About YDOS 

Initiated by LEAP Africa, The Youth Day of Service (YDOS) is an annual youth-led social impact campaign with focus on the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDG). It is Youth and Personal Leadership in Action! 

To celebrate ‘International Youth Day’ on August 12, LEAP Africa is inviting young people, corporate organizations, public and social sector organizations and SMEs, to become advocates and renew the spirit of active youth citizenship with emphasis on spreading the culture of service and collective responsibility. 

The campaign, which is a week-long event from August 12 – 18, will showcase different projects championed by young people in communities across Nigeria, in commemoration of International Youth Day. The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Youthful and Useful’.

With less than a decade to the actualization of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Youth Day of Service presents the unique opportunity to reinforce the need to engage youth for a decade of action and rally an ecosystem of like-minded organizations to support the race to 2030. 

YDOS is an amazing opportunity for you to serve with your Time, Talent, Tools and Treasures. The following are some guidelines to support your participation in YDOS 2022.

Roles and responsibilities of a YDOS team leader

Leadership can be more exciting if you have got the right knowledge. See below for quick tips on how to plan and execute your project activities and lead your team:

• Be familiar with the purpose and goals of the Youth Day of Service. 
• Create a WhatsApp group specifically for volunteers who sign up to participate on your project.

• Inspire all volunteers to play an active role in the project.
• Bring out the creativity and youthful energy in your volunteers as you connect with them.
• Communicate the objectives, activities and timelines of the project clearly to all volunteers. 
• Motivate your team to start planning early. The best plans are usually the ones that begin on time.
• Collaborate with your team in the design and execution of your project. “If you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together.”
• Know what resources you need for your project and identify (with your team) individuals who can provide some of the resources.
• Identify the beneficiaries of your project and update your team.
• Meet occasionally with your volunteers to plan and assess your project activities.
• Assign roles to your team members.
• Capture exciting, action moments by sharing pictures, selfies or videos of your project activities.
• Provide personal protective equipment (PPE) or ensure that they come with theirs- face mask, hand sanitizer and other safety kits. There are more tips below.
• Be your brother’s keeper. Look out for your team’s welfare and safety, ensuring that everyone adheres to social distancing measures.
• Give us an account of your project by submitting a report after the completion of your project. 

Staying safe when planning and executing projects during COVID-19

Your health is very important to us, and this is why we have carefully created simple safety guidelines when carrying out your project.

• Advise volunteers who are ill to remain at home and avoid physical outings.
• Review and follow government guidelines on COVID-19 prevention.
• Practice physical distancing by maintaining 2m distance. 
• Opt-in for virtual meetings with volunteers pre-YDOS. Use WhatsApp Zoom, Hangout and other platforms. 
• Avoid body contact such as handshakes and hugs.
• Practice good respiratory hygiene (wearing face masks, covering your mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing).
• Wash your hands with soap and water, use hand sanitizers. 
• Do not enter households, have conversations from the doorway where possible or outside maintaining the 2m distancing.
• Distribute products in small numbers at a time, beginning with those that are most vulnerable.
• Wipe all items to be distributed with disinfectant before packaging and delivering them to beneficiaries.
• Pre-package kits or items so that recipients can collect these without contact with distributors.
• Undertake distributions in open spaces, with plenty of room for people to wait. Use markers on the ground to indicate where possible.

Planning and implementing a project

Check out the following tips on how to plan and implement a successful project:

• Clearly describe your project- what you want to do, why you want to do it, who you want to serve (age, gender), where they are and when you want to do it.
• Get your volunteers familiar with your project idea.
• Don’t go at it alone. Encourage your volunteers to participate actively by assigning roles to all volunteers.
• Identify the resources you need to successfully carry out your project. 
• Create a budget and short proposal for your project. 
• Decide on the timeline of your project and update fellow volunteers.
• Know your project beneficiaries. Everyone counts!
• Get the approvals or permissions you need to carry out the project.
• Know your stakeholders and potential funders.  Remember, it is usually easier to get people to donate materials and labour than money.
• Your network is your net worth! Reach out to people within your network for donations.
• Educate all volunteers on safety guidelines.
• Get excited! Celebrate your wins and impact during and post-YDOS.
• Say cheese! Share pictures and videos of your project activities. Check out our photography guide to become a PRO.
• Keep good records of all resources raised (whether cash or in-kind) as you would need to report on this
• Tell us how your project went by submitting a report no later than August 20, 2022

Managing donations

While championing your project, donations in kind or cash will come in from individuals and organizations, ensure to utilize resources ethically. Always note that “transparency inspires confidence“. Other things to note are:

• Act with integrity, honesty, truthfulness and adherence to the absolute obligation to safeguard resources.
• Put philanthropic mission above personal gain.
• Inspire others through your sense of dedication and high purpose.
• Avoid even the appearance of any criminal offence or misconduct.
• Encourage teammates to embrace and practise these ethical principles and standards.
• Keep good and transparent records of all donations.

Engaging volunteers: managing a WhatsApp group

Ever heard that the happiest volunteers are the most engaged? We have outlined 10 quick tips to keep your volunteers active and happy:

• Create a WhatsApp group dedicated to your project. You will be notified via email each time a volunteer signs up for your project.
• Get ready to network on the WhatsApp group
• Be cheerful and welcoming. Take the first 5-10 minutes for everyone to introduce one another.
• Know fun things about your volunteers with an ice-breaker like ‘Bingo’ or any other of your choice.
• Inspire your volunteers by clearly describing your project, why it matters and the potential impact your project will have.
• Create a warm and collaborative environment where every volunteer feels able to contribute their ideas to the project execution.
• Assign tasks to everyone.
• Encourage your volunteers; recognise their effort regularly. 
• Switch it up! Find new activities, games, or discussions to keep the WhatsApp group active and fun.
• Do not share irrelevant/unnecessary broadcasts and information in the group. Only share what is important and required for your project.
• Never use foul language, attacks, and impolite statements and do not allow this from other volunteers as well.

Reporting on your project

Reporting your project is the final lap of executing your project, after which you can take a much deserved rest. Telling us about how your project went is important to us – it helps us  know just how impactful the YDOS was; while also gathering stories that we can use to inspire and motivate other change agents like you. 

Take note of the following, as you would need to report on them: 

• Size of your team and diversity within your team – number of male/ females, youth, persons with disabilities, etc. 
• Number of beneficiaries directly impacted by your project.
• Estimate of total hours spent to execute the project.
• Total amount spent to execute the project.
• The challenges you encountered and the way you were able to mitigate them
• Share a compelling story of impact – with your view and from the perspective of a few selected beneficiaries
• Share and upload high-quality pictures and videos.