The most solid basis for self-esteem is…a life in which one contributes to the greatest possible extent to making the world a better place. Doing this is not giving up what one would rather be doing…It is the expression of one’s core identity. Steven Pinker The Most Good You Can Do

How to Help

Sunday Assembly Atlanta only exists because of people who put in their time, energy, and money to make all aspects of what we do possible. Our needs change over time based on our changing community and our evolving goals. This space is dedicated to listing what concrete tasks or roles are needed to make SAA the best it can be.

We’ve created a Volunteer Handbook (WIP) explaining what working with our other volunteers and organizers is like, what technology we use, what’s expected of organizers, and more! Give it a look whenever you’re unsure about how we operate in any of those ways. Also, we recognize that times and passions change, and it’s the nature of an all-volunteer organization to have folks come and go. By offering to help, you are not signing up for more than what you’re willing to do. We’re grateful for any amount of assistance.

If you have a small group event that you’d like to put on with our help, please fill out this short Event Proposal Form explaining your proposal. We will reply back with next steps from there! If you’ve bought something or collected a donation on behalf of SAA, fill out this form.

Below are the tasks we currently need help with. If you are willing to take one (or more!) on, even just for a short period, fill out the volunteer form below the list.

  • Assembly childcare
    • This position requires, of course, being comfortable around and managing multiple children during our monthly Sunday Assembly of over an hour. Currently we meet in a building with a pre-school in the basement with lots for kids to do! You miss the assembly itself but allow other parents to enjoy it and signal a welcoming environment for families.
  • Assembly lead
    • We have a well-structured process for putting on our monthly assemblies, and one part of it is defining an Assembly Lead or Leads (ALs). These individuals decide and delegate the many individual tasks required to hold an assembly, from picking a reading to editing presentation slides, from figuring out a graphic for advertising to confirming who has the key for the venue. This role requires having experienced several assemblies and completed some of the individual tasks before. First-timers are usually partnered with an experienced AL.
  • Help often event coordinator
    • Community volunteering events are some of the most important ways we live up to the “help often” part of our motto. We have a list of great places for groups to volunteer at, but we need someone to commit to picking one periodically, coordinating the event, and being there! Your volunteer ideas are of course welcome.
  • Monthly newsletter
    • Our MailChimp email newsletter tells subscribers what events are coming up (and allows them to RSVP) and reflects on and shares what’s recently occurred. It’s created from a template that is largely about selecting (and soliciting suggestions for) interesting news items from the community, and beyond. Our newsletter archive is available here!
  • Social media manager
    • We have a Facebook page, Facebook group, Twitter account, Instagram account, and YouTube channel. All of these are linked in our Contact page. Having regular, engaging, and useful content in any of those spaces raises our visibility and promotes more engagement and awareness within our community.
  • Web administrator
    • Upkeep of this website, our Meetup page, and our other platforms like Trello and G Suite all require technical knowledge and some experience. We need that information and ability spread wider than in just one person.
  • “I’m Doing My Best” assembly section
    • Are you a member of our community who has gone through something challenging? Are you at a turning point in your life? Whether you’ve found the answers or not, we encourage you to share your story in our 5-minute “I’m Doing My Best” section of our monthly assembly. We’ll help you through it!
  • Assembly recorder
    • We have a simple tripod, camcorder, and extension cord setup that allows us to record our assemblies to remember in the future. Without someone behind the camera, it’s a single static wide shot of the stage that is only really useful for archival purposes. Some basic panning and zooming on individuals as they come up to speak makes it much more watchable.
  • Video editing
    • After recording assemblies, the raw video files must be lightly edited (removing icebreakers, moments of mindfulness, etc.) and uploaded to our YouTube channel. Descriptions for our assembly videos contain timestamps for different sections. We also upload isolated video of the speaker.
  • Speaker suggestions
    • Finding great speakers to inspire, teach, and engage our community at our monthly assemblies is an important task. Assembly speaker sections are 20 minutes long and can be on a wide variety of topics. If you share a possible speaker, include a video or audio clip of them speaking to help us know they’re a good fit!
  • General assembly helper
    • If you aren’t sure how to help but would like to support what we do, being available and willing to complete small tasks on assembly days is a great place to start. Whether it’s moving tables and chairs, setting up the potluck, or learning how to set up a banner or piece of equipment, we deeply appreciate all desires to pitch in.

(Last updated 13 June 2018)


Volunteer Form

Share an email address, phone number, or social media link so we can start a conversation!
See: https://sundayassemblyatlanta.org/community/volunteer/
Please share any other relevant information about your experience with what you're volunteering for or your availability.

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love. Carl Sagan
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world! […] You can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness! Anne Frank