Managing Volunteers for Open Streets Events Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday,

June 26, 2013

Without volunteers, Open Streets initiatives cannot happen. Organizers must coordinate a small army of volunteers before, during and after the event. On this call, veteran Oopen Streets organizers discussed best practices and tips on managing volunteers for successful Open Streets initiatives. Panelists shared different roles for volunteers, winning strategies for organizing volunteers throughout the planning process, how to recruit volunteers for Open Streets and much more.

Panelists on this call included: Liza Pratt, Volunteer and Logistics Manager, Sunday Streets (San Francisco) Julia Kim, Open Streets Director and Becca Dill, Volunteer Coordinator, Active Transportation Alliance and Open Streets Chicago Leslie Luciano, Membership and Community Relations Director, Viva Streets Austin and Bike Texas
How many volunteers?
When thinking about how many volunteers you need, its important to look at the logistics of your route. Julia Kim of the Active Transportation Alliance budgets about 100 volunteers per mile for Open Streets Chicago. The number of volunteers needed will depend on several factors: the number of intersections along the route, the number of supporting activities run by volunteers (as opposed to partners) and the duration of your event (longer Open Streets will need more volunteers). Be sure to calculate the number of volunteers you will need for event set up and break down.

Promotion and Recruitment

Post your volunteer sign-up form online as early as possible so that potential interested volunteers can sign up right away. Pick a registration tool. Google forms offer a simple way to manage volunteer sign-ups. Open Streets Chicago uses a program called Race it, while Sunday Streets uses Volunteers for Salesforce a plugin that links directly to their database. The Active Transportation Alliance co-promotes volunteer opportunities for Open Streets Chicago with the 4 Star Bike Tour, which happens just a few weeks before the Open Streets. Build your volunteer list over time. Both the Active Transportation Alliance and Sunday Streets have accumulated up a large list of volunteers from previous Open Streets that they can draw upon when doing outreach. Look online for new volunteers. Panelists suggested promoting volunteer opportunities through social media and online cycling communities. Draw teams of volunteers by working with partner organizations. Active Transportation Alliance offers a donation to non-profit partners like church groups, schools, and Greek 1

Managing Volunteers for Open Streets Events Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, June 26, 2013
societies that bring a team of at least 15 volunteers. This both increases the number of volunteers and helps to promote the event to a wider variety of groups. Reach out directly to civic organizations, service groups, and schools in the area through which your Open Streets route will pass. Sunday Streets emphasizes recruiting volunteers from within their routes neighborhoods. This helps promote the event and gives the community a greater sense of ownership over Sunday Streets. Having volunteers from the neighborhood really helps, said Liza. They know who to talk to, and have more credibility amongst local businesses owners and residents when discussing Sunday Streets.

Training and Turnout

Consider when your trainings will be held. At Sunday Streets, all volunteers must attend at least one training per season. Orientation sessions are offered both during the week and on the day of the initiative. While trainings during the workweek are more robust and discuss the Sunday Streets in more depth, many potential volunteers arent able to attend during the week. In order to lower the barriers to volunteering, Sunday Streets started offering trainings right before each volunteer shift. Much like Sunday Streets, Open Streets Chicago has been the victim of low turnouts at in-person volunteer trainings in the past. This year were looking at focusing more on one-on-one training with group leaders and individual on-site trainings for volunteers, said Becca Dill of the Active Transportation Alliance. This new strategy includes holding 30-minute one-on-one phone calls with leaders of volunteer groups, so that volunteer organizers feel a strong commitment to the initiative. If one person doesnt show up, we can get around it, but when 15 people dont show up, its difficult to manage, added Becca. Use training as screening. Phone calls and trainings are also a good way to filter out less reliable volunteers. If they cant commit to attending a short training, they probably arent reliable enough to work at the event. The Active Transportation Alliance has shifted their focus from trying to train each volunteer to training volunteer managers who oversee each block during an event, ensuring they know how to handle common situations. Volunteer managers are mostly Active Transportation Alliance staff members. All volunteers still receive some training the day of the event before their shift starts. Be in touch. When people register to volunteer for Open Streets Chicago months ahead of time, Becca makes sure to periodically contact them to keep them involved and make sure they dont forget about their commitment. I like to email them about every 4 weeks with announcements, fun information and other volunteer activities, she said. I inevitably get a couple of cancelations with each email and I would rather know in advance than right before the event.

Managing Volunteers for Open Streets Events Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Day of the Event
At Sunday Streets, there are 2 volunteer shifts of about three hours each. There are a few different types of volunteers at Sunday Streets: Route Rabbits, Intersection Monitors and Information Booth attendants (learn more about these roles here). Volunteers also help with set up and break down of the route by doing things like putting up temporary signage and placing temporary barricades on the street. Volunteers for Open Streets Chicago are asked to show up at least 30 minutes before their session starts. Volunteers must also sign in and sign out so staff can keep track of how many volunteers they have at any one time. This is especially important for nonprofit volunteer groups Active Transportation Alliance staff must ensure that they have the required amount of volunteer time to earn their donation. Prepare for no-shows. Youre always going to have about 30% of volunteers not show up, said Julia. Both Open Streets Chicago and Sunday Streets have floaters volunteers who plug in the gaps when volunteers dont show up. Check in with your volunteers during the event. Throughout the day, volunteer managers should move around the route and should be in communication with one another via walkie-talkie or cell phone. Managers should be empowered to rearrange volunteers to let people test out a few jobs and to keep everybody happy & engaged. This is important in volunteer retention, as some jobs are not as exciting or engaging as others.

Volunteer Retention and Appreciation

Encouraging volunteers to return makes life easier for everyone: the volunteers know what they are doing, and organizers dont have to work as hard to recruit and train. Build relationships and show your volunteers how important they are. Sunday Streets staff and interns spend a lot of the day walking along the route and checking in with volunteers, building up relationships and keeping people happy. Volunteers who help at five or more Sundays Streets get a jacket or sweatshirt as a further sign of thanks. Organize appreciation events. Sunday Streets staff throw social events for volunteers, usually a happy hour during the middle of the season and a party at the end of the year. These show appreciation for volunteers and build camaraderie amongst regular helpers. Open Streets Chicago profiles their volunteers periodically on the Active Transportation Alliance blog. The organization also holds awards at the end of the year to provide special recognition for particularly dedicated volunteers. Volunteers can also earn free membership if they volunteer for a certain number of hours. Both Sunday Streets and Active Transportation Alliance provide free food to volunteers on the day of the event, and always send thank you messages to volunteers immediately after the event.

Managing Volunteers for Open Streets Events Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Challenges
Phones can be a distraction. Open Streets Chicago tells volunteers that while they want them to have their phones, they should only be used for contacting volunteer managers. Consider which roles are best for younger volunteers. Teenagers are generally great at hands-on tasks and jobs that involve technology. Sunday Streets utilizes high school students in event prep because its more active and keeps them stimulated. Pairing younger volunteers with more experienced volunteers can also help everybody on track. Another challenge is finding tasks that people can do in large groups. Groups of people who show up to volunteer together often think they are all going to be working side-byside, but it is often necessary to break them up into smaller groups along the route.

Additional Resources
Sunday Streets Volunteer Brochure - A trifold pamphlet that answers common questions about volunteering at San Franciscos Sunday Streets events. Volunteer Sign Up Form for Open Streets Chicago - Active Transportation Alliances Open Streets volunteer sign up form provides a good example. Sample volunteer assignments - This document, from Sunday Streets, shows job desciprtions for different types of volunteers.