Below are a few helpful hints before you get started.

What is the mentoring portal?

The Mentoring Portal is your one-stop source for accessing the resources available to you as a volunteer with BigsNBC. Within it, you’ll find links to online resources, and helpful training materials, all meant to help support matches in all of our mentoring programs.

VOLUNTEER CHECK-IN

If you are a Volunteer in the Virtual In School Mentoring Program, checking in for your virtual visits is an integral part of your role as a virtual mentor. By submitting the dates and times of your virtual in school visits, and letting us know whether or not a visit took place, you help us keep track of important information for the Littles in our virtual programs. Please remember to check in following each virtual visit with your Little Brother/Sister by using our simple Volunteer Check-In Form, or selecting “VISM Volunteer Check-In” in the top right when you open the Portal.

training materials

You’ll find access to all our training materials in the “Training Resources” section of the Portal. The information has been divided into sections to help you easily find what you need.

Simply navigate to the area you need help with and click the name of the document you’d like to view. It will open as a PDF in a new window, where you can either download it to your own computer or print it out for future reference. Here’s what you’ll find there:

• Virtual Mentoring Portal User Guide

• How-to Guides for commonly used programs like Zoom

• Internet Safety and Communication Tips

• Checklists to help you prepare for virtual activities

• Resources specific to all in-person programs.

ACTIVITY LIBRARY

Looking for new ways to keep your visits with your Little fun and engaging? The Activity Library is where you can start exploring ideas! We’ve compiled a variety of different activity options into our Library so there’s something for everyone.

The activities in the Library are just suggestions so feel free to come up with your own ideas as well. If you have a great game or activity idea you’d like to share with us, let us know!

contacting your Mentoring coordinator

We are here to help you! Contact your Mentoring Coordinator anytime you need help with:

• Accessing the Portal if you have forgotten your username or password

• Scheduling additional 1:1 training sessions if you’d like more assistance in a specific area

• Finding a particular document or for help with something you don’t see on the Portal

• Concerns or issues with your match or if you need help finding more activities.