Volunteerism – knowing the needs, having the passion

I listen at meetings in our community of Phillips County and I read the statistics about who we are and what we do as a community and as families. According to those statistics, given to us by the U S Cen-sus bureau, Phillips County performs 35% over the national median for being members of charitable organizations. In other words, we ROCK as far as volunteerism is concerned!

What is volunteerism? There are many discussions around the world about volunteerism and the needs of nonprofit organizations. Do you know what the needs are at the Phillips County History Museum or the Great Plains Dinosaur museum? I spoke this past week with Mike Morser from the Great Plains Dinosaur Board (Judith River Foundation) and also with Lori Taylor, the curator and long time board member of the Phillips County Historical Society and Museum.

Mike made me aware that the people who have been volunteers at the dinosaur museum have helped with setting up and manning of tables and games. They have sold tickets for ducks for the races and other, more energetic volunteers go on the dinosaur digs and help to guide children through some of the rough terrain. There are also volunteers involved in the dinosaur fossil preservation efforts, sorting and cleaning and prepping bones for the dinosaur curators to catalog and preserve.

There are no strict criteria for being a volunteer at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum. You need – passion for knowledge, desire to see the fossils preserved and used for research, ability to work well with other team members, and the willingness to take direction from the staff. Time is always an issue and prioritizing your time to become a volunteer is greatly appreciated by the staff and board of any nonprofit organization.

Board members are some of the hardest volunteers to recruit. They have to have a special passion and they are always paid members of the museum. It helps to have a desire to review policies and help direct the volunteers, the ability to review and understand finances that support the organization, be available for community events and be willing to work with volunteers on set up and, in the case of the Judith River Foundation, be willing to study dinosaurs so that you are aware of what steps are involved in promoting dinosaurs and unveiling new finds. There are also general maintenance issues and equipment needs that are regularly reviewed.

Mike told me that he has been a board member with the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum for almost 2 ½ years and the reason he became a board member is that his interest in collecting dinosaur bones and seeing them put through proper identification processes kept drawing him back to the museum with questions. He’s even been noted to be a blood hound for bones because of his success in finding significant items! His wife, Marla, is involved as a volunteer as well, helping to create artistic cut outs of dinosaurs that the businesses in town use to help promote Dino Days. If you need one of these great cut outs for your business, this is the time of year to talk to Mike and Marla about what you want for your display – whether it’s a whole new cutout or an upgrade to your current model. Mike is also putting a shout out to ask Dinosaur Museum members to step up and become a board members because it’s always great to have new minds approaching current issues.

The Phillips County Museum was founded through the efforts of volunteers. Not wanting to lose the collection of Native American artifacts when the Phillips County Library moved to its new location a group of volunteers created a project which helped them work with the County to acquire the Carnegie Building and turn it into the PC Museum. Later when faced with the need of additional displays they needed to move to a new building and that was another project, undertaken by volunteers.

In speaking with the current curator for the Phillips County Museum, Lori Taylor, she told me that she has a group of approximately 50 volunteers who work with her throughout the year. They work on the interior displays; they provide cookies and refreshments for museum events. Some of the volunteers are specifically assigned to committees, for instance, the H G Robinson House interior, the flower gardens and landscaping, membership recruitment, and fundraising/special events. All of these volunteers came on board because of their passion for fulfilling the mission of the PC Museum which is to preserve, protect and promote Phillips County History. Lori believes that their best volunteers were acquired in the same manner she was – through a personal relationship and an invitation to be a part of the activity. She mentioned Ralph Korman and Kay Hould as museum members who were tremendous motivators for her and great assets to the museum with their abilities to create and maintain relationships with volunteers. In her past experience with the 4H, Lori cites her experience with recruiting and maintaining volunteers. Her best advice for nonprofits was for the organizations to make sure that their volunteers have a great experience every time and not to overwhelm them with too many responsibilities too early. When asked about the Phillips County Museum current needs, she expressed their desire to have someone be at the museum during the scheduled school tours to help watch over the phone and the gift shop while the staff conducts the tour. Lori also talked about how they take the time to fit the volunteers to responsibilities that they feel capable of doing so people from all skill sets can be used to their best advantage. Her best advice – if you want to grow your volunteer base, put some thought into it. Sit down with your board members and brainstorm how you will advertise and recruit; volunteers need to come from all walks of life; don’t pass on anyone who shows interest. There’s always a task for them to help with.

In closing, I would like to add that there are a significant number of nonprofit organizations in Phillips County assisting with the countless needs that any community faces. If your nonprofit has volunteers needs and is having problems recruiting people, please contact Kathy Bagley at 654-1523 to discuss your needs. We can write an article about your group and its needs and how you can promote your cause.