Wow, I seemed to have missed VolunteerFD.org’s 3 year anniversary! 3 years, over 100 columns, 16,447 users, and over 2,900 submissions in the six core areas of VolunteerFD.org... Wow. I’ve been busy.
That probably explains why it took me a while to address the e-mail problem at VolunteerFD.org. VolunteerFD.org’s email server went down, hard, two weeks ago. It took me a week to find a solution. The solution may not make everyone happy, but its the only thing I can afford to do. With the proliferation of free accounts such as gmail, VolunteerFD.org has decided not to offer email accounts anymore. What we are going to do instead is to offer free email forwarding.
You can turn on the email forwarding by updating the contact information in your profile at http://www.volunteerfd.org/profile.php (You must be logged in on the left first.) There is a check box that says to forward your email to the account you signed up with. While you’re there, please update your email address, contact information and the like.
I also still get quite a few questions about how to get around the site, so I have included in this email my previous post on the site’s layout. Don’t forget to check out our round tables at http://www.volunteerfd.org/roundtable/ We’re also still taking sponsor members at http://www.volunteerfd.org/sponsor.php Help Keep VolunteerFD.org going!
Joining as a member is free, and can be done here
The member’s section contains over 2900 submissions from departments throughout the country. Each section is set up similarly, and can be searched based upon multiple criteria. (Or none. You can leave the search blank, hit submit and it will give you all the results)
The different sections can be reached at:
Bylaws http://www.volunteerfd.org/bylaws.php
Grants http://www.volunteerfd.org/grants.php
Fundraising http://www.volunteerfd.org/fund.php
Recruitment/Retention http://www.volunteerfd.org/recruitment.php
SOGs/SOPs http://www.volunteerfd.org/sogs.php
Training http://www.volunteerfd.org/training.php
The submissions have been phenomenal. Each section contains multiple entire lesson plans, bylaws, sogs, and more. If you are a member, and you want to submit or update your submissions for the above sections, visit http://www.volunteerfd.org/profile.php If you are not a member, you can join at http://www.volunteerfd.org/join.php
Other important sections:
The message board is located at http://www.volunteerfd.org/phorum/ I have been impressed with the discussions on the boards, and have found it a great place to share information and meet other departments. There is a forum called “Site Comments/Updates/Ideas” at http://www.volunteerfd.org/phorum/list.php?f=8 This area is where I post any updates, and love to hear what you have to say. Many additions to the site have come from your ideas.
The members pages area has been updated and has grown and has been moved to the links section. http://www.volunteerfd.org/links/index.php?cat=4 If you department is not listed, and you would like it listed, contact me at jason@volunteerfd.org All I ask is a link back to http://www.volunteerfd.org There is a banner you can use at http://www.volunteerfd.org/images/vfdbanner.gif
Each member is given a mail account at VolunteerFD.org. This can be accessed via the web at http://mail.volunteerfd.org It can also be accessed via POP3, IMAP, and SMTP at mail.volunteerfd.org. You should log into your mail account by using your entire email address, i.e. userid@volunteerfd.org
If you are looking for supplies, or other sites, check out our Resources (http://www.volunteerfd.org/resources.php) or Shop (http://www.volunteerfd.org/shop.php) sections. Visiting our advertisers helps to pay for the site, and keeps the content coming.
Speaking of advertisers, one of my ‘favorite’ sections is the advertising information at http://www.volunteerfd.org/adinfo.php Our advertising is sold out for this year, but I need advertisers for next year. Be sure to tell your suppliers that they should support VolunteerFD.org by advertising.
My other ‘favorite’ section is of course our Round tables... (http://www.volunteerfd.org/roundtable ) I know I’m looking forward to it, and so are many others. Sign up while there is still space.
That’s your tour of VolunteerFD.org. If you have ideas, comments, or questions, email me at Jason@volunteerfd.org