Servant Of All System Beta Launch!!!

[Tree]

Ladies and Gentlemen, gather round!

The Department of Community Outreach and our Servant of All Planning Committee have been hard at work over the last several months finishing up a process that started way back in 2010; to develop and launch the Servant of All Program. This program is designed to honor our community members for your acts of service and community outreach offline, within your local communities and beyond! We know we have many members who are avid volunteers and true philanthropists and now, we are ready to roll out this program to honor you.

Siusane, our Servant of All Coordinator, will be along in just a moment to share with you all the details of the program, so sit back with a cup of tea (and maybe a snack) and take the time to read this through. It is a great program that is designed to honor everyone’s service, and because there are so many ways to serve, it is an extensive program.

Please note that we are currently launching the beta-testing phase of the program only for December 2012. This will mean that while everyone is welcome to start submitting, and everyone is encouraged to help us test out the program, only two of our categories will be open for submission. This beta testing phase is designed to test the program, the reporting process, get an idea for the size of staff we’ll need to bring on, and accept any feedback on the program. We reserve the right to make changes as needed before launching the full program in 2013 but we need your help and participation to identify these changes! Additionally this program will undergo an annual review and be updated when and if needed, presumably with the new years.

Please send all feedback on submission, process, and overall program to SOAC@tarvalon.net and Outreach@tarvalon.net subject “SOA PROGRAM FEEDBACK"

With that said, I will turn this over to Siusane to share with you the details. From there if you have any questions please feel free to ask them here. Siusane, Ebona, an outstanding member of the Servant of All Planning Committee, and myself will be on-hand as much as possible to answer them as quickly as possible.


EDIT: As we are live and the submission form has not always been easily found, you may submit your applicable acts of service to the Servant Of All Program, here.

 

[Siusane al'Cuyler]

thank you Tree! and many thanks to everyone who has worked on this program.
she mentioned details...oh yes, we have details...here we go!

INTRODUCTION

Servant of All. At one time or another every one of us needs help from someone else, and everyone has the capacity to serve. From citizens to Aes Sedai and Gaidin, service within TarValon.Net is currently recognized through the Merits program. The Servant of All Program is designed to recognize and encourage service and philanthropy performed outside of TarValon.Net. Members will be recognized by receiving points for acts of service, ultimately earning one or more Achievements.

Please note that these Achievements, and the entirety of the Servant of All Program, is outside of the Merits Program and that the two will work in tandem with each other.

Acts of Service recognized by this Program include volunteering one’s time, philanthropy and giving money, donations of material goods or other resources, and donating part of one’s body. To promote a spirit of serving ALL, program points are intended for service and philanthropy performed without discrimination. Service should be given freely, without full payment in return.

The Servant of All Program is based on the honor system; we will trust you to be truthful about your service. We may, however, ask you questions as necessary to clarify and ensure that points are given for service that meets the intent of the program.

Please read on to learn how you can earn points toward the Servant of All Achievements. We have made our best attempt to prepare clear and objective guidelines, but there are infinite ways to serve, and there may be unforeseen situations for which the system must be adapted. Final award of points will be as determined by the Servant of All staff.

Thank you for serving! For questions, please contact the Servant of All Coordinator at SOAC@TarValon.Net.


Table of Contents:
1. Acts of Service
2. Point Values
3. Submitting Acts of Service
4. Achievements
5. Categories of Service with Sample Activities
6. Earning Points - Ways to Serve



PROGRAM DETAILS

1. Acts of Service

• Volunteering time
• Giving money
• Donating material goods
• Donating from one’s body
• Not included: work that is paid in full
• Not included: acts contributing to hate or discrimination

1.1 What is an act of service?
For purposes of this program, an act of service may be volunteering one’s time, philanthropy and giving money, donations of material goods or other resources, or donating part of one’s body. All such charitable acts will be included in the phrase “act of service.” (Also see: Section 6, Earning Points - Ways to Serve)

You can serve by volunteering for relevant organization(s), or helping a friend in need. You can donate money; to one or more groups. Perhaps you have items to give away - food, household goods, or something on a charitable organization’s wish list. Maybe you have time to plan a charity fundraiser. You can do all of that! Everything, big or small, is important if it improves someone’s life.


1.2 Does all service count?
No. Only service given freely, and service performed without hate or discrimination, may count toward a Servant of All Achievement.

Work for which a salary is paid is no longer truly volunteer work, though it may be for a good cause. Points will not be awarded to someone who is paid fully for his or her work, or to someone who receives a gift of comparable value for a donation. Please read on for additional details:

Spoiler

Pro-bono work will receive points. Points may be awarded in cases where one receives a small gift, stipend, or reimbursement for expenses. Work that is performed at a diminished salary rate will be considered for points at the discretion of the Servant of All staff.

Points will not be awarded for work or organizations which attempt to limit a human being’s freedom and rights. (Reference Universal Declaration of Human Rights here.) Please read on for additional details:

Spoiler

Service for organizations which limit their focus to a particular group is acceptable provided that, within the organization’s focus, they strive to help everyone, without refusing service on the basis of race, language, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion, academic achievements, mental or physical disability, or other status. Service done through a religious organization, such as feeding the homeless, may receive points, although service done purely to further a religious mission, such as teaching Sunday school, will not.

2. Point Values

• Minor act of service = 1 point
• Significant act of service = 2 points
• Major act of service = 3 or more points

2.1 How are point values assigned?
Acts of service considered to be “minor” will receive one point. Service requiring more time and/or resources will typically be considered “significant” and will receive two points. The greatest levels of service, where more extensive effort is made, will be considered “major” and will receive three or more points. Final award of points will be as determined by the staff. (Also see: Section 6, Earning Points - Ways to Serve)


3. Submitting Acts of Service

• Use Google form found here

3.1 How does one request and receive points?
Information about service may be submitted for points through this Google form. The form allows for reporting of one activity at a time. For additional acts of service the form may be filled out as many times as necessary. When filling out the form please provide any information that will help the staff understand the service performed. Such as: for whom you served, what you actually did, the length of time you served, and whether you consider the service to be minor, significant, or major. Please do NOT provide information about exact amounts of monetary donations or income level.)


3.2 Remember that this program is an honor system. We reserve the right to ask you questions, but ultimately, we are relying on you to be truthful. Do not incur toh!



4. Achievements

• Bronze Achievement = 6 points
• Silver Achievement = 3 Bronze (18 points)
• Gold Achievement = 3 Silver (54 points)

4.1 What is an Achievement?
An Achievement is formal recognition for service, gained upon reaching a certain number of points per category. (For information on Categories also see: Section 5.) There are three tiers of Achievements; from lowest to highest, they are Bronze, Silver, and Gold. As one earns multiple Bronze or Silver Achievements, the Achievements will be converted up to the next level, and one can earn multiple Gold Achievements.


5. Categories of Service with Sample Activities

• Bringing Water & Shade (Beta)
• Leading the Way
• Supporting Your Neighbor (Beta)
• Supporting the World
• Giving of Yourself
• Caring for Animals
• Healing the Land
• Caught in the Act

5.1 What is a category of service?
Points and Achievements are given for service within particular categories, according to criteria such as who is served and what is given. For each category one can potentially earn Bronze, Silver, and multiple Gold Achievements. The category Caught in the Act is an exception; within that category one may simply be awarded a Gold Achievement.

Note: Only the categories Bringing Water & Shade and Supporting Your Neighbor will be included in the beta testing. These are the only categories for which you will be able to submit acts of service during the beta testing period of December 2012.


5.2 What are examples of service for the different categories?
For all categories, you may choose to serve in any way described as an act of service - volunteering, giving money, or donating other items. Under each category (beginning with beta categories) there will be sample activities. These are possibilities, but they are by no means the only things you can do.


5.3 Bringing Water & Shade
All humans have basic needs food, water, and shelter. Yet unfortunately many people do not have adequate shelter, readily available food, drinking water, or access to sanitary waste treatment facilities. This Achievement recognizes service which helps people with all aspects of these basic needs, within our home countries.
Similar acts of service outside of your home country will count as another Achievement, see: 5.6 Supporting the World.

Sample activities:

Spoiler

• Helping build a new home
• Rehabilitating or repairing a home
• Distributing fans or heaters in extreme weather
• Cooking meals for someone in need
• Donating food to a soup kitchen or food pantry
• Growing food for donation in a community garden
• Donating blankets for cold weather homeless shelter
• Helping people learn to purify water for drinking

5.4 Leading the Way
We can give many things: our time, money, resources...this Achievement highlights giving of knowledge and skills. Specialized services provided for free, including pro bono work, would fall under this category. Also included would be all other ways to give one’s knowledge, such as tutoring and teaching, coaching, and volunteering without pay on the board or within the administration of a service organization.


5.5 Supporting Your Neighbor
Beyond basic needs, we can all use support from each other, whether simply in the form of a friendly ear or helping hand, or more tangibly in the form of household goods and other items. We may need help with health-related problems, from understanding what a doctor says to fighting a disease. We can support each other by working to improve our communities, by making them safer, participating in government, and so on. This Achievement encompasses the many ways in which we can support and serve other people within our home countries.

Sample activities:

Spoiler

• Visiting someone elderly or homebound
• Mentoring a youth
• Helping provide addiction recovery support
• Shopping for someone incapacitated by broken bone, surgery, or other health problems
• Participating in holiday gift drive for low income families
• Volunteering at sports event for people with disabilities
• Giving to a fundraiser for disease research
• Registering people to vote and encouraging voting

5.6 Supporting the World
Every country in the world has people in need. This Achievement recognizes all service provided to people outside of one’s home country. Such service may include work that would belong to another category if performed at home, such as building shelter and assisting with health, along with opportunities to serve such as disaster relief, sponsoring a child, and providing tools to help someone earn their living.


5.7 Giving of Yourself
For this Achievement, one could quite literally give part of oneself - one’s body. People can give blood, hair, and more, even organs. Also included would be taking steps to facilitate future giving, such as becoming a potential organ and tissue donor, or joining a blood marrow donor registry. As not everyone can give from their body, donations to and volunteering for organizations and events that support such giving would also earn points.


5.8 Caring for Animals
Other people are not the only ones who need help; animals, who often cannot help themselves, need our care too. This Achievement is for all service related to caring for animals, domestic or wild, regardless of location.


5.9 Healing the Land
We all share this planet, and taking care of it ultimately helps make the world a better place for us. Service that strives to improve the health of the environment anywhere in the world is recognized by this Achievement. Such service includes collective actions like trash clean-ups, tree plantings, and recycling drives, along with individual actions minimizing one’s impact on the planet.


5.10 Caught in the Act
This Achievement is intended to recognize outstanding service that you see performed by someone else, someone who is perhaps too modest to call attention to it himself/herself. This category is unlike other categories, in that one does not earn an Achievement through earning points. Instead, a person may be nominated for exceptional service, and with his/her permission, may simply be awarded an Achievement. Awards of this Achievement will be determined by the Servant of All staff.



6. Earning Points - Ways to Serve

• Time
• Money
• Material Goods
• From One's Body

6.1 How are exactly are points earned?
As noted, acts of service include giving time, money, or donations of other kinds. All of these ways of serving are possible ways to earn points in every category. For each way of serving, the program defines minor, significant, and major acts of service, which receive one point, two points, and three or more points, respectively.


6.2 Are points earned for each instance of serving?
Points will typically be awarded according to how much service was done in a given month. Serving in a particular way (such as volunteering time), in a specific category, will be added together for a given month to determine points. More explanation is found in following sections.


6.3 Earning Points - Time

• Minor act of service (1 point) = volunteering at least two hours, but less than one day*
• Significant act of service (2 points) = volunteering at least one full day, but less than three days*
• Major act of service (3 points) = volunteering at least three full days*

*One full day is equal to approximately eight hours

Please read below for additional information, including volunteering for less than two hours, and truly time-intensive volunteering:

Spoiler

Time spent volunteering for a particular activity will typically be added together each month for purposes of determining points. Example: if one volunteers for one hour each week, or four hours total for a month, he or she will receive one point, as time spent is greater than two hours, but less than eight hours.

For minor acts of service, one must volunteer at least two hours to earn one point. However, serving for less than two hours will contribute to earning one point, after service has continued and at least two hours of time has accumulated. If this takes more than a month, all volunteer time will be added together, with one point being awarded whenever two hours are completed.

For truly time-intensive volunteering, such as something involving one or two weeks of continuous service, please discuss with the Servant of All Staff, as additional points may be awarded.

6.4 Earning Points - Money

• Minor act of service (1 point) = monetary donation(s) of less than 5% of monthly income*
• Significant act of service (2 points) = monetary donation(s) from 5 to 15% of monthly income*
• Major act of service (3 points) = monetary donation(s) of more than 15% of monthly income*

*Monthly income is your monthly income after taxes

Please read below for important information on reporting and determining levels of donation:

Spoiler

For serving by giving money, we recognize that there may be much variation in income, cost of living, and so on, for members. Therefore, points for giving money will be awarded based on percentage of income after taxes, not absolute values. Please note that we do not want any information about your income. You may simply describe a monetary donation as minor, significant, or major.

Amount of money given within a single category will be added together each month; for multiple donations in one month, points will be awarded according to the total amount given that month.

6.5 Earning Points - Donating Material Goods

• Minor act of service (1 point) = donation(s) with value of less than 5% of monthly income* AND volume less than or equal to two full loads of average sedan car
• Significant act of service (2 points) = donation(s) with value greater than or equal to 5% of monthly income*, OR volume greater than two full car loads
• Major act of service (3 points) = extremely large or valuable donations; please contact the Servant of All staff

*Monthly income is your monthly income after taxes

Please read below for important information on reporting and determining levels of donation:

Spoiler

Points for donations of material goods are also related to one's income after taxes, similar to donations of money. However, it may be difficult to determine value, so total volume is another factor. (You are not required to calculate or report monetary value.) If you believe you have made a major donation, please contact the Servant of All staff.

Also as for monetary value, points will be awarded based on the total amount of material donations made during one month. Monetary value of donations is to be determined by actual worth: the price if the item donated were to be sold, or sales price if the items were purchased new for donation purposes.

6.6 Earning Points - Donating from One's Body

• Minor act of service (1 point) = donations easily given and replenishable, such as blood or hair
• Significant act of service (2 points) = preparation for more intensive donations, such as becoming organ donor or joining bone marrow registry
• Major act of service (3 points) = please contact the Servant of All staff
• Automatic Gold Achievement = donation of bone marrow or organ

Within the category Giving of Yourself, points will be awarded as described for volunteering time, giving money, and donations not part of one’s body. All bodily donations will be awarded points per donation; there are no monthly totals required.

For any bodily donations not included above, please contact the Servant of All staff.


If you have made it to this point, thank you so much for reading all about the Servant of All Program! We look forward to your current or future participation throughout the Beta and the full release of the Program!

 

[Siusane al'Cuyler]

did I mention that we have details? I'm sure some of you will have questions. please ask! I'll try to consolidate at least some of the answers here in this post. eventually there will be a FAQ.

I look forward to hearing about all the good work y'all are doing!

 

[Loira Al'Ramoidra]

Interesting!

 

[Kitan Tataru]

Wow. The Servants of All staff has put an absolutely incredible amount of work into this program! Thank you!

Question about giving of one's body:

Significant act of service (2 points) = preparation for more intensive donations, such as becoming organ donor or joining bone marrow registry

In many countries, when you get a driver's license you can say whether you'd like your organs to be donated to someone in need of them if you die in an accident or other catastrophe where some of your organs are undamaged. Does registering for an organ donor program like this (where your organs are given after you die) count as a Significant act of service? Or do you need to register to donate organs while still alive in order to count as this Significant act?

I'm excited to participate in this program My husband and I give blood together as often as they'll let us, since we have blood that can be used in pediatrics. I actually just hit my one gallon mark So as soon as you open the Giving of Yourself category I'll be registering my blood donations in it

 

[Quinlan Isindil]

I take it this is for activities completed in December as well? I did do something about a week and a half ago, but I don't want to claim it if we're starting from this month.

 

[Malein Basolaine]

This is absolutely fantastic!! I think this is a great program and you all have done such a good job putting it together. Thank you.

 

[Alora Sionn]

I love this idea! Definitely keeping my eye on it

 

[Ibon Caseï]

Kitan: Yes having it on your driver's licence is considered significant and will give you 2 points. However, as opposed to donating blood, agreeing to be an organ donor usually isn't repeatable. So you only get the points once. Donating blood, while minor, is easily repeatable and might therefore over time provide you with many points.

Ofcourse you get the most points if you do both!

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

I am also curious whether this is retroactive.


[STRIKE]Also...which two categories are open for submission?[/STRIKE] Nevermind.

Emailing y'all with a couple of more complicated questions.

 

[Jeffan Caliarthan]

Points will not be awarded for work or organizations which attempt to limit a human being’s freedom and rights. (Reference Universal Declaration of Human Rights here.) Please read on for additional details:

Spoiler

Service for organizations which limit their focus to a particular group is acceptable provided that, within the organization’s focus, they strive to help everyone, without refusing service on the basis of race, language, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion, academic achievements, mental or physical disability, or other status. Service done through a religious organization, such as feeding the homeless, may receive points, although service done purely to further a religious mission, such as teaching Sunday school, will not.

I really, really appreciate this.

I also have a question regarding how retroactive we're allowed to be when submitting activities for points. I've been doing a few things that would earn me points in the last few months, but I'm not sure if I'd be allowed to submit them. So, how retroactive are we allowed to be? 3 months? 6 months? 12+ months? Or is it just from December 1st onward?

Thank you for all of your hard work on this!

 

[Ibon Caseï]

Qinlan, Ninya, Jeffan and anyone else who's wondering about this:
You may submit any acts of service done since the 1st of November 2012.

We're backtracking this far, in stead of starting in December for example, because we'd like a good quantity of submissions to truly test this system. To see how it works out on a larger scale is the point of the beta, after all. So that means everything you did in November counts, as well as anything you're doing in December. Please only submit things you HAVE done, not acts you are planning to do.

As this is the beta, only acts of service (that be donations, voluntering or other philantropic activities) related to the two categories open for the beta testing may be submitted. That means Bringing Water & Shade along with Supporting Your Neighbor.

If you're doing other acts of service, like giving money to an international relief effort or donating blood, those activities can only be submitted for points once the full program is launched. Ofcourse, all the categories will "count" from the same date (November 1st), even if you can't submit all your acts here in the beta. So feel free to go out there and do good deeds, no matter which category they belong to. Don't hold yourself back and wait for the full program. Even though you can't submit the act of service for points yet, once we launch the full program all acts of service performed since November 1st will count towards your Achivements.

Great questions, so far. Keep them comming!

 

[Pip al'Dealys]

I struggling to come to terms with how barbarically pathetic this system is. Wow.

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

The actions I was hoping would count, won't. I has a sad.

I'll keep looking for ways though.

 

[Lilli O' Neeus]

I struggling to come to terms with how barbarically pathetic this system is. Wow.

You were expecting a stream lined and nifty system how? Especially, as they pointed out, it is a beta system. It is still in the testing and tweaking phases, and you simply can't get something extremely sophisticated when you simply cannot verify everything that is being reported. These women have excelled before, and considering that this is new territory for everyone, I think it should be given time for testing and revision before degrading it in any manner.

Edit to add: I sincerely hope that you are taking your ideas for improvement and emailing them in so that they can be considered.

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

As a random note after thinking about it: You might consider making the "Caught in the Act" achievement fully retroactive even if the other achievements are not. There are things people on this site have done that they deserve credit for- and since it requires someone else to nominate, it's not like it can be easily abused.

Just my opinion.

 

[Ibon Caseï]

As a random note after thinking about it: You might consider making the "Caught in the Act" achievement fully retroactive even if the other achievements are not. There are things people on this site have done that they deserve credit for- and since it requires someone else to nominate, it's not like it can be easily abused.

Just my opinion.

Thank you, this is exactly the kind of suggestions we would like.
If you want to make sure we don't forget about this, feel free to e-mail it to us as well.

I struggling to come to terms with how barbarically pathetic this system is. Wow.

I'll assume that you are being ironic or otherwise try to be funny.
If you aren't, then I would like you to e-mail your concerns to us. The address can be found in the first post of this thread.

Anyone else who has concerns about the Servant of All program are also encouraged to send us an e-mail. Feedback, reactions and questions are very welcome in this thread, but we want to keep the thread civil and constructive.

 

[Tree]

I assume that Pip is being Pip. *shakes head*

The Caught in the Act we have discussed being something that can be backdated much farther than November 1st 2012. Yes.
Ninya, I have received your email and I will respond shortly- today. I just had a few minutes to peek in on this thread for now.

Thanks all for your interest, keep the comments, questions and suggestions coming!

 

[Laralelle Susandrea]

I'm actually not ok with the church stuff not being counted. This is kind of implying that all churches are "discriminatory" and that is absolutely not true. My church is always collecting donations for various things that benefit the community, and these things have to be sorted, bagged, boxed....whatever. This feels discriminatory to me. I understand where you're coming from, but just something to consider.

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

Laralelle:

Service done through a religious organization, such as feeding the homeless, may receive points, although service done purely to further a religious mission, such as teaching Sunday school, will not.

I would think that collecting and sorting goods to give to those in need would count; the system rules out only things like teaching a class about religion.

Thanks to Suisane and the Servant of All team for your hard work.