Volunteer Mobilization Project

Step One - Planning and Ideation

A Volunteer Mobilization Project (VMP) must directly benefit your service site and/or the community you are serving. In particular, the project should be something additional to your term of service. Think of the Volunteer Mobilization Project as an opportunity for volunteers to learn more about your site and how they can directly help your site and the community it serves. Asking folks to volunteer to help setup for an event hosted by your site, doing a book/toy drive for waiting rooms at your site and/or asking volunteers to hand out flyers about services your site provides and other awareness issues related to your site are some ideas that can potentially work.

Now let’s get you planning by first by coming up with an idea for your project in partnership with your Site Supervisor. Below are some ideas to help you get started.

Volunteer Mobilization Project Ideas

Don’t have an idea for you own VMP. You can utilize university sanctioned days of service on 9/11 and MLK for your project with approval.

Now that you have an idea in mind, insure that your VMP fulfills the following requirements and guidelines. Your VMP must fulfill the following guidelines and requirements to be accepted as an VMP. The following guidelines and requirements can be found directly below.

Requirements for the project are as follows:

• Work with your Site Supervisor to plan your VMP

• The VMP must directly benefit your service site and/or the community you are serving

• Recruit a minimum of five non-AmeriCorps volunteers (volunteers can be family members, friends, neighbors, etc.)

• Each member must serve a minimum time of one hour per volunteer.

• Members will summarize the experience and its results in the Monthly Progress Report during the month(s) in which project took place.

• Members can do multiple projects throughout their term. Not all five volunteers have to participate in one project on one day. Projects can be spread out during the term.

• Examples of projects that do not fulfill this requirement can be heard in the Monthly Progress Report Video Tutorial.

• Examples on how to fill out your monthly forms when recording your VMP upon completion can be found below

All hours of planning should be logged in your service hour record form. More information and instructions about how to do that properly can be found in step three.

Step Two - Approval and Volunteer Recruitment

Once you have developed your Volunteer Mobilization Project (VMP) idea formulated and planned, please seek approval by presenting your project idea sharing how it meets the outlined requirements to your Site supervisor and Campus Coordinator or Individual placement Coordinator. If you have any questions or want additional guidance please reach out to the OUSF staff.

Now that your project has been approved it’s time to start recruiting your volunteers.

• Recruit a minimum of five (volunteers can be family members, friends, neighbors, etc.)

• Each member must serve a minimum time of one hour per volunteer.

• There is no age requirement

• Your Volunteer or Volunteers cannot be AmeriCorps Members such as another fellow or member of a another AmeriCorps program

• If you choose to share the same qualifying project with another fellow, you cannot share volunteers. You both must separately bring the required number of volunteers.

• Not all five volunteers have to participate in one project on one day. Projects can be spread out during the term.

Step Three - Complete your Projects and forms

Thank you for all your work and completing your project!

Now we want to make sure that you are in compliance with how to properly recored your Volunteer Mobilization project (VMP). Your volunteer mobilization will be recored in service hour record form and monthly progress and demographic report. How to do so can be found in the video found directly below and or by following the below instructions.

Service Hour Record Form

• Your Volunteer mobilization project will be recored in the direct service hour column of your service hour record form

• You must select Volunteer Recruitment/Management/Mobilization (ALL) as your activity description for the day in which you participated in the Volunteer mobilization project (VMP)

• You need to log both your individual hours and the hours of your five volunteers on the date your VMP took place

• You Must log both the planning time of your project and the execution time of your project on the dates they will performed

Monthly Progress and Demographic Report

• All information regrading your VMP will be found on section six of your form

• You will report on four questions regarding, how many volunteers you recruited, how many combined hours they completed combined, and their veteran status.

• These numbers must match what was logged in your service hour record form.

• You will then reflect on your project by answering three questions.

• Please answer the three reflection question with as much detail as possible, in full paragraphs.

Outstanding Volunteer Mobilization Projects

Nicole Plumb - Education (College)

My Volunteer Mobilization Project involves the creation of a pipeline list of math tutors for the organization. Many of our students face difficulties in foundational math skills because of their turbulent childhoods. We have a high need for appropriate, low cost tutors, though it often takes a while to find those kind of resources when the students really need the help now. 

Throughout my service, I have researched tutor options and have helped four students access private tutoring opportunities. Part of finding tutors has included working with students' families to determine how the services would be paid for, if necessary. 

Additionally, I helped to mobilize students from the University of Utah to assist with tutoring efforts during our monthly Saturday Academies. These tutors helped with Spanish, math, and chemistry. They also provided mentoring since the volunteer students are all first generation college students. 

Overall, this project benefited the students we serve as they are able to improve in foundational academic concepts. I heard from a few students specifically how helpful their tutor has been. This project contributes to the overall mission of First Star Academy, which is to "improve the lives of foster youth by partnering with child welfare agencies, universities, and school districts to ensure foster youth have the academic, life skills, and adult supports needed to successfully transition to higher education and adulthood.

Marissa Storey - Education ( K-12)

My Volunteer Mobilization Project was to create "Whisper Phones" for my service location. Whisper Phones are devices that students can use during reading. They hold the device up to their ear and read into it quietly. It can help all of the students focus on reading by helping to facilitate a calmer and quieter reading environment. The phones can also help them to hear and distinguish different sounds more clearly. I gathered the supplies to make the whisper phones and then brought the 6 volunteers together in two different groups of three. The first group measured and cut the PVC pipe to the correct length and put the 90 degree elbow pieces on both ends of each 3 inch pipe length. The second group helped to wrap the PVC pipe in a colored duct tape and decorative tape so it would be visually appealing to the children. They have now been implemented at my service site with great success for some of our students.

Amylia Romele - Healthy Futures

My volunteer mobilization project was distributing flyers at the local Farmers Market that gave details about the Dental Clinic and information to learn more about the service we provide. The volunteers shared the same role by handing out flyers to people from the community to seek out the dental clinic.

We benefited the site that I serve by bringing awareness to the clinic and advertising the services available. This will hopefully bring some new patients into the clinic and raise awareness about all what we offer to the community.

Kathleen Burke- Capacity Building

My first project, I had four volunteers put together and run a conference for clinics throughout the region. They helped me come up with activities to facilitate their learning and how to improve the level of healthcare quality they can offer to their clients. After several days of working to put the conference together, they helped me to put it on the actual day of the conference.

For my second project, I mobilized 2 volunteers, I needed to research the resources available in various communities in the region. We spent the day calling agencies, and asking them where similar services to what they offer exist elsewhere. This was in an effort to put together a resource list for upcoming conferences as a handout.

Do you feel you have an outstanding VMP?

You're welcome to share additional details about your Volunteer Mobilization Project (VMP) with the OUSF staff, including photos and videos. This will provide an opportunity for your project to be featured on our social media channels or website