Engaging Natural Resource Volunteers: From Education to Action

Abstract

Volunteers are an increasingly important tool in the outreach work of Extension, extending our reach to broader audiences. A number of ―master volunteer‖ programs have developed in recent years to meet the growing need for training, coordinating and serving these volunteers. Best practices for working with these master volunteers is a growing area of concentration for many Extension educators. This poster will describe an updated model of the volunteer life cycle based on a survey of existing volunteer models in the literature and like-minded programs. This new model is organized around three phases of volunteering: recruitment/training, service, and assessment with an emphasis on keeping volunteers engaged through all phases of the volunteer life cycle.