At the end of each month volunteers are asked to report their hours for that month.
We collect volunteer hours for several reasons:
1. The Refuge is required to report all volunteer hours by certain categories to its regional headquarters. The USFWS uses this data for various purposes such as showing Congress that citizens support the Refuge System and making sure each Refuge receives the equipment and items it needs for the volunteers such as t-shirts, safety glasses, work gloves, spray packs, etc.
2. Tracking hours on specific projects helps in determining how many volunteers are needed to complete various tasks and how long those tasks will take.
3. The Friends are frequently required to match grant funds with volunteer hours. Including volunteer hours in grant applications shows we have the volunteer commitment, skills, and abilities to accomplish our goals and supports our successful grant applications.
We keep track of hours in several categories:
1. Administrative: Examples of this would be filing for the Refuge, preparing Refuge press releases, or keeping track of volunteer hours
2. Public Outreach: Examples of this would be volunteering at county fairs and festivals and Refuge events such as Go Wild. Your time to set-up, plan, and clean-up would also be included in this category
3. Gardens/Trails/Road Work: Examples of this would be maintaining our Native Plant Gardens, building, and maintaining trails, spreading gravel, installing new culverts on the Refuge roads, and grass mowing.
4. Facilities and Equipment Maintenance: Examples of this would be repairing buildings or Refuge equipment
5. Biological: Examples of this would be participating in bio blitzes, vernal pool survey, bird count surveys, and Invasive species eradication.
6. GIS and IT: Examples would be creating GIS grids or helping with the Refuge computer systems (special training and certifications are needed for this).
7. Friends Volunteer: Examples would be attending Friends’ meetings, writing newsletter articles, posting, and maintaining the Friends website and Facebook page
Any hours spent helping the Refuge or the Friends are considered volunteer hours. Travel time also counts so the time of your volunteer activity starts from the moment you leave home to travel to your event or activity until the time you return home. Volunteer hours can also include phone and computer time.
Volunteers do not need to categorize their work into the specific category, since the volunteer coordinator can do that for you. However, when you send in your hours it is important that you describe what you have done so the coordinator can put it in the correct category. We also track the details relating to specific events and projects. A typical report of monthly hours might include entries like these:
5 hours working in the native plant garden
4 hours mowing the Wilna Unit
3 hours attending the Richmond County Fair
3 hours attending a meeting about the new website
This information allows us to include your data in the correct category and add the detail of what you have done.
The Refuge tracks hours for each government fiscal year which runs from October 1st to September 30th. Volunteers with hours during that time are acknowledged at the annual Volunteer Appreciation dinner usually held in March of the following year. Volunteers receive gifts based on the number of hours contributed during the year and receive special pins for milestones such as lifetime hours. The Refuge wants to reward, support, and acknowledge our wonderful volunteers who give so much but cannot do so without the data, so be vigilant about sending in your time. Even though you do not get paid, your time matters.
Contributed by Ann Graziano
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