Open Forum

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation? 

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

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Jessica Cavin
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I work as a visitor services associate, part-time managing museum store volunteers and coordinating with tour guides. We have had some difficulty with the return of all of our volunteers, but for the most part can fill our tour guide shifts. We have been successful with putting out surveys to our volunteers of what would make them feel comfortable coming back and volunteering and trying to implement those things. We have reinstated our mask policy with the sharp increase of cases, even though many do not like giving tours with masks, but they still volunteer. I think getting to know your volunteers on a personal level also really helps in getting them motivated to come back. If the volunteers aren't comfortable coming back without staff/visitors being masked, and you have no way to legally implement that, you just seem to be in a really rough situation. I wish you the best of luck.

Julz Espensen

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Juliana Espensen
Visitor Service Associate
LancasterHistory.org
Lancaster PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

Thank you Juliana!

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
Volunteer Coordinator
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Norman OK
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-21-2021 10:53 AM
From: Juliana Espensen
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

I work as a visitor services associate, part-time managing museum store volunteers and coordinating with tour guides. We have had some difficulty with the return of all of our volunteers, but for the most part can fill our tour guide shifts. We have been successful with putting out surveys to our volunteers of what would make them feel comfortable coming back and volunteering and trying to implement those things. We have reinstated our mask policy with the sharp increase of cases, even though many do not like giving tours with masks, but they still volunteer. I think getting to know your volunteers on a personal level also really helps in getting them motivated to come back. If the volunteers aren't comfortable coming back without staff/visitors being masked, and you have no way to legally implement that, you just seem to be in a really rough situation. I wish you the best of luck.

Julz Espensen

------------------------------
Juliana Espensen
Visitor Service Associate
LancasterHistory.org
Lancaster PA

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

When we stopped requiring masks, we lost several volunteers. When we reinstituted the mask policy for all persons in our building, they returned. It's unlikely you! Earlier in the pandemic, there were several surveys posted for volunteers about assessing their interest and willingness to return based on different safety precautions. 

Some of the information is collected here: https://www.aam-us.org/2020/05/28/covid-19-and-museum-volunteers/

Hoping for the best,
Melissa

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Melissa Williams
Executive Director
Feiro Marine Life Center
Port Angeles WA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

Thank you Melissa!

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
Volunteer Coordinator
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Norman OK
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2021 02:56 PM
From: Melissa Williams
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

When we stopped requiring masks, we lost several volunteers. When we reinstituted the mask policy for all persons in our building, they returned. It's unlikely you! Earlier in the pandemic, there were several surveys posted for volunteers about assessing their interest and willingness to return based on different safety precautions. 

Some of the information is collected here: https://www.aam-us.org/2020/05/28/covid-19-and-museum-volunteers/

Hoping for the best,
Melissa

------------------------------
Melissa Williams
Executive Director
Feiro Marine Life Center
Port Angeles WA

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

I'm the Volunteer Program Coordinator at our museum, and pre-pandemic we had about 500 active volunteers, most of whom served in front-facing, visitor service roles.  Our volunteer program was placed on hiatus when we temporarily closed last March, and although we began our phased reopening after Memorial Day 2020, we didn't begin welcoming back volunteers until May 2021.  Right now, we have under a 100 working on-site. 

Part of our inability to move ahead with more in-person programs and events is the reluctance of volunteers to place themselves at risk, which is fair given that the majority of them are over age 65.  Our museum is limited by the state when it comes to enforcing masks mandates and vaccine requirements, and many volunteers are uncomfortable working with visitors who aren't wearing face coverings and may not be vaccinated.  And now that Covid-19 cases are spiking again, some are even more reluctant.

Another challenge we're dealing with is a sudden reduction in the number of available volunteer opportunities.  Staff in some departments have identified other ways to accomplish things in the absence of volunteers.  Now they're telling us that they prefer working this way and will be decreasing volunteer positions or eliminating them entirely.  

I think that many of our volunteers are taking a wait-and-see approach, believing that at some point everything will "return to normal" and they'll be reinstated to their former roles when it's safe.  But while their volunteer experience froze the day we initially closed, the museum has continued to operate, and "normal" looks a lot different than what the volunteers are accustomed to.

------------------------------
Hollie Corbitt
Volunteer Program Coordinator
John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Sarasota FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

This is almost exactly what I am dealing with. I was not working in this role when our museum froze the volunteer programs in May 2020 and we've slowly been welcoming them back in since June 2021. We used to maintain around 200 regular volunteers in front and back of house. I had 33 docents on my roster but I've only managed to get 18 of them back in and some of those are tentative with this new variant. I've only had around 50 total return. It's frustrating but understandable. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one struggling with this. It helps me to know that this is something that is out of my hands and happening around the country.
Thank you!

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
Volunteer Coordinator
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Norman OK
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2021 09:25 AM
From: Hollie Corbitt
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

I'm the Volunteer Program Coordinator at our museum, and pre-pandemic we had about 500 active volunteers, most of whom served in front-facing, visitor service roles.  Our volunteer program was placed on hiatus when we temporarily closed last March, and although we began our phased reopening after Memorial Day 2020, we didn't begin welcoming back volunteers until May 2021.  Right now, we have under a 100 working on-site.

Part of our inability to move ahead with more in-person programs and events is the reluctance of volunteers to place themselves at risk, which is fair given that the majority of them are over age 65.  Our museum is limited by the state when it comes to enforcing masks mandates and vaccine requirements, and many volunteers are uncomfortable working with visitors who aren't wearing face coverings and may not be vaccinated.  And now that Covid-19 cases are spiking again, some are even more reluctant.

Another challenge we're dealing with is a sudden reduction in the number of available volunteer opportunities.  Staff in some departments have identified other ways to accomplish things in the absence of volunteers.  Now they're telling us that they prefer working this way and will be decreasing volunteer positions or eliminating them entirely.

I think that many of our volunteers are taking a wait-and-see approach, believing that at some point everything will "return to normal" and they'll be reinstated to their former roles when it's safe.  But while their volunteer experience froze the day we initially closed, the museum has continued to operate, and "normal" looks a lot different than what the volunteers are accustomed to.

------------------------------
Hollie Corbitt
Volunteer Program Coordinator
John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Sarasota FL

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

I think most of us are in the same boat, Jessica.  We allowed volunteers to return in August 2020, but many of our volunteers have been hesitant to return, especially those in higher risk categories.  Even among those that returned, each time there's a spike or a reported case at our organization, volunteers cancel shifts.  Of course, I completely understand that reaction. 

We have had success keeping volunteers engaged with a few things that I'll share below:

• Remote Interpretive Guide - In the spring, I had a monitor set up in an exhibit gallery and had a guide (similar to a docent) appear via Zoom.  They engaged the public and answered questions.  It was a hit with the public and it gave our volunteers who were not comfortable being on-site an opportunity to stay involved.
• Remote opportunities that can be done from home like research, developing interpretive guides, and training documents.
• Before & after public hours opportunities - we've offered small group trainings and tours for volunteers before and after public hours so those that do not want to be around the public can stay engaged.  Sometimes these are the icebreakers that help get them back in the building to volunteer for regular shifts.
• Teen program - This was our saving grace, volunteer-wise, this summer.  Most teens are used to safety precautions (from school) and structure.  We received over 5800 hours from our teens this summer.
• Safety trainings & rules - Volunteers are required to take a short health and safety training on-site to return to volunteering.  The more health and safety protocols we implement (with crew and the public), the more comfortable they feel working with the public.
• Bribery, I mean, Incentives - Sometimes we offer incentives (tickets for tours or special events, or prize drawings, for instance) to volunteers that work a certain number of shifts of a high-need event (Spring Break, holiday events).

That's my "kitchen sink" approach.  It's not perfect, but it does help.  Staying engaged with volunteers while not pressuring them to come in if they aren't comfortable is a fine line to walk (at least for me).  I'm interested to see what other ideas are posted.

Best of luck to you!

------------------------------
Paul Bishop
Volunteer Programs Supervisor
Space Center Houston
Houston TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

Thank you Paul! We've been implementing a few of those ourselves. We offered discounts in our gift shop after every 25 hours volunteered, they get tickets to the museum every 50 hours. This pandemic is a nightmare.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
Volunteer Coordinator
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Norman OK
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2021 10:50 AM
From: Paul Bishop
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

I think most of us are in the same boat, Jessica.  We allowed volunteers to return in August 2020, but many of our volunteers have been hesitant to return, especially those in higher risk categories.  Even among those that returned, each time there's a spike or a reported case at our organization, volunteers cancel shifts.  Of course, I completely understand that reaction.

We have had success keeping volunteers engaged with a few things that I'll share below:

• Remote Interpretive Guide - In the spring, I had a monitor set up in an exhibit gallery and had a guide (similar to a docent) appear via Zoom.  They engaged the public and answered questions.  It was a hit with the public and it gave our volunteers who were not comfortable being on-site an opportunity to stay involved.
• Remote opportunities that can be done from home like research, developing interpretive guides, and training documents.
• Before & after public hours opportunities - we've offered small group trainings and tours for volunteers before and after public hours so those that do not want to be around the public can stay engaged.  Sometimes these are the icebreakers that help get them back in the building to volunteer for regular shifts.
• Teen program - This was our saving grace, volunteer-wise, this summer.  Most teens are used to safety precautions (from school) and structure.  We received over 5800 hours from our teens this summer.
• Safety trainings & rules - Volunteers are required to take a short health and safety training on-site to return to volunteering.  The more health and safety protocols we implement (with crew and the public), the more comfortable they feel working with the public.
• Bribery, I mean, Incentives - Sometimes we offer incentives (tickets for tours or special events, or prize drawings, for instance) to volunteers that work a certain number of shifts of a high-need event (Spring Break, holiday events).

That's my "kitchen sink" approach.  It's not perfect, but it does help.  Staying engaged with volunteers while not pressuring them to come in if they aren't comfortable is a fine line to walk (at least for me).  I'm interested to see what other ideas are posted.

Best of luck to you!

------------------------------
Paul Bishop
Volunteer Programs Supervisor
Space Center Houston
Houston TX

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

Hi Jessica - 

I'm using my boss' AAM account to reply.  My name is Tiffany Hughes and I'm the Volunteer Manager for the Booth Western Art Museum.

When we shut down March 2020, I immediately started doing things to engage my volunteers:
* Weekly Happy Hour Zoom calls
*  Our museum offered art lessons on FB Live so I challenged my volunteers to get creative and make their own art.  I let them claim volunteer hours for this because it boosted the viewership of the videos.
*  I created scavenger hunts that they completed by watching Youtube videos we released about various exhibitions; and by doing the 3D tours we filmed in all our galleries
*  Online puzzles using our artwork (this was one of the most popular activities for them!)
* They most important thing I did to keep them engaged while we were shut down was to create a semi-monthly newsletter.  Each one had a theme which was not museum-related.  The two most popular themes were Our Furbabies and Vacations.  I also included in each newsletter recipes and a section for Watercooler talk - info that they would have been telling each other if they were face to face.  One edition included all their artwork.
*  Those that wanted to participate were given a big project - to create a new tour.  They researched and wrote it.  We launched that tour a month after we reopened. 
 
When the museum reopened June 2020, I continued to engage them with the activities listed above, but I was able to bring back the ones who wanted to return by putting them through Safety Training to ensure they following our Covid protocols (masks, 6' distancing, etc).
*  I had about half return immediately.  I created new positions, such as Safety Helper (which went on the new tour to ensure Covid protocols were followed).
* I had additional volunteers who wanted to return but weren't comfortable coming back in the building yet (because we didn't require masks of guests), so they wrote articles and created trivia, crossword puzzles and other puzzles for the newsletter.  I offered prizes for the 1st person to correctly complete the puzzles.
*  I limited the numbers on their tours and the numbers of staff/volunteers that were allowed to participate, to ensure 6' distancing.
*  I gave all the volunteers masks with our museum logo on them.
*  Even though we no long require masks, several of my volunteers still wear them which they are allowed to do.
I did not recruit for a year, but have begun again.  I am focusing on 55+ communities and high school juniors and seniors.  I recruit from the 55+ communities by A) going to the community and talking to their Activities Coordinator; B) when tour groups come from those communities, I make sure to greet them when they arrive and I am there when their tour is finished, to tell them I am always looking for new volunteers.  I also encourage my current docents to recruit volunteers while they are doing their tours.
We use our high school students to help with art activities at our special events in the fall and spring.  I recruit them by sending an info sheet with photos (with dates listed of events when we need help) to high school counselors to recommend students who would be interested.  I don't expect my teenagers, or even college students, to meet the same hourly requirements as I do my other volunteers.  When I recruit high school students, I emphasize how much benefit volunteering is when they are applying for scholarships, college and/or jobs.  And I'm always willing to be a reference for them.
**Being flexible with what your volunteers can do, and making sure they feel comfortable while they are helping, is key.

Good luck!

Tiffany Hughes
Volunteer Manager
Booth Western Art Museum

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Patricia Dees
Director of Education
Booth Western Art Museum
Cartersville GA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------

There has been so much thoughtful and responsive work done by creative volunteer coordinators to keep their programs going. I know how stressful that can be, and applaud the range of responsive solutions presented here by so many of you.

At the same time, I want to add in the perspective that what volunteer programs are experiencing is one of the predictable vulnerabilities that accompanies the institutional decision to staff front-facing programs and group visits with a volunteer workforce. The present crisis may present the opportunity to begin considering permanent structural shifts that lift some or all of the burden by professionalizing these responsibilities with paid staff members, or changing programming structures to allow for more audience- or student-led investigation using different techniques. 

Volunteer programs may be right for many museums, but there are times when the voluntary commitment leaves staff members in the role of doing the impossible and fulfilling expectations for volume of activity created when conditions were different and the population of volunteers more available and willing. Volunteers can vote with their feet. We should be taking maximum care for the health of all front-facing staff, and they should all have a voice in the protocols being used to protect them, whether volunteer or paid. But I hope that museums use this occasion to review their use of volunteers, expectations of volunteer service, cost/benefit of managing volunteer programs, and quality of the offer, and that museums also imaginatively generate sustainable and consistent alternative ways of delivering educational content.

------------------------------
Michelle Moon
Principal, Saltworks Interpretive Services
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2021 10:24 AM
From: Jessica Cavin
Subject: Struggling to bring in volunteers

Is anyone struggling to get volunteers to come back in during the current pandemic? I'm a new volunteer coordinator at my museum (2 months in this role), and I have found it incredibly hard to get volunteers to come in for public programs and docent shifts. I understand the hesitancy with the pandemic, as most of my volunteers are retirees, but I'm beginning to worry that I'm not doing something correctly. Does anyone have any tips on how to engage volunteers and up their participation?

*I live in a state that has made it illegal to require masks or vaccines in educational facilities and my museum is part of the University.

------------------------------
Jessica Cavin
------------------------------