Growing Together: Open Forum

 View Only

  • 1.  Beyond Thank You: Keeping Volunteers Engaged

    Posted 20 days ago

    As we enter heavy work of gardening season- How do you make volunteers feel valued enough to come back-what's your "secret sauce" for retention? Lets create a list of all the ways you acknowledge your volunteers.



    ------------------------------
    Alycia Wright
    Culturalrootsco-op.com
    Richmond Va
    8043068116
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Beyond Thank You: Keeping Volunteers Engaged

    Posted 5 days ago

    For our Community Garden we have started bringing small "treats" once a month as a nice surprise.  So far we have done valentines candy, tshirts, lottery tickets, and ice pops.  Future plans include posicles, ice cream sandwiches and slushies for warm months and hot drinks and donuts or cookies for cooler months.  We also try to post group thank you pictures on our social media.



    ------------------------------
    Kimberly Patrizi
    Surf City NC
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Beyond Thank You: Keeping Volunteers Engaged

    Posted 5 days ago

    Thanks Alycia for this idea and prompt :) 

    I find that in my experience in the nonprofit world, garden volunteers benefit from becoming a part of the mission and being told success stories about the garden program they are serving! They then feel more buy-in with the garden when they recognize how it impacts the kids. With individual volunteers, I ensure that volunteers know to prioritize both listening to and taking care of their body, taking breaks as needed, and that I am meeting their needs too with sunscreen, provided water and ice, gloves, sun protection options. By being prepared to meet the needs of volunteers, I find that a well-organized cleanup allows for more retention from volunteers. I love to end the garden volunteer sessions with a small treat or ice cream/popsicle in the heat. With kids as volunteers in the garden, I have had some success with doing a little free library book giveaway at the end of the session to kids who are interested as a small reinforcer. With kids as volunteers, I often also offered an opportunity for play, like running through the sprinkler. These are some of the ways I have worked with volunteers to truly value their efforts and work. 



    ------------------------------
    Kalie Johnson
    Community Connector
    Cleveland, Ohio
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Beyond Thank You: Keeping Volunteers Engaged

    Posted 4 days ago

    Hello Community Gardeners,

    I manage a Pantry Garden in Bergen County, NJ. We meet twice a week during the growing season and other times when maintenance tasks require additional attention.  Our produce is organically grown for the pantry clients.  We also collaborate with a Middle School in our town. Their Science Dean created a curriculum where community outreach dovetails with gardening and science.  Students, teachers and volunteers benefit from making connections in our garden.  In the short break during our bi-weekly garden meetings, we socialize, share fruit and cookies which I bring on a regular basis.  In the summer months, ice pops and other cool treats replace the cookies.  The same is offered to our young volunteers when their respective garden clubs or youth organizations join us at the garden.  I share photos of our volunteers and the harvest in our bi-weekly emails.  We usually mark the end of the growing season in late Fall with a get together where we share food and gifts.,



    ------------------------------
    Smadar Shemmesh
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


Related Content