Volunteer Opportunities

Are you interested in being a part of the Friends Journal team? We couldn’t put the magazine together without the help of talented volunteers. Here are open opportunities for volunteering:

Milestones Editor

Friends Journal is seeking a new milestones editor. The Milestones column shares announcements of births, adoptions, marriages/unions, and deaths within the Religious Society of Friends. The column appears in every issue of the magazine and on Friendsjournal.org. The lives of Quakers are often fascinating testaments to Quaker principles, and many readers tell us that they turn to the Milestones section first when receiving their magazine.

We receive 5-10 milestones submissions each month, and the milestones editor’s workload will vary depending on volume. Longtime volunteer milestones editor Hartley Goldstone tells us, “Some months, by my own choice, the role took up more of my time because I love the work and spent more time than necessary ‘getting to know’ and thinking about some remarkable people posthumously.” Handling the work might take a few hours each week, occasionally up to 4 hours. The volunteer will work remotely in our shared systems along with our editorial staff.

Qualifications include: an interest in the lives of present-day Quakers; a familiarity with Friends Journal and its audience; proven editing, writing, and research skills; and project management skills.

Roles of the milestones editor:

• Using email, phone, and/or Submittable, this volunteer corresponds with submitters in a timely manner to gather all information required for publication. They conduct basic fact-checking and additional research if necessary. (See description here.)
• They edit each milestone for consistency in order, tone, length (600 word limit), and style. You can see examples of published milestones here. There are monthly deadlines to hand off edited milestones to editorial staff.

Friends Journal provides all volunteers with a complimentary subscription to the magazine in appreciation of their contribution to our work and mission.

Interested Friends are invited to submit their application using the form below. We will accept applications until the position is filled. Our retiring milestones editor and our editorial staff will help to train and orient the incoming volunteer. Questions? Contact us at [email protected].