Frequently Asked Questions

For New Partners • For Agency Contacts/Administrators  • General Questions

Questions and Answers:

For New Partners:

How can I tell if my agency is already a partner with Hands On?

You can visit our Partner Directory and search for your agency's name. If you don't find it, you're probably not in our database as a partner. If you're pretty sure you have been a partner in the past but don't see your agency's name, contact us and we can check to see if your account has been inactivated or remains pending in our system.

How does my agency become a partner with Hands On?

In order to become a partner with Hands On Northeast Ohio, your agency must be a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit, school or government entity (excluding political campaigns) located in Cuyahoga, Geauga or Medina County, Ohio. Your organization must also have a non-discrimination policy. If all these criteria are met, you can begin the process by following the steps outlined on our New Partner Page.
 

I'm curious to learn more about Hands On and figure out if/how my agency can use it to our advantage. Where I can I go for more information?

If you've already perused the Partner Pages on our website, feel free to give us a call to discuss your specific needs. Additionally, you are welcome to attend one of our Agency Orientations, designed specifically to acquaint our agencies with the services we offer and the different ways you can advertise your volunteer opportunities on our website.

I submitted an Agency Registration Form on your website awhile ago, but I can't figure out how to post my volunteer project; what am I missing?

If you've submitted an Agency Registration Form on our website, you are pending in our system until we receive a partnership agreement, verification of non-profit status, and a copy of your agency's nondiscrimination policy (we have a template if you don't already have one in print). You can download these items on our New Partner Page, and either send or fax them to us at the designated address. Once you've completed this step, you can attend a agency orientation and/or give us a call to discuss your personal needs and be added as an administrator to your agency's account.

For Agency Contacts/Administrators:

I forgot my username and password.

Your username will be the email you used when you signed up for an individual profile. If you're missing your password, contact us and we can reset it for you. We'll also tell you which email address you're signed up with if you can't remember.

I can't sign in to the admin site.

There may be a few things barring you from signing onto the admin site. First, make sure you have an individual profile, apart from your agency's profile. You'll need to have a unique email address to sign up with an individual profile, so if you're taking over for a previous volunteer manager and inheriting the same email, you'll have to contact us directly to get the email transferred to your name.

Once you have an individual profile with a username (your email) and password, you'll need to gain administrative access by contacting our staff, who will get you set up and invite you to a Agency Orientation or take the online orientation to discover more about Hands On's volunteer models and learn how to navigate our admin site, post projects, etc.

I'm taking over for _____ as volunteer coordinator and I need to access our account, but _____ didn't leave any log-in information.

Don't worry! All you have to do is create your own individual profile and then contact our staff and ask us to link you with your agency's profile. This will allow you to gain access to our admin site. See the previous question's answer for more information.

I'm curious to learn more about Hands On and figure out how to post volunteer opportunities with you.

Come to a Agency Orientation or take an online orientation. They're free and informative, designed to acquaint you with how Hands On works and teach you the basics of navigating our admin site to post/edit your agency's volunteer opportunities.

How can I delete all the old projects associated with my agency in the admin site? We don't use those descriptions any more and they just clutter everything!

Good question. Unfortunately, the way our system works, we keep all projects associated with your agency for tracking purposes, to see how many volunteer connections were made from year to year. If you have an obnoxiously long list of past postings that you'd really like to see go away,  contact us. We're currently in correspondence with the Hands On Network web technicians to see if we can archive them in a different location.

I have a really awesome group volunteer event coming up this weekend; can it be including on your project calendar?

Unfortunately, no. Due to the way our website works, we need advanced notice to post your project. Our project calendar is for Hands On Managed Projects only. These programs must meet the following criteria: evening and weekend, hands on in nature, for 4 or more people and reoccuring for your agency. Once a partner with Hands On for our Managed Projects, we need time to allow time for volunteers to sign up and for us to match your project with a qualified Hands On Volunteer Leader, who will help manage the volunteers on the day of the project each session it occurs (1 a month, 2 a month, etc). We'd be happy to post your project as a referral option if you don't get it to us in time but we do warn our partners that opportunity posted for only a short period of time (e.g. 1-2 weeks) have a much lower chance of attracting volunteers.

I posted a referral opportunity with you last month and haven't received any emails; why am I not getting any volunteers? What can I do to attract more people to the opportunity?

Referral opportunities tend to get slightly less press than the Calendar Projects, simply because our Calendar is what we are known for. However, many volunteers come to our site looking for longer term, specialized, or fundraising types of volunteer opportunities, and it's through the search box that they find your event. Make sure you include keywords in your title and description, and give the title a catchy boost that will make potential volunteers want to click and learn more! For more ideas on how to beef up your descriptions for maximum volunteer interest contact us with questions.

General Questions:

I hear you work with corporate groups looking to volunteer; how can I get my agency involved with these volunteer groups?

Hands On works with corporate groups to mobilize employees for a day of service or long term committment. This is a great way for non-profits to form a relationship with a local business. Typically, these projects are 3-5 hours long and serve a target issue area (for example, children or health). If you would like to propose a project for a future Business Shares event or would like to set up a specialized needs assessment at your agency location, please contact Jeff Griffiths at jeff@handsonneo.org.