Welcome to Explore Teach Conserve, or the ETC podcast by the University of Minnesota Extension, where we talk with people about exploring, making discoveries, and solving problems to better manage our natural resources, and we share ideas to help you learn more and get involved. This is an older episode from when we used a different title, The Naturalist, but the conversation and ideas are still fresh. If you enjoy it, we hope you'll subscribe and listen to more episodes of Explore, Teach, Conserve, or the ETC. Hi, I'm Santiago from U of M Extension, and this is The Naturalist. It podcasts that aims to explore the various topics within the world of Minnesota Natural Resources, all while trying to capture great stories and talk to people about the environment. On this episode of The Naturalist, Extension educators Andrew Strauss and Angela Gupta discuss factors involved with engaging and retaining volunteers. Andrea and Angela touch on topics such as recruitment, recognition, risk management, and volunteer motivation. If you work with volunteers, this is the episode for you. If you volunteer frequently and ever wonder what makes a volunteering event so successful, you will find this conversation very interesting. Engaging volunteers in your invasive species project is a great opportunity to build community, generate advocates for your site or your program, to create educated and engaged citizens who may ultimately take initiative to do so much more work than you could do on your own. So here are a few tips for understanding and making the most of volunteers. The first thing to do is to know what you need for volunteers. There are different ways you can organize your events. Do you want one big giant work day? Or maybe you need a few helpers every Saturday all year long. Another decision you should make is what types of tasks will you ask volunteers? years to do. Will there be tasks appropriate for kids, for adults, for people with mobility limitations or people who just want a good physical workout? Have a variety of tasks, something for everyone. So do you really want my kids there because it can take a lot of time to manage them and to direct them and to instruct them? How useful is that? Having kids along is great. It's fun and of course it's always good to engage kids with being problem solvers for a future. So the thing is though the kids need a little extra management. I think of it when I bring kids along that I am not the worker, that I am shaping the work of my kids. And so I help make sure they're doing it right. I help make sure their energy is where it should be. I help make sure they're on task. And they usually have a good time for 15 minutes, a half an hour, and that's great. And then I let them go play in the woods, and then I continue with the other work that I need to do. When planning a work event, there are a lot of things to consider. But one of the bigger things that comes up early in the process is recruitment. here's what Andrew had to say about that. My advice is to start with some pre-existing groups. You can invite individuals and have them register however you want, but if you invite a group, you've made one ask and you get a whole bunch of help in return. Think about what are the service clubs in your community, maybe a scout troop, maybe an Autobahn group or other special interest groups. A lot of times there are corporate groups who want to do volunteer service. Athletic teams are often looking for a good workout. They can haul buckthorn better than any, But think about, again, inviting groups to help. When you're inviting volunteers to come and help, think about what motivates people to do anything in the world. And the research says that people are motivated by a drive to achieve, to affiliate, and to have power in the world. So we can issue our invitations to invasive species events appealing to those desires that people have. When people are motivated to achieve something that means they want to learn to, a difference. They want to know that they have finished something. They want to have some recognition so you could invite them by saying come learn about invasive species or come help clear the invaders out of the forest or get your service hours even. You might submit a photo to the newspaper. You might put a post on your social media, provide name tags. These are things people know that it mattered that they showed up that they're making a difference. People also want to feel that they are part of something. This is a drive to affiliate. They want to be part of something larger. They want to be associated with an organization or a place that they like and respect. They want to be with people who are like them. You might have invitations to an event that say things like join us or you know our master gardener group will be at this place on this day or be an eco hero. You might again this is part of asking those whole groups to participate because then they're part of their group and they kind of don't care what they're doing as long as they're with their group and their team or their friends and having fun. Also, making a personal connection is so special and valuable. People want to know that you know who they are, that it makes sense that they bothered to come on any given day. Make that personal connection. That'll be really valuable to people. A third universal motivator is a need for power, a desire to have power in the world. And as a event leader, you can help your participants see how they have made a difference, showing them before and after pictures, asking for their input, helping them to influence others, showing how their participation really transmits their values in the world, helps them to see that they were glad they came to your event. So you might advertise for people to come to your event by saying, you know, come be part of the solution or bring your friends and family or, you know, leave a forest legacy, whatever it may be, that helps people see that their coming made a difference in the world. So some of the things that I've heard volunteers say, after they've done a leading, they've led an event, is that they can't get the volunteers to come back. So what's your advice about retaining those volunteers once you've gotten them in the door, train them, engage them, and so they come back again. Volunteers sometimes are thought of as free labor, but they do require some care and attention. So, again, helping volunteers to see that they are affiliating with your organization. They're part of you. They're behind the scenes. They are one of you. Maybe you gave them a name tag, again, that helps them to fulfill that need, that desire for affiliation, helping them to feel that they've accomplished something. Again, showing them, we started here, now we finished here, simply pointing those things out. You will achieve something today. We'll make them feel that satisfaction that they're glad they came. And again, making them feel that they have power, that showing up here shows that you are invested in healthy native ecosystems. Again, helping people to show that this work is how they have power in the world, making the world into how they want it to be. Helping them fill their personal needs helps them want to come back. Volunteers sometimes come because they want to help you, but they're coming, really, because they want their own beneficial outcomes. They want to fulfill those needs that they have. And if you can point out how they are accomplishing that, that may be enough to motivate them to continue to participate. When you're recruiting volunteers also, be sure that you're communicating the logistics really clearly. Be sure you're clear on start times, and end times. Be sure you're clear about how many people you need. Be clear about what are the tasks that people will undertake as part of this event. That way they can self-select if it is or isn't going to work for them, and certainly provide them a way to check for any special needs that they may have, if they can contact you ahead of time. You're going to want to put some thought into preparing for your work event. You want to think about a packing list. Be sure you have a first aid kit. That seems kind of obvious, but let's say it. Have a first aid kit. Have a cell phone that actually get cell service in the place where you're working. Pack enough tools, you know, gloves, supplies, whatever you need for more people than you think you'll have. Be sure you have enough safety equipment along. Take pictures before and after so you're going to want a camera along. You also might want to pack up some outreach materials to bring along, give out to people a brochure so they can take it home and show their family or neighbors what they did. You're also going to want to have some kind of sign-in form. This is where people will write down their name and either a phone number or email address. That way, you know who you've got, you know who's showed up, but you also have a way to contact them, to invite them to come back. You might use this form also as a liability release if you have appropriate language on that document. Check with your agency or organization about what kind of liability language they would like you to have people sign off on. That sign-in form can also serve as a photo release, again, if you have the appropriate language at the head of the page there. So when I've led some events, invasive species, removal events, it's a lot of tasks to manage. Do you have any advice about how to make that a little easier as a leader? Yeah, there's always a lot going on, especially at the beginning of events. Delegate as much as you can. You know, when people first arrive, you would maybe have the first person sign in on your sign-in sheet, and then maybe you ask that person to make sure that everybody who comes next make sure to fill out that sign-in sheet. Have different jobs that you can give out to people. Ask somebody they showed up with a fancy camera, hey, could you provide, you know, take some pictures and then send them to me afterwards? look around and see who's there. People want to help. People want to feel special and have a special role. Be sure to ask people to do many of those tasks. So you don't have to do them yourself. And that gets people even more invested. They feel that they have something special to contribute to the event. And then, again, they're glad they showed up. Once you have your work group in place, there's a couple of things you can do to make sure that the day goes well. The work event goes successfully. The first thing, of course, is to provide a welcoming culture. Notice when people arrive. Greet them. Learn their name. Make sure there's a festive, happy environment when people are arriving so that they're glad they came. They know they're in the right place. You're checking that yes, you're not here for the football game, you're here for the buckthorn event. Be welcoming. The next thing you're going to do is, again, make sure people have a clear task to do. You might divvy up groups into teams, you might assign different groups to do different tasks, but be super clear about what you're telling people to do. You may need to train them in the task at hand, how to use a tool, or how to recognize a certain plant and so be clear on the training telling people what you want them to do and how to do it you might have to train in small groups multiple times also be sure that you're providing robust feedback even adults need to know that they're doing it right you want to tell them that what even when they are doing it right saying oh look I see you're using that saw just right that angle you have is correct or giving people feedback that they've identified the species correctly or certainly you want to help them gently know if they're not doing it right, but be sure to tell them even when they are doing it right. So we've done this before. I've heard you use a couple of really great examples of where people haven't done this and it's gone poorly or they've done it and it's gone well. Can you tell us about those? I'll admit that I thought I knew what I was doing. I went to my first invasive species removal work session and I heard the training from the leader of the event. I said, great, I know what I'm doing. With your verbal instructions, I went off into the woods and was working hard. And the leader came around and saw what I was doing. And so graciously, said, let me show you. And she demonstrated what she had described to me verbally. And it was very different from what I was doing. And boy, when I did it the way she said, it was so much easier, I could accomplish much more. I was able to be a lot more productive with a little feedback, generous and gentle feedback from the event leader. Another thing that I found really valuable and I know volunteers appreciate is being appreciated. Being told that it's, you're glad that they came. As a leader, don't assume that people know that you notice them and that you are glad that they came. Again, refer back to those motivations people have, show them what they've accomplished, help them feel that they're part of the group, help them see what power they've had in the world. And those are appreciations that people will really value. I mean, you can give them a certificate of appreciation. that's all great. You can have the group cheer for itself, a clap for itself, whatever's appropriate. People may or may not want to be called out individually, so be sensitive to what's appropriate, but thank people personally, genuinely, and they'll be glad they came. We'll be right back with this conversation. But first, a quick word from Extension. Did you know that Extension provides training and learning to hundreds of Minnesonans every year? Learn more about natural resource topics and all that Extension has to offer in your community by visiting the website at extension.un.un.edu. Extension workshops and classes teach everything from growing vegetables to canning to getting your kids to eat the vegetables. Here's a fun fact. There's a county extension office in all 87 counties in Minnesota. Now you know. Welcome back. We've been listening to a conversation between Extension educators Angela Gupta and Andrea Strauss about engaging volunteers, recruiting volunteers, and keeping volunteers on board for stewardship projects. Hopefully your project will go off without a hitch. However, it's important to think about the possible risks and hazards involved with your project ahead of time. Andrea sheds some light on how to cover your bases and how to make sure your volunteers are safe. Risk management is a big thing you're going to want to think about ahead of time and during the event. First of all, keep in mind who owns the liability for this event? For whom are the volunteers volunteering? It may be for whoever owns the property that you're working on. It may be for the agency or the organization. But be sure to check in with that entity to see if they, again, need a liability release of some sort or if they know that they're owning the liability for that work event. But as you think ahead to what kind of dangers your participants may encounter, think in three categories. Think about what dangers people might encounter from people or themselves, their own attributes or the attributes of others in the group, what equipment dangers they may encounter, and what environmental dangers they may encounter. So the human dangers they may encounter in terms of fears or inexperience or not taking the event seriously, those like spraining your ankle are, again, human-generated dangers. You may want to think also about what kind of equipment dangers people might encounter. Do they know how to use the tools? Are the tools dangerous? Could they clunk themselves in the head if they hold it wrong? Think ahead to how the equipment could pose a danger. Also think about what environmental hazards might people encounter whether it's poison ivy or ticks or bees or a thunderstorm again think ahead to what might happen and when you consider all those potential hazards think about what can you do to prevent mishaps maybe you might tell people there are bees in the area or this is a heavy tick season tuck your socks into your pants this is not a time to make people feel afraid of being out there but a few cautions people do not carry the lopper on your shoulders then you could clunk yourself People carry the tool like thus and so, and you're going to demonstrate that so that people are safe with the equipment. You're going to be really clear ahead of time about what tasks are underway so that people can self-select whether they are suitable for the task of the day. So again, a little thought in advance can help you prevent mishaps and anticipate what dangers may occur so that you can prevent them and be ready for them if they do happen. So, Andrea, I heard you talk of a situation in which didn't go very well. And so I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit about that. Humans are generally the most hazardous factor out there in the woods. It's not going to be that bees have their own dangers, ticks have their own dangers, but the most dangerous thing out there in the woods is human. So there's a couple things you're going to do to prevent mishaps. You're going to help people, again, anticipate what they're doing so that they're doing can again self-select you're going to give very clear directions you're going to check for understanding make sure that all those instructions and training you provided you're going to check to make sure they did it right this is the story that I think is what you mean Angie I heard a story about a group that was where a language barrier was at play and the event leader told the participants what to do go out there and get the garlic mustard and the participants willingly agreed and they went out there and did their work and they came back and brought back bags and bags of Jack in the Pulpit, leaving all the garlic mustard out there in the field. So that was very sad for everyone. If that leader had been out there in the woods, checking to make sure the volunteers were doing it right, helping them make sure that they understood where that language barrier prevented that clear communication, you don't know what you don't know until you've done it wrong. And so that is my main advice is to interact with the volunteers, help them see when they're doing it correctly and when they need correction so that you can preserve all that the things you want out in the woods you don't accidentally harvest things you don't mean to get rid of one thing that can help is also assigning people to work in teams that allows some peer monitoring so that people can say oh is this what she said to remove or is this the right one and other volunteers may have listened differently and be able to say yes or no and also if people work in teams they're less like a lady go, I don't care, I'm just going to do whatever when other people are watching. So a little peer monitoring goes a long way. When you have people working in teams, another benefit is that you can assign crew leaders for each of the small groups. And perhaps these are people who you know have volunteered before, or maybe they came an hour early and got, you know, careful extra training from you. And then when you have somebody assigned to each of these small groups, those people can be the leader's helper to make sure things are going well. If you don't have the luxury of doing that, as a leader, then you're going to go around each of these small groups right away in the first 15 minutes of the event to check on each group, again, reinforcing that you're glad they're there, what you're seeing them do is correct, or sometimes they don't quite know how to get started so you can get them rolling on a task, but interacting with all the volunteers as much as you can, as early as you can, sets them on the right course. As part of your work event, make sure you document all the good things that have happened take pictures again before and after but also write down how many volunteers did you have for how many hours you're going to want to note that for future potential grant applications or reports that you may do you're going to want to record how many acres you've worked on what species how many bags of removed material you have maybe how many pounds you have but take good notes you'll be so glad later when you can document your productivity. And I'd like to jump in here and say this is also great information you can report back to your natural resource professional and make sure that you've given them all the information. They know what happened out there. Any follow-up or removal activity has happened and you have the sort of the documentation to keep all that rolling and include it in the plan and management for that space. That will really impress your natural resource professional for sure. Sometimes leading an event like this can be a little intimidating. And so I like to suggest that people volunteer for other invasive speakers. removal events led by someone else so that you can see how they do it, how it goes, how the volunteers respond to the leaders' instructions, shadow another professional to just see how they do it, volunteer with someone so that you can build your confidence, build your knowledge and skill-based, and you can see what you need to do when you host your own volunteer work event. Inviting volunteers to help with your invasive species project is really beneficial for them as it is for you. People find like-minded others in these kind of events, kindred spirits, their peeps, they feel like they belong. They are proud of their work, and they are proud that they have made the world a better place. And those are things that are valuable to the volunteer, not just to the organization they're volunteering for. So sometimes people feel bad about asking for help, but really you're giving people the power to be who they want to be and to do what they want to do in the world. And that benefits us all from healthy ecosystems to happy people. You've been listening to a conversation between Extension Educators Andrea Strauss and Angela Gupta on volunteer engagement. Hopefully you learned a thing or two about what makes for a successful volunteering experience. I'm Santiago Pallais and you've been listening to The Naturalist. If you have any questions about the podcast, you can reach me at P-E-L-A-E-018 at UMN.edu. Intro and outro music for this show is by Twin Musiccom. The Naturalist is a University of Minnesota Extension project. This episode is funded by the Renewable Resources Extension Act RREA for short. Thank you for listening and have an amazing day.