Durham Wayfinders Volunteer More Than $1.1 Million of Time

November 30, 2008 was an important day in Durham.  Not only did DPAC, the Durham Performing Arts Center open, but a robust volunteer program launched, too.  To date, The Durham Wayfinders program has donated time from citizens worth more than $1.000.000 - and that number is growing at a faster rate than ever.

The program began as an effort to offer passionate people a chance to help others enjoy Durham at festivals, events, and at venues, like DPAC.  The world-renowned theater was integral in the program's inception.

"With Wayfinders, we created an outlet for interested people to easily register to help at events to provide visitors with excellent customer service," said Shelly Green, the CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau who administers the program.  "It has taken on a life of its own and continues to amaze us with the level of engagement demonstrated by the volunteers. It has served as a model for other places to initiate similar programs," Green added.

Take Karen Burns as a shining example.  Burns has volunteered more than 1400 hours at more than 500 events in her years as a Wayfinder. "I have met many interesting people and have fun participating at all the events and performances in Durham," she said.  Burns has volunteered more hours than any other participant in the program. A total of 17 participants have each donated over 500 hours of time. Currently there are 2563 active participants in the program.

Through October, 2013 a total of 53,613 hours have been donated.  According to Independent Sector, a leadership network for nonprofit organizations that, among other things, calculates the value of donated time, that time represents a significant value to Durham's stakeholders.  The value of the time is $1,176,027.56. Hours for 2013 were calculated at the 2012 value because Independent Sector has not released its valuation of a volunteer hour for 2013 yet. Their chart is available online.

People can register to be part of the Durham Wayfinders on this website. 

DCVB Celebrates National Volunteer Week With Durham Wayfinders Recognition

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB) is celebrating National Volunteer Week  with quarterly recognition of some of its greatest volunteers. National Volunteer Week is about taking action and encouraging individuals and their respective communities to be at the center of social change – discovering and actively demonstrating their collective power to foster positive transformation. DCVB does this with the assistance of the Durham Wayfinders program.

Launched in 2008 along with the opening of the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), DCVB administers the online scheduling system that allows volunteers to easily register and search for opportunities to volunteer at Durham’s cultural facilities, events, festivals, convention information desks and visitor center.

The objective of the Durham Wayfinders is to offer excellent guest services by greeting visitors and assisting with directions and information about area hotels, restaurants and things to see and do while in Durham. There’s only one chance at a great first impression and volunteers with the program want each visitor to have the ultimate experience from start to finish.

About National Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating to the nation that by working together, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals. Sponsored by Points of Light—National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 and has grown exponentially each subsequent year, with literally thousands of volunteer projects and special events scheduled throughout the week. With the fourth year anniversary of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, the creation of the Volunteer Generation Fund and the resonant call to serve from the President, this year will be even more energizing and inspiring. For more information regarding National Volunteer Week activities, please visit them online.

For more information about volunteering with the Durham Wayfinders, click here.

Wayfinders to Help NCCU Eagles

Durham is a unique for many reasons - among them is the helpful nature of the people who help to make it the place where great things happen. So engaged are Durham's citizens that there is an organized group they can join to volunteer at events and cultural facilities. It is called the Durham Wayfinders.

For sports fans, this group just got a whole lot more attractive. The NCCU Athletics Department is teaming up with the Durham Wayfinders to provide help at the schools athletic events. “NCCU Athletics will start using the Durham Wayfinders to assist with many of the home games on campus.” said George "Bulldog" Smith, NCCU's Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development.

Those interested in being a part of this initiative are encouraged to attend a meet and greet in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium from 6 to 7PM on July 11th; parking is available in Latham Parking Deck.

Wayfinders is a program open to people interesting in volunteering their time in the community. People aged 16 years or older can sign up to be a Wayfinder by clicking here.

Durham Wayfinders will soon number 1,000

It’s not all that uncommon for destination marketing organizations like DCVB to have a team of volunteers who help with needs in the community such as manning information tables at conventions, helping customers in the official Visitor Information Center or providing assistance at local festivals and events.

What’s highly unusual is the depth and breadth of DCVB’s core group of volunteers called Durham Wayfinders. Currently there are more than 940 volunteers registered in the program which enjoys unparalleled participation compared to peer programs nationally. Based on current growth patterns, it will likely top 1,000 volunteers by early 2011.

The secret to DCVB’s success? “It’s all in the scheduling,” according to Shelly Green, President & CEO. Keeping up with even as few as 100 volunteers while matching organization’s needs to people’s availability can be a full time job – and a nightmare for organizations that have to rely on email and/or telephone to manage the program. Not surprisingly, DCVB adapted technology in a very creative way and came up with a way to manage the program using only about 10 hours of staff time each month.

“We use a software program that allows event organizers to post available opportunities into an online schedule system, said Carolyn Carney, Director of Visitor Services at DCVB. “Then volunteers, who choose how they want to receive notifications – either by email or to their phone, sign up for available shifts.” Wayfinders can also decide which “groups” they want to receive notifications of available volunteer opportunities from such as DPAC, Museum of Life and Science, World Beer Festival or all of the postings.

More than 25 organizations are using Wayfinders, to the tune of almost 4,000 volunteer hours a year.

Interested volunteers can enlist at www.DurhamWayfinders.com. Visitor features, performance venues and festival and event organizers desiring to tap into the Wayfinder volunteer program should contact Carolyn Carney at Carolyn@durham-cvb.com.