Purpose of these Policies
These policies are written to provide overall guidance and direction to volunteers engaged in
work with NDEF. These policies do not constitute, either implicitly or explicitly, a binding
contractual or personnel agreement. NDEF reserves the exclusive right to change any of these
policies at any time and to expect adherence to the changed policy.
These policies cover the definition of a volunteer, confidentiality, copyright issues, when
additional screening is necessary, inappropriate communications, when volunteers can
represent NDEF, online safety, ending your role as a volunteer with our Organisation and
dismissal of a volunteer. Areas not specifically covered by these policies shall be determined
by the Volunteer Program Manager.
Definition of ‘Volunteer’
A “volunteer” is anyone who, without compensation or expectation of compensation beyond
reimbursement, performs a task at the direction of and on behalf of NDEF. A “volunteer”
must be officially accepted and enrolled by NDEF prior to performance of the task. Unless
specifically stated, volunteers shall not be considered as “employees” of NDEF.
“Mandatory” Service
NDEF also accepts as volunteers those participating in student community service activities,
student internship projects, corporate volunteer programs, and other volunteer referral
programs. In each of these cases, however, a written agreement must be in effect with the
organization, school, or program from whom the special case volunteers originate and such
an agreement must identify responsibility for management and care of the intern. This
agreement must be reached in writing before the intern begins an assignment, and it is the
responsibility

of the intern or volunteer to secure this agreement with the appropriate
organization. Our Programme Manager is happy to speak with supervisors by phone, or
electronically, to explain our program and answer any questions.
Volunteers Under 18
If you are under 18, please let at least one of your parents know you are going to volunteer
with NDEF. We also suggest you copy one or both of your parents on your weekly reports to
NDEF when engaged in an online assignment for us, and we will be happy to do the same,
per your request. Your parents are invited to call or e-mail NDEF with any questions or
comments about our program.
Service at the Discretion of NDEF
We accept the service of all volunteers with the understanding that such service is at the sole
discretion of NDEF. Volunteers agree that we may at any time, for whatever reason, decide to
terminate the volunteer’s relationship with NDEF. On the other hand, the volunteer may at
any time, for whatever reason, decide to sever the volunteer’s relationship with NDEF. Notice
of such a decision should be communicated as soon as possible to the volunteer¹s supervisor.
Representing NDEF
Volunteers are asked not to contact organizations or individuals on behalf of NDEF unless
they seek prior mandate to do so by the Coordinator of NDEF. Prior to any action or

statement which might significantly affect or obligate NDEF, volunteers should seek prior
consultation and approval from appropriate staff. These actions may include, but are not
limited to, public statements to the press, coalition or lobbying efforts with other
organizations, or any agreements involving contractual or other financial obligations.
Volunteers are authorized to act as representatives of NDEF as specifically indicated within
their job descriptions and only to the extent of such written specifications.
Confidentiality
Volunteers are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all proprietary or privileged
information to which they are exposed while serving as a volunteer at NDEF, whether this
information involves a staff, volunteer, partner, client, or other person or involves overall
agency business. Failure to maintain confidentiality may result in termination of the
volunteer’s relationship with NDEF or other corrective action.
Screening/Reference Checks
For some tasks, volunteers must submit samples of work and professional references. If such
is required, it will be outlined in the task description.
Copyright/Ownership Issues
Volunteers grant non-exclusive permission to NDEF for use of any materials produced in
course of working as a Volunteering for NDEF, including graphics materials, web page
designs, narratives, research, compilations, instructional texts, written proposals, etc.,
becomes the property of NDEF upon submission. Volunteers will receive credit on NDEF’s
website for these and other contributions.

Online Orientation
Volunteers are expected to follow all directions provided to them in the online orientation,
received via e-mail after their submission of a completed volunteer application. This includes,
but is not limited to, subscribing to the volunteer list serve and following the reporting
guidelines outlined in the orientation. By replying to this orientation with a request for an
assignment, the volunteer is agreeing to the policies set forth in this orientation document.
Contacting Other Volunteers
Occasionally, volunteers may need to contact other volunteers with regard to their activities
with NDEF. We expect all such communications among volunteers to follow general
netiquette guidelines. Other than email addresses, NDEF will not share contact information
about a volunteer with another volunteer without the express consent of all parties involved.
We encourage volunteers to use common sense when communicating with other volunteers,
or anyone, online. We suggest you follow this rule: don’t reveal anything about yourself
online to someone that you would not feel comfortable revealing to a stranger you met on the
street.
Inappropriate Communications
If at any point a volunteer\intern receives any e-mail that he or she fees is inappropriate, for
any reason and they believe they have received it in conjunction with their involvement with
NDEF, we implore them to forward the email and other details about the communication to
NDEF.

Online Safety
The safety of our volunteers is important to us. To that end, we will not release a volunteer’s
phone number, age or other personal information to anyone outside of our organization or to
other volunteers without that volunteer’s written permission to do so. We plan to list
volunteers who have completed assignments for us, along with the city or country where they
reside and their e-mail address, on a page on our website. We will be happy to remove any or
all of this information for a particular volunteer per that person’s request.
Anti-Virus Software
The nature of online volunteering means a lot of contact between computers – e-mails,
attachments, transfer of files, etc. Because of this interaction, volunteers and organizations
can be at risk for transmitting computer viruses between each other. All online volunteers
should have anti-virus software installed on any computer they use in conjunction with
NDEF, and we expect you to update this software regularly. Likewise, NDEF has anti-virus
software on its computer systems, and updates this software at least quarterly. Computer
virus protection for your own computer is your responsibility.
Ending Your Volunteer Role
You can cease volunteering with NDEF upon the completion of any volunteer\internship
assignment, or when they are not currently engaged in an assignment. They may stay
subscribed to our e-mail lists as long as they wish, regardless of their volunteering\internship
status with NDEF.

Dismissal of a Volunteer
Volunteers who do not adhere to the rules and procedures of NDEF or who fail to
satisfactorily perform their volunteer assignment(s) are subject to dismissal. No volunteer
will be terminated until the volunteer has had an opportunity to discuss the reasons for
possible dismissal with supervisory staff. Possible grounds for dismissal may include, but are
not limited to, the following: gross misconduct or insubordination, theft of property or misuse
of NDEF materials, abuse or mistreatment of clients, partners, staff or other volunteers,
failure to abide by our policies and procedures, and failure to satisfactorily perform assigned
duties.