CLEO Chapter guides

Step 03

Run your chapter

Plan dependable visits, support volunteers, report activity, and prepare the next leaders.

Updated · CLEO National

Keep a dependable rhythm

Agree on a schedule with your host and communicate it to your volunteers. Maintain a way for volunteers to hear updates that fits your school and chapter; CLEO leadership coordination belongs in Slack. Give the host prompt cancellation notice and arrange a clear point of contact.

Have a chapter leader present to coordinate visits and follow the agreed adult supervision arrangements. Check actual attendance, not just the people who said they might come. The original slides suggest attendance goals such as a session per month or five hours per semester; these are examples for planning, not thresholds enforced by this guide.

Before and during each visit

  1. Confirm the venue, schedule, and supervision. Check chapter and venue requirements and each participant's clearance.
  2. Make sure new volunteers have completed the required forms and current-year training. Use the training linked in the workspace.
  3. Welcome residents, ask what they want to learn, and explain at a comfortable pace. Let them practice rather than taking over the device.
  4. Stay within your knowledge. Ask for help or refer a problem when you cannot safely resolve it.
  5. Record the attendees and actual time served so the chapter can log accurate hours afterward.

Follow the Volunteer Handbook. Avoid banking or financial transactions, medical or legal advice, permanent deletion, and changes you do not understand. Let the owner enter passwords and sensitive information. Respect belongings and privacy; do not copy or retain private information encountered while helping.

For an immediate danger, seek the appropriate local emergency response. Report safety concerns through CLEO's safety form; you do not need adult permission to report.

Record sessions and individual credit

Use Sessions in your chapter workspace after a visit. Select the venue and named attendees and enter everyone's combined volunteer hours. Three people serving two hours each means six total hours.

The platform divides that total equally among the selected people, in tenths. If people served different lengths of time, keep the accurate attendance record and ask for help; do not knowingly assign an inaccurate equal split. Session logging records completed activity, not advance RSVPs.

Correct a mistaken log by cancelling it with a reason and entering the accurate replacement. Cancelling preserves the history and removes its credit. Reports do not create or correct individual hours. See sessions and service letters.

Keep volunteers and the team current

Check the roster's What's needed? explanation when someone is not cleared. Resolve the actual missing step instead of repeatedly resending a permission email. Remove people who no longer belong using the correct chapter record; this does not erase historical service.

Train late joiners before they serve. Annual training and chapter renewal are separate. Current application behavior carries valid consent forward while requiring the new year's training; withdrawal, missing consent, or another unresolved requirement still blocks clearance. Read annual records before telling a returning volunteer to sign again.

Keep leadership responsibilities and contact details current. In spring, identify successors and have them help run visits while current leaders are still available. Invite successors through the platform and verify their access before graduating leaders step down. The original slides' grade-cohort suggestions are continuity advice, not a reason to invent required positions.

Complete reports and renewal

Your workspace shows due filing cards. A semester report summarizes activity for the displayed term: active volunteers, combined hours, seniors served, topics, successes, difficulties, and requests for support. Keep useful attendance and activity notes throughout the term.

Annual renewal confirms whether the chapter continues and who remains on the team. Review checked names carefully: changing the team in renewal can end roles. New leader names in a text field do not automatically send invitations.

Routine reports and renewal do not need adult approval simply because the submitting leader is under 18. An older held submission may still need to be explicitly applied through Saved submissions. See filings and saved submissions.

Add activities thoughtfully

Regular individual technology help is a useful foundation. Optional activities from the original operation slides include introductory classes, holiday socials, and a graduation gathering. Choose activities with your host and within the chapter's approved arrangements. A resource idea is not blanket approval for a new activity, expense, or use of someone's photograph.

For outreach or social media, follow CLEO's brand and communications rules and the host's and school's requirements. Obtain the appropriate permission before sharing identifiable photos. Coordinate proposed fundraising or unfamiliar activities with your advisor and National before committing the chapter.

The Chapter resources kit provides reviewed agendas, teaching plans, and editable attendance, scheduling, outreach, and reflection templates directly here.

The original slides reference shared resources below. They are external materials: availability and sharing are controlled by their owners. If a folder asks for access, ask National; the guides and core platform workflows remain available here.

Ask for support early

Use your chapter's Slack channel for routine questions and your accepted advisor for local adult review. National can help with unresolved access, records, or exceptions. An override is a support path when needed, not a substitute for setting up your chapter's own advisor and workflow.

Share the task, chapter, exact error, and when it happened. Remove private links and unrelated personal information from screenshots. For sensitive safety issues, use the dedicated reporting route instead of the chapter chat.

Keep nearby: Chapter Leader Guide, the reference for each platform workflow.