The mission of the Women's Caucus for Art is to create community through art, education, and social activism. They use VolunteerSpot to coordinate volunteers for their art shows and national conference.
They are committed to:
- recognizing the contributions of women in the arts
- providing women with leadership opportunities and professional development
- expanding networking and exhibition opportunities for women
- supporting local, national, and global art activism
- advocating for equity in the arts for all
WCA is also a networking organization for women in the arts.
Today, our spotlight shines on Priscilla Otani, Volunteer Coordinator for the Northern California chapter of the National Women's Caucus for Art (NCWCA)
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Please tell us about the NCWCA and your volunteer needs.
Organized in 1972, NCWCA is one of the original chapters of the National Women's Caucus for Art. NCWCA fosters collective engagement in art, education, and social activism for women artists, art historians, and art educators in San Francisco, East Bay, Marin and all parts of Northern California. We are an entirely voluntary organization on a shoestring budget - all of our activities and events are managed by unpaid volunteers. We try to leverage inexpensive or free technology to accomplish our goals, deliver great opportunities and serve our membership.
How did you get started as a volunteer leader?
I would consider myself a volunteer organizer, as I wear many hats in our chapter. No one wanted to take on the onerous task of organizing volunteers for an upcoming member's exhibition. I decided to check the internet to see if there was an automated way to do this so that I could manage the many other tasks of mounting an exhibition.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
Give people flexibility, choice, specificity and an option to opt out. A nebulous call for volunteers conjures visions of working all day and sacrificing the fun of being an attendee. By giving choices of dates & activities and dividing up the work in do-able increments, members are able to choose something and feel like they have contributed concretely to an event. Those who could not volunteer due to physical limitations or time were given the option to contribute $20 towards hiring someone to do the task for them. Though only a very few chose this option, it was appreciated. The unexpected outcome of our project was that those who volunteered not only enjoyed doing so, they felt the volunteer activity brought them closer as a community.
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
Sheer desperation. No one stepped up to manage volunteers. I looked on the internet and found a few automated volunteer sites. I went with another vendor initially, but they had a very complicated approval process that took days, and when that was done, their system was limited and inflexible. So I tried option two, which turned out to be VolunteerSpot. It was flexible, easy to use, had reports that enabled me to track those tasks that were not being filled, allowed for easy email updates, and the automated reminder system worked like a charm. Every single person who signed up for a volunteer activity showed up and did their task. It was wonderful!
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your organization or volunteering?
The national Women's Caucus for Art is organizing its 40th anniversary conference in Los Angeles in February, 2012. As the national President-Elect, I will be working with the President in making this a memorable event, with panels, awards ceremonies, exhibitions, gala event, bus tour, etc. You can be certain that we will be using VolunteerSpot to organize the many members from all over the US who will be attending this event.
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To learn more, visit www.ncwca.org
We salute Priscilla Otani and all the other volunteer coordinators out there making a difference in the world. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at [email protected].
