Winding down Disney’s Give A Day program

Winding Down the Give A Day. Get A Disney Day. Program

HandsOn Network Partners,

On Feb. 11, it was announced that 600,000 volunteers have already participated in the Give A Day. Get A Disney Day. program. Thanks to the exceptional programs and opportunities provided by the thousands of participating organizations, it’s anticipated that the goal of celebrating one million volunteers will occur very soon.
 
As the Give A Day. Get A Disney Day.  program is forecasted to come to a close very shortly,  the following measures are being taken in preparation for the program’s conclusion:

• Effective immediately, no new applications will be accepted from organizations wanting to participate in the program.
• By Friday, March 5, all flexible schedule volunteer opportunities (1B projects) and the ability for volunteers to search for participating organizations and arrange service (2A projects) will be removed from the search at www.DisneyParks.com. For users of 1-800-Volunteer or Volunteer Solutions, these are the only types of volunteer activities associated with your organization through the VOP (please see Action Steps below for more information on this change.) At such time, it will only be possible for organizations to post date- and time-specific opportunities (1A projects) to the VOP.
• Once Disney reaches its one-million ticket goal, the program ends and organizations will no longer be able to post new volunteer opportunities of any kind for the program.

The Volunteer Opportunity Portal (VOP) at http://VOP.HandsOnNetwork.org will continue to be available so that organizations can post date- and time-specific opportunities, manage their existing opportunities and verify service completed by volunteers. As the changes listed above are implemented, you will see fewer options available to manage your account. Please continue to verify completed, eligible volunteer service within 72 hours of the service being performed for all qualifying service provided to your organization under the program. 
 
Only volunteers who have completed the registration and signed up for a specific date and time to volunteer  before the program ends will get their vouchers for a Disney theme park ticket once their service has been verified. Please see the action steps for all organizations below for further details.
 
Once the program has ended, we will send a wrap-up communication with instructions for exporting data related to your organization’s activities, as well as continued opportunities available to your organization through HandsOn Network.
 
The level of volunteerism we have seen in the first months of 2010 is tracking to new highs. Thank you for the vital role your organization is playing in this landmark program.

Action Steps for Organizations with 1b or 2a Opportunities

• On Friday, March 5, flexible schedule volunteer opportunities (1B) will be hidden, and the ability for volunteers to search for participating organizations and arrange service with them directly (2A) will be removed. From then until the end of the program, it will only be possible for your organization to post date- and time-specific opportunities (1A) to the VOP.
• Any volunteers that have already committed to service through your organization in the Volunteer Opportunity Portal (VOP) should still perform their service, which will be honored for this program.
• Once your opportunities are no longer visible, volunteers who expressed interest in an opportunity prior to March 5 can still finish the sign-up process until the one million ticket goal has been reached. They should follow the instructions and click on the link in the e-mail they received from HandsOn Network when they first expressed interest in your opportunity.
• Please continue to conduct the activities that any volunteers have already signed up for in the VOP.

Action Steps for all Organizations

• Please continue to conduct the activities that any volunteers have already signed up for in the VOP.  Additionally, please continue to manage and verify the completion of service of volunteers for such eligible activities.
• Please remind any volunteers who have expressed interest in your opportunities – and with whom you’ve already arranged a date and time to serve – that they MUST complete the sign-up process through DisneyParks.com before the one-million ticket goal has been reached.
• You can see whether or not they have completed the registration and sign up process by clicking on the "View Volunteer Signups" link in the VOP. If they are not on the list, then they have not yet finished the registration process.  If they do not finish the registration process before the program ends, you will not be able to verify their service and they will not be able to receive theme park tickets.
• If a volunteer cancels or is a no-show for an opportunity they signed up for, you may not verify their service. If the volunteer cancels or is a no-show for the opportunity they signed up for after the million ticket goal is met, they will not be able to search and sign-up for an alternate opportunity under the program in order to receive a voucher.

Questions

• Organizations – Go to http://answers.handsonnetwork.org to ask questions, review frequently asked questions, and connect with customer and tech support.
• Volunteers – Volunteers can go to www.DisneyParks.com for a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions about the Give A Day. Get A Disney Day. program.