Frequently Asked Questions
We value your dedication and commitment to helping mission-driven organizations with their communication challenges. This page will help provide a framework for what to expect if you are thinking about volunteering. If these don’t answer your questions, please feel free to reach out to us!
Volunteering is a great way to grow and develop the skills you are learning in the program with small business owners, small nonprofit organizations, and UW departments. Volunteering allows you to test out new skills, improve existing skills, and network in our local community. Our goal is to provide you with a challenging opportunity that can translate into valid career experience, portfolio projects, and in some cases, a job.
We ask for a 5 – 7 hour a week time commitment from our volunteers. Most of our projects are structured to last the length of a quarter, roughly 3 months, although shorter projects are available.
Yes! We can and have provided CPT and OPT letters for international students and alumni to ensure compliance with F-1 visa requirements.
First of all, thank you! As a graduate student-run venture, we are doing our best to ensure that you have an excellent experience, and that we are meeting the communication needs of our client base. From the Volunteer’s page, please fill out our Volunteer Sign Up form with your areas of skill and interest.
We engage with new and existing clients each week, but please be aware that you may not be placed immediately. It is our role to ensure that you are offered positions that speak to your skills, your interests (based on your resume, portfolio or LinkedIn profile), and your availability.
Generally speaking, it may take a month or two before we are able to place you with a meaningful client opportunity, so please let us know if you have a time constraint, or if your schedule has changed.
Once we have a role for you, we will email you basic information about the client, the opportunity, and the anticipated timeline for completion. If you are interested, please email us back within a day or two so that we can get you started. If you are unable to volunteer or feel the role is not a good fit for you, please email us back and let us know so that we can find an opportunity that aligns with your skills.
After we’ve received confirmation from you, we’ll email you and the client as a way of introduction, and propose times and dates to set up an Initial Project Scope Meeting. We’ll also share our initial client consultation notes with you so that you can do research on your client, get a sense of the project, and compile any questions you may have about the project.
At the Project Scope Meeting (via zoom), we’ll introduce you and the client, let you discuss the project and ask any initial questions. We’ll also solidify the requested deliverables, the initial project deadline, and time commitment so that you and the client are on the same page. Once the Project Scope meeting is over, it will be your responsibility to follow up and schedule meetings with the client.
Occasionally, yes! If the project scope requires more than one skill set, we will often pair volunteers together to work with a client. This is also a great way to network, meet other CommLeaders, and work as a team to complete a deliverable.
We have many international and nationally based students who have volunteered for us, working from different time zones. Since the work is primarily virtual, this has not been an issue. Let us know what time zone you are in, and we will try to schedule meeting times that are reasonable based on where you are, and communicate this to the client. Once you and the client are paired, it will be up to you to communicate with the client when you are available.
As a general rule of thumb, we suggest a meeting (phone call, zoom call) or an email check-in with your client at least once a week to follow up on what you’ve done, get feedback from the client, and ensure that you are heading in the right direction. We understand that this will vary based on you and your client’s availability, the length of the project, and the timeline, but establishing a consistent schedule of communication will ensure that both you and the client stay engaged.
- Clear and consistent communication with your chosen client
- Keep track of the time you spend working on the project to provide to ComLead Consulting
- Complete your project deliverable by the desired deadline, if possible
- Have a checkout meeting to go over your deliverable with the client so that they can ask questions and give feedback.
- Communicate with ComLead Consulting to let us know how things are progressing with your client, and when your project is complete.
If you would like feedback on your project, or another set of eyes on something, please let us know! We are happy to work with you, or pair you with someone who can provide mentorship, editing, or advice on how to move forward.
Our Community Manager will check with you via email midway through your project deadline. This check-in allows us to get a sense of where you are in the project, if the project deadline still seems reasonable, and if you need any additional resources to help you on your path. If necessary, we may set up an additional Project Scope meeting to ensure the project is on track.
At the end of the project, our Community Manager will check in via email again to see if the deadline needs to be extended, or if you have completed the project. Our Outreach Manager will check in with the client to see how the project went, see if they have any additional needs, or if they would like to extend the project into the next quarter with the same, or a different volunteer.
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