“I’m IN,” an inaugural skill and networking building experience designed for established alumni leaders and new prospective alumni volunteers, was executed November 17-19, 2020, aiming to enhance the volunteer experience, and build around volunteer participation and engagement goals by:
Giving an overview of what it means to volunteer for UChicago
Inviting alumni to serve with UChicago in the volunteer capacity that best meets their personal interests and alumni stage of life
Providing content to retain veteran volunteers as they move through diverse capacities of volunteer leadership
Hosting an interactive forum for ideas, feedback, and peer interaction among UChicago volunteers and alumni
Responding to critical societal issues of racial justice and social equity through community dialogue
Emphasizing volunteerism and annual giving as a combined source of impact benefitting the UChicago community
Along with live engagement, plans were made to offer pre-recorded sessions to signal value and prompt further interest prior to the start of the experience, along with select sessions being available for ongoing reference for new alumni volunteers, and ensuring any member of the community has resources to clarify steps to get more involved at any time.
From the Judges
We loved that this entry was very intentional about setting their goal, their strategy for engaging their volunteers, and created evergreen content as well. All of the areas of the volunteer lifecycle were addressed in some way—even those like sunsetting volunteers, which can be a difficult process. They handled that in a way that expressed thanks and helped those volunteers decide how they could continue to be involved in a different way, leaving a better feeling for all involved.
