Unit 4: Find & communicate with host organizations (3 phases)
Find & communicate with host organisations
Find and communicate with host organisations (3 phases)
Learning Goal: Learn how to find and communicate with a host organization.
Find and communicate with host organisations (3 phases)
Learning Goal: Learn how to find and communicate with a host organization.
Find and communicate with host organisations (3 phases)
Learning Goal: Learn how to find and communicate with a host organization.
The next part of your journey is promoting your workshop to different groups of people, each with their own specific objective. Here you will learn how to find and promote your workshop to a Host organization who will help you organize it. You can think of this part of your journey as bringing your workshop one-pager from an idea to reality.
The first part of the promotions phase is identifying and finding Host organizations to whom you could propose your workshop to. These are organizations who would find value in your proposal – who have a teaching need that would match your teaching skill, plus the necessary network and resources to mobilize it.
Recall your workshop proposal one-pager.
What were your objectives? What teaching skill did you want to turn into a workshop? Recall the people and organisations that were professionally aligned to your objectives during your network activity.
Write them down 
.
For example, professionals and their organisations, groups and associations that were related to your work interest, or even shared connections that you found through LinkedIn and Twitter.
To further help you in promoting your workshop to Host organizations, we will outline three different phases that will help you easily find a matching Host organization and connect with them so you can start organizing your workshop.
Phase 1: Search for Host organisations
Ask yourself the questions below and write your answers down in order to make sure you find the best matching Host:
Where do you wish to offer your workshop?
You can share your knowledge in your neighborhood and city or in your desired travel destination. You can even plan for a new travel destination based on matching teaching opportunities in that region or country.
With whom are you most motivated to share your knowledge?
You might have your own motivation to share your knowledge with a specific target group, for instance youth, newcomers, academics, etc. When you are selecting a Host organization, consider picking who has the community with whom you are most motivated to share your knowledge.
Who is interested in learning from you?
It’s not just about your own motivation to share knowledge with a particular Host organization. Equally important is whether the members of that organization’s community are eager and interested to learn from you. For instance, if you’re passionate about offering a workshop on “electronic engineering,” ensure that the Host organization’s community shares your enthusiasm for learning about electronics.
Now that you are clear about your workshop location, target group and assess the knowledge demand, it’s time to build or expand your network of people and organisations around that topic.
How to start building a network?
In order to get the most out of your network, you need to think: what are the outcomes you want to achieve from this opportunity? They could include a partnership offer or increased visibility. Prioritizing these goals will help you to understand who might be most useful for you in the process. Think “quality over quantity” when building a network and focus on relationships of value as well as connecting over a common context.
How to start? Seek out someone:
– you’ve met in a professional context who impressed you
– you think you could learn from / who organized a similar workshop
– you used to work with and respected
Find out where they are most active professionally, e.g. LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter, and reach out. Avoid the default invitation message – add a brief personal note to your invitation. You could use this opportunity to say a few words of greeting and why you’d like to connect, for example:
Hi Anne, I saw your organization is very active in the field of […] and was very inspired. I would like to offer a workshop for your community on the topic of <topic>. I am happy to adjust my workshop content based on your interest and preferences. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks, Sarah
Now take a few minutes to go to LinkedIn, Twitter and/or Instagram and see if you can identify the following and write the answers to the questions in your notebook :
1.Which hashtags or topic labels are frequently used by people in the field of your workshop?
2.What are some groups, pages or online events/activities where people are active in the field of your workshop?
3.Which three to five people seem to be influential and active in the field of your workshop?
Find Workshop Hosts
There are several avenues you can explore to find organizations interested in hosting your workshop:
Online Platforms: Utilize online platforms like TeachSurfing.org, VolunteerMatch, Idealist, or LinkedIn to search for volunteer opportunities in your area. You can often find organizations looking for volunteers to teach professional skills or language classes.
Local Community Centers: Contact community centers, libraries, or cultural centers in your area. They often host workshops and events for their members and may be interested in your expertise.
Schools and Universities: Reach out to local schools, colleges, and universities. They may have language departments, career centers, or adult education programs that could benefit from your workshop.
Nonprofit Organizations: Look for nonprofit organizations in your community that focus on education, language learning, or professional development. They may be interested in collaborating with you to offer workshops to their members or clients.
Networking Events: Attend networking events, career fairs, or community meetings in your area. Networking can help you connect with organizations or individuals who may be interested in hosting your workshop.
Social Media: Use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to promote your volunteer services and reach out to potential organizations directly. You can use e-VELP’s dedicated Facebook group and Instagram group chat to get help and recommendations from the community (see the COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE section below).
By exploring these avenues, you can find organizations that are interested in hosting your workshop and make a positive impact in your community.
orkshop and make a positive impact in your community.
Want to talk about finding a host organization and get community support? Join our Facebook or Instagram Community of Practice. Connect, get feedback, and grow with other learners and trainers. Let’s thrive together!
How to join?
- For Facebook, request access to our e-VELP group: “The online course for TeachSurfers.”
- On Instagram, follow the e-VELP account and send a direct message stating you’re an e-VELP student seeking group chat access.
Phase 2: Contact the Host organisations
After all the preparation, you’re now ready to work on making the first contact with a Host organization. Writing a letter can be daunting, but here we will outline the steps to make it as easy and seamless as possible.
Before you start writing a letter of proposal, review again your workshop one-pager from Chapter B, where you have your most important workshop elements. Read through it and keep in mind the following: you want to write in a concise and personal manner and your workshop one-pager will help you filter through the information that you should communicate.
To begin writing, start with your audience in mind. Think of your letter as a bridge that will create a dialogue between yourself and the Host organization. First impressions are very important. The initial letter then must be personalized, even thoughtful. How do you do this? Through showing that you’ve done your research by shaping your message to align with the Host organization’s work, community, and values.
Writing to Host organizations
Adjusting your messaging is crucial. For example, if a Host organization’s teaching need is career development and your skill is in electronic engineering, you can instead offer to speak about your career path and inspiring projects you have done in your field. It all depends on your framing.
Lastly, writing in the Host organization’s country language is preferred. However, if you are unable to do so, you may also write them in simple English. Even if you are a native English speaker, modify and simplify your English for non-natives.
Based on the Host organization list you created, you will be writing around 5-7 letters. This may seem like a lot, but sending to as many as possible ensures that you get a higher response rate and timely, sufficient feedback.
To put this into practice, below are some samples that you can refer to for writing your draft.
Samples
TEMPLATE
Dear Mrs/Mr <last name of the Host organisation contact person>,
I am very inspired by your organisation, as it’s <some details you find interesting about the organisation>. I would like to offer a TeachSurfing workshop for your community on the topic of <topic>. The workshop title is <workshop title>. Please find a summary about my workshop included below. I am happy to adjust my workshop content based on your interests and preferences:
<workshop summary>
Additionally, I am experienced in <Skill A>, <Skill B> and I can offer workshops on these topics if this is preferred.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
<your name>
EXAMPLE
Dear Mr. Müller,
I am very inspired by your organisation, as I would love to get to know the student organisations in Serbia. I would like to offer a TeachSurfing workshop for your community on the topic of coding hardware. The workshop title is ‘Basic C coding on microcontroller MSP430’. Please find a summary about my workshop included below. I am happy to adjust my workshop content based on your interests and preferences:
“The goal of this workshop is to learn how to put C code on a Microcontroller. After a theoretical introduction to this specific Hardware, participants will write C code and program it on an MSP430 board guided by practical exercises and supervised by the TeachSurfer. ”
Additionally, I am experienced in IT project management, rock climbing and German language and I can offer workshops on these topics if this is preferred.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Kind regards,
Felix
Create the first draft of your letter using the information that you have from your workshop one-pager and the research that you did on the Host organizations: their background, teaching needs ,and community. Include the most relevant information that would add value to your workshop offering. For example, knowledge of local language, additional skills that can make the workshop more informative and your unique experiences in the field.
you can use your digital notebook to document your findings.
Now that you have created your draft letter, you may need to revise it 2-3 times depending on the need. It will greatly help to get feedback from your peers to help you improve. You can share your experience, ask questions and also make recommendations to others to help them in their journey to share knowledge.
How to join?
- For Facebook, request access to our e-VELP group: “The online course for TeachSurfers.”
- On Instagram, follow the e-VELP account and send a direct message stating you’re an e-VELP student seeking group chat access.
Once you have compiled a list of your Host organizations, you can start reaching out with your workshop one-pager. There are several ways to do this. First, you may contact Host organizations over the online platform where you found them. Additionally, you can directly contact them through their contact information or social media.
Phase 3: Finalize your workshop proposal one-pager with the selected Host
At this point, some of the Host organizations have come back to you and showed initial interest in hosting your workshop. If after one week the Hosts did not reply to you, consider that they might not have found time to reply due to other responsibilities in their organization. Therefore we recommend you to send them a follow up message over the platform and kindly remind them to consider your proposal.
If you can’t find an organization to host your workshop, don’t worry! You can still share what you know. You can organize a workshop yourself, either online or in person, and invite people you know to attend. You can use your first knowledge-sharing experience as a success story to offer your next workshop in collaboration with other organizations.
If a Host organization confirms their initial interest in hosting your workshop, you should get an overview of the interests, needs, and the community of the organization. This enables you to finalize your workshop one-pager considering their feedback and needs. We recommend you to set a personal or online meeting with the Host’s representative. This is an important step in order to build trust and a personal connection with the Host representative. In the beginning of your introduction meeting, have a short personal introduction round, tell the representative about your personal motivation, and clarify the expectations of both sides. The next step is to go through your workshop proposal and clarify the aspects of your workshop proposal. As the final step, decide on the workshop language, location and number of participants together with the Host organization.
In addition to clarifying your workshop proposal (one-pager), clarify the below organizational formalities with the host organization:
Time: Plan the time when you and the organization’s representative will meet in the workshop location. We recommend that both parties be present in the workshop location one hour prior to the start time and make sure you have access to the space one hour before the workshop. This time is important for setting up the space, checking the technical requirements, as well as to getting comfortable with the space.
Role: Discuss the availability and the role of the Host representative during the workshop. In the beginning of the workshop the Host organization is responsible for receiving the participants and for introducing you to the participants. During the workshop one representative should be present for support, if needed, as well as to organize the workshop break time. At the end of the workshop they are responsible for spreading and collecting feedback forms for the workshop evaluation. This feedback will be used to support you in improving your workshop as well as for TeachSurfing to measure our social impact and outcome.
Finally send the adjusted workshop proposal to the Host representative and get confirmation that it’s fine with them.
After gathering feedback from the host organization:
- Update your workshop proposal.
- Share the revised proposal with the host representative for their approval.
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So far so good
The workshop planning course is enlightening. With the simple approach used to present the idea, and well laid out examples, it becomes easier for a new surfer to find their bearing.
I love it and I am excited about my upcoming workshop too!
Maureen MP