consistency and simplify work of FA’s Having a training space at headquarters was a significant benefit as related to savings in planning, travel, finance, and human resources. Utilize Americorps program as supplement to staff and volunteers. Recruit to anticipate a 15% to 20% dropout rate of registered volunteers. Establish a call center with highly trained volunteers to provide answers to volunteer questions. Develop a volunteer only account for answering volunteer questions. Challenges: The recruitment of volunteers with various &specific skill sets – language volunteers, medical volunteers, security volunteers, DAL’s, Sports specific volunteers Integration of SOI program needs for volunteers into the volunteer services plan early in process Buy-in from functional areas about importance of volunteer services integration and ultimately the ownership of volunteers within the functional area Integration of multiple volunteer management systems Establishing symbiotic relationship between GMS and ViewPoint as related to credentialing process Screening process clearly defined and communicated Policies and procedures clearly defined and communicated early Transferring knowledge of ViewPoint system to GOC staff for use (protectionist attitude of vendor). Challenge of new FA department leadership coming to GOC at late stages of planning and not understanding VS procedures and timelines One of the largest obstacle came in working with the Functional Areas (FA) to define their volunteer schedules. While the majority of FA’s were able to define their shifts early on, many FA’s continued to change their schedules up until the week before the Games. Recommendations: SOI should enhance their capabilities and level of support as related to volunteer services for each GOC (this expertise could also be provided to SO programs globally). Services that should be provided are: Volunteer management expertise on staff or contracted for/Policies Procedures recommended/Software system procured Volunteer data should be collected into one central database. SOI should consider consolidation of all games management tools into one electronic management system (GMS, VMS, etc.) Provide volunteers an opportunity to have their photos taken at the Volunteer Centre. Clearly define the business rules to FA leadership and all GOC staff and develop an integrated system that manages GOC workforce (contractors, vendors, venue staff, GOD staff, etc.), as well as volunteers, in one consistent management system. Convince SOI to include healthy athlete volunteers in the overall GOC volunteer management process and not outside the process. It is recommended that every FA use the centralized scheduling system. (Some FA’s managed their volunteers schedules independently & volunteer services had no idea when volunteers were scheduled, who was scheduled, how many meals to plan for, etc.) The Volunteer Hotline or Call Centre must be staffed with qualified staff or volunteers to ensure they are providing the most current information. Organize a “mega” weekend orientation and job fair that can accomplished many objectives in a short period of time – general volunteer information, functional area information, and that first face to face communication that all volunteers were waiting for. Utilize services of military personnel if available. Be sure to work closely to insure that the mission defined is not too narrow to provide benefits to GOC. Link the Volunteer online training module to the volunteer registration web portal to ensure that all volunteers have the opportunity to access the video when they register. Conduct a needs comprehensive needs analysis exercise early in the planning process, utilizing expertise that has experience in multi-sport events. Complete DOT exercise based on operating hours, days of competition or events, flow of people, and functional needs at the venue utilizing expertise that has experience in multi- sport events. Keep the tasks as generic as possible – so volunteers can be redeployed as necessary. 95% of the volunteer tasks could be accomplished with a minimum of training so it is easy to move volunteers between tasks. Volunteer Services should work in direct collaboration with marketing in the development of a recruitment strategy. Large events should be planned directly relating to recruitment, rather than setting up recruitment booths at existing events (i.e.: parades, fairs, etc…). Develop a plan that will facilitate recruitment of volunteers with specific skill set, such as Medical, Security, Language Service, Delegation Assistant Liaisons (DAL), Sports Specific and Lead volunteers. Combine credentialing and volunteer services and consolidate games management system. It is highly recommended that the UDAC last no longer than 2 days. It is recommended that volunteer number scrub occur as soon as possible, in order to avoid recruiting too many or too few volunteers. Plan early and put high level of emphasis on volunteer recognition. Establish online waiver for all volunteers to sign as opposed to hard copy waiver. Simplify the volunteer background check and insure policies and procedures are established early and clearly communicated. GOC did not utilize Class A/Class B system recommended by SOI eliminating the difficulty in determining which volunteer would be in an unsupervised situation with athletes. Also eases need for redeployment of volunteers during games time. Establish a volunteer uniform plan early and communicate clearly that a uniform is provided to assist the volunteer in conducting their job or as identification and is not a games benefit. Consider charging for volunteer uniforms. Re-evaluate the volunteer policy of utilizing those under 14 only with adult supervision. This conflicts with SOI mission of bringing youth to the movement. I. PlanII. DoIII. Learn