Investing your time in helping leaders, companies, organizations and the wider general public with your specific expertise, knowledge and skill contributes greatly to CWSC’s mission to unleash and harness the full capacity inherent in our group intellect and support the work of building model communities. Thank you for your interest in being a participant in MCNRD.

MCNRD heralds an unprecedented opportunity to provide assistance to organizations committed to serving their communities. MCNRD is established because of the need to help level the human resource field, especially for smaller communities.  Yet all communities, no matter their size, can benefit from MCNRD because no one masjid, school, or other institution can replicate the broad diversity of talent available nationally.  MCNRD enables not simply the critical cataloging of skilled resources, but it empowers each of us and leverages our ability to contribute more efficiently and effectively to all our institutions and communities. Never before has the group intellect been given such a pathway to make a difference for us all.

As members of the Muslim Community and broader American society, we have a responsibility to take charge of our destiny and do the work that only we can do.  We have been especially prepared as one of the best educated Muslim populations in the world and some say with the potential currently to be the most progressive.  The great blessings Allah (SWT) has given us in terms of the vast resources at our disposal, technical, financial and intellectual, all present in a politically stable society, mandates greater personal responsibility to the group progress irrespective of where we live, work or attend religious services.  Before we can remake the world, we must remake ourselves into an effective group intellect that can execute. To get there, we have to be willing to sharing our time, our knowledge and ourselves with one another.  To volunteer in so great a cause is sure to bring immeasurable blessings to both the individual and the group.

The following Guidelines are promulgated to ensure a high level of professionalism, ethics and customer service to the organizations we serve. MCNRD’s success is dependent on all our participating volunteer consultants.  All participants are expected to adhere to the best current practices, established standards and guidelines for CWSC volunteers including any modifications. See also Volunteer Agreement and CWSC Consulting Services Agreement. CWSC reserves the sole right to include or exclude participation in MCNRD.  Completion of registration for MCNRD does not create an obligation to approve acceptance into the MCNRD database.

 

CWSC REGISTRATION

Once registration is approved, you will be entered into the MCNRD database.  You must keep your information updated with CWSC at info@cwsc.us.

As an individual volunteer, organizations contact you via CWSC, so your phone or email is not displayed on your profile by default.  If you wish to publicly display your phone and/or email for the entire community, just email us with that request.

CWSC provides organizations with a fully automated online request form to obtain volunteer support by name and/or expertise.  When a request is received, CWSC will transmit the organization’s request to you. You will be directly responsible for contacting and coordinating either off site remote assistance via email, text, telephone, fax, video- or teleconference connection, or onsite (in-person) support.

If you would like to add a skill you believe the community needs that you bring or you know someone else can bring and it’s not listed in the MCNRD, let us know…the network is a community wide project and will be a continuing work in process.

 

CONSULTANT DIRECT COORDINATION WITH REQUESTING ORGANIZATION

CWSC or a requesting organization may contact you directly to determine availability for a consulting project. Organizations are asked to submit requests for a volunteer at least three (3) weeks in advance of their need.  Once we receive an organization’s request, our published goal is to connect the organization with a volunteer within five (5) working days.  Therefore, when you receive a volunteer request, please seek to respond with confirmation or other notice within 48 hours to allow us sufficient time to convey your contact information to the requesting organization.

When you are contacted about a specific consulting project, follow the steps below.

1. Always make sure you receive a confirmation letter (email) as follows:

1. Name of the project and Organization.
2. Official Organization’s Contact person name, phone and email address.
3. Characteristic, description of project and assistance sought and expected duration.
4. Specific and clear expected outcome including any document preparation.
5. Date and time of communicated for any sessions that necessitate your attendance (on-site support request).
6. Address, location of your session in details (on-site support request).
7. Contact person at the site, name HP, email address (on-site support request).
8. Audio visual and equipment you request (on-site support request).

2. Don’t leave things to chance…plan, plan, plan ahead. As soon as you have confirmed with the organization that you can take on a project, confirm your understanding in writing with as many details as possible.  Especially if you’re traveling a great distance to a site, for example, to deliver specialized training or development, Make sure you have sent your ‘equipment request’ together with your confirmation. Then, as soon as you’re onsite, check the requested equipment, microphones, flipchart, white board, projector etc. make sure all is working to your liking. (Are markers, eraser, and additional batteries for microphone and bulb for projector ready if needed?) Usually there is an on-site person responsible for this equipment; it pays to have a good working knowledge of the equipment and its capabilities though. Become familiar with and adept at using the presentation equipment you will be using frequently.

3. A few days before your engagement, reconfirm by phone or email and be sure to ask if there are any changes.

4. Show your dedication to and arrive at least 30 minutes to an hour early for onsite consulting. If the room arrangement is not to your liking, please speak with the contact person directly to make any arrangements and changes. For offsite consulting, call on time or connect 5 minutes ahead of time for conference calls.

5. Discuss the smooth running of the program, like agenda and timing.

6. Start and end any presentations within the allotted time, including questions and answer session.

7. Hand out evaluation forms at the end of your program to receive feed-back directly from the audience.

8. After the event, share any photos, video or other media for your presentation with CWSC so we can publicize the event and help enhance the mission of MCNRD.

9. Similarly, if you’re using offsite / remote technologies, be sure to communicate call-in numbers, meeting IDs, and meeting times in writing using time zones if participants are geographically dispersed in varying time zones.

10. Prepare a brief biography sheet, so the organization can smoothly and effectively introduce you to leaders and administrators.

11. Keep CWSC informed about your volunteer project including providing email notice of your acceptance, updates if extending beyond two weeks and notice of project completion, along with total hours volunteered and an evaluation of your experience with the organization. The organization will also be encouraged to evaluate your assistance.

12. If you find you must cancel, after agreeing to volunteer, notify the organization immediately and send an email to info@cwsc.us so another volunteer can be considered.

EXPENSES FOR A VOLUNTEER CONSULTANT

Volunteers are expected to have a concerned service commitment to the institutions they assist and should seek to minimize undue expense to an organization.  Volunteers devote their time at no cost to organizations, but are not expected to assume the cost for direct consumables, supplies or other items and expense needed to complete a project, unless they do so voluntarily.  Obtain permission from the organization prior to making project material purchases for which you expect reimbursement.  Volunteers are also not required to pay for travel or transportation, accommodations, parking, and other related expenses associated with providing onsite assistance; of course, a volunteer can choose to spend their own funds for such expense as an added charity.  CWSC cannot reimburse volunteers for expenses they incur assisting an organization.

 

ANNUAL PRESCRIBED VOLUNTEER HOURS

MCNRD encourage participants to contribute their knowledge, skills and abilities as much as possible on a volunteer basis.  Volunteer consultants donate a prescribed number of hours annually based on the concept of Sadaqah wherein the individual determines the excess charity or what is beyond zakat, and allocates his or her excess time, goods or personal labor for the benefit of one’s own soul through service to his or her community.

IN-SERVICE CONSULTANT DEVELOPMENT

CWSC may from time-to-time sponsor consultant teleconferences to compare notes on volunteering and offer Learning Labs to help consultants improve their project management, data processing, communication and document sharing skills and technologies.  Often now, new technologies eliminate the necessity of expense for in-person consultation including project management.  Consultant awareness of new technologies may enable a volunteer to suggest offsite / remote assistance with equivalent organization outcomes that save travel time and monies.

CWSC FOCUS TEAMS

Other volunteers with your related expertise may be delivering the same or similar support services to other institutions.  You are encouraged to search the MCNRD for other volunteers who can share their “field” support experiences or can offer additional technical advice for an issue you may be working on.  Volunteers delivering the same, similar or sometimes even entirely different consulting services, may find synergy in team work.  Such synergy may lead to novel approaches and solutions, discovery of best practices, and realization of entirely new opportunities.  In such a case, findings should be published in document form and shared with the entire community via the CWSC Think Tank and discussed on CWSC’s broadcasting network, AM360.

VOLUNTEER SUBSIDY AND TAXES

Volunteer consultants do not charge for their time up to the prescribed level of annual volunteers hours promulgated by CWSC.  However, no volunteer should be unduly burdened. Thus once a volunteer has reached the prescribed volunteer hours, published annually by CWSC, then the consultant has met their volunteer hours for the year, at which point he or she can:

1. Continue volunteering.
2. Notify CWSC of non-availability. We will not refer any organizations to you.
3. Accept a requesting organization subsidy to help offset any lost income as result of continuing to volunteer.

If work or other income producing obligations prevent you from volunteering excess hours for an organization who has requested your assistance because of special skills or other reason, MCNRD allows for the requesting organization to provide the volunteer a subsidy to offset the loss of income while volunteering, the amount of which is to be mutually agreed on between the organization and the volunteer.  The subsidy is not intended to equal normal wages or compensate for the true market value of the volunteer’s time and labor, but is intended to remove an undue burden by partially offsetting the expense of volunteering. The subsidy amount should be below market rates for comparable open market technical support.

However, it must be emphasized that the goal of MCNRD is to facilitate the maximum number of volunteer hours to organizations.  The payment of a subsidy is a secondary alternative designed to give organizations access to affordable technical expertise when the expertise they are seeking is not available on a purely volunteer basis.

Funds received for consulting work maybe taxable as ordinary income and can be subject to income and self-employment taxes. If the funds paid to you by an organization equals or exceeds $600, then the organization may issue a 1099 to you and the IRS. But even if the organization does not issue a 1099, your subsidy less any expenses such as unreimbursed travel, ground transportation, parking fees, meals and other incidentals including materials purchased are likely still reportable. Confer with your tax or financial advisor.

USE OF THE MCNRD DATABASE

The purpose of the MCNRD database is to facilitate volunteering.  No commercial use of the database or spamming are allowed.  Any commercial use requires specific written permission.

AMENDMENT

This program and its guidelines are subject to change at the discretion of CWSC, Inc. Modifications will be emailed and/or published on the CWSC website.

Be sure to add our email address to your approved email sender’s list so our communication doesn’t go into your spam folder.  If you have tips and suggestions for MCNRD, email us at info@cwsc.us.

DISCLAIMER: CWSC Inc. is not responsible for omissions, errors or any obsolete information displayed for MCNRD or any content on this website. MCNRD registered volunteer content is self reported by the volunteer and CWSC does not guarantee the training, expertise, certifications, or performance level of a volunteer. Organizational inquiries as to volunteer expertise and/or qualifications must be made directly with the volunteer.

CWSC is a non-partisan, IRS Code Section 501(c)(3) tax exempt faith-based national conference bringing together diverse human resources with the desire, knowledge and experience to help achieve the highest level of excellence in community life. We serve affiliated institutions and the historically disadvantaged communities they serve. CWSC does not discriminate on the basis of color, race, religion, ethnic or national origin in its community outreach. We partner with other faith-based entities, civic, business, and governmental entities in fulfilling our mission.  We invite you to learn more about the CWSC mission and vision and to explore leadership, community service and other volunteer opportunities… Together we can remake the world.