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1. Getting Immediate Help
       G.O.A. contacts
   
   
2. Required Guidelines and Policies
     On-site Group Guidelines
     Cafe Guidelines
     Copyright and Trademark Policy
     Promotional Items
     Do's & Don'ts
     Moderator Oath
     Required Files
     Rules & Etiquette Guidelines
   
   
3. Moderating Freecycle
     Acronyms
     Instructional Video
     Organisational Chart
   
   
4. The "Files"
   
   
5. Notices
     Seasonal Notices
   
   
6. Responses
   
   
7. Pass The Torch
   
   
8. Volunteering
   
   
9. Translations
   
   
10. UK Moderators Manual
    
    

• DO KEEP IT FREE, LEGAL, & APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AGES
• IT IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED THAT YOU MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A BACKUP CO-OWNER OF SOME KIND LOCALLY
• DO MAKE SURE THE GROUP IS SET UP SO THAT RESPONSES GO ONLY TO OFFERERS.
• DO INCLUDE THIS DISCLAIMER in your Files section and send it to members when they join your group
• DO STICK TO THE MODERATOR OATH OF HONOR AND FREECYCLE ETIQUETTE. ENCOURAGE MEMBERS TO DO LIKEWISE
• DO LIVE WHERE YOUR GROUP IS LOCATED (Aug 9 2007)
  
  
• DON'T ALLOW POLITICS, PROSELYTIZING, SPAM, MONEY, PERSONAL ATTACKS OR RUDENESS
• DON’T ALLOW THE ADVERTISING OF “FOR SALE” OR OTHER MONEY-RELATED SITES IN YOUR GROUP.
• DON'T "FORBID" WANTED postings as a category from your main board for any period of time
• PLEASE DON'T REQUIRE THAT MEMBERS MUST MAKE AN OFFER POST AS THEIR FIRST ACT OF MEMBERSHIP.
• DON'T FULLY MODERATE YOUR GROUP
• DON'T ASK FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION WHEN APPROVING MEMBERS.
• DON'T BE A DICTATOR

Since The Freecycle Network™ began in Tucson, Arizona in May 2003 the movement has circled the earth, and grown by over 2,200%. As of 22 February, 2006, there are 2,004,116 members in more than 3,401 Freecycle groups. and as at 9 August 2007, there are 3,354,732 members in 4001 groups - WOW!

Freecycle groups are running incredibly smoothly, peacefully, and successfully - keeping some 40 tons a day out of the landfills, thanks to you and to the many mods who have been working hard on Freecycle all along. Naturally, though, questions have been raised, problems encountered, and solutions found.

We're all part of an evolving organization, and THE best way to keep track of what's going on is to join the Freecycle Mod Squad, where the owners and moderators of Freecycle groups help each other solve problems, debate policies as well as posts, and contend with issues as they arise. (We joke around from time to time, too!)

The Mod Squad's files and databases contain generic flyers for posting on bulletin boards and press release samples in the Files section that you can modify and send out to local newspapers. There's also a welcome kit for newbie mods as well as lots of other tidbits that'll help, including leads to many of the great people in The Freecycle Network who can help you out. You can join here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclemodsquad/

For now, take a gander at these DOs and DON’Ts that all Freecycle moderators need to abide by:

DOS:

*** DO KEEP IT FREE, LEGAL, & APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AGES. This means, for example, no pornography, alcohol, tobacco, drugs (legal or otherwise), firearms or other weapons. Two strikes and you're out of the group. This is our main Freecycle rule to live by and it's a pretty easy one at that.

*** IT IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED THAT YOU MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A BACKUP CO-OWNER OF SOME KIND LOCALLY.

Either have someone not living in your own household locally be a co-owner or, organizationally, you may also use ersatzfriend@freecycle.org as a neutral backup co-owner

-- write to AddErsatzfriend@freecycle.org if you are interested in setting this up. It can save us a lot of time and effort when there are problems that can't be solved locally. For example, someone may report your address to Yahoo, which has been known to respond by locking out owners. Or perhaps, as has happened in the past, owners leave their groups, and forget to include a forwarding address or appoint another person to be the owner. If we all have a backup co-owner, all local groups are protected.

Although having a backup co-owner is encouraged in existing groups, we do ask that all NEW groups establish two owners as a general safety precaution before being approved. Both owners must reside in separate households. If another owner cannot be established locally, ersatzfriend is an acceptable alternative.

Philosophically, the larger Freecycle concept is about letting go of ownership and the Yahoo phrase seems to imply local moderator ownership rather then viewing us all as stewards of something larger. By adding ersatzfriend as a neutral organizational co-owner, the local moderator is letting go of ownership to a larger nonprofit cause which has no owner and which has as its mission letting go of possessions to others.

RELATED TO HAVING GROUPS WITH NO REMAINING BACKUP OWNERS: REPLACEMENT GROUP POLICY

The Interim Moderation Team (IMod) is called on when a local mods steps down and there is no new local mod or backup owner locally or when setting up a replacement group for deleted groups or for groups that have been removed from the network.

Two co-owners are set up: ersatzfriend@freecycle.org (EF) and an interim moderator. This will enable us to have a backup owner with EF and the active IMod co-owner moderating the group while seeking a new local moderator to take over. After a period of at least three months after finding a new local moderator, when the interim moderator and the local moderator are both ready, the interim moderator will remove him/herself as co-owner and promote the new local mod to co-owner If the local co-owner wishes to keep EF as the backup co-owner at that time, it is the new local co-owner's business alone to decide this, just as with other groups as voted on in the poll above.

*** DO MAKE SURE THE GROUP IS SET UP SO THAT RESPONSES GO ONLY TO OFFERERS.

It keeps down the sheer number of emails, and will make your life a lot easier. And encourage members to use the standard Freecycle phrases in the subject line of their posts - e.g., OFFER, WANTED, TAKEN and RECEIVED.

*** DO INCLUDE THIS DISCLAIMER in your Files section and send it to members when they join your group.

“FREECYCLE™ NETWORK MEMBERS USE THE LIST AT THEIR OWN RISK. Please take reasonable measures to protect your safety and privacy when posting to the list or participating in an exchange. By joining the list, you agree to hold neither the list owners, moderators nor anyone affiliated with Freecycle.org responsible or liable for any circumstance resulting from a Freecycle-related exchange or communication.

SAFETY. Be aware! It is up to each individual member of Freecycle when arranging for pickup of the item being given away to be appropriately aware of the potential risk of having "a stranger" come to your home to pick something up. Freecycle as a organization assumes no responsibility for this risk. If you, for example, are a single woman living alone, you may want to say that you'll leave the item on the front porch while you are not home or arrange for a drop-off downtown, etc.”

*** DO STICK TO THE MODERATOR OATH OF HONOR AND FREECYCLE ETIQUETTE. ENCOURAGE MEMBERS TO DO LIKEWISE:

"Be nice." As moderators, you want to want to encourage good manners in terms of scheduling pickups, and being punctual. (Leaving someone hanging is never a nice thing.)

Reference: Moderator Oath

Remember your pledge to be a really nice and patient person when moderating your new Freecycle group. You promised to use the Freecycle name only for your noncommercial Yahoo group. You agreed to remain open to input from members or the occasional democratic polling of your members, but to make the tough calls and decisions in order to spare the rest the long debates.

With great honor, you pledged to keep spam, ads and moneymakers out of your group with the "two strikes, you're out" rule. And, finally, you promised to come clean of your pack-rat ways and clean out your own garage before asking the same of others.

*** DO LIVE WHERE YOUR GROUP IS LOCATED.

We ask that all moderators live in the area that is served by the group. You then know best the local recycling facilities, local Earth Day dates, local meet-up sites, local recycling nonprofit groups, etc. Moderators may own (or be the lead moderator on) only one group.

Moderators may be back-up moderators on other groups if necessary. A back-up moderator is one who is on a group simply for emergencies. The back-up moderator does not participate in the day to day running of the group and has limited privileges to approve members and messages in case of an emergency. However, we encourage all groups to find enough local moderators so that a back up is not necessary.

Rule change - History