Moderator Manual:Pass recruiting welcome
Recruiting - Welcome Letter 1
Depending on your method of communications and training, a series of two letters can be sent to your new mod recruit. The first leans more towards the official capacity and includes links to the moderator discussion groups.
This one should be sent as a minimum as it provides a lot of information that will be of great use to your mods. The second is more on a personal level and is optional.
***Replace all XXX references with your local group name***
Example - Welcome Letter 1
Hi XXX and Welcome!
I just made you a moderator and you now have the ability to approve pending messages and members.
This will be a two-week trial period and at the end we can evaluate how that went and you can decide if you want to come on board permanently!
Here's some information that will be helpful as you begin moderating.
Group name: XXX Freecycle(R)
Group Mod/Trainer: XXX
Group Mod/Trainer email: XXX@XXX.com
The Freecycle Network(R) now qualifies as an international movement, (lots of good people worldwide) giving stuff away (and getting stuff) like crazy. We've adopted a motto as suggested by Albert in Portland "Changing the world one gift at a time".
We currently estimate that over 40 tons a day are being saved from landfills due to our combined efforts establishing this wonderful "gift economy."
The online Mod Manual is an invaluable tool that provides answers to many questions you may have pertaining to daily operations and management of your Freecycle group. From start to finish, it walks you through basic procedures and gradually introduces you to the finer details of being a moderator. It can be found here: https://wiki.freecycle.org/Moderator_Manual:Main_Page
There is rather large Yahoo group "for moderators of Freecycle only" to trade ideas, successes, failures, media & outreach, press releases, etc. Here's where you can find it: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreecycleLeadershipCommunity/info
Take a look at the FAQ pages at https://wiki.freecycle.org/How_To_Use_Freecycle and you'll find a lot of good information there! Thanks and good luck.
We look forward to working with you! Your Name (Your E-mail Address)
http://www.freecycle.org
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(C) 2003, The Freecycle Network(TM). All rights reserved. Freecycle and the Freecycle logo are trademarks of The Freecycle Network in the United States and/or other countries.
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Example - Welcome Letter 2
Hello! You should have received an introduction letter to inform you of your status change to Moderator.
My name is _____ and I have been assigned to assist you while you transition in. If there are ANY questions you have, please let me know. No question is too stupid (been there and done that) and no concern too insignificant!
I set you up to approve membership so you can at least get a feel for what to look for and what to do when members ask to join. There are currently no restrictions on who can join and that includes no zip code boundaries.
All new members are moderated so that their first few posts can be checked for content and make sure that the items Offered or Wanted fall within the legal and appropriate category for all ages per Freecycle(R) rules.
Phone numbers and addresses are not allowed under any circumstance... it's a safety issue we take seriously. Once a member shows they can post according to the rules, you can take them off moderation.
I still monitor messages that come through, because if an inappropriate one slips by, the member will go back to moderated with an informational e-mail to let them know what they did wrong. Unless a whole lot of people are doing the same thing, we prefer to handle things on a single member basis to keep the ADMIN messages down to a dull roar.
Your first step is to carefully read through the Guidelines and be familiar with the group policy. Policy does vary from group to group so do read carefully. One of several sticklers I have found in most groups is getting them to post their location (cross-street or township) of what they have or want. It's not as big of a deal on the Want as it is on the Offer.
People want to know where they are going to pick up an Offer and many posters will lose a recipient if it's too far out for them. It makes no sense to ask a lot of questions on location if you can make it a point to put in a cross street or a city or portion of the city you are located in on the very first try. We try really hard to enforce that.
If it's not in the subject line then it should at least be in the body of the message. You don't have to reject the post, but do send a friendly reminder to the member if there are mistakes made.
Our primary goal is get the members off moderation which makes our jobs as mods a whole lot easier. Don't be afraid to place members back on moderation for violations of the rules.
Again, our primary goal is an efficient board that requires very little of us to edit and moderate message posts once everyone learns the rules for posting. I hope this isn't too overwhelming for you. I am working with XXX so there is another mod available in case you need additional guidance or I'm not quite clear enough on instructions.
We are available for whatever you need and look forward to entertaining any questions you may have!
Welcome aboard! Your Name (Your E-mail Address)
http://www.freecycle.org
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(C) 2003, The Freecycle Network(TM). All rights reserved. Freecycle and the Freecycle logo are trademarks of The Freecycle Network in the United States and/or other countries.
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