Revision as of 23:53, 2 December 2010

The Moderators Manual is a "rulebook" available to all owners, lead moderators, and moderators of official Freecycle groups.

Getting Help

• GOA contacts-There is a Group Outreach and Assistance volunteer for each state/province/region. Moderators can contact the appropriate volunteer for assistance.
• Modsquad listings-Join a local or national Modsquad to get in touch with other moderators. Feel free to ask or answer questions, offer suggestions, share with others what's going on in your region. All moderators welcome.
• General contacts-Email listing of all necessary Freecycle contacts
• Volunteers-For those who want to participate a bit more in the Freecycle movement, take a look here for ideas on how you can help.

Guidelines and Policies

• Guidelines and Policies
• Cafe Guidelines
• Copyright and Trademark Policy
• Promotional Items
• Do's & Don'ts
• Moderator Oath

Required Files

• Safety Notice
• Farewell
• Rules & Etiquette Guidelines

Moderator Resources

• Moderator Resources
• Moderating Freecycle
• Acronyms/Glossary
• Instructional Video
• Screen-Shots
• Organizational Chart
• About the Staff

The "Files"

• Bouncing
  
• Crossposting
  
• Description of items
  
• Personal information
  
• Sob stories
  
• Too hot? Be nice!
  

Notices

• Accuracy in description of items offered
  
• Animals and landfills
  
• Christmas Shopping!
  
• Coupons, Tickets, et al
  
• Craft and Hobby
  
• Group Challenges
  
• Crossposting
  
• Distribution of Software, CDs, DVDs, et al
  
• Holiday Requests
  
• How Messages Are Moderated
  
• Ideas to generate OFFER postings
  
• New Group Announcements
  
• No shows
  
• Not getting what you Wanted?
  
• Phil's Bits
  
• Phone Numbers and Addresses
  
• Purple Octopus
  
• Promote Your Group Challenge!
  
• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
  
• Reseller Guidelines
  
• Seasonal Notices
  
• To Post or Not to Post... That is the Question
  
• Traveling Treasure Box
  
• Using Received vs. Taken in Subject Lines
  
• When Members Solicit Sales in Response to a WANTED Post
  

Responses

• Bouncing Members
  
• Breeder Pets Not Allowed
  
• Curbside Posts/Garage Sales
  
• Inappropriate User ID
  
• Landfill Test
  
• Location Missing From Subject Line
  
• Location Missing From Subject Line (A friendly reminder)
  
• Message Formats
  
• Pets As Holiday And/Or Seasonal Gifts
  
• Sales/Services
  
• Too Many Wanted Posts
  
• Why can't we trade, swap, or borrow?
  
• Wild cat posts
  

Passing The Torch

At the core of what makes The Freecycle Network function smoothly are the many thousands of volunteers helping to moderate local groups. We understand that volunteers are not making this commitment for their entire lives and sometimes one's time constraints prohibit further volunteering. Below are some tips to help recruit new local volunteers to assume stewardship of the local group moving forward.

If you are pressed for time or need to step down more quickly there is a central volunteer team which helps moderate local groups until new local volunteers can be recruited. They are the Interim Moderator Team (IMods). If you are unable to recruit new local mods and need to step down, this team is there for you.

You may contact the IMod Team Leader to request their help here: InterimMod@freecycle.org. Thank you for caring enough to assure that the local group may continue to grow and to thrive.

Other Useful Information

An Example Letter to use as an Admin on your group to find a prospective new ModeratorRecruiting - Mod Recruit Letter

An Example Welcome to a newly appointed Moderator Recruiting - Welcome Letter

Other information about Recruiting Moderators can be found Here