In July the American Association for Museum Volunteers conducted an anonymous survey of museum volunteer managers regarding the impact of COVID-19 to their volunteer program. We received 82 responses. Some noteworthy findings are detailed below. The entire survey results, including all comments from the open answer sections, are available at https://aamv.wildapricot.org/COVID19
47.6 % respondents reported that their museum was currently open (July 2020).
52.4% said their museum was currently closed.
32.9% said they currently had volunteers on site.
34.1% had volunteer working remotely.
84.1% said volunteers were on leave from volunteering.
In the next 3 to 6 months:
90.2% anticipate having fewer volunteers than their pre-COVID number
8.5 % anticipate having the same amount of volunteers as before
1.3% anticipate having more volunteers than their pre COVID number
Commonly cited reasons for the anticipated loss of volunteer numbers included:
Age of volunteers
Volunteers who are considered high risk individuals
Museum not offering tours
Limited volunteer opportunities
COVID will still be an issue in 6 months
It will take more time to bring volunteers back
Volunteers are waiting for a vaccine
Volunteer managers are staying connected to their volunteers through:
email, phone calls, Zoom or other video meeting platforms, newsletters, and in person.
A few highlights from the question, "What interesting things are you doing in volunteer management/ engagement?"
- Zoom "Morning Coffees" for docents
- Small gift as a token of appreciation upon their return
- We're launching a new virtual tour experience with a small team of docents
- Having volunteer evaluate our digital offerings
- Offering virtual field trips that our volunteer join
A few common or noteworthy responses to "What has been the biggest struggle with COVID and your volunteer program?"
- Keeping the doors open
- Keeping volunteers engaged
- Knowing when it will be safe for volunteers to return
- The frustration of our volunteers when we tell them they can't come back yet
- Waiting for furloughs; furloughs; knowing that elderly volunteers rely on us to stay active and alert; lack of transparency from museum leadership
A few common or noteworthy responses to "Any silver linings you would like to share?"
- We just had our annual volunteer recognition event via zoom and 200+ volunteers attended, lots of great feedback
- Really high levels of enthusiasm to be back
- I think we are getting more interest from the college age community as they have more free time.
- We've had larger participation in virtual meetings than on-site meetings
- With the museum closed for almost 3 months, we made some changes in our scheduling procedures and volunteer standards. Prior to COVID, I got a "push-back" from our volunteers on every little change. This allowed me to put in place these changes and everyone accepted the changes as part of our COVID process changes.
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Jenny Woods
AAMV President
Seattle, WA
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