Guidelines For A Successful Volunteering Action Plan

2nd International Conference onDIALOGUEUnited NationsEducational, Scientific andCultural OrganizationKing Abdullah bin AbdulazizInternational Programme fora Culture of Peace and DialogueYouth Volunteering & Dialoguepreventing violent extremism and strengthening social inclusion25 - 27 September 2017UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, FranceGuidelines fora SuccessfulVolunteeringAction Plan

Proposed structurefor an action plan1. You – Your world and how it relates to the theme of your Workshop How does the topic relate to my local reality/ context? What do I/ my NGO/ my community already do on that topic? What could I/ we do to develop the theme further in our localcommunity? What concrete needs do I need to address in my community to reallymake a positive impact? Who are the different stakeholders that are affected or that have aninterest in the challenge that I want to address?3

2. The Purpose – The change that needs to happen What is the reality of the challenge that you want to address?How would it look like if you are successful? How will you determine at the end of your action/project that it wasuseful and successful?4. The Hook – What will your activity/project/initiative be about? How can you touch your target group’s interests? How can youstimulate their intrinsic motivation to want to work with you?5. The Approach – Your vehicle to take your target group ona developmental journey.3. The Target Group – With whom will you work, whom do you address?Who will you directly work with? What is the best approach to touch your target groups interestand address the challenges you want to overcome? Who are the end beneficiaries? Describe your target group (age, context, gender, social situation,abilities, limiting factors, interests/passions, fears, etc.)45

6. Step by Step – Getting closer, every day, to the world you dream of. What is the first thing you need to do to start moving in the rightdirection? Describe as concretely and clearly as possible what youneed to do in what order to be successful.Pitching youraction planOn the last session of this Conference, each thematic workshop will choose3-4 persons to pitch their idea to the entire plenary.The pressing question now is - what is a pitch and how do you do it?A pitch is a 1-minute speech with the purpose to make someone else excitedin your activity/venture/project and confident in your ability to make a positiveimpact.7. Your Network – Who do you need to ask for support to make successmore likely for you? Your friends, partners, mentors, new contacts at UNESCO and otherparticipants of this conference.In the start-up world and venture capital community, pitches are usedby entrepreneurs to convince investors to provide them with capital toadvance their businesses. At the Second International Conference on YouthVolunteering and Dialogue, you pitch for your peer’s respect, for their hopethat a better work is possible and for their believe that they too can make theworld a better place.Developing a pitch entails three core steps:1) You state the problem you are solving and you make clear that it is real,relevant and tangible. Your aim is to draw a picture in the heads of youraudience about the distance between how the world is and how the worldshould be. Your are trying to make the audience angry at how things arebut excited and hopeful by your vision for the future.You should have clarity about this by going through steps 1-4 of your ActionPlan.2) You make clear that the actions you propose are the most suitable totackle the problem you have identified. You show that you are ambitious,but realistic. You prove that change is possible.67

You have thought about this deeply in steps 5 and 6 of your Action Plan.3) You show that you, your team and the support network that you haveestablished at this conference are capable of bringing about that changeand generating a positive impact for the world.So, what will you say?1)You reflected upon this already in step 7 of your Action Plan.Things to watch out for! Speaking too fastYes, you only have about 60 seconds, but try to avoid cramming 15minutes of information into one minute. Using highly technical terms, acronyms or slangYou want your pitch to be easily understood by any audience and thatmeans trying to avoid using words that will confuse the average person.2) Not being focusedThis isn’t a general conversation and you’re not discussing the weather.Keep your pitch clear and focused. Not practicing what you’re going to sayMake sure it flows well and that there aren’t any spots that feel roughor awkward. Then practice it. Practice it again. Keep practicing it until itbecomes easy for you! Being roboticThis is all about a face to face interaction with an audience you want toimpress. Having an easy, approachable, conversational style to your pitchwill get you much further than an overly rehearsed monologue approach.3) Not having a take-away messageWhat is it that everyone will remember? Make sure you have a strongmessage that everybody will remember and reflect upon.89

Guidelines for a Successful Volunteering Action Plan. 3 Proposed structure for an action plan 1. You – Your world and how it relates to the theme of your Workshop . You have thought about this deeply in steps 5 and 6 of y