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Advertise your roles on the Volunteer Website

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volunteer.extinctionrebellion.uk

This website works just like a jobs board and aims to help volunteers find roles and groups to find volunteers. Any XR UK group can apply for an account and recruit this way - you just need an official email address. In practice, the site is mainly used by UK-wide, national and regional groups which are less likely to find their people on the streets or at an in-person meeting.

On this website we've used the term 'volunteer' throughout rather than 'rebel' as it is better understood by people completely new to XR.

Start by looking at role descriptions on the Volunteer Website for ideas on how to best promote your roles.

Setting up a team account

To get started, you will need to get a group account. Please check with your team, or with us at volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk, if you are not sure whether or not you have an account. Most teams now do have an account already. If you are sure you don't, follow these steps:

  1. Go to volunteer.extinctionrebellion.uk/integrator
  2. Watch the short (7 min) video which explains how the site works.
  3. Scroll down and click 'Create group account'.
  4. Use your XR group's email to set up an account - this needs to be an email that is checked regularly (please note we can't take personal email addresses).
  5. The application comes to the Pathways team for approval.
  6. Once the application is approved, you will receive an email with a link to click on to complete the registration.
  7. You are up and running and ready to post roles!
  8. LOGGING IN! When you open the Volunteer website, to log in to your Integrator account, scroll to the bottom of the website to the black section and select Integrator Home.

Writing an appealing role

  1. De-jargon! Try to look through the eyes of someone who knows nothing about XR. You can explain the ‘correct’ terms for things later if needed but for now communication is key e.g.:

☹ Internal Coordinator, External Coordinator, Integrator, regen, rebel

😊 Team Guide, Team Representative, Team Builder, wellbeing, volunteer

  1. Make it accessible Volunteers rarely have both good skills and lots of time. Asking for lots of time excludes certain groups of people and makes us less diverse as a movement. Can you break down the role? e.g. Internal Coordinators often get asked to do everything!

☹ Internal Coordinator (hours: full-time)

😊
Team Guide (hours: 5-9 per week)
Recruiter (hours: <1 per week)
Newbie Support Person (hours: 1-2 per week)
Wellbeing Champion (hours: 1-2 per week)
Secretary (hours: 1-2 per week)
Admin helper (hours: 1-2 per week)
Facilitator (hours: 1 per week)
Team tech support (hours: 1-2 per week )

For internal coordinator roles in particular we suggest that you advertise "shadowing" or "trainee" roles so that there is always someone in training. It helps to make the role more fun and give continuity - it is often difficult for a new coordinator to pick up the reins from scratch once a coordinator has moved on. We should pass on our knowledge!

  1. Be clear what you want someone to do, especially in the job title. The more specific you are, the more likely you are to get what you are looking for. However, if you just need more team members and plan to find out what they want to do later that's fine too! If you do this, try to have a few tasks your newbie can help with right away.

  1. Include key words in your description. On the site, volunteers can search for roles that contain particular words. Ask yourself which words people are most likely to search for if they want a role like yours and then include them in your ad - ideally in the role title.

  1. Consider the type of role: do you need a permanent member of the team or could the work be done as a time-limited project? The second of these is likely to attract more people, especially those who are skill-rich but time-poor.

  1. Create an eye-catching role ad using HTML
    We are hoping that a future update will make creating nice layouts on the Volunteer Website easier. But for now you can use the above advice to help you make your adverts eye-catching. (click on the green heading above).

    You can also find some simple tips by clicking the little circular 'i' information button when filling in your role description. BUT if all this foxes you please don't be put off! Short ads are perfectly fine without any fancy formatting. Please do just check how your role looks on the live site, though, to fix any issues such as hard-to-read blocks of text before you finish editing. Just give us a shout (email address below) if you have problems.

  1. Consider trying out several different titles for your role. You can even experiment by posting the role more than once and see which gets the best engagement.

Data Protection

It is very important to be aware that you are handling people's personal data and to treat it with the greatest respect. The data on the site is protected by website security and should not be copied elsewhere unless necessary, in which case it should be deleted as soon as possible. All integrators must read, understand and sign our Volunteer Agreement which contains our Data Protection Policy. (We ask new volunteers to sign this, after all!)

Site support is available by emailing volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk

The Volunteer Website has been set up by the UK Pathways team and is maintained by the UK Pathways and UK Digital teams.

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