Beyond Belief Network Event Guides: Event Reports

Event reports are a valuable, often underutilized tool for Beyond Belief Network (BBN) teams. Submitting an online event report takes only a few minutes and can make a team eligible for all kinds of perks, including free t-shirts, grants for service projects, and a range of awards. Beyond Belief Network also depends on receiving BBN team event reports. It allows us to keep track of our teams’ hard work and show examples of compassionate humanism across the country.

BBN Events & Leveling Up

A BBN event is any gathering of your group to work for good, whether by volunteering, raising funds for a good cause, or a combination of the two.

There are two kinds of BBN event:

• Foundation Partners Program (FPP) events include fundraisers for FBB beneficiaries (at least 50% of the proceeds must go to FBB or its beneficiaries) or Light The Night fundraisers. Tabling for FBB at a freethought conference or recruiting 5 team members to the Humanist Giving Program also count as an FPP event. Two FPP events will allow your team to level up for increased perks and recognition.

• Volunteers Beyond Belief (VBB) events include service activities, fundraisers for non-FBB beneficiaries, and Light The Night Walks. Four VBB events will allow your team to level up for increased perks and recognition.

Social events and fundraisers for your own group do not count as BBN events, unless there is a significant amount of community outreach, education, or fundraising for another group besides your own. If your team has such an event already scheduled and you need help promoting it, submit an online request.

BBN teams can earn perks by reporting on their FPP or VBB events to achieve a new BBN level.

• Level 1 is reached after having 4 VBB events or 2 FPP events.

• Level 2 requires 8 VBB events or 4 FPP events.

• For Level 3, a team must have 12 events of either type.

Student teams must fulfill 75% of these requirements due to the shorter timeframe allowed by the academic year. That is:

• 3 VBB or 2 FPP events for Level 1

• 6 VBB or 3 FPP events for Level 2

• 9 VBB or FPP events for Level 3.

Levels renew on an annual basis. Teams return to Level 0 each January and have the opportunity to level up, with all the associated perks (such as t-shirts and grants) renewing each year.

Remember, events not submitted to the event report form will not be considered for leveling up and your team will miss out on some great opportunities and rewards!

Advantages of Submitting Event Reports

Once a team has reached a particular level, they will be eligible for certain benefits.

Level 1 benefits:

• 8 free shirts with the option for inclusion of your team’s logo

• Eligibility for Team of the Month recognition

Level 2 benefits:

• Eligibility for awards (including monetary prizes)

• Eligibility for grants for your service projects up to $250

• Priority in promotion and vetting requests

Level 3 benefits:

• Eligibility for larger grants up to $500, with larger grants considered for specific, appropriate, well-defined project development

• 12 additional t-shirts

• Highest priority in promotion and vetting requests

Exemplary service from Beyond Belief Network Teams can also be recognized with our annual Heart of Humanism awards.

Tips to Get Started

• Assign a recorder. Recruit someone who will submit event reports on behalf of your team. This role is usually filled by the group’s contact, but it can be done by any willing member of the team. The recorder should keep track event information and statistics such as the number of people in attendance and how many hours the event lasted. The event report requires this kind of information in order to be successfully submitted. If the recorder cannot attend an event, have someone else take notes and pictures and send them to the recorder later.

• Camera antics. Pictures are another important element of BBN event reports. BBN often use photos as a way to promote our teams and the network in the national media. Candid shots showing your team hard at work are eligible for our picture awards. Posed group shots, individual shots, and scenic or landscape pictures can all be used in our blog posts about your work. Make sure you get permission from the facility or organizer to take the pictures, and get permission from the people in the pictures so you don't accidentally 'out' anyone! For tips on how to take the best photographs, check out our photo guide.

• Picture of the Month. Especially excellent photos of teams in action are honored through BBN’s Picture of the Month. The winning picture is shared on our blog and displayed as the banner picture in the BBN Facebook group for that month. Photos submitted in with event reports are all considered for this award. Pictures should be high-quality, show a number of team members, and capture those members in action rather than posed.

• Self-promote. Teams can use the photos and information they’ve gathered to create great blog posts. Include the link in an event report, and BBN will include it in our blog. Teams can also promote or live tweet their events on twitter using the hashtag #BBNetwork @FoundBB. Remember, this self-promotion should be done in addition to submitting an event report. Events not submitted via the online event report will not be considered for leveling up or other perks.

• Get in the habit. Once your team has completed an event, don’t procrastinate! Have a set plan in place. For example, you could be sure to always submit an event report no later than two days after a specific event. This will provide the recorder an opportunity to verify any information, add any web links, and gather photographs. Submitting event reports in a timely fashion will keep the recorder organized and prevent a backlog.

Questions or Concerns?

If you need help with planning your event or have additional questions, the best way to contact Beyond Belief Network is to use the contact webform, which enables us to track the resolution of your question: foundationbeyondbelief.org/contact-bbn. You can also email us at bbn@foundationbeyondbelief.org.