Welcome to VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine

Organization Terms and Conditions

Thank you for your interest in recruiting volunteers through VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine, a website managed by United Way of Mid Coast Maine (UWMCM) (also referred to as "we" or "us" throughout these terms) and made possible by United Ways of Maine.

We take volunteering seriously and we need to be sure you do as well. We want you to connect to the best potential volunteers possible – and we want all potential volunteers using our site to have a positive experience and come back for more.

Below are the basics we need you to commit to when you recruit volunteers on our site.

Acceptance of Terms

Your creation of an organization account on our site indicates that you accept these Terms and Conditions, as well as these additional notes:

  • From time to time, we may revise these Terms and Conditions (based on your feedback or otherwise) and update this document.
  • If we make changes to these terms and conditions, we will alert users via an automated email through the website.
  • It is your responsibility to review any updated terms and conditions.
  • If you no longer agree to these Terms and Conditions, you need to cease your use of VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine. You may request that we make your organization account inactive (and thus no longer visible on the site) at any time.
  • Exceptions to these Terms and Conditions may be made at our sole discretion.

Organization Approval Process

New organizations go through an approval process, completed as quickly as possible (within five business days).

You are welcome to join the community on VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine if your organization has volunteer opportunities and/or events that take place in Sagadahoc, Lincoln, and Knox counties, Brunswick, and Harpswell and fit into one of these categories:

  • A legally incorporated 501(c)3 nonprofit or government entity (as indicated by entities such as GuideStar or the IRS), school, faith-based organization, or neighborhood association recognized as such by the applicable city or county.
  • An organization without 501(c)3 status with a fiscal sponsor that has 501(c)3 status. (In this case, you may have your fiscal sponsor create an account and post on your behalf, or you may create an account with your organization name followed by "sponsored by" the fiscal sponsor’s name.
  • A recognized community collaborative that includes at least one incorporated nonprofit or government entity, school, faith-based organization, or neighborhood association recognized as such by the applicable city or county.
  • A licensed for-profit organization that engages volunteers in direct client contact. For example, a for-profit nursing home may join the site in order to post opportunities for volunteers to visit seniors but not in order to have volunteers cover the front desk.

Note: Your organization does not need to be a United Way-funded community partner in order to create an account on VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine.

We may choose to accept other organizations at our discretion. Please contact us if your organization does not fit into one of the categories above.

Unfortunately, your organization cannot register to recruit volunteers on VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine if it is:

  • a 501(c)4 organization
  • a political or commercial organization
  • an organization that only offers volunteer opportunities or services to its members. For example, a church food pantry that only serves its parishioners OR a fraternity that only wants to advertise opportunities for its members could not post volunteer opportunities on our site.
  • an organization that discriminates against a particular group of people
  • seeking volunteer assistance for personal purposes

We reserve the right to refuse any organization whose volunteer program's mission and purpose we find contrary to the spirit of volunteerism.

A Few Reminders:

  • Although VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine has many features, the primary purpose of our website is to allow users and organizations to communicate regarding various volunteer opportunities posted on the site.
  • This website should be one tool in your organization’s volunteer recruitment tool box. We do not recommend relying on it as your sole source of volunteer or event attendee recruitment.
  • We cannot predict website downtime, outages, bugs, or the addition, removal, or changes of website features. Website maintenance and updates are completed by the website provider, Galaxy Digital, not UWMCM.
  • Organizations are not allowed to solicit funds on VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine. We are, however, happy to approve your fundraising events or volunteer opportunities for fundraising volunteers on the site.
  • Organizations are solely responsible for posting/updating their content on United Way’s volunteer website, but if we identify content as clearly out-of-date, we reserve the right to remove it.
  • It is your organization’s responsibility to thoroughly interview and screen any potential volunteers according to organization policies. UWMCM does not screen or otherwise approve people referred to volunteer opportunities through the website.
  • This website is one of 10 local sites based on service areas of United Ways of Maine. Organization, opportunity, and event listings all roll up to and are visible on the state site, http://getconnected.volunteermaine.org. Users respond to opportunities and organizations manage their account primarily on the relevant local site. Click here for a map of the local sites.
  • VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine is offered as a free public service to our community of organizations and volunteers. When you respond to our requests for data or feedback, you help us make the case for continued investment in our site.

Opportunity Approval Process

VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine website managers review and approve any new volunteer opportunities and events you provide us. After our approval (typically within five business days) they will then be visible on the site.

We do not accept these types of opportunities:

  • Opportunities that take place outside of this local site’s service area (Sagadahoc, Lincoln, and Knox counties, Brunswick, and Harpswell).
  • Opportunities that discriminate against a particular group of people.
  • Volunteer opportunities with stipends, paid internships, or employment listings.
  • Exception: We do accept national service opportunities (AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps*VISTA, SeniorCorps, Foster Grandparents, R.S.V.P., etc.) and organizations that provide mileage reimbursement (e.g., Meals on Wheels).

We may edit some of the content within your opportunities before approving them, but we won’t change the core message of the opportunity. We may make changes in order to:

  • Make sure we are providing a quality volunteer searching experience (e.g., ensure opportunities are categorized correctly, include helpful tags and keywords for searching, etc.)
  • Correct typos, readability, etc.
  • Remove any content that we deem to be discriminatory or inflammatory in nature.
  • Shorten the amount of text so it’s more mobile-friendly.

If we contact you with questions or for more information and do not receive a response from you, we may delete your pending listing(s).

Organization Account Managers’ Responsibilities, Conduct, and Sustainable Use

We want to provide potential volunteers a positive experience during their search for volunteer opportunities.

In order to continue using our site, we rely on you to agree to:

  • Maintain accurate and up-to-date information on your organization’s profile page and opportunity listings (e.g., deactivating listings when recruitment is no longer needed).
  • Regularly post your ongoing and date-specific volunteer opportunities and events.
  • Provide comprehensive and specific information in your listings and update them as necessary to keep them current.
  • Contact referred volunteers within five business days – or sooner.
  • Screen each volunteer referred to your organization for appropriateness. We do not screen volunteers who may respond to your organization’s opportunities. Each organization is responsible for the volunteer(s) referred through our site and agrees to hold us harmless from any and all claims, losses, damages, or expenses that you may incur or suffer as a result of use of VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine or any action or inaction of any volunteer referred to you through the website.
  • Provide accepted volunteers with all the elements of good customer service and effective volunteer management, including: a safe working environment, volunteer position descriptions, orientation and training, supervision, evaluation, and recognition.
  • Refer people to search on VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine (http://volunteer.uwmcm.org/) when you receive inquiries you cannot accommodate.
  • Share your stories with us! Was a great volunteer referred to you through the site? Email mariah@uwmcm.org to tell us, and we may feature your experience in a blog post or website spotlight! This also helps us make the case for continued support of the site.

We require that you use the website for personal and organizational use only and not for commercial purposes. In addition, VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine content may not be used for:

  • Any activity or use that is in competition with us
  • The creation of your own database
  • Financial or other gain
  • Users of our site must engage in respectful conduct and NOT:
  • Act in an unwanted, threatening, harassing, abusive or offensive manner toward any other user
  • Post or reference indecent or pornographic materials
  • Discuss, incite or otherwise solicit illegal activity
  • Transmit fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading communications
  • Send communications to any other user for purposes unrelated to volunteerism or event attendance
  • Share user data received through the site with anyone other than those involved with the volunteer opportunity or event

In order to ensure your organization’s recruitment through VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine is sustainable, we encourage organizations to create a plan.

  • If you ever left your organization, would anyone else know about your account on VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine? Ensure there is another staff person who knows about this recruitment tool and can create an account to resume coverage if/when you leave your role.
  • Don’t leave volunteers hanging! If you are planning to leave or go on vacation, it may be a good idea to add an additional account manager to respond to potential volunteers.
  • Remove additional organization managers who should no longer have access.

We may reach out to you if you have not logged in after a given period of time to confirm that you are still the organization manager and encourage you to update information or post new opportunities.

VolunteerME Site Managers’ Responsibilities

We are in this together. Your success is our success – and our community’s success.

As a partner in the volunteer recruitment process, you can expect that we will:

  • Promote VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine as a community resource throughout the year by way of telephone and email referrals, corporate partner communications, event and tabling opportunities, social media, and more.
  • Share organization, opportunity, and event content from VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine in United Way materials (e.g., Volunteer Engagement Newsletter) at our discretion.
  • Approve your volunteer opportunity and event listings within five business days or follow up for more information.
  • Spotlight specific opportunities and initiatives throughout the year (e.g., mentoring opportunities during National Mentoring Month, financial stability-related opportunities during National Financial Literacy month) on the front page of the site.
  • Provide technical assistance and respond to questions that may arise through your use of the site.
  • Review organization activity and reach out to encourage content updates and/or confirm continued interest.
  • Advocate for enhancements with our vendor. Though we cannot guarantee that the website company will act on any suggestions, we welcome your feedback on the site’s functionality.

Indemnification & Limitation of Liability

You agree that you will indemnify, defend, and hold us harmless from any and all claims or suits (including, without limitation, reasonable legal fees and expenses) that arise out of your breach of these terms and conditions.

We and our licensors disclaim all responsibility and liability for any loss, injury, claim, liability, or damage of any kind, including indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages of any kind (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and expenses) resulting from, arising out of or in any way related to the services or the content, including, without limitation:

  • any third-party websites, services, or content directly or indirectly accessed through the services;
  • the termination of your access to the services;
  • any errors in, or omissions from, the content (including, but not limited to, technical inaccuracies and typographical errors);
  • the complete or partial unavailability of the services or content;
  • your use of, or inability to use, the services;
  • your use of any equipment or software in connection with the services;
  • any computer viruses, "worms" or "Trojan horses," any other type of destructive or malicious computer code (by any name), or any unauthorized computer code which is attached to, or made part of, the services or content by any person, group, or organizations.

Technical Assistance

If you need assistance or have questions about VolunteerME Mid Coast Maine, please email mariah@uwmcm.org. We also encourage you to check out the website company's support website at https://galaxydigital.freshdesk.com/ and visit the section for Agency Managers.