Becoming a Partner
An Official Partner is an organization that lends VOICE its official support, tells the people it serves about VOICE, and shares information through Beacon.
VOICE welcomes community organizations as partners, especially those that already work with people who do not have reliable access to a phone or email. Partnership is for the organization itself and is separate from volunteering. Staff of any organization volunteer as individuals, whether or not their organization is a partner, as Volunteering explains.
Contributions
A partner can contribute in several ways.
- Tell the people with whom it works about VOICE's message line, email addresses, alerts, and in-person sessions.
- Share information about its services through Beacon and, by arrangement, through VOICE Alerts.
- Encourage its staff to volunteer.
- Help shape VOICE through its representative, who is the person volunteers contact when a question concerns the organization as a whole.
Partnership costs nothing, and it does not commit the organization or its staff to handling any particular message or request.
Recognition
Partners that agree to be listed are named, with their logos, on the About page.
Starting a Partnership
To become a partner, write to info@voicestl.org with the name of the organization, the person who will represent it, and a short description of its work. A volunteer replies to arrange a conversation about how the organization would like to take part, and the partnership begins once the organization has agreed to it.
Common Questions
Do Partners See the Messages People Leave?
No. Partnership gives an organization no access to the Switchboard or the shared inbox, and nothing from VOICE goes into a partner's own records unless the person it concerns has agreed.
Will VOICE Tell Our Staff Whether Someone Uses It?
No. Volunteers do not confirm whether a particular person uses VOICE, and this applies to partner organizations as well. When a person has said that their caseworker may be told something, volunteers share only what that person agreed to share.
Can Our Organization Stop Being a Partner?
Yes, at any time, by writing to info@voicestl.org. The organization is then no longer named on the About page, and its staff can go on volunteering as individuals if they wish.