Check the belipolaforestgarden@gmail.com email account and respond every day (ideally) or at least once a week. Volunteers / guests are often making last minute plans and so the more frequently the account is checked the more chance we have of picking up the most skilled volunteers or paying guests.
As far as possible, make the decisions yourself - no need to ask others on most things (this saves everyone's time). Use the canned responses and read through to make sure it's all appropriate!
If you are unsure of anything, please ask Sion or Trudy.
Want to come as a paying guest (sustainable holiday)? → No (want to volunteer) → Please complete the volunteer form at www.belipola.com
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Yes
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Do they want to make a booking? → No (general enquiry) → Ask them to look at the information on the website www.belipola.com
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Yes
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Are they comfortable to fill in the online booking form? → No → Fill in the online form for them whilst keeping them on the phone
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Yes
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Give the website address www.belipola.com
Have they completed the online volunteer application form? → No → use canned response "please complete online registration form"
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Yes
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Are they wishing to book a Sustainable Holiday? → Yes → go to booking
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No
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Are they applying for only the Part Time Volunteer Program? → Yes → go to booking
Are they applying for both FTV and PTV and have Priority Skills or you really need extra labour → make Full Time Volunteer → go to booking
Are they applying for both FTV and PTV but have no Priority Skills → make Part Time Volunteer → go to booking
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They have applied for only the Full Time Volunteer Program
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Do they have a Priority Skill? → Yes → go to booking
Priority skills include: builder, carpenter, electrician,
plumber, house painter, handyman, stone mason,
other tradesperson, photographer, video documentary maker
Fundraising, marketing, business
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No
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Does the group include children? → Yes→go to “try part-time volunteer”
(If they have children it willl be difficult for them to both
mind their children and do a Full-Time Volunteer load effectively)
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No
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At the time they want come, are there
spaces available for more full-time volunteers? →No→go to “try part-time volunteer”
Is there enough work for them to do?
Can they run their own project or is there someone who can supervise them?
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Yes
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At the time they want to come, do we need
a strong worker or gender balance? If so,
do they fit the need and do you feel that they
would be a good volunteer → Yes → go to booking
We try to keep at least one strong worker at any time
(usually male or enthusiastic outdoors female worker)
We try to keep a balance of at least one quarter of each gender
Enthusiasm, extroversion and other skills/interests such as admin,
graphic design, IT, cooking, marketing, social media, writing,
yoga teaching, music are helpful
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No
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Do they have a particular skill that you think may be
useful? → Yes → ask the Sion or Trudy what to do
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No
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Use “try part-time volunteer” canned response
If they agree to part-time volunteer program then go on to booking
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If they are to be a full-time or part-time volunteer then ensure that they are arriving on Monday afternoon so they can receive orientation.
Check their accommodation type requirements against the Google Calendar and allocate their accommodation
Use “yes to registration” canned response.
Review the google calendar for the entire period of the guest/volunteer's stay to see what spaces are available. Select the most suitable room for them based on their accommodation type requirements and room availability.
Please use the following rooms for guests and volunteers, based on their accommodation choices. Put men and women in separate shared rooms, and partners together. Do not use other rooms.
If a single person requests an upgrade to a Twin Share Room and there is no-one else wanting a Twin Share then give this person a single room for the price of the Twin Share. That way, we still get the income and the guest gets a better room than requested - so both are happy. If another single person then turns up wanting a Twin Share Room then put them in the same room.
R1 – male dormitory (4 beds)
R2 – female dormitory (4 beds)
R3, R4, R5, R6 – use as Twin Share or Single Share rooms
Open gmail account belipolaforestgarden@gmail.com and then the google calendar.
Use google calendar to keep track of who is booked in when, what program they are on, what room they are staying in and whether or not they have any accommodation upgrades.
Create a new event to store the details of this guest/volunteer's visit. To create the new event either:
a) (BEST) Click on the date that the person has indicated they wish to arrive and choose to Create and then Edit the event. (This will include a link to the original email in the calendar event that is created). Or
b) From the "More" menu (which above the email content and just to the right of the buttons "Delete", "Move to", "Labels") choose "Create Event". (This will automatically paste the email content into the event Description).
Set the event title: In the title line of the event include the program acronym, the room allocation and the person's name. If the date is still to be confirmed, put it in approximately and write "TBC" (this means To Be Confirmed)
Accronyms used:
FTV - Full-Time Volunteer
PTV - Part-Time Volunteer
SH – Sustainable Holiday
TBC - Date to be confirmed
R1 – Room 1 (R2 for room 2 etc. There are 6 rooms)
FS - Four Share Room (a normal room without any accommodation upgrade
TS – Twin Share Room
SS – Single Share Room
2P, 3P etc - 2 people, 3 people etc (no need to write 1P if it's only 1 person). If 2 or more people then must write it in.
Example: If the event title is TBC PTV allison R5 SS then this means means - date To Be Confirmed, Part time Volunteer named Allison to stay in room 5 and upgraded to Single Share Room. (Using the acronyms makes the information more easily visible in Google Calendar).
Set the event Start and End dates to show when the guest/volunteer will be here.
Volunteers must start on Monday: If they are to volunteer then change their Start Date to be the nearest Monday and indicate TBC in the event title. (Be sure to mention this in the email you send them)
Copy the guest/volunteer details from the email into the Description field. The section you need to copy is clearly indicated in the email - look for *********
Rewrite the agreed arrival day, date and time: At the top of the event description, write in the actual scheduled arrival date and time (and include the day of the week). This will often differ from the arrival date in the application form. This information is important because it is very easy to accidentally move the calendar item to a different date and you need to know where to move it back to.
Summarise any particular skills of interest to Belipola on the second line of the Description, for quick reference.
Set up Notifications to automatically remind you via email that this guest/volunteer is coming. To do this, at the bottom of the screen on which you are editing the event details create two notifications: one for one week before and another for one day before.
You need to include the price for the program plus any accommodation upgrade and multiply it by the number of adults. If you are unsure of any pricing, check on the Belipola website.
Remember children under 12 are half price and under 2 years old are free.
For Sustainable Holiday guests, quote prices as per night. For volunteers, quote prices as per week.
Examples:
1) Two adults on a sustainable holiday for 3 nights in a twin share room would be
Cost per person per night = Sustainable Holiday (@Rs2000pp/night) + upgrade to twin share room (Rs500pp/night) = Rs2500pp/night
Group cost per night = 2 people x Rs2500cost/night = Rs5000/night
2) Two adults and two children (one ten years old and one one year old) on the part time volunteer program would be
Cost per adult per night = Rs1000 (Part Time Volunteer program)
Group cost per night = 2 adults (@Rs1000pp/night) + 1 child (@Rs500/night) + 1 baby (free) = Rs2500/night
Group cost per week = 7 nights x Rs2500 = Rs17500/week
3) One full time volunteer upgraded to a single room
Cost per person per night = Rs500 (Full Time Volunteer program) + Rs1000 (upgrade to single share room) = Rs1500pp/night
Cost per week = 7 nights x Rs1500 pp/night = Rs10500/week
You will need to include detailed cost calculations in the email you send to guest/volunteer. Include the full details of the cost calculation to help the guest/volunteer understand.
Go to the Volunteer/Guest Application Form email
Click "Reply"
Delete the original email text that will have been automatically added to the email. To do this, click on the few dots at the bottom of the email, to expand the collapsed inline text. Delete any instructions - but leave the original "supplied information" as it is useful reference information for the guest/volunteer.
Check that the email address that this email is being sent to is not chrisgibbings67@gmail.com or belipolaforestgarden@gmai.com. If it is then you will need to delete the email address and replace it with the email address that the guest/volunteer wrote in the application form.
Insert the appropriate canned response. To do this, place the cursor at the start of the body of the email (it is likely to be there already). Then click on the down arrow at the bottom right hand corner of the editing pane, right beside the "discard" rubbish bin icon. Select the desired response from the top list, 'insert'. Point to "Canned responses" and select the appropriate response from underneath the "Insert" heading. Be careful not to select any item under "Save" or "Delete" as this will destroy a canned response.
Replace email text as indicated by the XXXXXXX or >>>>>>> and <<<<<<<< with the relevant information.
Read through the email you have created and make sure it reads well. Add or change it as needed.
Click "Send"
Move the email into the "Actioned" folder so that only emails awaiting response remain in the inbox.
A week before the prospect is due to arrive, the calendar will email you an automatic reminder. Please:
Forward this reminder to the community members to let them know who is arriving.
Email the prospective volunteer/guest and use the canned response "courtesy reminder"
(current content now in gmail canned responses)
Please note that all the following email templates are within the "canned responses" of the gmail account, so you do not need to copy them from here.
Hello XXXXXXX!
It would be great to have you at Belipola. Could you please complete a “Guest and volunteer registration form” at www.belipola.com/wpgforms/registration-form. Completing this form ensures that we get all of the necessary information from you in one go.
I look forward to welcoming you to Belipola.
Warm regards,
Thamindu
Hello XXXXXXX and thank-you for your interest in Belipola!
We would love to have you at Belipola. Unfortunately, our full-time volunteer spaces are currently full. However, I can offer you space in the Part-Time Volunteer Program. The difference is that full-time volunteers do 35/wk and pay Rs500/day whilst part-time volunteers do less work (3hrs/day) and pay Rs1000/day. We provide accommodation and all food. For more information about our volunteering programs, take a look at www.belipola.com/volunteer. Our full-time and part-time volunteer program require a minimum commitment of two weeks.
If our part-time volunteer program suits you, please let me know.
Also, if you haven't already done so, I invite you to:
1. Read the pre visit information and things to do around Belipola at www.belipola.com/experience/pre-visit-information
2. Like our facebook page to stay in touch with us at www.facebook.com/belipola
Warm regards,
Thamindu
Hello XXXXXXX and thank-you for registering!
It will be great to have you at Belipola. I now have your details in our system for the >>>>>>>>>> Sustainable Holiday / Part-Time Volunteer / Full Time Volunteer [pick one and delete the rest]<<<<<<<< Program.
>>>>>>>>>> Because our volunteer program begins on Monday afternoon each week, I have penciled you in to arrive on Monday XX XXXX 2015. If this is not suitable, just suggest another Monday and I will do my best to make it work. <<<<<<<<
[OR]
>>>>>> I have scheduled you into our calendar to arrive on DAYDAY DATEDATE <<<<<<<.
Your costs during your stay will be:
>>>>>>>>>>[include all cost calculations here, as per the examples on the intranet, to help the person understand the price]<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Take a look at www.belipola.com/how-to-find-us for a map and directions to Belipola as well as public transport information. If your plans change, that's fine, just drop me an email or make a call to let me know.
Also, if you haven't already done so, I invite you to:
1. Read the pre visit information and things to do around Belipola at www.belipola.com/experience/pre-visit-information
2. Like our facebook page to stay in touch with us at www.facebook.com/belipola
I look forward to welcoming you to Belipola!
Warm regards,
Thamindu
Hi XXXXXXX,
This is a courtesy reminder that you are scheduled to arrive at Belipola on XXXXXXX. If your timelines have changed, it shouldn't be a problem - just let me know so we can check with other bookings.
Also, if you haven't already done so, I invite you to:
1. Read the pre visit information and things to do around Belipola at www.belipola.com/experience/pre-visit-information
2. Like our facebook page to stay in touch with us at www.facebook.com/belipola
I look forward to meeting you.
Warm regards,
Thamindu
Google Spreadsheet containing all Volunteer and Guest Registration information: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OLzgIsU1h4vLobXYoPfFTdDn_quHrmI0TSYJBkX4Qxo&authuser=0
Google Spreadsheet containing all Feedback: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1o2Q8iNx1ansoPdwBftAKSq7r9XSbosrYLBxmRhEE3I0&authuser=0