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 …
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 …
This fall marks the third collaborative partnership of the Temple City High School and the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The “Dovetail Docents Program” empowers young adults, through service learning, to become student teachers who expertly share their knowledge of the current exhibits with …
The Brookfield Zoo’s 270 docents contribute around 43,000 hours each year. Docents work every day of the year interpreting the collections, teaching classes to thousands of students, assisting with animal observations and special events, and attending refresher courses. We have no difficulty recruiting enough qualified enthusiastic candidates for the annual …
At some time in our lives We’ve all been customers, and have had a positive or negative customer service experience. In our culture, the customer is always right . . . right? In the museum culture, especially in a science center, the customer may not be right, especially in areas …