The Manitoba Writers’ Guild is primarily run by passionate volunteers who gift their time, knowledge, community leadership, and service.

Not only do our volunteers support our organization, they also support our entire community.

If you have skills that you believe will benefit the Guild, or simply want to connect with fellow writers, we would love to hear from you!

FAQs

Contact us. Take a look at the Programs and Committees pages to learn more about what’s going on with the Guild, or come to an Event to see where you can help out!

Build skills for a résumé
- Public speaking
- Event planning
- Administrative tasks
Network with authors, writers, editors, publishers, and other members of our diverse community
Get to know more about the Guild’s, programs, services, board members, volunteers, etc.

We offer a variety of volunteer opportunities. Volunteer for an hour or two, for successive hours over the course of several weeks, an evening or an afternoon, and anything in between.

Board of Directors
- Program Directors
- Grant applications
Programs / Events
- Hosts / facilitators / MCs
- Moderators
- Photographers
- Social media coordination / promotion
- Set up / tear down
- Registration table / information booths
Administration
- Membership (processing, data entry, mail outs)
- Delivery equipment / materials
- Design
- Content creators
Committees
- Fundraising
- Community engagement
- Research

We Are Looking for Volunteers for These Roles

Do you love author book chats? We need a facilitator for our Author Book Chats held monthly on Zoom. After a brief introduction, the author does their reading, followed by an author Q&A.

Find and schedule potential Featured Authors among our members.
Book Chats are held the second Wednesday of the month @ 7 pm on Zoom.
- You will need to schedule the Zoom meeting
Have Author submit brief bio/bibliography, headshot &/or book cover in .jpg format for advertising
- Send info to newsletter Editor, Website volunteer, social media Coordinator to post.
  - Sufficient notice is needed to advertise.
- Should be posted on/included in:
  - Facebook page events
  - Meetup
  - Newsletter
  - Social Media (Facebook page, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky)
Monitor Events emails and send Zoom invitation to those who request it and make a list of attendees.
Host & record the Book Chat, introducing the author and encouraging questions.

The Manitoba Writers’ Guild begins working on The Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition in mid-September and has volunteer opportunities available throughout the year until and including the Reception and Launch of Beyond Boundaries IV in June. Take a list at the list below, which shows what is involved and when. If you wish to volunteer and/or want more information, please email Sharon Hamilton (), Coordinator of “The Dave,” and she will let you know what is required.

Assistant or associate Coordinator(s)
- Assist the Dave Coordinator as and where needed to potentially be able to take over coordinating The Dave in 1-3 years.
  - This position is for someone who is considering taking over the leadership of part or all of “The Dave.
  - This volunteer or team of volunteers should have interest and/or experience in project planning.
Contest Promotion.
- October-November (under 10 hours for each volunteer).
  - Attend one meeting of promotions team in late September.
  - Receive and update 1-2 provincial mailing lists.
  - Email posters and guidelines to every organization on the list (update email addresses as needed).
  - Email posters and guidelines to anyone or any organization in Manitoba or the rest of Canada you think might be interested.
  - Maintain list of emails to be sent to.
Editors for the Beyond Boundaries anthology.
- Additional preliminary editors for the Beyond Boundaries anthology are needed.

We are looking for volunteers to help with posting information to our social media and maintaining an active and vibrant social media presence.

This would include posting MWG events, announcements, and information, sharing relevant upcoming events and announcements for other writing arts organizations and items of interest to writers and our members, and engaging in the social media accounts of other arts organizations.

This team is part of the Marketing, Communications and Membership Committee (MCM), which reports to the committee Chairperson. The MCM committee reports to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. The MCM committee meets via Zoom on the 3^rd Monday monthly at 7PM.

MWG Facebook Page (Includes adding upcoming events.).
MWG Facebook Group (Includes moderating the group and approving new members to the group.).
Instagram.
Threads.
Bluesky.
Meetup (Adding upcoming events.).

We need volunteers with a drive for customer service to help with maintaining the website and memberships.

We are looking to put together an essential team of four volunteers to learn and manage our website and membership needs. This will enable the smooth running of two important aspects of the Guilds’ services to our members’ that are central to our membership benefits while ensuring no one volunteer is overwhelmed with too much work. Work-life balance is essential, and so is our volunteers having time to pursue their writing goals.

Our memberships and website are closely linked, with our membership renewals and sign ups, public author profile directory and publications page as added value to membership, and our other services, being managed through the website.

The workload of the volunteers will be variable. The highest time demand occurs during our membership renewal drive (Jun-Aug), when a lot of members add to or update their public profiles. Other times demand may reach a peak near the date of contest closings in the early spring. The Guild hosts two contests: the national “Dave” Short Story Competition and the provincial Tagore Poetry Competition.

* * *

The website and membership team will work together as a unit much like our reporters pool does, coordinating among the team members to ensure the workload is distributed fairly. There should be at least one team lead, possibly two – one focusing primarily on memberships and meeting our members’ needs, and the other on the website management and updates.

All members of the website and membership team should have access to and be trained and able to manage most functions of this team.

***

WordPress experience would be an asset, but this volunteering will be a good chance to learn it! WordPress is a commonly used service for author websites and blogs.

Because you would have access to confidential membership information, signing a confidentiality agreement will be required.

There will be a website designer under contract on a casual basis to assist where needed.

Team Responsibilities:

Memberships
- Process membership renewals and applications
  - Using tracking spreadsheet (Google Sheet) for steps and payment verification (orders entered from WooCommerce in WordPress).
  - Update the member user profiles and orders in WordPress
  - Update and maintain the membership list (Google Sheet).
- Answer membership and website questions sent to the two dedicated email addresses for membership and website inquiries.
- Busy time is June to August when it is membership renewal time.
Member Services
- Update the members’ Directory and Publications pages (submitted through the website).
- Check and forward submissions through the website to the appropriate teams including for:
  - Writing contests (annual)
  - Beta Reader program
  - Biannual book launches
  - Sheldon Mentorship program (annual)
Website (WordPress)
- Fundraising
- Community engagement
- Research

Being able to offer workshops and seminars is an essential service for many writers, from aspiring to established. To provide this service, we need a facilitator to manage them.

When the Program Committee schedules workshops, the Facilitator will schedule the Zoom meeting, if a virtual event, or arrange with ArtSpace staff to book Boardroom.
Facilitator will communicate with the Presenter regarding information on the workshop/seminar and send it to newsletter Editor and Social Media Volunteer to advertise.
Facilitator will monitor Events emails for those wishing to attend and keep track of who has paid (if a paid event).
Facilitator will arrive about 15 minutes ahead of schedule to meet with the Presenter. If an online event, Facilitator will record the event. If an in-person event, Facilitator will set out refreshments (tea/coffee/juice/water).
At start time, Facilitator will introduce themself, read the Land Acknowledgement & DEI Statements, and introduce the Presenter. At the end of the event, Facilitator will thank Presenter & attendees, stop recording (if online) or tidy up and lock Boardroom (if in-person).
Events may be listed on EventBright or on the website to allow automatic signups, and should be advertised through:
- Facebook page events
- Meetup
- Newsletter
- Social Media (Facebook page, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky)

Do you enjoy casual coffeehouse style chats and talking about writing? We need a facilitator for our monthly Writing Rants and Ramblings on Zoom. After a brief introduction, the facilitator will help lead the discussion and encourage attendees in an open discussion of any writing-related questions and issues they have.

Schedule Zoom meeting on 1st Thursday each month and post reminders on Facebook.
Monitor Events emails for Zoom requests, send links, and keep track of those to whom you sent the links.
Host meetings, welcoming attendees, reading Land Acknowledgements/DEI Statements, encouraging attendees to introduce themselves and types of writing that interests them/if they have any books published, and discuss topics of interest for attendees.

As a service-based organization, our volunteer administrator is one of our most crucial jobs to our ability to meet our members needs. This is the main hub of our emails communication with the majority of our members.

Monitor the main Guild email account, replying to inquiries, forwarding emails to appropriate Directors/Committee Volunteers, posting announcements on Facebook/Instagram or sending info to social media volunteer(s).