Important Message for All SCORE Leaders
Hello SCORE Leaders,
Last week was quite busy and we wanted to communicate with you all a few important things we are working through. We appreciate your time and leadership at SCORE, and want to make sure you are informed and as equipped as possible.
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Internal Communications – We combined all SCORE email updates into one weekly newsletter when the COVID-19 pandemic began so that all volunteers could be equally informed as we all navigated change together. In recent weeks we’ve received feedback that these weekly newsletters are now too much to manage and not always relevant to everyone. We will be making adjustments this month to move to a regular newsletter for all volunteers *just* on the topics that affect SCORE clients and SCORE volunteer experience. Other messages will be targeted by volunteer role. Leaders will receive a monthly digest discussing the top 3 most important topics they need to know, and links to reference the content being directed to the various roles in their chapter. We are hoping this will be the beginning of more streamlined communication efforts, to keep everyone informed in what they need and want to know, without overwhelming SCORE volunteers.
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SCORE ADA Requirements – SCORE is held to the Americans with Disabilities Act and has service offerings at a national level to help. As a reminder the SBA Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Civil Rights is able to assist SCORE with access to sign language interpreters for mentoring and workshops. We also have partnerships that offer language and interpretation services and are able to support other requested accommodations for both prospective SCORE clients and volunteers. In case of any local concerns, please contact [email protected] and we can work through necessary accommodations with you.
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Zoom Changes – For all those using Zoom for mentoring or meetings, Zoom has recently changed their basic (free) product to limit all meetings to 40 minutes. For everyone using the basic (free) version of Zoom, our recommendation at this time is to move to using Google meet. On the Support Center we have guides to help you on Using Google Meet with @scorevolunteer.org email addresses and on Switching from Zoom to Google Meet. If you need to add Zoom Pro licenses for your chapter, you can do so out of chapter or district budgets at the SCORE discounted rate of $12/month per user. Just send the email address that needs to be updated to Zoom Pro license to [email protected] and we will set it up for your account and automated billing. This does not impact the chapters/districts using their ZOOM Pro account for local webinars and that they should continue to do this as it is integrated into Engage,
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Volunteer Profiles – As presented on the February Leadership Call, SCORE volunteer’s profile summaries, and demographic information are now required fields for new volunteers on the volunteer profile page. New provisional volunteers must complete their entire profile including these fields in order to be eligible to move to active status. Every demographic field has an option for 'Choose Not To Respond' that may be selected as well. We understand the current onboarding process is a bit cumbersome for SCORE Coaches and Volunteer Intake Coordinators, so we are streamlining this based on significant volunteer feedback over the next month. The changes in the volunteer profile requirements we hope will move us technologically closer to our One SCORE culture and allow you to get the most out of your SCORE experience by sharing your expertise and using the expertise of others.
Profile Summary –tells your story.
Describes how you can help SCORE Clients.
Relevant skills and experience.
Accomplishments, interests, and personal traits that contribute to one’s work as a volunteer.
Demographics –tells a story.
They provide a broad understanding of the different characteristics of a population.
Different people use different data for different reasons.
Missing data can have a significant effect on conclusions that are drawn and misinform actions.
5. Office Depot – The office supply side of office depot has rebranded and many of you have received emails notifying you of the changes. This is a phased change from our partner which includes:
- A marketing rebrand which you would have already noticed if you went to their site.
- SCORE Account billing will still be possible through online purchases. You will not be able to bill to the SCORE account for an in-store purchase though. If you want to bill to the SCORE account and pick up in store, you should simply place the order online in advance and select ‘in store pickup’ when you are checking out.
- The Store Purchase Cards that Office Depot supplies will be valid for SCORE through June of 2023. However they are rolling out an app which will be much easier for everyone to manage. The App will have a QR code that will take the place of the Store Purchase Cards moving forward.
- Note that this only impacts the physical store and supply side of Office Depot. The SCORE Company Store powered by Office Depot is not affected as it is a separate division. A reminder of all SCORE’s ordering options can be found on the Support Center.
As we are working out all the details, we have scheduled a webinar for SCORE volunteers to talk through these changes and how they impact our chapters. We will also do a refresh on our other ordering partner portals, and talk about new opportunities to order through companies like Staples or others that may be more prevalent in certain areas of the country. This webinar will be recorded and posted to the Support Center if you cannot make it.
Register here.
We thank you for your extra energy as we navigate change these days and move forward, keeping SCORE clients front and center of our efforts. Your feedback is valued and keeps us aligned. Please don’t forget to take the Volunteer Survey sent from [email protected] which closes May 20
th.
Thank you!
Doug Nohe
VP of Field Ops
