There are a variety of ways you can get involved with Make.Shift.  We can’t say it enough – we love volunteers and we want you to get involved where your interests lie.  We have regular staff and program coordinators that lead various aspects of Make.Shift.  We try to match new volunteers with one of these folks depending on what you want to help out with.  But, of course you’re never limited from being involved in multiple programs at any level of time commitment that works for you!  All we ask is that you communicate regularly with the staff member that you’re working with, and you use email or other means to stay informed.  Please review the following sections for more information.

1.    Volunteer Orientation
We have regular volunteer orientations because we want you to know what we’re about and give you a better idea of how you can get involved.  All volunteers are required to attend.

The next volunteer orientation is:

Wednesday, May 16th, at 6:30pm.

2.    Programs, Committees and Staff Positions
After the orientation, let us know what you’re interested in, and we’ll hook you up with the Staff member that’s responsible for that aspect of Make.Shift.  If you’re not sure what you want to do or you’re just interested in whatever, let’s talk about where we could use help and what you’re good at to get you plugged in.  Talk to us after the orientation or shoot us an email (volunteer(at)makeshiftproject.com).

3.    Meetings and Communication
The Executive Committee, and other required staff attend regular meetings to keep everyone in the loop about what’s going on, bounce ideas off each other, and make decisions about what to do next.   The Board also has meetings at least quarterly.  Our volunteers are welcome to attend these meetings but it’s not required unless you’re on the agenda for a discussion topic.  However, the staff member you’re working with may establish regular meetings and you are required to attend these, or coordinate with the person in charge when you can’t be there.   We are looking into having regular staff meetings/work parties every month or two that would be a chance to update our volunteers on where we’re at, as well as a newsletter.  Hopefully coming soon!

Also, email is an important means of communication for us.  Volunteers communicate regularly via email depending on the projects they’re involved in.  Make.Shift has contact lists that we use when we need to inform our volunteers about important goings-on, or let people know when we need help with tasks like work parties and event tabling.

What kinds of tasks can you work on as a volunteer?
The answer is – all kinds!  But here are some of the tasks volunteers typically participate in, take a look and be sure to let us know what sparks your interest:

• Operate the Power Wheel or volunteer to table at an event
• Help us with regular maintenance of Jinx
• Drive the Magic Van
• Plan a fundraising event
• Hang a show in the gallery, staff a gallery event
• Solicit monetary or in-kind donations from the community
• Drive around town picking up supplies
• Fix and build things!
• Write a grant proposal
• Write job descriptions or a press release
• Staff the practice space or (future) silkscreening studio
• Plan or lead a workshop
• Design a zine or a poster
• Flyer for an event
• Write content for the website
• Seek out local music for the local music library

Please email volunteer(at)makeshiftproject.com if you are interested in attending an orientation and getting involved.  We look forward to hearing from you!