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VOLUNTEER FOR FORT REFUGE
We are a non-profit organization, run entirely by abuse survivors, just like you. We do not accept monetary donations, but if you would like to contribute to Fort Refuge - we have Moderator positions available.
Job includes:
- 5 Forum folders: posting relevant content, responding meaningfully, noticing and alerting admins to inapropriate posts, moving threads/posts to appropriate folders when necessary.
- 10hrs a week of active chatting, enforcing guidelines if necessary, directing traffic to appropriate rooms.
- Hosting 1 scheduled chat a week, 1hr long.
- Communication with admins and other mods: responding to threads in mod folder daily.
- 6 months commitment
Requirements:
While we are deeply grateful for every application, only members who fit the following criteria are considered for the position:
Awareness of the community life, above all:
There's a big interesting discussion on forums, an active member is in crisis and posts disturbing material lately, there was a fight in chat last night, a newbee looks suspicious, a forum folder is getting cluttered with irrelevant threads - you need to know these things. Not all of them require action right away, but you do need to be aware. That teen who keeps stirring drama all over forums - check their latest posts once in a while, anything needs attention there? There's 100 new posts every day, you cant read all of them, but you need to know what to look for and look for it.
Interesting, insightful, thought-provoking input:
Many members post rants and respond with hugs, “i feel bad” - “sorry to hear that” type of exchange. This is supportive, but boring. Nobody will stay in such a community for long. You can make one elaborate post a day, or you can post twenty one-liners, but your input needs to be interesting an engage members in a constructive discussion.
Emotional stability:
We are all survivors, it's fine to struggle and be open about it, moderator deserves as much support as any other member. But you need to be lucid enough to perform your duties. A member asks you how to post a youtube video and you respond, “it doesn't matter, life is wasted anyway, who cares about youtube?” - and we have a problem. It's fine to take a break for a day or two if you cant go on, but you cant disappear for a week without a notice either.
Knowledge and respect for site Guidelines:
14yo joined forums, newbee preaches Islam in chat, someone posted about beating up their 5yo son - you need to know whether these things are allowed at Fort or not, and address them if needed. Moderators represent the site, and their actions must be based on Guidelines, not personal opinion. If there's a discrepancy - discuss it with Administrators, they will either edit the Guidelines or explain reasons behind them to you. Members, on the contrary, need to know the site policy, not your personal viewpoint.
Knowledge of site contents and FAQ:
I'm in crisis, where are our hotlines? Do we have any articles on SI? Can guests read Guidelines? Do we have a forum folder to post reciepes? I lost my password, what do I do? How can I get access to SRA folder? How do I change my avatar? How do I get into scheduled chats? Where can I see my friends list? Can I block someone from talking to me? - moderator needs to know answers to all of these questions and have the patience to answer them - over and over and over.
Communication skills:
Moderators job is all about communication. You need to be firm with your boundaries while remaining friendly, warm, and liked by the members. Being scared of confrontations, or, on the contrary, enjoying them - is not a characteristic of a good moderator. You need to be able to phrase precisely what you want to say, and how you want to say it, so that your words would resolve the issue at hand, not escalate it. Sometimes a joke made en passe does the job better than a two-page PM. By the same token, you don't have to sound like a university professor, but you need to be clear enough for all members to understand you. Littles speak, heavy foreign accent, inability to break your speech into sentences/paragraphs, etc - impair communication. Everyone is entitled to free self-expression, but moderator needs to be easily understood, by everyone.
Basic computer knowledge:
Moderators use more buttons than regular members. You need to be capable of learning and using all the available controls on forums, in chat, and in moderator control panel. If you've been on board for a month and still can't figure out how to move a thread to a more appropriate folder - something isn't working out.
Finally, we need to know you long enough to build trust:
You probably are a great person with high moral standards. But we need to know this. Moderators have access to more things than members, we need to be sure you won't abuse this access if given a chance. Simple example: you'll have access to all members' email addresses, but you cannot use them for anything other than modding. A member you were friends with suddenly disappeared, hasn't logged in in a month after posting about suicidal urges, you're worried about them. So you log into mod control panel, get their email address, and email them 'i hope you're doing ok, miss you'. End of your career at Fort Refuge: you might be friends, but they never gave you their email, you cant use it. We need to trust you won't start deleting posts you don't like, banning members who are getting on your nerves, etc, no matter how upset you are. This level of trust takes time to develop, so don't feel rejected if we put your application on hold. We'll certainly get back to you once we know you better.
If you're interested - please log in to Forums and post your inquiry in Speak to Admin Privately folder. Admins will review your application and will get back to you shortly. Thank you for wanting to contribute to Fort Refuge!
Until you become a moderator:
There's plenty of ways you can help out without being on staff. Everything described above aside from communication & computer knowledge does not require Moderator access level. You can alert moderators/admins if you notice questionable activity and Guidelines violations - every forum post has a "report it" button under it, chat has "Get a Mod" button. You certainly can make interesting posts. And it would be a huge relief if you responded once in a while to basic FAQ questions that new members have. These things constitute 90% of our workload, and even small amounts of your support go a long way towards making Fort Refuge grow and prosper.
Thank you once again for being an integral part of our community!
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