Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Volunteer Management
Best Practices
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Forming a Citizen Corps Council
Starting from Scratch -- See how Arlington County, Virginia put together their Citizen Corps Council.
- Arlington County Citizen Corps Council formation (Objectives, Structure, etc.) [140 kb; PDF]>
- Proposed work plan for Council[120 kb; PDF]
- Recommendations for the Structure of Council [136 kb; PDF]
- Announcement of Council [124 kb; PDF]
Promoting and Growing Your Citizen Corps Programs
Disaster Resistant Times -- newsletter developed by Shenandoah Valley Project Impact Citizen Corps Council and CERT Team, March 2006 [367 kb; PDF]
Tazewell County shares the art for planned billboards.
An excellent 2004 Annual Report presented by the Alexandria Citizen Corps Council. [96k; PDF]
Hampton offers the following advice for getting prominent, no-cost press coverage:
- Come up with a human interest twist to the story;
- Tie the request for coverage into an event;
- Provide them with the information they'll need before the event ... it's important to do your homework and legwork ahead of time; and
- Look for the special sections your paper has, as they are often looking for stories that tie in to their readers.
Examples include the senior, faith-based or "things to do" sections.
CERTs -- Prepare now for winter -- developed by Arlington County, VA, winter 2003 [36 kb; PDF]
CERT Training logo -- from Hampton CERT
Emergency Fair -- held in Charlottesville, VA [284 kb; PDF]
The Virginia Beach Citizen Corps Council (VBCCC) is involved in CERT training; is considering building on Neighborhood Watch and creating new programs such as a Virginia Beach Medical Reserve Corps; has worked with the area amateur radio group; and is involved in emergency preparedness information for the community. See the September 2003 issue of the Virginia Beach Emergency Management Update [695kb; PDF] for more.
News, personal congratulations, training recaps, even a gift tip are delivered in a friendly but succinct tone that make the Arlington CERT newsletter a valuable part of the group's communications strategy. Read the Oct. 22, 2003 issue to see a sample.
Readers enjoy news, tips, calls for volunteers and more in the January 2003 CERT Newsletter of the City of Chesapeake Office of Emergency Management.
Page 1 [776k jpg] || Page 2 [70k jpg]
Working with the Media
From CitizenCorps -- some excellent resources for working with the media.
- Key Talking Points [79k; word doc]
- Media Spokesperson Tips [101k; word doc]
- Media Relations 101 [184k; word doc]
- Fact Sheet: Citizen Corps Questions and Answers [104k; word doc]
Volunteer Recruitment
- Citizen Interest Survey -- developed by Virginia Beach, VA [1.6 mb; PDF doc]
- CERT Welcome Letter -- developed by Arlington County, VA [328 kb; word doc]
- CERT Volunteer Job Description -- developed by Virginia Beach, VA [168 kb; PDF]
Fundraising
Pittsylvania County's Community Emergency Response Team shares examples of letters requesting funds and thanking contributors:
- Request for contribution [50k; word doc]
- Thanks for contribution[52k; word doc]
Training
Pittsylvania County's Community Emergency Response Team shares the confirmation and reminder form letters they use for training:
- Confirmation letter [1.1 mb; word doc]
- Reminder letter[1.1 mb; word doc]
Other Resources
Read how the Capital Area Citizen Corps has built an environment of DISASTER PREPAREDNESS in North Florida. 2003 Capital Area Citizen Corps Annual Report - A Year Of Success [511 kb; PDF]
CERT Tornado Day 2004 Activities -- summary and photos of CERT activities around the state [148 kb; PDF]
Pittsylvania County's Community Emergency Response Team shares the Excel spreadsheet they use for listing contacts (17k Excel doc) and their CERT member locations graphic [134k; jpg].
We need your input!
We hope our Best Practices section will encourage an exchange of ideas for developing homeland security/emergency preparedness programs across the state.
Send your ideas to us at virginiacorps@governor.virginia.gov. We prefer documents in Microsoft Word, no longer than three pages (double spaced). We will credit you and your organization for material submitted.