All Hands On Sacramento CommunityWorks projects should meet these project criteria.  If you have questions or need further information please contact the Hands On Sacramento office at (916) 447-7063 ext. 344 or email projects@handsonsacto.org. 

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING: Projects must be scheduled for evenings during the week (starting around 6:00 p.m.) or anytime on weekends. 

DONE-IN-A-DAY:  Projects must be completed in one project session, typically lasting between 3-5 hours on the weekends or weekdays, and 2-2.5 hours on the weeknights.  Projects must not involve separate specialized training aside from that on the project day.   

“HANDS-ON”/DIRECT: Projects must involve meaningful, “hands-on” work in order to create a fulfilling volunteer experience such as painting a house, cleaning up a park, or making crafts with children.  Hands On Sacramento projects shall not involve clerical, janitorial, or fund-raising activities, as these are “indirect” in nature and do not offer the sense of contribution and impact as do “hands-on” projects.  Preference will be given to projects and organizations that address community needs not currently met by existing projects and that offer interaction between volunteers and beneficiaries, when appropriate.               

SERVING THE SACRAMENTO REGION:  Projects must take place in the Sacramento area or benefit residents of the area.  Ideally, volunteers will find projects that directly benefit their own community. 

TEAM-BASED: A minimum of 5 volunteers are required to staff a project.  Hands On Sacramento projects are meant to be team activities: individuals volunteering for a project need interaction with and support from fellow volunteers in order to have a satisfying volunteer experience.   

SERVICE AGENCY PARTNERSHIPS: Hands On Sacramento will coordinate volunteer service projects with non-profit community service organizations only and not with organizations that exist solely for political, fundraising or for-profit purposes.  HOS will partner with faith-based organizations only if they provide a social service for the larger community and not include proselytization activities.  (For example, we will provide volunteers for projects at Salvation Army’s Family Services Warehouse or Habitat for Humanity) 

AGENCY PARTICIPATION: Agency Partners must provide at least one staff member to be on site to oversee the project.  One way to show our volunteers that an agency appreciates their time and effort is to provide some volunteers from the agency to work alongside them. 

FREQUENCY: Hands On Sacramento seeks both on-going projects (regularly scheduled, e.g., once-a-week or once-a-month) and single events. 

VOLUNTEER PROJECT LEADERS: Our goal is to have all Hands On Sacramento CommunityWorks projects headed by outstanding, committed, and interested volunteers that elect to serve as project leaders.  Project leaders will be responsible for contacting, coordinating, and recognizing volunteers, and creating, managing and supervising projects.  We cannot guarantee that we can locate a project leader for every project.