Volunteer Agreement Form

Thank you for volunteering with us! 

This volunteer guide includes details about Greenpeace as well as important community agreements for how our community will work together. We aim to create an environment that supports the diversity of people and their ideas. In addition to asking all members of the Greenpeace community to adhere to our community agreements, we recognize that people work best when there is a mutual understanding of expectations and commitments. As we welcome you into our community we ask that you review this guide carefully and agree to our collective values.

Volunteer Community Agreements

As a member of our community, we ask that you:

• Abide our Volunteer Principles.
• Foster a culture of respect and teamwork. Working with a team means exhibiting diplomacy, honesty and cooperation. We look out for one another. We believe that every person is worthy and deserving of kindness, community, and the ability to grow.
• Assume the best intentions of others. It can be hard to read someone’s tone over the internet, even on calls! We’re all working together on a shared mission and no one is perfect — and that means we need to be practicing respectful communication and accountability with one another.
• Maintain positive messaging. When speaking about specific people or ideas, it may become easy to become angered or disappointed by the actions of those currently in power or by people misaligned with our values. Do your best to avoid fostering a negative volunteer environment.
• Stay on topic. From Slack to Zoom calls, we have a variety of shared workspaces with many folks trying to work together on our goals. It can be easy to get sidetracked, but please make sure to keep channels focused on their purpose. If there isn’t a channel that feels fitting, talk to us and we may consider creating one! #CuteCatPics
• Take space, make space. If you’re someone who doesn’t tend to post a lot or voice your opinions often, please move up into a role of speaking more. If you tend to speak a lot or post often, please move up into a role of listening more.
• As a volunteer, you represent yourself and your ideas. Be careful not to speak on behalf of Greenpeace, but just as yourself unless explicitly told otherwise by a staff member.
• Follow through on commitments.  Do your best to follow through on what you say you’ll do. That said, we know things come up, so just be sure to communicate asap if something changes. This helps us help our broader community!
• Maintain confidentiality: Build trust with other volunteers and Greenpeace by respecting the confidentiality of community members including volunteers and staff. Unless you receive prior written approval from Greenpeace, you will not disclose confidential Greenpeace information or confidential information given to you by others.
• Abide by all of Greenpeace’s community guidelines, anti-harassment policies and community code of conduct. We do not condone harassment of any form. Refrain from participating in discriminatory or harassing behavior and report instances of harassment, bullying and safety concerns immediately.

Your rights as a Greenpeace Volunteer are important to us. As volunteers, you are an integral member of the Greenpeace team. You can expect to have these rights met by Greenpeace staff in your volunteer experience: 

• Right to training and resources: You have the right to be trained to effectively carry out the tasks at hand. You should be invited to training on specific skills that are relevant to your role. You also should have access to staff or other experienced volunteers to ask questions and get the support you need! We will meet you where you’re at so we all succeed and so no one gets left behind.
• Right to Transparency. You have the right to information and details about the work you are undertaking. There may be information shared only on a need-to-know basis for confidentiality or legal purposes. But we intend to share as much as possible with you to have a collaborative strategy.
• Right to Say “No.” We will respect the skills, dignity and individual needs of every volunteer. You have the right to say no if asked to undertake a task you don’t want to do and we’ll respect that. Volunteering requires consent and a willingness from both parties to partake in the activity!
• Right to be Appreciated. Volunteers have rights to recognition and thanks, whether this is a verbal expression of appreciation or a formal letter of reference.
• Right to be treated with fairness and respect: We communicate openly and make room for learning and growth, while always respecting and honoring the dignity and value of each person on our team.Volunteers are entitled to respect and support from co-volunteers and staff. You are also entitled to be treated fairly.
• Right to a harassment-free environment. You have the right to report any instances of harassment, and to to have any reported grievances or instances of harassment investigated.

If at any time you encounter a problem or have a question please:

• Notify a Greenpeace Supporter Mobilization staff member on Slack or email [email protected]  We will take the necessary steps to correct the issue/problem.
• If you still have further questions or concerns please contact Greenpeace’s People & Culture team at 202-643-8707 or [email protected]