Congratulations to Marcia Buompensiero, Tamara Merrill, Bob Riffenburgh, Audrey Walz, and Sandra Yeaman for earning Presidential Volunteer Service Awards for their work on behalf of the Guild in 2023. Marcia, Bob, and Audrey earned bronze level awards (minimum of 100 volunteer hours) and Tamara and Sandra earned silver level awards (minimum of 250 volunteer hours).

In 2023, the Guild announced we are approved to certify volunteer efforts from members on behalf of the Guild as part of the White House’s Presidential Volunteer Service Award program.

The dedication of these volunteers helped bring the voices of new writers to light, enabling the publication of the anthology and enriching the lives of countless readers. 

The certificates and pins acknowledging the accomplishments of these five members have been sent to recipients. We also want to celebrate their accomplishments and dedication in this post.

The records they kept of their activities made it possible for us to create a Table of Effort for all members to consider using to keep track of their volunteer hours, an excerpt as a sample shown below:

PVSA Table of Effort

Items in blue text may be completed by members not on the Board of Directors.

Items in black text should be completed by one of the Directors on the Board.

Typical # of hours spent per event or month

	Estimate	#	Extended
Subtotal			0
Meetings, Workshops, Festivals
Lead Board Meetings (Pres/VP)	2	0	0	per meeting
Arrange speakers and presenters (all)	4	0	0	per presenter
Host or co-host Zoom meeting or workshop	2.5	0	0	per meeting
Festival Support--Set up, staff display, or take down	3.5	0	0	per event
Prepare and Present Marketing Support Presentation	3	0	0	per meeting
Prepare and Present Meeting Presentation	8	0	0	per meeting
Prepare and Present Workshop	8	0	0	per meeting
Organize social events for members	8	0	0	per event
Edit meeting and workshop videos for website	2	0	0	per meeting
Website, Blog, Google Docs Update
Prepare first draft of blog post or other information for website (Webmaster)	0.5	0	0	per blog post
Gather feedback from proofreaders (Webmaster)	0.5	0	0	per submission
Provide feedback to webmaster	0.5	0	0	per submission
Finalize blog post or page update (Webmaster)	0.5	0	0	per blog or page

Download the full Table of Effort here. Save a copy for yourself to keep track of the time you have devoted to the Guild in 2024.

By joining our vibrant volunteer community, you can make a real difference in the lives of others, develop valuable skills, and connect with a supportive network of passionate writers.

Next year, we hope other members will take the time to total up their hours on behalf of the Guild on a copy of the Table of Efforts so we can acknowledge more of our members whose volunteer service is the lifeblood of our organization.