Our small charity is seeking a confident and enthusiastic ‘people person’ to fill the role of Events Coordinator. Because events are an important opportunity to energize supporters, build new relationships, increase awareness of the cause, and get an organisation’s name out to the public, excellent event skills and execution are a must.

Since 1997, our charity has supported those in Western Australia with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and now also Lyme disease. We are an unfunded and all-volunteer-run organisation.

This position is an unpaid pro bono or volunteer position. You will be contributing to helping us make a difference in the lives of others, while gaining career experience, and may also receive a Letter of Recommendation to assist you in your future career aspirations.

About the position

We are looking for someone who can lead, manage, coordinate, and run all of our events, so that our volunteers are supported. Our current (and past) volunteers do an excellent job with events. However, many have a high level of disability or are heavily affected by the illness. This can mean not being able to carry out the physical tasks such as set up and pack down, and issues with reliability in being available at a set date and time. This is because the illness is unpredictable from hour to hour and presents with a wide and varied range of symptoms. This position is therefore to find someone who can manage and carry out most of our event workload, and allow our volunteers to instead play complementary and supporting roles on the day and behind the scenes.

You will need to be able to travel into our Nedlands premises for events and seminars. (If you are located elsewhere and are unable to travel to Nedlands, but are happy to assist us with a portion of our events related workload via online volunteering, please do still apply and reach out to us, as we would love more than one person to help us out with managing and running events.)

Hours are estimated to average out at around 10 hours per month. There are no set working hours, aside from when attending an event and assisting on the day. Some events may need setting up the afternoon/evening prior. On the day of an event, you will need to be present throughout the duration of the event, as well as for a few hours before and after for volunteer coordination, set up, pack down, and assisting with event related tasks on the day. Our events are fairly easy to run; nothing complicated at all. Our limitation is ill-health and disability, with the actual tasks being very easy.

Responsibilities/Tasks

• Assisting with the planning and initial correspondence and communications related to events and seminars, including emails and invitation letters to guest speakers, calendar scheduling, promotional text drafting, and marketing and advertising for events.
• Managing our online event and ticket booking platforms, including uploading text and images, entering data and settings into fields, and ensuring everything is ready for publishing.
• Regular oversight and reporting on event attendance numbers and reach.
• Assisting with budgets and financial reporting for each event.
• Post-event reporting and gathering of photos and feedback.
• Supporting administrative requests.
• Coordinating and carrying out venue and room bookings, including documentation and email correspondence.
• Coordinating event supplies and stock levels, such as food, drinks, and other items.
• Seeking sponsors and funding for larger events.
• Assisting in surveying guest experience, and proposing solutions based on feedback.
• Assisting, tending to, and anticipating guest needs.
• Working with others to guide and oversee volunteer tasks at each event, including set-up, guest check-in and customer service, and other on the day activities. Where volunteers are unavailable, directly assist with these tasks on the day.
• Attending as many events as possible to provide oversight and coordination on the day, and contribute to practical workload and customer service.
• Liaising with guest speakers on the day and assisting them with arrival and setup.

Desirable Skills

• Ability to work without supervision.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.
• Excel at customer service and be attentive to attendee experiences.
• Troubleshooting skills and ability to execute using keen problem solving techniques.
• Maintain confidentiality pertaining to business matters.
• Tasks, whether routine or urgent, are completed successfully and in a timely manner.
• Document/report/presentation preparation.
• Excellent multi-tasking skills, with the ability to handle stressful situations that may occur during an event in a calm and professional manner.
• Marketing qualifications are desirable but not essential.