MDA Volunteer Retail Training

MDA Volunteer Retail Training

Welcome to MDA’s Retail Training Page! Here you will find training materials and resources that will help you in your volunteer role.

Retail Volunteer Role Description:

Volunteers are essential to MDA’s mission of transforming the lives of people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related neuromuscular diseases. As a volunteer in this role, you will assist with calling MDA’s dedicated partners in the retail space (ie. grocery stores, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, casual dining, banks, etc.) during their annual fundraising campaigns.

This volunteer opportunity can be done virtually from your home. Responsibilities include attending a brief training and contacting partners to collect information, offer support, and strengthen our partnership to enhance their fundraising efforts. We anticipate this opportunity to connect with our partners to be a weekly commitment of 3 hours/week and 30-40 phone calls on average.

Retail Overview

More than 208,000 retail locations and corporate offices support MDA’s retail and consumer engagement programs each year. Partnering with MDA is proven to enhance a company’s community involvement strategies, improve employee engagement and build customer loyalty and brand relevance. The two videos below will provide you with a better understanding of our retail program and the impact it makes on our overall MDA mission.

 

 

Tasks and Expectations:

As an organization, MDA relies on crafting and maintaining relationships. Whether speaking to donors, corporate partners, fire fighters, or others, phone calls are integral to the local and personal touch that we strive to maintain. As a volunteer, you play a key role in helping these relationships thrive, and you represent the MDA when communicating over the phone. By viewing the video below, you will gain a better understanding of your role and responsibilities, review tips for success when it comes to telephone etiquette and review scripts that allow you to build relationships quickly and have natural conversations with our retail partners.

 

Bonus Video: Please view the video below to hear a live sample call with MDA Retail Volunteer, Rini, and Bridgett playing the role of our MDA retailer.

 

How to Impact Results:

All the combined contributions made by our volunteers, retailers and customers help MDA achieve our long-term annual goals and impact our mission. By coaching and motivating our retailers throughout their annual retail campaigns, they can achieve and exceed their goals. View the video below to gain a better understanding of how to coach, store averages, learn how to motivate a team to reach their goal and hear next steps and what to expect.

 

Bonus Video: Please view the video below to hear a live Q&A with Rini, our MDA Retail Volunteer, on coaching and overcoming challenges to make the greatest impact.

 

Summer Camp Pin-Ups:

During our MDA Summer campaign, associates at participating retail stores sell paper pinups for a $1, $5 or a larger contribution that offer customers the opportunity to help local kids attend a life-changing week of fun and friendship at MDA Summer Camp. This campaign also includes coupons, round ups, percent of sale promotions and more to add revenue and spirit to camp.

Our traditional MDA Summer Camp debuted in 1955 and has been a unique and life-changing experience for over 60 years. Our in-person camps provide 24-hour medical staff on site, lodging for the full week, and customized activities such as swimming, horseback riding, zip-lining, adaptive sports and more. In March of 2020, as the novel coronavirus spread across the US, we at MDA realized it would be impossible to safely gather our community’s children and teens at in-person MDA Summer Camps. But that did not mean we had to cancel camp, or its spirit.

Last summer, MDA launched our first MDA Virtual Summer Camp. This online program brings the magic of camp to campers virtually. This is a week of fun, but it’s also so much more than that. Friendships are built, independence is fostered, life skills are developed, self-esteem is encouraged, and connections are made. Our 2021 MDA Virtual Summer Camp will be launching again this June. Please watch the two videos below and check out our MDA Summer Camp tools under Volunteer Resources to find information that will help you when reaching out to our retailers about MDA Summer Camp.

 

Bonus Video: You do not want to miss this! Please view the video below to hear firsthand from two of our campers, and their mom, about their experience at MDA Virtual Summer Camp.

 

Volunteer Resources:

Below you will find various links to tools and resources that were referenced in the training videos. Simply click on the link(s) to access the appropriate documentation.

• Telephone Tips for Volunteers
• Guidelines and Scripts
• Responses and Rebuttals
• What to Expect
• MDA Summer Camp FAQ
• MDA Summer Camp Impact Report

Retail Volunteer Training Completion Form:

At the Muscular Dystrophy Association, volunteers are at the cornerstone of all we do. We are committed to ensuring our volunteers are successful and have an enjoyable experience while volunteering. As part of this commitment, we provide a comprehensive volunteer training for each of our signature programs. Your completion of this training is critical to your success and provides you with new skills and resources to make you successful. Please ensure you have completed all components of the training and electronically sign the Retail Volunteer Training Completion form below.