Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
In Discussion: Volunteer & Staff Expectations (Part 2)
Intern’s Bill of Rights
Sasha SchechterCommunity Engagement Coordinator
Friends of Thirteen, Inc
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Sasha Schechter, Professional Intern• Began interning in high school at
age 16• Past internships include:– Hope Street Kids– The Office of Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton– Colgate-Palmolive– CLIC Sargent for Children
with Cancer (Bristol, UK)– LeadDog Marketing Group– WNET
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Sasha Schechter, Community Engagement Coordinator:Intern to Staff
• Began Internship with WNET in July 2011
• Became staff at WNET in September 2012
• Incredibly valuable internship experience:– Hands-on, “real world” work– Trust, building relationships– Broad range of experiences and
opportunities• From fundraising to shooting
on location
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Internship ProjectsResponsibilities & Opportunities
Research Assistant to Neal Shapiro– Scheduling – Phone Etiquette– Asking Questions– Follow-up Strategies– Budgeting– Letter Writing
American Graduate Day– Background Research– Booking Guests– Production Assistant
Treasures of New York– Pitch Writing
Major Market Groups Arts Initiative – Watching/Selecting Relevant Programming– Rights and Clearances
Volunteer Work– Learning how other departments work
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Wonder Women! at Macaulay Honors College
Applied skills learned during internship to execute this event:
• Wrote Pitch• Booked Guests• Established relationship
with Macaulay New Media Lab
• Panel Topic Research• Worked with panel
moderator• Production – Livestream• Rights and Clearances• Leveraged relations from
internship to highlight the event on-air
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Staten Island Talks Education
Progressed from 60 people to 600:• Coordinated and managed preparation
for this large-scale event• Starting small helped build up to this!
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Internship Projects – Responsibilities & Opportunities
Research Assistant to Neal Shapiro– Scheduling – Phone Etiquette– Asking Questions– Follow-up Strategies– Budgeting– Letter Writing
American Graduate Day– Background Research– Booking Guests– Production Assistant
Treasures of New York– Pitch Writing
Major Market Groups Arts Initiative – Watching/Selecting Relevant Programming– Rights and Clearances
Volunteer Work– Learning how other departments work
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
What is an internship, anyway?Survey says…
-Wikipedia
-Columbia University-Johns Hopkins University
-Oberlin College
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
…Say What!?
“Opportunity” “Explore”“Academic”
“Career Development”
“Pre-Professional” “Mentorship”
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Intern’s Bill of Rights
Interns work WITH the station, not FOR the station.
This means…
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Interns are not:– Free Labor• The Department of Labor says that interns, on occasion,
may even slow a supervisor’s progress– Your “Go-fer”• Think twice before you ask for that cup of coffee…
– Entry-level employees• They’re preparing to climb the ladder, but they haven’t
quite stepped on the first rung yet
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Interns are:– Volunteers• How would you work with a volunteer? Interns deserve
that same respect!– Great resources for young, new perspectives• Great sounding board for ideas
– Advocates for your station• These young people can be your biggest advocates in their
communities and their (hard to reach) demographics
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Interns are: (cont’d)– Eager to say yes!• Interns are looking for a variety of new opportunities and
hands-on experiences – everything from filing to observing senior-level meetings.
– Looking for guidance, feedback, and ROI• Taking on an intern means investing time in teaching
someone how to do a job• After doing their work, interns will expect ROI. Which is to
say that interns are…– Potential Employees• Clear goals, learning objectives, and deliverables
– Especially important when an internship is for academic credit
Volunteer Management Academy: Volunteers in Action for Public Media National Friends of Public Broadcasting • NFPB.org
San Francisco • May 12, 2014
Intern’s Bill of Rights
Questions?
Sasha SchechterCommunity Engagement Coordinator
Friends of Thirteen, Inc. / [email protected]
