Governor’s Volunteer Awards Orientation Session

Governor’s Volunteer AwardsOrientation Session February 2014

Today’s Agenda Background / Overview GVA Program’s Primary Goal Changes / What’s Unchanged Responsibilities Nomination Process Deadlines Website Online Document Access Database System Jody Benz Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service Promotion & Events Coordinator / GVA PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Background / Overview Program started in 1982; first ceremony held in 1983 Originally only state government agencies could participate Now all Iowa nonprofits as well as city, county, and federal government agencies can nominate their Super Star volunteers Each year 600 to 1,500 Iowans are honored

Background / Overview • Award categories: • Individual • Group • Disaster • Length of Service • Recipient’s service must have benefitted Iowans or an Iowa organization • A small handling fee is charged per award to help offset expenses } considered once-in-a-lifetime-time awards

Background / Overview Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service coordinates the program Agency contacts coordinate nomination process for their staff and partners Local committees plan and host each regional ceremony Program Coordinator is responsible for all aspects of the program

Primary Goal of the Program To provide an easy, low-cost and “non-competitive” * way for Iowa organizations to publicly thank their Super Star volunteers with a prestigious state-level recognition award * Non-competitive means the person completing the nomination form is actually notifying the state that they have determined the individual or group listed is deserving of this honor. Other than the Awards Coordinator verifying that the nominee has not received a “regular” Governor’s Volunteer Award in the past, there is no further review process at the state level to decide who does or does not get an award. However, the Governor’s Office reserves the right to refuse to bestow an award if it is deemed inappropriate.

Changes for 2014 • New Volunteer Iowa / GVA website! • www.volunteeriowa.org/awards • A new, unique link has been created for each agency’s online nomination form. DO NOT use your link from last year! • Paper forms will be made available to agencies upon request • Agency Coordinators will: • Cross-reference new nominations against nominations from past years prior to the approval process • Need a new password to the nomination system if their phone number has changed

Remaining the Same • Handling fee: $10 per award to coordinating agencies; nonprofits and “non-state” agencies pay $15 per award. • Agency Coordinators: • Provide billing information for ICVS • Approve each nomination entered into the system • Indicate if payment has been received from nominator • Award recipients will be notified by mail • Presentation ceremonies will be held in June; six locations are planned: Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Ottumwa, Storm Lake • Usernames for the online database • New users will be assigned IDs and passwords

GVA Partnership

ICVS Responsibilities Planning, development and improvement of the awards nomination process, guidelines, and procedures Reviewing feedback from agency coordinators, nominators, and award recipients to improve future awards cycles

Program Coordinator Responsibilities Develop, improve, and distribute nomination materials Provide training and technical assistance to Agency Coordinators; send invoices to them for their awards Collect and compile approved nominations; send ceremony invitations to award recipients Work with local committees to organize and execute each regional ceremony Collect feedback from Agency Coordinators, Nominators, Local Committees and Award Recipients; share information with ICVS

Awards Coordinator Responsibilities Serve as the single point of contact for the Program Coordinator Be familiar with the nomination procedures and how to use the online database – the Program Coordinator is available for assistance when needed Distribute online nomination link to YOUR agency’s staff as well as the staff of agency sub-divisions and branch offices; Program Coordinator will provide instructions you can share

Awards Coordinator Responsibilities Keep an Excel copy of nomination information for two years or as your agency may require Coordinate the internal review and approval of nominations Approve award information received; may need to add fund, agency, and org. numbers Notify nominators if duplicate entries have been discovered and award will not be issued

Awards Coordinator Responsibilities Respect and meet deadlines Assist with making address and spelling corrections Process invoice for payment via IET or check Provide feedback to GVA Program Coordinator to help improve the nomination process and/or awards ceremonies

Nomination Process • VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION! • Coordinators must send the agency’s customized nomination form link and instructions to their staff and appropriate contacts • Do NOT distribute your agency’s link to the general public (this goes for your staff too!) • Duplicate awards may be rejected

Instructions to Share This document is available online EDIT ALL THREE BLUE SECTIONS Include the instructions when you send out your link!

Near the bottom of the document… Instructions to Share

Nomination Form IMPORTANT: when someone finishes entering nomination information, they MUST click on Save This Record!

Nomination Form They will then see a new nomination form, but with a confirmation message in red. At this point, they may enter another nomination, or simply close their browser window.

Deadlines - Activities (Who’s Responsible) • Feb. 28 – Distribute electronic nomination form link to staff of agency, sub-divisions, branches, and partnering organizations (Agency Awards Coordinators) • April 4 – Submit online nomination form (Nominators) • April 18 – Approve submitted nomination data (Agency Awards Coordinators) • May 2 – Send invitation to attend award ceremony to recipients (Program Coordinator) • Two weeks prior to ceremony – RSVP with any ADA requests (Award Recipients)

Public Area of Website • www.volunteeriowa.org/awards • GVA program overview / guidelines • List of Agency Awards Coordinators • Information about ceremony dates and locations • Who to contact with questions • Link to coordinators’ section of the site

Coordinators’ Area of Website • From anywhere in awards website, click on “FOR COORDINATORS ONLY” link to: • View: • Responsibilities • Deadlines • Documents to download • Contact info for GVA Program Coordinator • Access online data system

Coordinators’ Area of Website Use the links here to download: * Training slides/recording * Sample documents Use this link to access the online database.

Database Login • Enter your User Name and password • Click on the Login button — don’t use your enter key!

Viewing Nominations To see your agency’s entire list of nominations: Leave search box blank Select 2014 for the year (records are available from 1999 to the present) Click on search button

Viewing Nominations Click on “Excel Results” button to download the entire list • Click on the name of a recipient to open their record • The last column shows whether a record has been approved

Nomination Approval Enter billing information if it’s not already there Check the approval box Enter if payment has been received – the notes box is included so you can include the check number or other relevant information VERY IMPORTANT! Click “Save this record” Repeat steps 1 through 8 for every record.

Database System If you are done working in the database, or need to leave your desk for several minutes, make sure to log out. Otherwise, the system may time out and you won’t know it!

Summary Program background and primary goal What changed (or didn’t) Who is responsible for what Deadlines Nomination process Website (and online document access) Database system

Most Important Things to Remember! DO CUSTOMIZE ALL the blue sections of the instructions before you send them out DO NOT SHARE your agency’s link with the general public MAKE SURE TO SAVE a record after making changes

Where to Get Help • Web site: www.volunteeriowa.org/awards • Click on the “coordinators ONLY” button on the left side of the page to get to the coordinators’ section (no password needed). • Coordinators and assistants must use their own personal username and password to access the online database. • Questions? Suggestions? Forgot your password? • Contact Jody Benz, Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service: 515.725.3094, jody.benz@iowa.gov

Governor’s Volunteer Awards Orientation Session