Best Buddies Online is a one-stop shop for all Best Buddies chapters to communicate with their members, complete and submit paperwork, and communicate with Best Buddies staff. The system has been designed to significantly streamline the paperwork required of chapters and members by Best Buddies International and provides each chapter with its own website and online community! Best Buddies is very excited to launch Best Buddies Online for our College chapters in the 2009-10 academic year. All other Best Buddies school based friendship programs will have access to our handbook materials and forms in an electronic version through the Best Buddies online “Resources” section for 2009-10. For the 2010-2011 academic year all of our friendship programs will have the ability to submit paperwork online and have their own chapter websites.

College participants will submit all required paperwork via the online system in 2009-10. To get started, everyone who wants to join a Best Buddies Colleges chapter will submit a Membership Application, which is accessed from the home page. After submitting the online Membership Application, the College Buddy Director will need to approve the application and then the member will receive a password to log in to the online system. This log in will give the member access to the chapter’s webpage within the online system.

If a potential member (College buddy or Buddy) is not able to submit their application online, they should be given a hard copy and the Membership Coordinator will enter their information into the system.

The chapter leadership of each chapter will be responsible for entering in the following information via the online system: Create matches through the online system which will generate a chapter roster

Chapter calendar

Student Mid Year Report

Student End Year Report

CBD Application

Matched buddy pairs will submit Friendship Updates monthly via the chapter webpage.

All other non-required paperwork is available for download under the “Resources” link on the homepage. All College Handbook information is posted here as well.

The chapter leadership can utilize the chapter webpage to communicate to chapter members by posting messages and posting events on the online calendar.

During the 2009-10 academic year, High School participants will utilize the online system to complete the Membership Application and access all Resources and High School handbook information. High School participants will click on the Membership Application link for High Schools, which will direct them to another online system called Kintera to enter their Membership Application information. Kintera is the Best Buddies database system and participants will enter their information directly into this system. All High School chapter members under 18 will have to print, have the parent sign and submit the hard copy consent section of the Membership Application to the Chapter President.

If a potential member (Peer Buddy or Buddy) is not able to submit their application online, they should be given a hard copy and the Membership Coordinator will enter their information into the system.

High School chapter leadership will continue to complete and submit the roster, calendar and mid year and annual student reports to their Best Buddies Program Manager. Friendship Updates can be submitted monthly for the chapter on paper, via email, or via other online survey programs such as SurveyMonkey.com. Chapter Presidents should work with their Program Manager to decide what option will work best for their chapter. These forms, as well as all other resources forms, such as officer applications, are available for download from the Resources link on the Best Buddies Online homepage. These forms will be templates that can be completed and submitted electronically via email, or they can be printed, completed and submitted in hard copy.

High School chapters will have full access to the online system, as described for the Colleges chapters including participant log in accounts, and chapter web pages in the 2010-11 academic year.