New Volunteer Management Resources Announced

On behalf of the Extension Volunteer Steering Committee, Courtney Dodd, Extension Program Specialist announced some new volunteer management resources that are available to agents. These resources are as follows;

• Economic Impact Brief for Volunteerism in the Texas AgriLife Extension Service-This one-page document provides an overview of volunteerism in Extension, highlighting the economic value of our volunteers' contributions in 2009. The 104,000+ volunteers contributed more than four million hours throughout 2009, which is valued at $84 million (using the current rate of $20.85/hour). The direct link to this and other economic impact briefs is located at: http://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/about/strategyimpact/economicimpact/index.php. County volunteer reports for 2009 are still accessible at volunteerreport.tamu.edu.
• New Volunteer Resource Website- With the transition of Extension's web sites, the volunteer resources site has also been updated and changed! We are still working on it, but invite you to take a look! The address is: http://od.tamu.edu. Click on the Volunteerism link on the right-hand side of the page for resources that have been developed and are specific to the role of the volunteer manager. Additional resources, such as those for National Volunteer Week and the "Making a Difference Through Volunteers" interpretation piece are available on this site as well. As new resources become available, they will be posted on this site!
• "Empowering Volunteers" Publication Released- A new publication, Volunteer Administration in the 21st Century: Empowering Volunteers, has been developed and is now available as a resource to you. This resource is attached, available online via the AgriLife Bookstore and will be posted on the Volunteer Resource web site (referenced above) very soon. While there is no clear cut formula for empowering volunteers, as all volunteers have their own unique traits and personalities (as we do), we hope that the publication will provide you with tools and ideas to help with empowerment.
  

District Extension Administrators and County Extension Director should ensure that all agents are aware and are utilizing these resources.

Content for this article was provided by Courtney F. Dodd, Extension Program Specialist-Texas AgriLife Extension Service.