Providing support is our primary mission
Providing support is our primary mission and the one that receives most of our energy. We provide support directly to you via our website, our confidential telephone helpline & email correspondence, and at our local support meetings. All these services and so much more are provided by our committed and caring volunteers who have previously experienced and worked through the feelings and issues you may be experiencing now. After all, we’ve all “been there” before, so we all know the importance of being there to lend support to those who are just starting this amazing journey.
But we can’t do it alone and we are always in need of volunteers! Please take a minute to look over the list of Volunteer Opportunities below. Most of these jobs do not require much of your time, but the rewards are huge!
Volunteer Opportunities
PFLAG Board of Directors President: Chairs the bi-monthly PFLAG Board meetings.
PFLAG Board of Directors Vice-President: Assists President in serving all Board duties and stands in for President when he or she is
away.
PFLAG Board of Directors Secretary: Takes notes at bi-monthly Board meetings, transcribes them, sends them to Board members forapproval, sends out an agenda at least 10 days before an upcoming Board meeting, asking for any agenda items and also serves on the Board.
PFLAG Board of Directors Treasurer: Pays all PFLAG bills, handles all PFLAG deposits and incoming monies. Treasurer is also responsible for compiling a Treasurer’s Report and presenting it to the Board at each bi-monthly meeting, providing the Membership Chair with all the new member info, and sending the membership dues to National PFLAG, as well as all other financial obligations.
PFLAG Board of Directors Board Member: Attends all bi-monthly Board meetings and helps to plan the support, education, and advocacy of PFLAG Phoenix.
Just come to a Board Meeting: Don’t let the moniker “Board of Directors” scare you away — we’re really a small, friendly, fairly informal group of dedicated volunteers who meet every other month on a Saturday morning (usually) to share information (sometimes from PFLAG National, sometimes from other community organizations, or elsewhere), plan projects and events, make spending or fundraising decisions, and generally take care of other items as they pop up. This is a GREAT PLACE to learn about all that we are involved with, to meet other WONDERFUL people, and to become a PFLAG “insider” (i.e., those “in the know”). Come and listen, and share your ideas too — we welcome everyone’s participation! For more info on our Board of Directors meetings, click here.
Speaker’s Bureau Coordinator: Recruits people for speaking events at schools, youth groups and businesses who ask us to come to speak about PFLAG.
Volunteer Coordinator: Recruits volunteers to staff tables at various events.
Newsletter Editor, Backup: Gathers all current and relevant PFLAG and LBGT news for the PFLAG newsletter and publishes it monthly using Constant Contact.
Helpline E-mail, Backup: Filters out the confidential e-mails and directs them to the appropriate people for help, and redirects the other e-mails to their appropriate destinations.
Helpline Telephone, Backup: Filters and prioritizes confidential PFLAG phone call messages, returns their calls, directs them to the specific help they are seeking, and takes care of distributing to their proper destinations the less urgent phone calls in timely matter as well.
Membership Coordinator: Keeps track of all our local PFLAG memberships and makes sure that they are entered into our database.
Support Group Facilitators, Backup: Leads one of our small Support Group meetings around the Valley, guides conversation, makes sure that everyone has a chance to share their issues, ensures confidentiality, and directs the extra support to those most in need.
Support Group Greeters: Gets to the Support Group meeting early, sets up the greeting table with name tags, greets all people who come through the door, gives them name tags if they don’t have one, shows them to the library table, and introduces them to others… (Everyone should be doing this, but we need someone to spearhead this effort!)
Support Group Media Facilitators: Gets to the Support Group meeting early and puts out the library and DVD material and then puts it all away after the meeting.
Pre & Post Meeting Set-up: Arrives early to Support Group meeting and helps set out the chairs for the meeting and helps put them away when the meeting is done. That helps SO much! (Big thanks to all who do this job!)
Scholarship Committee: Serves on the committee from Sept – March, gets the information out about the scholarships, collects the resumes as they come in, and finally decides which candidate or candidates are the best.
Going to Charlie’s Bar: Visits are on the 1st Friday of the month and are for either a kick-off or to collect a check for PFLAG. Charlie’s Bar supports PFLAG in a big way, but we have to do our part and BE THERE. If we are not there, they will stop supporting us. We need people to support people and this would be one of the more fun ways to do it!
AGRA (Arizona Gay Rodeo Association) Coordinator: Coordinates for this once-a-year event. PFLAG supplies the volunteers for the Gay Rodeo and works with the AZ Gay Rodeo Assn. These duties would fall to the coordinator.
Advocates: Acts as a contact between PFLAG and our elected representatives. As a 501C3, we cannot put out one political point of view, but as long as we extend the branch to every point of view, we can talk about an event or issue.
Website Development & Maintenance: This is a very important position and self-explanatory.
Storage Facility: Keeps track of what we HAVE in the storage facility. Responsible for letting us know when we need to order new materials and supplies.
Program Chair for Central Support Group: Keeps track of who will be speaking at the Central meeting and informs the website administrator, the person who does the newsletter, and the person who is in charge of the PFLAG Facebook page so they can publish the relevant details of that event in their respective media outlets. This person would also be responsible for providing a thumbnail sketch of who is speaking, their credentials, and what they’d be speaking about – something we could run that would entice people to come hear what they have to say.
Resource Media Chair: Keeps a list of the books and DVD’s in our support group libraries and keeps our selection of materials current by getting rid of outdated materials every few years.
Other Ways you can help us
JOIN US! Become a member! Come be a part of a dynamic, dedicated and fun group of caring individuals who are working to fulfill PFLAG’s mission of support, education and advocacy.
SUPPORT! Attend our monthly support meetings and share your personal story to help others just beginning their journey of understanding and acceptance. Attend one of our bi-monthly Board of Directors Meeting.
ADVOCATE! Speak out whenever you have an opportunity! Join us as we speak to our state (and national) legislators on important bills when the Legislature is in session.
VOLUNTEER! See above for the many ways you can help us by volunteering your time and talents, not to mention that it’s a great way to meet some quality people!
DONATE! If you’re short on time, but can spare some extra cash, we are always in need of additional funds via donations to support our ongoing operating costs for facilities, pamphlets, our newsletter, mailing costs, books and videos for our library, our phone line, our “Safe Space” program, etc. And, since we are a 501c3 tax-exempt organization, every dollar of your donation is tax deductible (as permitted by law)!
TELL OTHERS! Tell others about PFLAG! You’d be amazed how many gay people don’t know we exist! If gay people don’t know, how will their parents, families and friends ever find out about us? And, tell gay people that they are welcome too — many think it’s ONLY for parents, families and friends. Actually, it’s for EVERYONE!!
And Finally – Why Volunteer with PFLAG Phoenix?
As with all non-profit organizations, people who volunteer do come and go, and we never seem to have enough volunteers to do everything we’d like to do. Therefore, we can always use more help! Besides the personal fulfillment that comes from getting involved in such a wonderful organization like PFLAG, volunteering is also a great way to meet fun, friendly, and like-minded people. It’s also a great way to sharpen your skills (or to develop new ones!) that can help you in your current career, possibly in a new career, and with life in general. But, of course, the most fulfilling aspect of volunteering is witnessing first-hand the lives you will leave an imprint on through your involvement with PFLAG!