Volunteering and the I.R.S. There are two very good reasons that docents and other volunteers working in the United States should keep careful records of the hours they contribute to a not-for-profit institution. For the benefit of the institution, of course, such records are useful in proving in-kind donations when …
Some questions are repeatedly asked of volunteer docents. Why do you volunteer? What do you gain? Why have you continued to be a docent for so long? The three of us have tried to address these questions and others as we reflect on our over seventy years of collective service …
The multiple roles of a science museum make it a treasured resource. As a college professor who has been volunteering at the Museum of Science in Boston in a variety of capacities, I have seen the vital impact of a science museum in the promotion and education of science. As …
Your institution’s most creative resource for fresh public programs is already part of your organization. Docents! When docents are used as a resource for program development their participation and quality levels will stay very high. The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s (CAF) docents are responsible for developing and executing the entire CAF …
Change! We either welcome it or fear it, depending on how the change will personally affect us.” That sentence was the first paragraph of a letter I sent to all Tulsa Zoo Docents nearly 10 years ago when I made the decision to “restructure” the Docent Council and its relationship …
Fire a volunteer? Staff members hope never to confront a situation where they must ask a volunteer docent to leave. The very thought is nightmarish. But, sometimes, it is necessary. Steps can be taken, however, to minimize the likelihood that such a drastic measure might be needed. Among those steps …
Volunteer management its like any other management. It requires planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Good management requires another essential element — motivation. Traditional and Behavioral Approaches Organizations that use a traditional, hierarchical management approach believe that supervised workers should be simplified, standardized, and specialized, and that supervision and pay incentives …
For at least three decades, those of us who work in non-profit agencies dependent on volunteer labor have faced an uncomfortable decline. Organizations run by volunteers, from Rotary Clubs to the League of Women Voters, have watched their membership and contribution base grow smaller and smaller. Museums, zoos, nature centers, …
Museums, historic sites, zoos, aquariums, gardens, libraries, and parks recruit cadres of volunteers. Volunteers are engaged for a wide variety of in-house activities, from serving as cashiers at the retail shop or clerical assistants in the mail room to greeters at the admissions desk. Even most institutional Boards of Trustees …