Charity Liaison

Basic Department Description

Your job is to liaison between the convention and the Charity for whatever needs either side may have and to keep track of the donations, etc.

What skills are handy for those in this position?

• Communication skills
• Organizational skills

• What is your staff email?

• [email protected] (These are the forward facing “job” emails that get posted to the public and forward emails to your personal VF email. Your personal VF email is what you log in to and use to read and respond to emails.)

Yearly Responsibilities

What do you need to do during the year for your department to function before con?

• Contact the chosen charity to see if they accept being out charity
• Let chairs know if they accept/decline
• Once chairs confirm it being a thing, converse with them about release dates
• Once release dates have been set, communicate with website and social media about those release dates and the information that should go up.
• One of the items the website will need is a writeup from the charity for their website page. (The charity will want to provide this as it is how THEY want to represent themselves to our attendees. You will need to ask them for one!)
• Converse with them about what they wish to do at the convention and propose ideas such as fundraiser panels, informational panels, bringing in an animal if that’s okay with the hotel staff (ask hotel lead), getting them a table in the dealers den/artist alley or a specific charity area (possibly just outside the DD so it gets lots of traffic.)
• Make sure you communicate their needs to the relevant staff to get their weekend schedule situated.
• Keep in mind they may not know their availability until much closer to the event as animal emergencies do happen, etc. They have limited volunteers so be patient and work with them.
• Ask them if they wish to provide their own donation boxes or if they want us to provide something.
• Confirm schedule closer to the con and make sure you have been keeping in touch with staff and the charity about any shuffles or changes that had to be made so that things can be resolved as early as possible.
• Make sure you are sending reminders to social media about posting about the charity and if you have any information on what they are bringing to the event, what panels they will be doing, etc that you tell social media this so they can promote it!
• Some staff and GOHs may put on benefit panels for the charity. You need to be on top of these and make sure you have a team member there to collect donations and count everything.
• At con, you and your team are to keep track of the incoming donations. The charity WILL take in their own donations at their table and they just keep those but make sure you ask how much it was. The money our staff/events receive for the charity will be calculated and presented as a cheque to the charity.

Are there things you need to order during the year?

• No (we did order some charity boxes in 2017 but i doubt you will need to order anything else/more.)

• Do you need a function space map created for your department?

• No but the charity table should be clearly marked on all relevant maps! Double check this!

What do you need to do during the year to function AT CON?

• All the above
• Make sure the charity has a contact for you for AT CON (phone, text, etc) so that they are not left hanging if they need help. You and your 2nd/team will be making sure they get to where they need to be, etc.

How many volunteers do you need to function well AT CON? (make sure everyone has proper breaks in their at con schedule!)

• You should at least have a 2nd. If there are gaps in availability, find someone to fill those gaps!

What equipment do you need to function well AT CON?

• Yourself, donation collection buckets/boxes + pen/paper/calculator or some other recording tool to keep track of donations.

What staff will you be working with AT CON?

• Hotel lead, Programming and possibly theater. (maybe more.)

• Make a note of which updates/prompts should be sent to Social Media. (Remember, they can send out notices for more volunteers, due date reminders, opening dates, etc!)

• Who the charity is and their website
• A short blurb on what they do
• Any big events they are hosting should be retweeted (Make sure the social media watch their twitter page if applicable. Or facebook, etc.)
• What they are planning on doing at our event (panels, etc.)
• Reminders throughout the year for them to post about the charity. (maybe see if the charity would let us post up some of their photos along side the tweets to get people interested. Pictures speak 1000 words when it comes to social media.)

Your Department on the Website/in the Conbook

Do you need a website/conbook page/blurb for your department/event? What information do you need on this page/blurb? Do you need to provide a layout design?

• Yes! You should have a blurb for the website AND conbook
• You do not need to provide a layout for them however you will need to provide the text and a photo or logo from the charity for use on the page. Charities usually have a blurb and a picture for these sorts of things, so ask them!

• Make sure to have someone look over the information before sending it to the respective lead.
• Send it to the respective lead.
• Make sure to test the contact page (website) that the form sends an email to you.
• Make sure that your email is listed on the contact page (website) outside of the form.
• If you have any future updates, make sure to send them to the Web Lead!
• If you spot any mistakes in your blurb for the conbook, make sure to contact them ASAP about it!

6 Months before con, what do you need to have done?

• Make sure people know, clearly, who the charity is on our social media
• Make sure that by now they have been added to the website
• Should have a basic outline of what the charity wants to do by now
• Look into panelists who may be willing to do a charity fundraiser (Guests via GOH liaison, chairs, staff, etc.)

3 Months before con, what do you need to have done?

• Do you have enough volunteers to cover the needs of the charity over the weekend? Someone to be at their panels with a donation collection box/to record any donations made. Someone on call to help them if they aren’t sure where they need to be next, to be at staff/guest run fundraisers, etc!
• Make sure your game plan and their schedule is about as finalized as it can be until they know for sure what volunteers they can have for the weekend.
• If the Charity table is not in a room but in a hallway, contact hotel to confirm where is okay, etc. (Outside of dealers den has previously been great but always check!)
• You should start building a schedule for your team. Make sure you have yourself and at least 1 other person on staff (a 2nd or other lead) who they can contact if needed. They should also check in with charity, make sure they get to their panels, etc.

1 Month before con, what do you need to have done?

• Send in your BEO’s to Hotel Lead. (Banquet Event/Equipment Order. This is what the hotel needs to set up for your room if applicable. Tables, chairs, etc. You also need a layout of how the room is to be put together with those items.)

• For charity, make sure you know where the charity table is being setup and if its in another department's room, confirm with them their BEO’s are sent! If its not in a specific room, make sure to talk to the hotel lead and make sure spacing in confirmed.

• Send in any needed information to the Conbook for print. (make sure the conbook has the charity writeup and info for print! Dont wait!)

After the Convention/Before the Firing Party

• Make sure all your volunteers (and yourself) got inputted into the system for their hours.
• Update your guide with any new/relevant information/changes.
• A staff feedback survey will be emailed out and sent into the staff chats. Please fill this out ASAP!
• Make any staffing suggestions to the next years’ chair. (If you want to work again, staff who excelled and where, etc.)
• If VancouFur owes you money for department spending, PLEASE PLEASE send your reciepts to [email protected] & [email protected] and then fill out the budget form if provided.

Break down of contacts

Who on staff do you need to be in contact with regularly for your department to function?

• Hotel Lead, Programming, Guest Liaison if you want guest fundraiser panels, etc.

Who is your executive contact?

• Business Executive/Director

Do you have contacts outside of VF staff that you should be in contact with?

• The charity

Department Inventory and Ordering Resources

• Charity does not need to order anything or to bring anything other then checking to see if there are donation buckets in storage or to simply bring your own.

Do's and Don'ts of the Department

What worked well/Would suggest doing again?

• Closing ceremonies: having donation buckets go around.
• Having the charity talk at closing ceremonies.

What didn't work/would suggest to avoid?

• Waiting on donation totals from non charity staff manned events. Make sure you have a staff present at all charity fundraiser events/panels so that you can be there to collect and record incoming donations.

What would you suggest to be done for the future years of your department that aren't already in motion?

• At any charity panels, walk around with donation bucket and calculate how much came in and record it! Always record donations!
• Have donation buckets go around during opening and closing ceremonies (talk with theater lead about it!)
• If available, have a charity staff introduce the charity at opening ceremonies (if they have enough volunteers to do so.)
• If they have enough volunteers, push for the charity to have more involvement. Panels, animal showings, etc.

Other Resources

• Add whatever extras you feel are good tips, tricks, resources, contacts, etc for the future years!
• Have a system for you and your team to keep track of numbers/donations
• Have a system/sheet available for staff to see what their shifts are and where they need to be. (Map + hours, colour coded.)

PLEASE REMEMBER

• Always respond to emails/contacts, even if it is just to say “I recieved your email and will get back to you soon!” / “I don't know the answer but I am looking into it for you!”
• Be sure to contact the Chairs or Admin to make sure you have access to the materials you will need for the year like your Staff Email, Access to any folders/sites with materials, etc. (Be on the lookout for invites or emails to these things and check your junk mail too!)
• Make sure you TEST your new staff email (if any) and report problems immediately to the Chairs! (if you haven't gotten any emails in a while, do another test!)
• Make sure you keep all of your information up to date with the convention staff! Contact the volunteers lead to update your information if the volunteers spreadsheet is not available for direct editing!
• Do not WAIT for someone to contact you. If you have a moment to reach out, do so! Depending on who you are working with, the communication road may not be a 2 way street and you will have to do a lot of poking. Please be proactive!
• Do not edit any staff members’ documentation without permission!
• Keep all VancouFur related documents INSIDE the VancouFur Materials folders. Keeping things on your own gdocs and not inside the VancouFur specific folders makes it incredibly difficult to find needed information for all parties without hassling a lot of staff.
• If you need to make something private in the materials folder (Googledocs or wherever it moves to in the future) Make sure that the Chairs, Admin and Executives CAN STILL SEE IT. We need to know where you are and if your files are all hidden we cannot proactively offer help, guidance, or corrections. Otherwise, just keep things public/view only to prevent people from messing with your info.

• Make sure you know who your Executive is! They are there to help you and oversee the branch of departments you are in. Contact [email protected] / [email protected] to check or check the contact page on the website! You can also use the contact sheet for the year