Volunteer
Our initiative is volunteer-run and help is greatly appreciated to ensure we provide the best information and education for and on behalf of the aromantic community. Please direct your applications to contact@aromanticism.org.
current needs
Turkish, Hindi, Chinese (Traditional), and Czech Translators - We would love to add another translator for some of our languages to assist our current translator & finish out the translation. If you are interested, please contact us as per the translator guidelines below.
permanent NEEDS
Unless otherwise specified, all opportunities available can be done online and long-distance. You are also welcome to volunteer anonymously. Volunteers are able to work according to their availability and asynchronously.
Representatives - AUREA is often approached by outside organisations or individuals looking to contact an aromantic to participate in various projects. Our representatives are volunteers who are happy to be contacted in regards to interviews, research projects, or events, both online and in person. Occasionally, a project will require a specific language, location or perspective, so we do ask for a range of information about our representatives. There is no particular expected time commitment for representatives as representatives are only contacted when an opportunity comes up. Representatives can volunteer for whichever opportunity suits their current availability. For more information, or if you’re interested in being a representative, please email us with ‘REPRESENTATIVE’ in the subject line.
Currently we have around 8-9 representatives from the U.S., along with others across the globe. However, we are also actively seeking to expand our reach and looking for representatives from other countries who would help connect with a wider audience.
Contributors - Our news feed, glossary, and resources are some of the most time-consuming projects for the AUREA Team. Contributing to the news feed tends to be on an as-needed basis, meaning that you would contribute either when you have an idea or when you can respond to a call we put out. If you would like to write for AUREA, please email us with a sample of your writing, what you would like to write about & include “CONTRIBUTOR - NEWS” in the subject line. Working on the glossary or resources is also on an as-needed basis. These tend to be more time consuming, but take place during a limited period of time (spread out over a couple of weeks or months, usually) to conclude a project. Volunteers are able to work according to their availability, however. If you’re interested in helping with the glossary or resources section, please include “CONTRIBUTOR - GLOSSARY/RESOURCES” in the subject line.
Translators - As a translator, you would translate some of the main parts of our site, including the glossary, FAQ, and some pamphlets. We are open to adding any language our site can support! Volunteers are able to translate according to their availability and set their own deadlines. Translators will translate one page at time and are able to resign at any moment, so it is up to the volunteer to decide how much they want to translate. If you are interested in translating for us, please email us with the language you would like to translate, your level of proficiency in both it and English, and include “TRANSLATOR” in the subject line.
*Please note at this time we are not looking for any more Catalan, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese (Brazilian) or Spanish translators.
Web Developer - As web developer, you would help the webmaster with putting up translations and updating pages. Some experience with Squarespace and/or HTML is preferred. If you’re interested in helping with the website, please email us with “WEB DEV” if the subject line.
TEAM POSITIONS
Becoming an AUREA team member means you will fulfill a specific lead role within our organization. All team members are usually expected to participate in monthly team meetings and communicate regularly with the rest of the team through Discord at least once every month or more frequently as projects might need. Team members also have the opportunity to work on different aromantic community projects that interest them. AUREA is an all volunteer organization, and as such, being a team member is not a paid position. We understand that this can be a barrier to participation for some people and out of respect for people's schedules, we are flexible about how much time our team members dedicate to the organization. Normally, team members dedicate 5 to 10 hours per week, but this can vary and is flexible. Our work is done online, which means that you can be in any location and use pseudonyms. To be a team member, you must be at least 18 years old.
All new team members are welcome to a trial period of 3 months, in which you would have time to familiarize yourself with your tasks and team functioning. During this time, you can determine if a particular role is a good fit for you. You are not obligated to remain on the team the entire trial period if you determine earlier that you would like to exit your position.
We are particularly invested in bringing on new team members who hold perspectives that our current team lacks. This includes aros of color, aros over the age of 30, aros from non-English-dominant countries, aro men, trans-feminine aros, and aros from a wide variety of religious backgrounds.
Here you can find a brief overview of our application and onboarding process:
When you contact us about a position, we review your email and any skills or experience you send us as well as answer any questions you may have. You’re also welcome to email us questions before deciding on applying for a particular position.
We ask to plan a meeting with you to get to know you better. The medium of the meeting will depend on you. An audio/visual meeting can take place on Zoom, which has captioning services. A text-based meeting can occur via chat or with an email interview. We can also arrange other means of meeting to accommodate your needs.
During an audio/video or chat meeting, we ask you questions related to the position. These questions are emailed to you beforehand. It is up to you if you want to have your video on or off. An audio/video meeting usually lasts about 45 minutes. For an email interview, you would respond to the questions via email. We would determine a suitable deadline together.
After the meeting, we vote on whether or not we will invite you to join the team. This usually takes 1-2 weeks.
If we decide you are not a good fit for this role at this time, we may suggest another role or applying at another time.
If you are invited to join the team, we then plan an onboarding session with you. You will be sent the necessary information beforehand, including a handbook. The onboarding session can take place with a voice call in our Discord channel or Zoom. An audio/video onboarding usually lasts about 45-60 minutes. A chat-based onboarding session can also be planned. We can arrange other means of meeting according to your accommodation needs.
After onboarding, the team will further help you get situated with your tasks. New team members usually have a relevant team member they can go to for questions. As mentioned above, each new team member has a 3-month trial period.
Below you will find a list of open team member positions that we would like to fill. To get an idea of the team structure, please view our Organogram.
News Team Writer - As a member of our news team, you would help to write our articles on topics related to aromanticism. This includes any relevant research and working with other news team members to plan out content and article schedules in advance. We welcome you to suggest timelines that work best for you so that you can coordinate with others appropriately. This position would require approximately 5 hours per week, depending on your pace. We are looking for at least two new team members to fill this position.
News Team Interviewer - As a member of our news team, you would coordinate interviewing contributors for monthly articles on topics related to aromanticism. This includes reaching out to potential interviewees by email, coordinating email and/or Zoom interviews, and working with other news team members to plan out content and article schedules in advance. We welcome you to suggest timelines that work best for you so that you can coordinate with others appropriately. This position would require approximately 5 hours per week, depending on your pace. We are looking for at least one new team member to fill this position.
Census Co-coordinator (Analysis Phase) - As a census co-coordinator, you would work with the research coordinator to manage the census and census team, which will take place every couple of years. You would specifically help coordinate the analyst and translator volunteers during the analysis phase of the census, which would include planning and facilitating check-in and progress meetings and managing the analysis plan. Some experience with data analysis would be preferred. The weekly time commitment would vary, but this position would approximately require 5 to 10 hours per week during the census analysis phase, which usually lasts 7-8 months.
Treasurer - As treasurer, you would handle the organization's finances, balance the organization's budget, and coordinate yearly fundraisers. This is a replacement position, and AUREA’s current treasurer will work to transition you into the role. Time commitment can vary depending on tasks (e.g., influx of donations), but normally, a treasurer would dedicate about an hour per week to treasurer tasks. We would prefer that you have experience with managing a bank account, using a credit card, and basic math. Knowledge of non-profit accounting standards or the willingness to learn these would be appreciated. You can see an example of our short annual report that you would fill here. Due to this role’s involvement with organization finances, qualified candidates must go through a reference check before they join the AUREA team.
Social Media Content Manager (Twitter) - As the Twitter social media manager, you would respond to minor comments on social media and monitor Twitter for feedback and comments that would require a response or action. You would also engage with the content of other LGBTQIA+ organizations, such as sharing posts. You would work closely with the social media coordinator and PR team to help create content and external communications on social media. Basic experience with Twitter is preferred. This position would require approximately 5-10 hours per week.
Social Media Content Manager (Instagram) - As the Instagram social media manager, you would respond to minor comments on social media and monitor Instagram for feedback and comments that would require a response or action. You would also engage with the content of other LGBTQIA+ organizations, such as sharing posts. You would work closely with the social media coordinator and PR team to help create content and external communications on social media. Basic experience with Instagram is preferred. This position would require approximately 5-10 hours per week.
Head of PR (Public Relations) - As head of PR, you would be responsible for maintaining a positive public image for the organization. This would include responding to immediate issues and presenting action plans to respond to any ongoing ones, such as drafting statements to address issues on behalf of AUREA. This position would entail monitoring social media for feedback and comments that would require a response or action. We would prefer that any volunteers for this position have some experience and training in PR. Time commitment can vary depending on (external) activity, but this position would require approximately 5 hours per week.
Webmaster - As the webmaster, you would be responsible for maintaining the AUREA website (aromanticism.org). This includes putting up translations on the website, addressing any site errors, and keeping the website up-to-date and functional as well as keeping track of traffic. You would also manage any web developer or comment moderators volunteers. You would be working with Squarespace. This position would require approximately 1-5 hours per week.
Fundraiser - As the fundraiser, you’d organize events and campaigns to raise money and other kinds of donations for AUREA. This would include reaching out to potential guests and planning the fundraiser schedule. You’d also design promotional materials, and in conjunction with the treasurer, increase awareness of an organization's work, goals, and financial needs. The time commitment would vary as this position would mostly be on an as-needed basis.
EXTENDED TEAM POSITIONS
If you are looking for less intensive ways to get involved with the team, you can consider our extended team positions. Extended team positions require less time commitment, and your work will be focused on a specific role in the organization. Participating in monthly team meetings or working on other projects not directly pertaining to the role is optional for extended team members, although you are welcome to do so.
Community Accountability Group Liaison - As liaison, you would be the contact person that connects the team with the community accountability group. You will assign tasks to the accountability group on behalf of the team, answer questions (or bring questions from the group to the team as necessary), and communicate any feedback, evaluations, or input from the accountability group with the team. Tasks are usually assigned on an as-needed basis but would not be more frequent than once a month. You would also be responsible for checking our feedback form every other week for any community feedback. This position would require up to 5 hours per week.
WGO Writer - As our WGO writer, you would be part of the News Team and write up our monthly "What's Going On" article (example) in which we spotlight articles, surveys, media content, activities, and events taking place in that particular month. You would be responsible for keeping an eye on activity related to aromanticism or LGBTQIA+ content that could be relevant and of interest to aromantics and gathering these to include in the WGO. This position would require approximately 5 hours per week.
Designated Artist/Graphic Designer - As our designated artist/graphic designer, you would design images and graphics for our social media posts (example), our news feed pieces, and for specific occasions (such as creating the token for Aros Create Pride). We prefer someone who has experience working with Canva as most of our materials are made there (or is at least willing to learn how to use it) and additional skills for working with different digital art applications. The weekly time commitment would vary as this position would mostly be on an as-needed basis.
Non-Profit Advisor - As Non-profit Advisor, you would help with formalizing and managing AUREA’s non-profit status. We are planning to register as a non-profit in the U.S and would prefer that any volunteers for this position be either a non-profit lawyer or have other expertise and experience in U.S. nonprofit management. The weekly time commitment would vary as this position would mostly be on an as-needed basis.
Extended Social Media Team - As part of the extended social media team, you’d work with the social media coordinator to help post AUREA’s content onto our social media platforms. Basic experience with different social media platforms and writing up image descriptions for accessibility would be preferred. This position plays a supporting role for the social media coordinator and would require approximately 5 hours per week.
Extended Volunteer Management Team - As part of the volunteer management team, you’d work with the volunteer onboarder and volunteer coordinator to ensure continued volunteer engagement. This includes helping out with volunteer check-ins, posting our bi-monthly anti-oppression chat topics, and planning socials for volunteers. This position would require up to 5 hours per week.
If you are interested in any of the listed roles and believe you have the relevant experience, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at contact@aromanticism.org, and include “TEAM ROLE - {Role Title You’re Interested In}” in the subject line.
Outside Needs
Carnival of Aros Managment - Carnival of Aros is looking for people to help with general upkeep and management. To learn more about this position you can email carnivalofaros@gmail.com.
Benefits of becoming a volunteer
AUREA depends on volunteers who are willing to contribute their time and efforts. Thanks to volunteering efforts, we can do things like translate the website or provide content for the newsfeed.
Volunteering with us can also be beneficial to volunteers themselves, though! By volunteering with us, you can:
Contribute to the aromantic community
Meet and interact with fellow aromantics through teamwork and socials
Work in a flexible environment, define your own roles and work schedule, and share your unique ideas
Gain potential professional connections through the aromantic community, including references
Obtain volunteer/community service hours for school or university
Gain valuable experience (to promote on your resume)
Enhance your skills
Volunteer Testimonials
Curious to know what it’s like volunteering with AUREA? Below you can find testimonials from volunteers describing their experiences.
I've been a volunteer for roughly 1,5 years, and helping AUREA translate their site to make it more available has been super fun. I get to work on my English vocabulary, help spread the word about aromanticism and meet other aromantic people through the joint Discord they set up. Balancing the translating with school has been easy, since the team behind AUREA is super understanding about the translations taking a while to complete and don't set up deadlines. So I've never had to stress over getting it done and have been able to take my time to make sure the translation is as good as I can make it. I totally recommend people to join us in helping translate the website, or volunteer in other ways, and help AUREA reach even further!
- Emilia Ahl, Translator
I participated in three interviews so far! One for Queerious Minds, another for a research graduate, and the last for an online panel. You can find the link for the first one's final output here: https://www.aromanticism.org/en/news-feed/queerious-minds-interviews-tate-lin
-Tate Lin, Representative
I've loved my time as an AUERA Volunteer. As the comment moderator, I don't do as much as other volunteers and I don't spend as much time volunteering but I think I may apply for another position in the future. My job right now is to review comments posted on the AUREA site and, on the rare occasion we have livestreams, monitor the chat. I really enjoy seeing viewers and readers engage with everything AUREA produces. I decided to volunteer with AUREA since I moderate other aspec places and often recommend AUREA resources. I wanted to contribute in some way and I already had the experience for this position. I would recommend others to volunteer with AUREA. The staff are very helpful and there's always room for more people to be active in the aromantic community.
-Jay, Web Developer (Comment Moderator)
Translate information about aromanticism gave me possibility to improve my language skills. Also it continue gives me more and more information about me and other aromantics, and it so cool. I can translate all this stuff for other Russian fellows who maybe don't know about their feelings and can find some clues, reading it. I'm so proud to be a part of this great community. I became a translator, because we don't have so much information about aromanticism in Russian language and not so many people know English so good.
-Daniel, Translator
I'm really glad to have the opportunity to volunteer as a translator at AUREA. I've always wanted to be a translator. It's a challenging task because as far as I can tell, a lot of the terminology doesn't exist in Chinese yet, so it seems like I actually have the opportunity to make up some new words. On the other hand, there is existing usage of some of the more common terms in Chinese translations of asexual-centric content, but the other translator on the team chose a different translation of these terms at an earlier stage of the translation project, so there is a lot to consider in general.
-Kerry, Translator
I enjoyed working on the census! We were provided with clear goals at the start and I very much enjoyed collaborating with everyone, because the atmosphere was very friendly and informal.
-Yellow, Census Team