Volunteer
Department
Burning Man happens because 2500 volunteers are inspired to contribute
to the building, running, and cleaning up of Black Rock City. In many
cases, their work goes beyond the event itself and extends year-round.
Bringing the event to fruition is a yearlong endeavor, and the work of
some volunteer teams continues without the rest. The Volunteer Department
is the hub of the volunteer resource action and works closely with all
other departments to help them fulfill their volunteer needs. Over the
past year, the Volunteer Department significantly expanded and enhanced
Burning Man's capacity to meet the varied challenges of running a city,
and a year-round organization.
Structure of the team
In previous years Burning Man had one organization-wide volunteer coordinator.
In 2001 the Volunteer Department divided its structure into two vital/critical
areas: the Volunteer Management Team and the Volunteer Coordinators. The
Volunteer Management Team consists of a core group of ten generalist volunteer
managers who plan and execute all of the activities of the department.
This team oversees the application and connectivity process for all volunteers,
networks with Volunteer Coordinators from each department, and plans volunteer
recruitment and social events, including the March Town Hall meeting and
the volunteer barbeques in April and July.
The larger group of about 50 Volunteer Coordinators work within each specific
team such as DPW, Web and Tech, Rangers, Café, Greeters, etc., taking
responsibility for welcoming and placement of volunteers onto their team
and generally perform other team functions as well. Decentralizing the
responsibilities of volunteer coordination by mandating each team to identify
the person with these duties, and then bringing these coordinators together
to learn from each other, has significantly improved the volunteer placement
process.
The Volunteer Management Team also worked hard on a volunteer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) guide which is updated on a regular
basis. Quick hint: the FAQ answers guide answers most questions you may
have about volunteering for Burning Man, whereas this report talks about
the activities of the team that makes it all happen.
Training Program
The Volunteer Management Team designed and implemented a training program
for Volunteer Coordinators. In February 2001 over 40 volunteers and staff
members from 20+ departments attended the first training session. During
this meeting we introduced the database to the staff. By summer, the Volunteer
Management Team rolled out a training program for team leaders (also called
captains, leads, foreman, shift managers, etc. depending on the department)
who directly manage volunteers. Our goal for these trainings was to provide
support to the staff to enable them to integrate volunteers more effectively
and to facilitate the use of resource tools that help us place as many
volunteers as possible in the Project.
These trainings provided a rare opportunity for cross-training focused
on what works and does not work. Team leaders also learned about the
roles of other departments and how everything fits together into the
big picture and the goals of the Burning Man organization.
Onsite Volunteering
In 2001 the Volunteer Management Team had the largest presence ever
on the playa. Stationed at Playa
Information, we educated participants about the various immediate
volunteer opportunities available and handled overflow needs from Playa
Information during busy times. Throughout the event the Volunteer Management
Team stayed in constant contact with other departments needing walk-up
volunteers and worked to find people to meet these needs on demand, usually
with success.
Challenges and future plans--- The hardest challenge for the Volunteer
Department is in assisting potential volunteers, who really want to contribute,
navigate through the large organization and to a team which suits their
interest, skills, and available time commitment. While there are more
people involved than ever before, the sheer size and complexity of the
Burning Man organization sometimes makes it difficult for each new person
to feel warmly welcomed.
Getting to know such a large number of volunteers in a short amount of
time is a challenge and answering the literally THOUSANDS of emails we
receive is a time-consuming task. In the future, the team wants to expand,
to improve the use of data in the database, and to continue to organize
fun events for recruiting and rewarding volunteers. Training will be the
largest push in the next year so we can provide every person working with
volunteers all of the skills and support they need to accomplish their
goals.
volunteers(at)burningman(dot)com, etc. can be sent at any time to members of the Volunteer
Management Team. 