Coastal Pet Rescue Volunteer Handbook
Volunteer Expectations
Commitment
Volunteers are expected to be committed to Coastal Pet Rescue’s mission and philosophies and while attending events to conduct themselves appropriately. If you have questions regarding our programs or activities, please ask before participating. Volunteers are not required to attend every activity or event, but if you agree to participate in an activity or event, you are expected to adhere to that commitment. If you choose to do so, you may cease volunteering with Coastal Pet Rescue upon the completion of any volunteer assignment, or when you are not currently engaged in an assignment. You may stay subscribed to the e-mail lists as long as you wish, regardless of your volunteering status with us. If you should decide to not volunteer with us any longer, we would appreciate it if you would please send the Volunteer Coordinator an e-mail to let us know that you will no longer be volunteering with us. We ask that you notify the Volunteer Coordinator so that other arrangements may be made in a timely manner, prior to our next event.
Treatment of Animals
Animals are to be treated kindly, gently, and professionally, at all times.
Confidentiality
All volunteers are expected to maintain confidentiality of all proprietary or privileged information to which they are exposed while serving as a volunteer. This includes information that may involve board members, other volunteers, clients, sponsors and/or the overall business of Coastal Pet Rescue.
Conduct
As a volunteer, you are a representative of Coastal Pet Rescue. When involved in our events or when wearing your volunteer attire, you are expected to present a good image of the organization at all times. This includes language. Please be respectful of our attendants as well as your fellow volunteers. If you disagree with someone, another volunteer, potential adopter, sponsor or event attendee, please refer the matter to the event coordinator. It is unacceptable to act unprofessionally at any time while at a CPR sponsored event or function.
Fundraising for Coastal Pet Rescue
You may encourage donations for Coastal Pet Rescue at any time. Donation jars may be made available to you as requested. Any direct or indirect solicitation of commercial businesses must be done through prior Board approval. You may feel free to present your lead at any time, but all correspondence needs to be handled through the board to keep our books in order and eliminate any miscommunication.
Volunteer Attire
Volunteers must dress appropriately throughout participation. Our insurance requires that you be easily identified by the public as a volunteer. Event volunteers must wear a Coastal Pet Rescue shirt and/or name badge identifying them as a volunteer. Shirts are available periodically for pre-order or through our website as inventory is available. Attire requirements will be posted with each event’s information.
Media Procedures
So efforts are not duplicated and information is accurate, it is essential that for any dealings with the media must be brought to the attention of the Public Relations Coordinator or the executive board. Media includes anything printed, broadcast, or televised about Coastal Pet Rescue. We welcome any contacts or story ideas you may have and ask that you direct them to the Public Relations Coordinator.
Harassment
Coastal Pet Rescue maintains a policy forbidding harassment of volunteers whether by supervisory volunteers, fellow volunteers, or other individuals that a volunteer may come into contact with as part of their assigned task or event. Harassment is deemed to have occurred when the conduct interferes with the volunteer’s performance at the assigned task or event or creates a hostile environment for the volunteer.
Coastal Pet Rescue requests that any volunteer who may experience such harassment to promptly notify the Volunteer Coordinator, the President (CEO), or an executive board member in order that an investigation can take place and appropriate action taken.
Drugs and Alcohol
Drugs and alcohol are not to be used by volunteers during activities and events. (Exceptions for alcohol consumption are given for our annual Cruise for Critters and Bowl-a-Thon events for those persons legally of age.)
Theft
Theft of any Coastal Pet Rescue materials is cause for immediate dismissal from the volunteer program. Depending on the severity of the theft, legal action may also occur.
Health
All volunteers should be in general good health. Any physical limitation should be noted on the application for volunteer service so appropriate work may be selected. If it is discovered at the assigned event that you are unable to fully perform an assigned task, please consult with the Volunteer Coordinator promptly so that you can be assigned an alternative task.
Medical Coverage
Coastal Pet Rescue currently holds only liability for its board members and attendees at our events. With the help of additional funding, we are working to obtain accident coverage for all active volunteers. Therefore, all volunteers are required to sign a hold-harmless waiver for the protection of the organization and are required to have their own health insurance coverage before participating.
Communications (business documents, email, forum, blogs):
Business Documents
Any documents produced or received by a volunteer during the course of his or her participation are the proprietary property of Coastal Pet Rescue and therefore, are not to be copied or transmitted to any other parties by any method, including but not limited to, E-mail transmission or physical removal, without the prior written consent of the President.
e-Mail
The e-mail and Internet access provided by Coastal Pet Rescue to volunteers are solely for business purposes and therefore, Coastal Pet Rescue reserves the right to access and review any and all volunteers’ e-mail messages and Internet activity that stem from the sources provided by Coastal Pet Rescue. Thus, there should be no expectation of privacy in regards to any email or internet activity that is derived from sources provided by Coastal Pet Rescue. In addition, Coastal Pet Rescue in its discretion may disclose the contents of e-mail messages and Internet activity when it determines that there is an appropriate reason to do so. All e-mail messages and records of Internet activity are also subject to backup or other form of electronic storage or reproduction.
Volunteers are not permitted to access the e-mail or Internet activity of any other volunteer without the approval of that volunteer or the approval of the President.
No one may solicit, promote or advertise any organization, product or service through the use of Coastal Pet Rescue e-mail accounts. Volunteers are not permitted to send e-mail that contains ethnic slurs, racial epithets, or anything that may be construed to harrass or disparage others based on their race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, religious or political beliefs.
Coastal Pet Rescue reserves the right to determine when a volunteer is sending excessive or improper e-mail. The e-mail is Coastal Pet Rescue’s asset and is subject to review or monitoring at any time without notice.
If at any point you receive any e-mail that you feel is inappropriate, for any reason, and you believe you have received it in conjunction with your involvement with Coastal Pet Rescue, please forward the email and other details about the communication to the Volunteer Coordinator immediately.
Forum
The volunteer forum exists to facilitate ideas between volunteers, coordinators and the executive board. All participants are expected to be respectful of others. Profanity, sexual content, and harassment will not be tolerated. Messages are monitored and will be removed as needed. Your participation in the forum is exclusively at the discretion of Coastal Pet Rescue; therefore, if you post profane, untrue or harassing messages, your privileges to the forum may be revoked.
Blogs
Blogs by volunteers are encouraged to chronicle experiences with animal rescue. Volunteers are expected not to defame the organization or other volunteers. You must realize that blog content is held to the same standards as print and may be subject libel claims. Your participation in the blog is exclusively at the discretion of Coastal Pet Rescue; therefore, if you post profane, untrue or harassing messages, your privileges to the forum may be revoked.
Suggestions
As you go about your volunteer activities, you may notice ways to improve the quality or efficiency of your volunteer service. We ask that you share these ideas with the Volunteer Coordinator through daily conversation, in meetings, or through a note via email or you can use the volunteer forum to explain your idea. After considering your suggestion, the Volunteer Coordinator will let you know whether or not your suggestion will be implemented and, if so, what action will be taken. Be on the lookout for improvements. Your ideas can make a difference in the level of our success and the quality of our volunteer program.
Recruitment of other volunteers
Tell your friends about our program and entice them to volunteer their services.
Online Safety
The safety of our volunteers is important to us. To that end, Coastal Pet Rescue will not release a volunteer’s phone number, age or other personal information to anyone outside of our organization or to other any volunteer without that volunteer’s written permission to do so.
For Virtual Volunteers:
Online Orientation: Volunteers are expected to follow all instructions provided to them in the online orientation and trainings. After their submission of a completed volunteer application, the volunteer shall receive an email that will include, but is not limited to, subscribing to the volunteer list serve and following the reporting guidelines outlined in the orientation. By replying to this orientation with a request for an assignment, the volunteer is agreeing to both the policies set forth in this orientation email and the policies outlined in this volunteer handbook.
Anti-Virus Software: The nature of online volunteering means a lot of contact between computers — e-mails, attachments, transfers of files, etc. Because of this interaction, volunteers and organizations can be at risk for transmitting computer viruses between each other. All online volunteers should have anti-virus software installed on any computer they use in conjunction with virtual volunteering, and we expect you to update this software regularly.
