# Eight steps to build your Volunteer organisation.

Skilled Volunteer talent is abundant on SkilledUp Life; great leadership is the differentiator. Follow these steps to attract the best, onboard fast, get results and grow. **Finally, lack of capital is no longer a constraint in setting up, building, growing and scaling tech startups thanks to SkilledUp Life.**

## 1. Get started
### Sign up as a tech startup
Creating your tech company account is quick and **completely self-service**. You are in control from the start. We don't set anything up for you; what we add is guidance and support along the way, with **significant guidance included on the Advance Plan** including organisational design.
- Register a tech company account (not a Volunteer account).
- Confirm you are an early-stage tech startup: that's who SkilledUp Life is for.
- Verify your email and continue the account creation process.

## 2. Pick your scale
### Choose a pricing plan and subscribe
Your plan sets how big a team you can build and which teams you can run. Join the plan that matches your stage **from day one** — this is not a “start small and upgrade later” platform.
- **Starter (Idea)** — validate your idea with a team of up to 15 SkilledUp Lifers.
- **Essential (Product)** — add product development; up to 25 SkilledUp Lifers.
- **Advance (GTM)** — full marketing, sales and customer success; up to 100 SkilledUp Lifers.

**Join the correct plan from day one.** A GTM-stage tech company should never start on the Idea plan. Joining below your real stage starves your teams and leads to disaster — match your plan to where your tech company actually is, right now.

## 3. Make a great first impression
### Build a full, inspirational company page
Your tech company page is your shop window. Experienced Volunteers **research you before they apply**: your company page _and_ your social media profiles so make them complete and inspiring. A full page with a video pitch attracts dramatically better Volunteer talent than a thin one.
- Complete every field: introduce the business, progress to date and the future plans.
- Add a founder video: sell the vision and why someone should volunteer for you.
- Keep your social media profiles active and aligned: Volunteers check them.
- Show traction and ambition: make SkilledUp Lifers want to be part of your journey.

**Inspire, don't just list.** The best Volunteers have a choice about who they give their time to. Show them the vision, the mission and the difference they will make: clarity and ambition are what win experienced Volunteers over.

## 4. Your first two hires
### List your foundational roles first
Before building wide, build smart. Two roles unlock everything else: an HR Volunteer to help you recruit and run people processes, and a Founder's Associate to absorb the endless ad-hoc tasks.
- **HR Volunteer**: Helps you source, screen and onboard the best Volunteer talent across every team you build.
- **Founder's Associate**: Your right hand for all the ad-hoc tasks, so you stay focused on vision, product and growth.

## 5. Scale with intent
### Build your teams, plan by plan
With HR in place, start listing opportunities and assembling teams. What you can build depends on your plan: each tier unlocks the next set of teams and a higher member cap. Use the Volunteer Opportunity Templates and Pre-Qualification Questionnaire to list fast and screen well.

- **Starter** (Idea validation team): 15 team members max - **Goal:** pressure-test the idea and find problem–solution signal before you build.
- **Essential** (Product + market research): 25 team members max - **Goal:** build the product while research keeps validating the market.
- **Advance** (Full go-to-market organisation): 100 team members max - **Goal:** take the product to market and grow revenue across functions.

## 6. Hit the ground running
### Rapid onboarding that scales
Add an HR Operations Volunteer to run onboarding at scale. Great onboarding is the difference between Volunteers who deliver in week one and those who drift. Give everyone clarity from day one.
- Bring on an **HR Operations Volunteer** to own and systemise onboarding.
- Give every role a clear **Role Description** and a **13-week plan**.
- Make sure the right **software tools** and access are in place before day one.
- Establish a rhythm for **daily collaboration** across all teams.

**13 weeks, mapped.** A term is 60 volunteer days over 3+ months. A week-by-week plan turns that into momentum: clear goals, clear checkpoints, clear wins.

## 7. Lead and grow
### Ensure performance and promote your best
During the term, manage performance honestly. Recognise and promote those who volunteer hard and deliver; part ways respectfully with those who don't. Handle extensions, resignations and abandonment cleanly, and give your stars a path to grow.
- **Reward & retain**:
  - Recognise reliable, high-output Volunteers early.
  - Offer term extensions by mutual agreement.
  - Open a clear promotion path.
- **Manage out fairly**:
  - Terminate those not volunteering hard or delivering.
  - Handle resignations and abandonment promptly.
  - Always plan a successor before a gap appears.

## 8. Finish strong, stay strong
### Offboard with continuity built in
People will complete their terms and move on: that's the point. Offboard them gracefully and protect your momentum by making sure a fully trained successor is ready to take over before anyone leaves.
- Train and name a successor before each departure.
- Capture handover notes, access and context inside the team.
- Offboard cleanly and give a genuine reference for results delivered.

**Continuity is the win.** A tech startup that offboards well never loses momentum, because the next person is already up to speed.

## Teams only fly on solid foundations.
The best Volunteers in the world will stall without a clear process, a real system and the right software tools. Get these in place early: a deeper playbook is coming, but here's the essentials.
- **A clear process**: Define how volunteering flows: from listing an Opportunity to onboarding, daily reports, reviews and offboarding. Repeatable beats heroic.
- **A real system**: Document roles, 13-week plans and ways of volunteering so anyone can pick things up. Your system is what survives Volunteers leaving.
- **The right software tools**: Set up comms, project management, docs and access before day one, so every Volunteer can contribute from their very first hour.
- **Daily collaboration**: Establish a rhythm: async updates, daily updates and clear ownership so global remote teams stay aligned and moving.

**More to come.** A dedicated guide on building your process, systems and tool stack is on the way: this is the short version to get you started.

## A path to grow
### Give your best Volunteers somewhere to climb.
Motivated people stay when they can grow. Build a clear ladder from delivering results, to leading a team, to running a whole function.
- **Level 1 · Join**: Operational - Join at operational level, doing the hands-on tasks and delivering against a clear 13-week plan.
- **Level 2 · Promote**: Management - Step up to manage a team of around five, owning their output, support and day-to-day rhythm.
- **Level 3 · Promote**: Leadership - Run a whole team or function, operating like a CxO: strategy, hiring and results end to end.

## Start building your team today.
Sign up as a tech startup, choose your plan and list your first opportunity. Your future team is already on SkilledUp Life.