Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION TO THE BUS CORE
About STLF
History
What is the Bus Core?
Norms of a Strong Core
BUS CORE ANNUAL TIMELINE
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1
2
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3-7
THE PAY IT FORWARD TOUR
Overall Role of the Bus Core
Pre-Tour Roles
Pre-Tour Responsibilities Chart
City Planning
Google Doc Itinerary
Core Quest
Where to Go for Support
Communication Tips
Post-Tour Roles
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10
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RESOURCES
Where to Find Resources Chart
Recruitment Guide
Supplemental Recruitment Resources
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14-17
Back Pocket
Introduction to the Bus Core
About STLF
STLF Reveals Leadership
STLF works hard to fulfill its mission every day by engraining core values into every program, in
efforts to strive for its vision.
STLF Mission
Revealing leadership through service, relationships, and action.
STLF Vision
To energize generations of servant leaders.
STLF's Core Values
Believe, Passion, Community, & Initiative
History
The Founding: September 18, 2003
Four college freshmen at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities were up late on September
18, 2003. They were eating Ramen and Easy Mac, chatting, sharing about their lives, discussing
how they could make a difference, and --most importantly-- they were dreaming. That night,
STLF and the Pay it Forward Tour was born. Nearly each night after that, the students would
meet in the early hours of the morning, brainstorming what a perfect world would be like-wouldn't it be awesome if stereotypes didn't exist? Wouldn't it be great if people believed in
young people? Would it be cool to go on a cross-country road trip? And do service over spring
break?
These teenagers set out to make a difference. And they have. Not alone, but through the
commitment, support, and dedication of thousands of people. Never underestimate... anyone.
Growth through Student Initiative
The growth of STLF has been driven by the expansion of the Pay It Forward Tour program, and
has been made possible through college student volunteer leadership working collectively in
STLF’s self-created leadership model, the Core Model.
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What is a Bus Core?
A Bus Core is a group of four to five people that oversee the logistics, event planning, finances,
and recruitment of a Pay It
Forward Tour for Students
Today Leaders Forever.
They are united by their
shared goal of leading a
successful. Being on a Bus
Core is a role that spans
from Fall Conference to
Mission
Spring Break, with multiple
Strategy
trainings and a lot of work
Accountability
along the way. The Chapter
Successful Tour
Core, Regional Core, and
Oversight
STLF Nash exist to support
the efforts of the Bus Cores
throughout the year.
Norms of a Strong Core
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Hold weekly meetings
Maintain frequent, honest, and productive communication
Collaborate and share responsibility
Trust one another
Set goals and hold each other accountable in order to reach them
Have fun and remember to enjoy the ride!
2
Bus Core
Annual Timeline
September
 Research cities and desired route
 Have a core meeting prior to Fall Conference
 FULL CORE attend Fall Conference
 Attend Chapter Events
Fall Conference Outcomes
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Bond as a Core
Core Communication
Plan 1st and 2nd choice route
Learn to plan a city
Make recruitment plan
Learn about resources
3
October
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•
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Finalize Route using NEW Draft System
Split up city planning duties
Begin researching and planning your city
Utilize recruitment goals and challenges!
Complete Core Quest events
Attend Chapter Events
November
•
•
•
•
•
4
Continue planning your city
Help with chapter promotion events
Participate in recruitment challenges
Complete Core Quest events
Attend Chapter Events
December
• Big Recruitment push before Break – Goal: 15
Sign-ups per bus
• Secure housing, project, and donations
• Complete Core Quest events
• Attend Chapter Events
• Reminder: All Bus Core must attend DWB
January
 Continue recruiting, even if off campus - Utilize
Recruitment Guide
 Planning deadline: Finalize Itinerary before
DWB!
 Book bus driver hotels (w/Chapter Core)
 FULL CORE: Attend DWB Retreat
 Recruitment Goal: 25 people by Feb 1
 Attend Chapter Events
5
DWB Outcomes
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•
•
•
•
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Learn to Lead as a Core
Understand PIF Facilitation
Finalize Recruitment & Meals
Manage on-tour finances
Manage conflict & troubleshooting
Strengthen core relationships
February
• Submit t-shirt design for approval.
• Order t-shirts with Chapter Core
• Review itinerary—add in tourism, fun stops, finalize
times, etc.
• Touch base and confirm details with all tour contacts
• Continue recruiting, utilizing challenges!
• Attend Chapter Events
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March
• Be in touch with all participants about
packing list, departure details, etc.
• Make bus binders with city info
• WEEK OF: Touch base with all tour contacts
• Facilitate Orientation Session
• Facilitate Tour!!
• Attend Chapter Events
April
• Thank all participants!
• Encourage further STLF involvement of
participants
• Send Thank You cards to all sevice/housing
sites!
• Attend Spring Conference!
• Attend Chapter Events
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The Pay It Forward Tour
Overall Role of the Bus Core
The role of Bus Core in the PIF Tour is to plan the itinerary, recruit, and facilitate the Pay It
Forward Tour. The role formally begins at Fall Conference in early October, where Cores learn
the first steps they will take to plan and execute their trip. Early in the process, it is important
for the Bus Core and Chapter Core members to discuss their roles with one another, as Bus
Core will be taking care of some tasks on their own (ex: planning service projects and housing
sites for the tour), sharing some tasks with Chapter Core (ex: shopping for food and supplies),
and leaving some tasks entirely up to Chapter Core Leaders (ex: paying for the bus).
Pre-Tour Roles
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Choosing a Route: Each year, Chapter Cores will work with Nash to pick Celebration
Cities and Nash will share the route guidelines with Bus Cores. After Fall Conference, Bus
Cores will use the Draft System to submit their route.
o All Bus Cores are asked to have two options for each stop, and Nash will do their
best to ensure that every bus will be able to visit one of those.
o Please be open and honest about preferences while being flexible based on the
needs of other chapters and/or Nash
Recruitment: Everyone in a formal STLF leadership role needs to be involved in
recruitment for the tour, including Chapter Core, Bus Core, Regional Core, and any other
formal cores (ex: Recruitment Core). This “all-hands-on-deck” and collective mindset can
make recruitment a much easier task.
Bond with your Core: We ask that all Bus Cores meet weekly or bi-weekly to plan, but
also to get to know one another. Discussing norms, visions/dreams, accountability, and
concerns will help prepare cores for the tour.
Planning your Cities: Utilizing the resources provided by Nash, it is critical that each core
plans housing and service for the first five cities of the Pay It Forward Tour. Work with
your core to ensure your projects are diverse, aim to get meals donated, find
inexpensive or free tourism options, and look for free housing that can accommodate 40
sleeping people and nighttime activities. The planning deadline is DWB.
Communicate with Participants and City Contacts: Both participants and city contacts
are counting on you for accurate details of what’s to come. Give them as much notice as
possible, and check in to see if they have questions every few weeks
Create Shopping Lists and T-Shirt Designs: Work with your Chapter Core to ensure that
your shirts, supplies, and food are purchased/delivered on time!
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Pre-Tour Responsibilities
Done?
Tasks
Confirm Route with Nash
Bus
Chapter Nash
X
5+ months Pre-Tour
Begin sending updates to all cores
Ensure bus is booked
Begin sending Recruitment Challenges
to all cores
Begin planning Service, Housing,
Tourism
Begin updating Bus Core about
registration #s
Begin reviewing Financial Aid requests
Begin send updates to participants
Contact local businesses for donations
Create t-shirt design - Send to Nash for
approval
X
Book bus driver lodging
Coordinate meal plan
Secure On-Tour payment process
(checks, credit card, or Visa gift cards)
X
3+ months Pre-Tour
X
3+ months Pre-Tour
3+ months Pre-Tour
X
X
2+ months Pre-Tour
2+ months Pre-Tour
6-8 weeks Pre-Tour
X
3-4 weeks Pre-Tour
3-4 weeks Pre-Tour
X
2-3 weeks Pre-Tour
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
2 weeks Pre-Tour
X
1-2 weeks Pre-Tour
1-2 weeks Pre-Tour
1-2 weeks Pre-Tour
1-2 weeks Pre-Tour
1-2 weeks Pre-Tour
Create and print Tour Binders
Confirm all project and housing sites
(reconnect/confirm with contacts)
Compile/send health forms from Cvent
3+ months Pre-Tour
X
X
Send final reminders/updates to cores
Host Participant Orientation Meeting
5+ months Pre-Tour
3+ months Pre-Tour
X
Book room(s) for Participant Orientation
Meeting
Order t-shirts
Finalize Tour Itinerary
Send completed Itinerary to bus
companies
X
X
X
X
X
When
7-10 days Pre-Tour
X
3-7 days Pre-Tour
X
3-7 days Pre-Tour
Print health forms
3-7 days Pre-Tour
Shopping - food and supplies
1-3 days Pre-Tour
If there is no X in a given row, decide as a Chapter who will take responsibility for that item!
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City Planning
Planning a city is one of the biggest components of being a Bus Core Leader, but that doesn’t
mean it has to be one of the biggest challenges! Here are some tips to help you plan your route.
Follow these steps to have at least housing and service planned BY DWB.
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Talk with your core: It’s smart to create a plan so that your bus doesn’t have 5 of the
same type of project, or 3 days without showers, etc.
Start early: Do some research to learn about your city and the potential places you can
stay and serve. Utilize STLF’s Service and Housing Database as well as Volunteer Match,
the United Way, the Hands On Network, and Google!
Focus on a certain area of the city if you are planning a large city: You don’t want
service and housing sites to be 30-45 minutes away from one another. Especially with
morning traffic! Your bus driver will GREATLY appreciate good planning here!
Prepare and practice: Make a list of who you will contact, what you will say, important
dates and times, and any questions you will have for your contact. It is also VERY helpful
to have a plan for what you’ll say when you leave a voicemail!
Keep track of where you are calling and what the response is: Using the City Planning
tab in your itinerary will help you stay organized. When making tons of calls, keeping
track of names and organizations will be a lifesaver!
Call!: Don’t rely on email to ask people for housing, service, and/or meals. Unless a
contact asks you to email details, it is ALWAYS best to call. It’s harder to ignore/forget
about phone calls than emails!
Ask for details: Know if you have access to showers, kitchens, room size/space, etc.
Get multiple numbers: Once the site is confirmed, ask for a second phone AND an
emergency contact. You don’t want to be locked out of the site when you arrive at 9pm
with only an office number!
Confirm details: Send a confirmation email to your contact to ensure that you are on
the same page and have everything in writing. Also, because you’re planning far in
advance, keep in touch every few weeks to confirm and keep STLF on their radar!
PMA! Due to liability or restrictions, some places are not able to host us even if they
really want to. If someone says no, ask for recommendations or connections in their city
you might try.
Components of City Planning
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Housing: Housing sites should have room for 40 sleeping bags AND nighttime activities!
Showers, kitchens, or even bunks are an added bonus!
Service: Your project should last from approximately 8:30 or 9am to 11:30am or 12pm
Bus Driver Hotel: Work with your Chapter Core to book hotels near your housing site
Meals: Ask housing sites for dinner/breakfast and service sites for breakfast/lunch!
Tourism/Enrichment: Free/cheap activities. Could be planned for the afternoon you
arrive in a city, or after lunch before you travel to your next city
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Google Doc Itinerary
The Google Doc Itinerary is a resource that is provided for every bus core by STLF Nash. It is
organized to be an easy-to-use itinerary for Bus Core Leaders AND Bus Drivers. Here are some
details that will make using this Doc easier:
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Fill in your route, mileage, and drive times! Bus companies NEED this info, so once you
have your finalized route, please add these details to all cells highlighted yellow. An easy
way to do this is to go to the Edit menu, and select Find and Replace.
Your Google Doc has tabs! In addition to your itinerary, there are three extra tabs along
the bottom of the page that contain resources.
o City Planning Tab: Use this tab to track calls made to housing and service sites,
including the contact info, the response from the site, and notes. Keep all cities
in one tab, or duplicate the tab to make one for each Bus Core Leader – your
choice!
o Core Quest Tab: There are over 12,000 points to be earned in the Core Quest
Competition! Read the info below and track your Core’s points in this tab!
o Contact Sheet Tab: The info that you enter into your itinerary will automatically
be sorted in the last tab. Print this tab off for an easy reference sheet on tour!
Core Quest
Core Quest is a friendly competition between all Bus Cores. The intended purpose is to help
each core build relationships and promote the tour. We believe that the strength of the tour is
a reflection of the strength of the Core, so start early and try to break the Core Quest record of
8,000 points!
Here is a small sample of activities you can participate in to earn Core Quest Points:
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Awkward Family photo shoot.
o 200 points—bonus 100 points to the best “family photo” pose/outfits
Rake someone else’s yard of leaves OR Shovel someone else's driveway as a core.
o 400 points
Bake cookies for another core. Write an encouraging poem to go along with it!
o 400 points—bonus 100 points if they’re from another Chapter
Learn "Thriller" dance and video tape your core performing
o 500 points
Have 30 people signed up online by DWB Retreat.
o 800 points
Check the third tab on your Google Doc Itinerary to see the full list and start tallying points.
Have another idea we could add to Core Quest?! Email ellie@stlf.net to suggest it!
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Where to go for Support
In addition to the Pre-Tour Responsibilities Chart, there are different groups that will be
best suited to help with various areas of support. Here are the primary areas of support of
Nash, Chapter Core, and Regional Core:
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Nash: Routes, STLF Resources, Training, Core Dynamics, PMA
 Chapter Core: Finances/Fundraising, Recruitment, On-Campus Resources, Core
Dynamics, PMA
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Regional Core: City Planning, Recruitment, Core Dynamics, PMA
Communication Tips
Frequently, Bus Cores run into issues that stem from communication breakdowns. Here are a
few tips that will help strengthen communication with your core as well as other STLFers:
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Frequent Communication: Be sure to update each other frequently on planning,
recruiting, personal announcements, etc. Make use of email, phone calls, texts, social
media, and in-person meetings, and talk with your core about the preferences you have
about communication norms.
Check-in meetings: It is important to schedule face time with one another! This is a time
when you can come together, hang out, ask questions, and communicate with one
another about what is going on.
Tone is important: The tone of typed communication (email, text, facebook message)
can often be misconstrued or misunderstood. Especially when core members are
stressed or nervous, PMA and enthusiasm as you share information can go a long way!
Post-Tour Roles
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Debrief: Work with your Chapter Core and Nash to debrief the tour, share ideas or
opinions on improvements, and make sure all loose ends are tied!
Participant Communication: Encourage participants to stay involved with STLF through
reunions, Spring Conference, or applying to be Bus Core
Send Thank You Cards: We rely on our contacts to host us in the future. Be sure they
know how much we appreciate their generosity and hospitality!
IMPORTANT NOTE: We ask that Bus Cores DO NOT host a party where alcohol is
present during the first week after Tour, and that STLF or your bus theme are not
prominent parts of any reunion parties your bus hosts if alcohol is present.
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Resources