How To Create Your Own
Create the Good Do-It-Yourself
Project Guide
All the information you need to create and
submit your do-it-yourself service project
About Do-It-Yourself Project Guides
How to Create a Do-it-Yourself Project
Guide
The Submission Process
Have Questions?
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A Do-It-Yourself (“DIY”) Project Guide provides simple, step-by-step instructions for planning and implementing a successful community project. Guides currently featured on Create the Good cover everything from holding a food or school supplies drive to starting a walking group to caring for a caregiver. To see all current DIY Project guides, visit http:// createthegood.org/how-to-guides.
Many people want to give back to their community but struggle to find volunteer opportunities that match their schedule and interests. Do-It-Yourself Project Guides enable individuals to engage in community projects they care about in the time they have, creating more meaningful ways for Create the Good members to get involved.
DIY Project Guides are a great way to introduce members of the Create the Good community to your cause or organization and educate them about how their efforts can make an impact on your mission.
Create the Good offers free and easy to use tools to create a project guide and the Create the Good team is available every step of the way. A little bit about the Create the Good community
What is a Do-It-Yourself Project Guide?
How do DIY Projects help Create the Good members?
How do DIY Projects help authors?
About Do-It-Yourself Project Guides
Help a cause you care about in a time and manner that works best for you.
• CreateTheGood.org attracts 50,000 - 70,000 visitors per month • Community members have contributed thousands of volunteer
opportunities to the site - 10,000+ of which have been vetted and approved by the Create the Good team and made available on the Create the Good site and other volunteer listings
Create the Good’s goal in offering these free tools is to gather a diverse collection of service projects that provide meaningful opportunities for individuals with a wide range of causes, time commitments, and skill sets. The Create the Good team reviews and approves all guides prior to publication, so you can be sure your project will be in good company.
What makes for a good DIY project?
Create the Good enforces just a few ground rules:
• The success of the project cannot depend on you or your
organization’s involvement or availability. Put another way, Create the Good users must be able to plan and execute your project according to their schedule and availability.
• The project does not involve fundraising or ask participants to collect monetary donations for your organization.
• The project does not involve political advocacy for a particular candidate or political campaign.
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I work for a nonprofit. Can I create a guide on its behalf?
Absolutely, we love to help nonprofits reach the Create the Good community.
Do I have to be associated with a nonprofit to author a guide?
Not at all. If you are a passionate individual with a great idea for supporting a cause you love, this is the perfect project for you.
My idea is really short, is that appropriate for a project?
Yes! Such projects are particularly helpful for our members with limited time.
My organization has an existing document that outlines the steps of our project. Still, we would love a way to get the project in front of the Create the Good audience, how can we participate?
When creating a project guide you can upload any related documents and materials you think will be helpful in completing the project
successfully. In these circumstances, we suggest uploading your existing document and referring to it within the project instructions. For example, “Get started by reviewing the XYZ.PDF file in the supplemental materials section’.
How to Create a Do-It-Yourself Project Guide
Only Create the Good community members may create Do-It-Yourself project guides and submit them for publication on the Create the Good site. But fear not, registration is free and AARP does not share your information with anyone. Follow the steps below to register for free. Already registered with Create the Good? Wonderful! You can skip ahead to page 10 to learn how to create and submit a project guide.
Step 1: Sign in or Join Create the Good
1.1 Visit CreateTheGood.org
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1.5
Log in if you have already registered with AARP.org or Create the Good
Register using the site
A green circle with a check mark appears if you’ve entered acceptable information. Click the green ‘Register’ button and enter the information requested in the AARP.org registration form
If you have registered previously for AARP.org or Create the Good, enter your email address and password, click ‘Log In’ and continue to step 10.
To create a new account, you can either register through this site by clicking the ‘Register’ button, or use a social media account by clicking the social account icon you prefer. You can simply log in if you have previously registered with AARP.org or Create the Good.
1.3 Log in with an existing account, use an existing social account or create a new account
1.5.1
1.5.2
1.5.3
To ensure you’re a person (and not a robot seeking to fill inboxes with spam) you will need to type the jumbled letters into the box provided.
Just a bit of legal work to finish things up. Check the box under ‘User Agreement’ to accept AARP’s Terms and Service and Privacy Policy.
Click the green ‘Register’ button to complete the process.
Are the words illegible? It happens all the time. Click the circular arrows icon on top to get a new challenge. You can also click the speaker icon to get an audio challenge and type the phrase you hear.
A red box appears if something isn’t quite right. Instructions below the box will let you know what changes need to be made.
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NOTE:
Once logged in you will notice the ‘Log In’ and ‘Register’ options in the main navigation no longer appear. In their place are a ‘My Profile’ button and a ‘Logout’ botton.
Now you are ready to create a project guide and submit it for consideration into Create the Good’s online database.
Step 2: Access the Project Guide Builder
2.1 Go to the ‘Do-it-Yourself Project Guides’ page and click the button that reads ‘Have an idea for a DIY project? Post it on
Create the Good!’
Alternatively, you can click the ‘Create A Project Guide’ link that appears in the footer.
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2.2 Click the ‘Create New Project Guide’ button on the ‘Create &
Manage Do-It-Yourself Project Guides’ page. This page is where
you can access all the guides you have created or create new project guides.
2.3 Welcome to the ‘Project Guide Builder’ page. This is the page where you can enter all information needed for your project guide.
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Step 3: Provide General Information about your Project
3.1 Project Title: Your project title is the first opportunity to gain a
Create the Good member’s interest in your project. Titles should have at most 50 characters, so you will need to keep yours short and to the point.
Project titles as they appear to Create the Good visitors browsing projects General Information section of the builder page
3.2 Project Image: Adding an image to your guide is optional but
strongly encouraged because it will help your initiative stand out within the larger list of projects. However, if it’s not possible to attach an your own image, a default image will appear with your guide on the ‘Browse Guides’ page.
If no image is uploaded for a guide a visitors see a default image associated with the guide
If an image is uploaded for a guide the image is seen by visitors as they browse for projects
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To add an image to your project guide, click the red ‘Browse’ button within the dotted box entitled ‘Project Image’. Images may have any of the following file types: jpg, gif, or png and must be less than 2MB in size. We suggest the use of high resolution images with a size of 800px wide by 600px tall.
This will launch a window that allows you to select a file from your computer.
Find the image you would like to use and click the ‘Open’ button in that window. Alternatively you can drag the image into the square box.
3.3 Project Description: The project description provides more
detail about your initiative. While it is not visible to members in the published version of the guide; it plays an important role behind the scenes. Specifically, your description is referenced when a member searches for projects that match a specific interest. For example, if someone uses keywords to find
opportunities related to “financial literacy” the Create the Good site - as well as other search engines - will look for the words “financial” and “literacy” within the project description (among other fields such as title).
Therefore, we encourage you to create a description that includes keywords and phrases associated with the topics your guide addresses to ensure that your project comes up in the appropriate searches.
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3.4 Project Skills: Create the Good members love to use their
skills to give back. By providing information about any special skills needed to complete your project, you can help us match members with projects that take advantage of their skills.
Please select all the skills relevant to your project. If you don’t see the skill needed within the list provided, just type it into the field and it will be added.
Alternatively, if no special skills are needed select the ‘No special
skills required’ option.
The skill ‘Investing’ was not in the list provided, typing ‘Investing into the text box and hitting your ‘enter’ adds it to the list
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3.6
Causes Supported: Similar to skills, members prefer to work
on projects that benefit causes or issues they find important. This is why we give you an opportunity to indicate which cause or causes your project benefits.
You may select multiple causes, and if you don’t see what you are looking for, you can add it to the list by typing the name of the cause directly into the text box and hitting the ‘enter’ key.
Project Categories: Project categories are attributes that
Create the Good uses to organize opportunities. By selecting one or more categories you again make it easier for members to determine if your project is a good fit for their circumstances and abilities.
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3.7 Time Required: A key piece of information to share with
potential users is an estimate of time needed to complete your project.
Including the required time commitment helps Create the Good members make a sound judgment as to whether your project is a good fit for their availability.
Step 4: Provide Author or Organization Information
4.1 Author or Organization Name: In addition to the cause a
project supports members also want to know who a project supports. To that end, we collect the name of the organization or individual authoring the guide, along with other supporting information (detailed below). This information appears near the top of the published project guide.
Author or Organization Information section of the builder page
4.2 Author City & State: The location and state of yourself or the
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Author or Organization Image: If you choose, you may upload
an photo image here as well, to add more detail to your project. This may be the logo of your organization, a photo of yourself, or any other picture that you think represents the author of the guide.
Author or Organization information as it appears to visitors viewing your DIY Project Guide.
4.3 Author or Organization Website: You can also specify a
website where a Create the Good member can learn more about yourself or your organization. This field is optional, if no website is provided nothing appers.
To add an image to your project guide, click the red ‘Browse’ button within the dotted box entitled ‘Author or Organization
Image’. Images may have any of the following file types: jpg, gif,
or png. We suggest the use of high resolution images with a size of 260px wide by 300px tall.
This will launch a window that allows you to select a file from your computer.
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4.5 Author Contact Email Address: Create the Good requires
an email address for the individual responsible for creating the guide. This is where Create the Good Administrators will send any questions or notifications about your guide (e.g. “your guide has been published!”). Your email address will not be shared with outside parties or published as part of your project guide.
4.6 Author Contact Phone Number: You may also provide a phone
number at which you can be reached. This phone number will not be shared or published as part of your project guide. It will only be used by Create the Good administrators in the event they have questions about your guide.
Step 5: Describe your Project
The ‘Project Content’ area is where you describe how to successfully complete your project.
It’s important to note that your project guide content can be as long or short as needed and you can break down the project however you like (e.g. step 1, step 2, step 3 vs. ‘what you need to get started’, ‘how to prepare for your event’, ‘measuring your impact’).
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We’ve provided a number of style and content options to help make your project guide descriptive and engaging.
There are two general options for formatting text: Heading and Paragraph. The heading format is available to bring attention to the major sections of your guide. The paragraph format applies to all other text. Additional styling options may be applied to paragraph text.
Highlight the paragraph text you would like to style and click the bold, italic or underline buttons to adjust the appearance of the highlighted text.
Text Format
Bold, Italic & Underline
How to view paragraph style options
Paragraph text may also be linked to other webpages.
These horizontal lines can help mark different sections of your project guide. To add a horizontal rule, place your cursor in the spot where you would like the line to appear and click the ‘horizontal rule’ button in the toolbar.
To create a link, click the ‘link’ button in the styling toolbar, enter the appropriate URL and click the green ‘OK’ button.
Links
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Images can be included throughout your project guide.
Place your cursor in the spot in your guide where you would like your image to appear and click the ‘Image’ button in the toolbar.
Images
After clicking the button, a window appears to collect the details associated with your image. Please keep in mind that only images for which you have the rights should be included within your guide.
The first detail you will need to specify is the image you would like to include. Do so by clicking the ‘Upload’ tab and then the ‘Choose File’ button. A window will appear from which you can select the image file from your computer. Once selected click the ‘Send it to the Server’ button. This will make your image available within your guide and you will be able to use it elsewhere without having to upload it again.
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Next, go to the ‘Image Info’ tab to add more detail to your image. To make changes to an image already added to your guide, double click on the image to reveal the properties window. Image properties include the following:
This short description of your image should be included so that screen reading technology used by individuals with visual impairments can describe the image.
Alternative Text
Change these values if you would like to make your image smaller or larger. Changing one value will automatically change the other to maintain the image’s original proportions.
Change these values to align your image differently with your text.
Alignment
‘none’ alignment option
‘center’ alignment option ‘left’ alignment option
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Check this box if you would like to include a caption with your image.
Click the green ‘OK’ button to save the details for your image. To make changes to an image already added to your guide, double click on the image to reveal the properties window.
Caption Image Option
Videos can also be included in your project guide.
Place your cursor in the spot where you would like your video to appear and click the ‘video’ button in the toolbar.
In the window that appears indicate the URL of your video on YouTube or Vimeo. Click the green ‘OK’ button to add the video to your guide.
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Blockquotes allow you to call attention to key snippets of text. To add a blockquote to your project guide, highlight the text you would like to call attention to and click the ‘blockquote’ button in the toolbar.
Blockquotes
To add a bulleted list to your project guide click the ‘bullet list’ button. If you prefer a numbered list, click the ‘numbered list’ button.
Step 6: Provide Information About Supplemental Materials
In addition to the content you have just added, you can
choose to add one or more reference materials to your guide. These can either be a documents you upload or URLs to helpful websites.
6.1 No Supplemental Materials Option: If you would not like to
associate any supplemental materials to your project guide, check the ‘No supplemental materials for this project guide’ option.
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6.2 Add Supplemental Materials: If you would like to add
supplemental materials, provide the following for each supplemental item:
The name of the given item.
How the this item will help the project organizer.
If applicable, the link for a webpage containing useful information about the project.
If applicable, a document such as a flyer template, example press release or sample sign-in sheet.
Details regarding these materials appear in the
‘Supplemental Materials’ section of your published project guide.
Title
Description URL
Step 7: Saving & Submitting Your Guide
7.1
7.2
7.3
Save as Draft: saves the latest version of your guide.
Preview your guide: saves the latest version of your guide and
displays the guide as it will appear to those viewing it on the Create the Good website. Once you’re done previewing, you must click the ‘Edit’ button at the top of your screen to either make further edits or to submit your guide for approval.
Submit for Approval: sends your guide to Create the Good
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The Submission Process
Once your project guide has been submitted, it will be reviewed within 7 business days by a member of the Create the Good team. You will be notified via the email address you provide (and optionally, the phone number) should Create the Good Administrators have any questions about your guide or need more information.
When the review is complete, you will receive an email indicating whether or not your guide has been approved for publication. During the review process, you are not able to make changes to your submitted guide.
If approved and published, your guide will become available immediately to visitors and members of the Create the Good community. At this point, we encourage authors to promote the guide through social media and/or other means.
Some example tweets and posts:
If your guide is not approved for publication, you can expect an email to let you know, along with a short description of why your guide was not approved. At this point, your guide will return to a ‘Draft’ state where you can make changes and re-submit for approval.
Our Do-it-Yourself project was just published on
@CreateTheGood! Try it out and let us know what you think [URL]
Want to support @nameoforganization at your next family gathering? Learn how with our DIY project on
@CreateTheGood [URL]
Want to support @nameoforg but can’t find a way that fits your schedule? Problem solved with our DIY project on @CreateTheGood [URL]
Please get in touch should you need more information about any of the topics of this guide or about DIY project guides in general. We can be reached as follows.
Email: CreateTheGood@aarp.org
Phone:1-866-740-7719.