Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator, West Philadelphia Alliance for Children

Posted by on February 04, 2013

Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator, West Philadelphia Alliance for Children

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children’s mission is to promote childhood literacy by engaging volunteers in Philadelphia public schools through re-opening and staffing libraries, academic mentoring, and after-school enrichment. In our vision, every Philadelphia student will be empowered with the literacy skills vital to the success of the child and the prosperity of our community.

WePAC is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which runs three volunteer programs in public elementary schools in West and Southwest Philadelphia:
•    School library opening and staffing. WePAC volunteers serve as volunteer librarians in 12 elementary schools. Teachers bring their classes to the library on a regular schedule, and WePAC volunteers read stories with the children and do activities related to the stories. Volunteers then help students select and check out books which they can borrow for independent reading. Our goal is to make early reading fun and books readily available to young students, so that they develop a life-long love of reading.
•    Classroom literacy support. WePAC volunteers serve in K-2 classrooms during the literacy block of instruction. Classroom literacy volunteers work with individual students, or small groups of students, on literacy skills while the classroom teacher works with the rest of the class.
•    After-school newspaper clubs. WePAC volunteers run after-school newspaper clubs for students in grades 5-7. Students in newspaper clubs conduct interviews and write stories about their school. Each club publishes several editions of the newspaper each year for distribution to the school community.
WePAC is looking for a Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator with significant experience in volunteer recruitment and orientation. WePAC’s continued growth and expansion is dependent on increasing the number of volunteers serving in our partner schools and increasing the number of partner schools. The Coordinator will be responsible for publicizing WePAC’s volunteer opportunities throughout the region. The Coordinator will be expected to explore on-line, hard copy, and in person opportunities to present WePAC’s call for volunteers. Creativity in discovering and promoting ways to recruit new volunteers is crucial to WePAC’s growth, and the Coordinator will be expected to expand our reach in presenting volunteer opportunities to many audiences.

The Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator will actively seek opportunities to present WePAC’s request for volunteers to groups such as colleges and universities, service organizations, community groups, faith-based institutions, and professional organizations.

The Coordinator will respond to inquiries from potential volunteers, make sure that potential volunteers understand WePAC’s mission and programs, orient new volunteers to our programs, and help them complete all initial requirements (registration, background checks, volunteer guidelines, etc.). The Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator will work collaboratively with the Library Programs Coordinator and Literacy Enrichment Programs Coordinator in finding the most appropriate volunteer placement for new volunteers.

Some of the skills and abilities which will make the Coordinator successful include:

Comfort and confidence in public presentations and public speaking
•    A proven track record of success in volunteer recruitment
•    Belief in, and commitment to, WePAC’s mission
•    Ability to relate to and work with people of diverse backgrounds and experience
•    Competency in the use of technology and social media for recruitment
•    Commitment to public education in Philadelphia
•    Creative thinking in developing new recruitment tools and strengthening existing tools
•    Excellent writing skills
This position is an hourly position for approximately 30 hours per week. Due to the fact that some volunteer recruitment efforts may take place on weekends or evenings, flexibility to accommodate those efforts will be required. Access to reliable transportation is a plus. This position will be very important to WePAC’s future success and growth, and presents the possibility of becoming a full-time position.

Contact:

David S. Florig, J.D.
Executive Director
215.990.6084
dave@wepac.org