Preparing Volunteers to Make a Difference.

Philosophy of Volunteerism. CCE has thousands of volunteers each year that amplify the efforts of our paid staff, improve the quality of our work and increase enthusiasm for our programs. Although the much-needed help is greatly appreciated, supervision and support of these volunteers can provide a management challenge!

Find Out More

• Power Point Presentation from Volunteer Involvement Policy Regional Rollouts
• Independent Sector - Per hour value of volunteers for 2005
• Bureau of Labor Statistics - Survey shows percentage of population volunteering

Organizational Readiness and Engagement of Volunteers.  The CCE Association Volunteer Involvement Policy and Procedures is the required system policy for Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations.  This contains a clarification and definition of the legal relationship of volunteers to local extension associations including ways to sort volunteer roles.  Volunteers working with vulnerable age and ability groups in unsupervised settings are required to have an extensive background check.  All volunteers agree to act in the interests of the organization while carrying out their roles.

Find Out More

• Volunteer Involvement Policy (VIP), along with tools and procedures needed to carryout this policy
• How to write a Volunteer Position Descriptions

4-H Volunteer Recognition at NYS Fair. Nominate a special 4-H volunteer to be recognized as "4-H Volunteer of the Day."

Find Out More

• Read Memo to Extension Staff
• Use the brief on-line nomination form due Aug.15, 2008.
• Contact Kim Fleming

4-H Salute to Excellence Award - Thanks for nominating your volunteers for the 2008 award! Exciting results are on the State 4-H Volunteer site. One program is getting at least $200!! Congratulations to Michelle Martin and Ray Vail.

Save the Date! 4-H Volunteer Forum to be held November 14-15, 2008 at the Auburn Holiday Inn. Building on last year's success with 91 adult and teen volunteers and staff, we plan to revisit the 4-H Choose Health and add a Sci/Tech spin with a Choose Health Teen Ambassador option. Monsanto will be contributing funds again to keep costs down. See the Choose Health blog for 2007 Volunteer Forum information and resources. Use this event to recognize and train those wonderful volunteers - teens, too! Contact Kim to get involved with planning.

Forum Flyer

Volunteer Selection and Screening.  The VIP requires a criminal background check for certain categories of volunteers, based upon their exposure to potentially vulnerable population in unsupervised settings. The policy does not require use of a specific vendor or consultation with a specific database. See the VIP Background Check Memo (updated 10/07) for more information including the option of using the VolunteerSelect Plus volunteer screening service (and the special promotion code). This option remains the least expensive and most effective for the price and is dedicated to service to volunteers.

Find Out More

• www.volunteerselectplus.com (includes instructions on how to set up an account).

If you have difficulty using the service, please use the help numbers provided. For additional information about VIP and the screening process, Kim Fleming, State 4-H Program Specialist.

Orientation and Education of Volunteers.

Find Out More

• Volunteer Orientation Checklist
• Orientation Handbook Topics

Volunteer Resources for 4-H Youth Development. Over 22,000 youth are served by the dynamic partnership of volunteers working with staff and administration. Volunteers, including youth volunteers, fill a variety of roles in   4-H Youth Development programming and are as diverse as the population of the state. They are valued and recognized by staff and administration. Our NYS 4-H Club Leader Handbook  was written specifically to assist club leaders and the staff that support them.  Some CCE Associations have tailored the 4-H Leader Handbook with specific county program information.

Find Out More

• National 4-H Headquarters website for volunteers and staff
• 4-H Volunteers USA – the first national 4-H resource for volunteers on the web.
• The NYS 4-H Resource Directory – a way for volunteers to find and order great 4-H resources.

Sustainability of Volunteer Efforts.  Key pieces of the VIP address supervision, evaluation, and performance management of volunteers. These are all issues that are linked to sustainability.

• Supervision & Evaluation Checklist
• Volunteer Evaluation Sample Discussion Questions
• Volunteer Evaluation Report
• Volunteer Agreement Renewal Form
• Managing Volunteer Conflict Other Concerns
• Releasing an Ineffective or Detrimental Volunteer