What are 'opportunities'?
Opportunities are specific tasks / activities you can post to either offer or request support from the community! While opportunities are currently focussed on the sharing of time and skills - soon you’ll also be able to share products and space 🎁
An opportunity link is easily shareable across any and all other communications and social channels 👌
What are 'requests'?
Requests are the means through which non-profits and impact businesses connect with volunteers on the platform. Requests can be for help with on hands-on tasks, as well as for advice or mentoring.
By putting forward an opportunity, you engage the community in a one-off or longer term project to help you progress with your goals. Whether you need skilled experts to assist in developing your new marketing plan and branding strategy, or volunteers to help with a beach clean up or litter recycling program, we're here to help you find the right match.
Who can post an opportunity?
Anyone aiming to further social and environmental development is welcome to post an opportunity on the platform. This includes charities, social enterprises, non-profits, impact businesses or community projects. As long as your primary mission is to create positive social and environmental impact, you can post an opportunity to find support!
You can read more about how to register your organisation or community project here.
How do I post a request?
1. Access the post an opportunity form
You can easily access this form by clicking on your profile photo as selecting 'post an opportunity' from the drop down menu.
💡Tip: On this form we include tips and explanations so you can just get started by accessing the form, or you can give this article a read if you'd like to know what's included in the form!
2. Select the type of request you'd like to post:
We have a few types of request you can choose from. These include:
Task: to get help with a specific skilled or hands-on task to progress and achieve specific goals with the help of volunteers.
Mentoring: to receive advice or insight on a specific topic.
Brainstorming: to ask a question and share ideas with the community to come up with solutions.
Activity: to invite members to participate in activities to help address an existing need.
This will help show volunteers and members of the community what type of involvement is required for each opportunity.
💡 Tip: You can read more about the different types of requests you can post here, in our related article: What types of requests can I post?
3. Tell us more about your request:
Opportunity Title: The title is the first thing volunteers will see - it's important it help draw them in! Craft an engaging and enticing title by making it descriptive, highlighting your need, or something special about the opportunity. Some examples might be:
Help us craft a social media new engagement strategy for our new sustainable product suite
Help a black led organisation boost it's impact reporting methodology
Volunteer at our school workshop to teach students about conservation
Organiser / Lead: Select which organisation / community project you'd like to receive support for.
📝 Note: On the platform, each opportunity must be linked to an initiative, organisation, or community project. Opportunities are started to help progress their mission and social and environmental impact goals.
Your Need: This is your space to explain what you need help with. Write about the challenge you're looking to address, or the problem you’re looking to solve with their help! The more information a volunteer has up front about the problem you're looking to tackle, the quicker they'll know whether they're the right person for the job.
Your Goals: Add some tangible outputs and outcomes you'd like to achieve at the end of this engagement, to help your supporters better understand your goals, and how their support will help you reach these.
Would you like a certain number of students to benefit from mentorship, a list of ideas to take forward, or a strategic action plan or draft design? Let us know!
4. Tell us more about the supporters you're looking for:
Skills & Experience: To help you find the right match, it's critical we know what skills and expertise and required to help you with this request. Let us know what the most important (or 'primary') skills is you need, and list up to 3 additional skills for your request.
Next, let us know the level of experience which is required to help you achieve your goals. And indicate if your opportunity is suitable for students.
📝 Note: Students are a great volunteer resource, and an integral part to progressing change in our communities. They may have expert skills on a specific subject, or may be at a beginner or intermediate level. But regardless of their skill level, they may require more guidance.
Number & Time: Here, it's important to get the details right. Let us know many supporters you need to help you with this request, and how much time a volunteer should expect to dedicate.
📝 Note: If you're not sure about the time commitment, don't worry! You can always align with volunteers depending on their availability when you first connect. However, setting a baseline here will help with setting expectations.
Deadline: Finally, is there a deadline by which you need volunteers to apply? If so, toggle this option to set a date in the calendar.
⚠️Important: Please note that beyond this date, the opportunity will be closed and you will not longer be able to receive applications.
5. Iron out a few of the logistics
Date: When would you like this opportunity to begin / volunteers to start? Do you have a fixed timeframe in mind? If no, you can just select 'No, there's no start date' to keep this opportunity flexible.
Location: Is this an in-person or remote volunteer opportunity? Set the location accordingly.
6. The final step!
Impact: Let us know which cause or impact area this opportunity is aiming to progress - this can be the impact you're organisation aims to achieve, or the impact of this one off project. This will help us with impact measurement and reporting!
Privacy: By default, all opportunities on the platform are public. However, if you'd like to make this request private to a specific organisation this will be possible very soon!
🙌 And that's it! If you have any questions, or need help posting an opportunity you can contact us at hello@goodsted.com or schedule a time to chat with us here.