How we work

Your nonprofit needs help. What should you do?

Step 1

Get in touch with MAS. Telephone. Send an e-mail. Fill in the on-line contact form. Talk to a MAS volunteer you’ve already met.

Step 2

Complete a Request for Consulting Service (RCS) form. You answer questions like what your organization does, how many volunteers and staff you have, what you want to do, and what kinds of help you believe you need to reach your goals. It’s like taking a snapshot of your organization. It helps you and MAS get a good sense of where you are and where you want to be.

Step 3

MAS looks at your RCS and talks to you about the areas where MAS Volunteer Consultants might be able to help. Together, you start building the picture about specific tasks and needs. If you are not sure what exactly is needed or you need help in several areas, someone from MAS will meet with you to help identify your needs and priorities.

Step 4

You complete a Project Definition Statement (PDS). You describe a specific task as clearly as possible and what you want the end result to be. You estimate how long the job will take. A MAS volunteer can help you with this.

Step 5

MAS circulates your PDS to its Volunteer Consultants with the skills and experience you need for this specific task. A consultant responds with an offer to help. Together you agree on exactly what is needed and the consultant and you get going on the job.

At times, although not very often, MAS doesn’t have a Volunteer Consultant with the right combination of skills and experience to help you. Or all the qualified consultants are busy with other jobs. If this happens, MAS tells you and does its best to help you find the help you need as quickly as possible. It might mean chopping up your task into smaller bits so that several volunteers can each do one small part of it. It might mean referring you to another organization where you may be able to get the help you need.

Step 6

At the end of the specific task, both you and the volunteer complete an evaluation form. How did the job go? Did you finish it in a timely and effective way? How happy were you with the volunteer? How happy was the volunteer with you? This gives us important feedback to ensure we are always delivering the best possible service.

Step 7

If you are satisfied with the work of the Volunteer Consultant and you are financially able to do so, we ask that you consider a donation to MAS. We are a non-profit charity and while our consultants donate their time, we still need funds to support our office to continue to help organizations like yours.

If you need help in another area, you complete another Project Definition Statement.