MHA’s Coordinators keep us going! There are a surprising number of things to do in an organization like ours. We not only offer many benefits to our members (see our Membership Benefits section), but we also do community outreach work to educate the broader public about homeschooling. Here’s a list of MHA’s Coordinator positions, and a brief description of the tasks handled by each Coordinator.
Conference Coordinator
Many volunteers who’ve worked with MHA over the years would agree that one of the most challenging jobs is being the Coordinator for our Annual Conference. In recent years, we’ve tended to share the load by handling the Conference arrangements more by committee than individually. This helps prevent “burnout” and makes it easier to move through the many steps it takes to put on a Conference:
Choose date, time and location.
Choose and make arrangements for keynote speaker.
Plan sessions and workshops, and arrange for people to present them.
Arrange vendor space, and handle vendor inquiries and payments.
Arrange for food, parking, signage, and the volunteers who will handle those matters.
Coordinate arrangements with Minnesota Homeschooling Teens (MHT) for food, Teen Room, and volunteering.
Coordinate preparation, printing and mailing of Conference Brochures, Registration Forms, Conference Programs, Nametags, and other related print needs.
Somehow make it all work out on Conference day!
Discount Coordinator
The person in charge of our Member Discounts helps everyone keep track of the ways they can save money with their MHA Membership Card. The job involves:
Making sure new discounts are posted for our members, and making sure terminated discount programs are removed from the list.
Sending new discount information to The Grapevine editor for publication.
Sending new discount information to the Membership Coordinator so it can be e-mailed to our members and added to the Member Handbook.
Events E-List Coordinator
The Coordinator of MHA’s Events E-List keeps our members informed of events and opportunities in the homeschooling community. The Coordinator:
Receives new event information from our members and forwards it to Events E-List subscribers.
Receives “E-lerts” from our Legislative Watch Coordinator and forwards them to Events E-List subscribers.
E-Mail Coordinator
It’s amazing how much the homeschooling community relies on e-mail! Our E-Mail Coordinator:
Retreives and responds to e-mail sent to MHA.
Forwards e-mail to appropriate Coordinators or the Board of Directors.
Works with the Volunteer Coordinator to build a team to reply to e-mail as the volume of e-mail inquiries increases.
Grapevine Coordinators
If you’ve ever published an organization’s newsletter, you know that many different jobs are involved. For our quarterly newsletter, The Grapevine, the work is handled by four Coordinators. Often, one person holds two or more of these positions.
The Advertising Coordinator provides information to interested businesses and individuals about advertising opportunities. The tasks include:
Communicate with current and prospective advertisers about rates, discounts, and ad submission requirements.
Submit ads to the Layout Coordinator within deadlines.
Bill and collect for ads.
Keep the Board of Directors informed on advertising issues, including revenue.
The Articles Coordinator pulls together the “content” of the newsletter from various sources. To prepare for the publication of each issue, this Coordinator must:
Obtain several appropriate “feature” articles, often of varying lengths.
Obtain a number of local, regional or national news items and smaller articles of general interest to homeschoolers.
Obtain copyright permission as required, and secure short biographies from authors submitting articles for publication.
Submit articles to the Layout Coordinator within deadlines.
The Layout Coordinator helps put it all together. Tasks performed by the Layout Coordinator include:
Work with Advertising and Article Coordinators within deadlines.
Find graphics as needed.
Work to maintain newsletter size at around 20 pages.
Consult with Board of Directors over any proposed significant changes.
Transfer newsletter proofs to Editor within deadlines.
Oversee printing when editing is complete.
Transfer newsletter to mailing staff within deadlines.
The Grapevine Editor is the final Coordinator position for our newsletter. The Editor does the following:
Edits The Grapevine for length, typographical errors, grammar, and visual appearance.
Returns the issue to the Layout Coordinator for printing.
Information Station Coordinator
Before we can present our Information Stations, the Coordinator has a number of tasks to complete:
Select dates, times, and venues.
Arrange publicity for each event, including notifying the Phoneline Coordinator and Website Coordinator so they can update their information.
Secure experienced MHA members to present our “Getting Started” workshop and answer questions at each Information Station.
Legislative Watch Coordinator
It’s an interesting challenge to keep track of legislative maneuvers that can affect homeschoolers. Some bills may directly refer to homeschooling, but others are not as obvious in their language or effect. Our Legislative Watch Coordinator does the following:
Stays current on Minnesota legislative matters discussed in the local newspapers.
Visits various websites to monitor legislative issues.
Enlists volunteers to assist in monitoring legislative issues.
Keeps Board of Directors informed of areas of concern.
Prepares articles for The Grapevine and E-lerts for the Events E-List as appropriate.
Media Coordinator
With the increase in the popularity of homeschooling have come increased requests by the media for information. Our Media Coordinator handles these inquiries by:
Fielding phone calls and e-mail requests from the media requesting interviews with homeschooling families and children.
Working with the Board of Directors to find appropriate homeschooling representatives and advocates (typically MHA members) to be interviewed on radio or television, and to speak at public engagements.
Membership Coordinator
Keeping track of the membership status of our group is a big job, and getting bigger all the time as our membership grows. MHA’s Membership Coordinator is responsible for:
Maintaining our member database.
Responding to membership-related inquiries.
Overseeing other volunteers who handle related membership functions, such as sending monthly renewal letters, updating the MHA Member Handbook, and sending the Events E-List to our members.
Minnesota Homeschooling Teens (MHT) Coordinators
Our teen group, MHT, has grown tremendously over the last few years, as more and more homeschooling families are “homeschooling through high school.” We have an adult Coordinator for the group, and teen Coordinators as well. Between them, they do the following:
Arrange the time and place for meetings of the MHT group.
Solicit teen activity suggestions from the teens in the group.
Send the MHT calendar of events to the other Coordinators that help publicize those events.
Reply to MHT-related e-mail that is sent to MHA.
Phoneline Coordinator
Our Phoneline continues to see a lot of use, despite the sharp rise in e-mail communiction over the last 10 years. To make sure all those calls get returned, the Coordinator:
Schedules MHA volunteers to pick up messages on a regular basis, and provides the volunteers with updated information on MHA events that callers are likely to ask about.
Updates the “outgoing” message as needed.
Post Office Box Coordinator
MHA, like most other all-volunteer organizations, does not have an “office” as such. All of the mail we receive is picked up at the Post Office by our Post Office Box Coordinator, whose job is to:
Pick up, sort and distribute mail on a weekly basis.
Notify the Board of Directors of any “high priority” mail that may require immediate attention.
Support Group Coordinator
The world of support groups is constantly changing, as old ones sometimes fade away and new ones spring up to accommodate the continued growth of homeschooling. MHA’s Support Group Coordinator helps keep our members in touch by:
Responding to requests for support group information by telephone, mail or e-mail.
Sending updates of new groups to other MHA Coordinators for publication and distribution.
Annually calling the listed contacts to update information and delete groups that are no longer meeting.
State Fair Coordinator
The “Great Minnesota Get-Together” - otherwise known as the Minnesota State Fair - is one of MHA’s major outreach efforts. It requires a lot of work to prepare and staff MHA’s State Fair Booth, but for many members it’s one of the homeschooling highlights of the year. Here’s what the State Fair Coordinator does:
Handles insurance, equipment orders, and other paperwork with State Fair officials.
Arranges printing of the many brochures and handouts given out at the booth.
Submits articles to The Grapevine about staffing needs, and works with other MHA volunteers to ensure the booth is fully staffed at all times.
Makes sure all MHA members volunteering at the booth receive their free State Fair admission tickets, along with hearty thanks for their efforts.
Sets up the booth before the Fair opens and takes it down when the Fair is done.
Website Coordinator
The MHA website has evolved over the years from a relatively bare-bones snapshot of our group, to today’s colorful, information-packed site. Our Website Coordinator is the glue that holds the site together by:
Handling general updating and maintenance.
Making regular backups.
Submitting appropriate web-related announcements to other Coordinators who distribute the information to our members.
Volunteer Coordinator
Our Volunteer Coordinator tries to make sure that someone is available to handle every job that needs to be done. The Coordinator:
Responds to e-mail, telephone, or letter inquiries about volunteering for MHA.
Corresponds with volunteers to find jobs that are the best match for them.
Works with the Board of Directors to determine the areas of greatest need for volunteers.