About volunteering for AIGA

AIGA relies on member volunteers to accomplish many activities throughout the year. There are two ways to volunteer with the national organization:

Volunteering your time

Each AIGA chapter, as an independently chartered organization, sets its own policies regarding volunteering for local events. AIGA provides guidelines to help shape these chapter policies.

For larger events run by the national staff of AIGA, the following guidelines apply:

• All volunteers must be current AIGA members at the time of the event.
• First right of refusal is given to volunteers who have successfully served at a national event in the past.
• The next order preference is given to members of the local AIGA chapter where the event is being held.
• All other members interested in volunteering for an upcoming event should

Volunteering your design services

AIGA works with designers and firms to create promotional materials including posters, event programs, event web sites, etc. AIGA’s policy is to always provide an honorarium for design projects as compensation. While we realize it is not set at market rates, it recognizes that no design should be expected without compensation. Implementation, such as printing costs, postage and paper, are covered by AIGA and/or an interested sponsor.

Volunteer designers are never required to do work up front for free before a contract or project begins. Each designer knows explicitly beforehand the terms we are able to offer, which is meant as our demonstration that every designer’s work has significant value, knowing that there are both monetary and non-monetary considerations in any project. Designers typically send us a portfolio of their past work, then have the opportunity to review a design brief and accept or decline the project. At that time, a contract is executed with a commitment to an honorarium, after which work on the project begins.

The guidelines are as follows:

• Preference is given to current AIGA members and AIGA student groups.
• Groups of volunteers may work together on a project if the majority are current AIGA members.
• To be considered, you must submit a proposal with a link to your online portfolio.
• A design brief, including honorarium amount, will be provided for consideration before any work commences.

If you're interested in volunteering your design services, to AIGA's volunteer coordinator.