Bicycle Collective Volunteer Manual

This is the SLC Bicycle Collective Volunteer Manual, we are currently developing it, so it is not in use yet.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.

Making Donations

We accept all parts and bikes regardless of condition. As a volunteer accepting bikes or frames fill out a (yellow) Bike Information Sheet and staple or pin it to the top tube of the frame.

If the donor asks for a donation receipt, fill out a receipt for them. Donation receipts should not include the value of the bike or part -- that is between the donor and the IRS to determine. Most people that make donations are not concerned about getting a receipt, for this reason we only give them out if they ask.

Reserving Bikes / Project Bikes

All donated bikes are for sale at nominal cost, but priority of the bikes goes to our programs. Each bike or frame should have a (yellow) Bike Information Sheet. The backside of the (yellow) Bike Information Sheets contains a place to reserve the bike.

Reserved bikes should have a name, phone number and a non-expired pickup date on them. If they lack any one of these three things -- it is not considered reserved.

To be fair to everyone, pickup dates should never be more than two weeks from the current day. The key of a pickup date is to show that the person reserving it is still interested in the bike. They also can extend the pickup date, unless it has already expired, again the key is to show they haven't abandoned their project.

Work Trade

"Time is money." -Benjamin Franklin

Our community bike shop works also uses the work trade concept. Simply ask the core volunteer what you would like to purchase, and the two of you will determine how many volunteer hours it would take to earn that item.

Bike Sales

• Buying: All bikes are for nominal sale, but reservation priority goes first and foremost to our various programs.
• Selling: Make sure you mark how much the bike was sold for on the (yellow) Bike Information Sheet and put it in the drawer with the other yellow sheets. If they are asking for a low-income discount, they must fill out an eligibility form.

Bikes for Trade

We maintain a strict No Trades policy. We do this to remove the incentive for laundering stolen bikes at our shop. If someone trades a stolen bike to your shop, it can lead to legal problems for the person who ends up with the bike -- and that just makes us look bad.

Volunteering

• Project Leads: individuals who have showed interest in starting and/or spear heading a project.
• Core Volunteers: individuals who have consistently volunteered for a period of ???. To become a Core Volunteer you must be nominated by an existing Core Volunteer to the rest of the Core Volunteers -- the candidate is not present for this meeting.
• Committed Volunteers:
• Impromptu Volunteers: are people who ask if they can do some work for that day, usually as a trade for shop use/assistance, and necessary used parts (and occasionally a new tube). The volunteer is referred to a list of chores, and the value is determined by the mechanic.

Valet Bicycle Parking

Valet Bicycle Parking is an easy way to rack up some volunteer hours. You simply set up a tent at an event, and when people bring you bikes to watch, you give them one side of a raffle ticket and wedge the other one somewhere on their bike (like in between two spokes). You should know about the different programs that the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective offers -- people will ask. Also try and promote the programs as people are leaving. Say something simple as, "Have you heard of the Bicycle Collective before?"

You will need:

• EZ-UP Tent
• Roll-up Folding Table
• Banners
• Zip ties and/or Elastic Tie Downs
• Clip Board
• Pens
• Double Roll of Raffle Tickets
• Materials to hand out:
  • SLC BC Tri-Fold Brochures (contact: jonathan@slcbikecollective.org)
  • Cycling Utah (contact: dave@cyclingutah.com)
  • Volunteer Sign up sheet (contact: jonathan@slcbikecollective.org)
  • Salt Lake County Bike Maps (contact: chair@slcbac.org)
  • Utah Bicycle Commuter Guide (contact: sbriggs@utah.gov)

Shop Rules

Opening

• Count the register and mark it in the book.
• Verify no tools are missing.
• Check the answering machine and write down any notes.

Closing

• Make sure everyone is gone, check the bathroom.
• Make sure the phone is charging.
• Make sure the benches are clean and the tools are put away.
• Turn off all the lights.
• Turn off the swamp cooler or the heater.

References

• Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
• Other Volunteer Handbooks