Volunteers
This question may be off topic for this site; however volunteers are a great part of preservation.
As a member of a volunteer run organization for over 19 years I now ask " What should I expect from upper manegement?

That may or may not be the proper way to ask the question, however I have alway felt that volunteers should be asked and not just told what to do and they should be thanked for what they have done. Part of my time is spent with a group of people that always are appreciative of any work being done for that part of the museum.
However a large part of my time has been spent working for the part of the museum that feels that we are all volunteers, so why do we need to thank each other.
I now wounder if i'm asking too much of our upper manegement.
At this time we are having trouble getting people to step-up and help out on special events. We are finding that even when they do sign up they don't alway shows up for their assigned jobs.
My question is Who amoung you believes you are working for a well run volunteer group?
If you are with such a group what do you attribute its success to?
If the rest of our comunity run like ours then I need to change my attitude, if not then I will do what I can to change things at our museum.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Signed
Old School

All groups of people create their own cultures. No size fits all. All cultures evolve over time for a variety of reasons........some rational and some based on personalities, etc.

The thanks in many places comes in the form of the work itself - the ability to make a significant difference and see a meaningful product. This is a substantial reason why many of us find our "real jobs" undesirable.....we do the same thing every day with no visible impact. In my job, if no computers shut down because the power failed or the HVAC died and they overheated I did my job. Victory = nothing happened. Not very exciting. Now, if I overhaul an injector and the steam locomotive runs as a result of my making a necessary repair, way cool.........

Top Management in most volunteer organizations is less the faceless corporate CEO than just another guy who won a popularity contest. Less Mr. Burns and more Crusty the Clown. If you know the reality of volunteering when you agree to do it, you should not be surprised when it is what it is. Still, it is a very good idea for management of volunteer groups to do things to demonstrate the value of the work done by others in ways that mean something to the workers now and again - supply lunch, have a special day for volunteers families to enjoy the experience of the visitors, whatever.

There are problems that result from boards of directors of volunteer groups that reward those who are noteworthy and popular from the workers perspective but have no sphere of influence in which they can work to achieve goals such as fund raising for major capital projects or deal with political issues. I think boards need bank presidents more than a guy who is a really great mechanic. I'd gladly forego a few pats on the back to gain the financial and professional aptitude to make the goals become reality.

dave

Fortunately or not, I have found that to be pretty much the attitude of each of the railway organizations that I have been involved in. TVRM did a volunteer appreciation special after the first or second DOWT event. The crew that organized the event felt that it was important to show appreciation for the volunteers who made the event possible. Those who supported the idea of the appreciation special pointed out to management the amount of money raised and how much it would have cost to have paid for event staff versus the costs that the appreciation event would incur.

Of course, we decided to make it fun for the volunteers and asked them to RSVP only knowing the time, date and location to show up at. No other details were provided. Arriving at the station, they found a train standing at the platform and took their seats aboard-not knowing where they were going as train crew were instructed not to divulge that information. The train took them down to Chickamauga, Georgia for a dinner at the Gordon-Lee Mansion (a trip operated by TVRM on certain holidays). That was the first official volunteer appreciation event that most of our members could remember and went over quite well.

Here in Tucson, we have had occasional appreciation events for the members of Old Pueblo Trolley-mostly when someone in management points out that we need to gather the members to inform them about current goings on in our dealings with the City of Tucson. I think the last volunteer appreciation event we had here was at least four years ago. Many of the volunteers who have participated in operating the Street Railway have sort of become distant following the shutdown of the Street Railway in preparation for the construction of Tucson's Modern Streetcar. Only those of us who are directly involved in restoration of cars or the negotiations with the City meet on a regular basis. We did recognize our volunteers who assisted in the move of our Bus Division's coach yard-necessitated by the sale of the land that it occupied by the City. Each volunteer was identified by the Board of Directors and presented with a Certificate of Appreciation. The three volunteers who gave the most time were presented with gift cards redeemable at the local Ace Hardware.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organizations and I would present this idea for thought. Perhaps we should look at other organizations to see how they recruit and retain volunteers and adopt whatever practices we see that might have application in our organizations. One organization that comes to my mind is the UK's Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which is responsible for the majority of lifeboat services along the coastline of England, Scotland and Ireland. They do have a small paid staff that designs and constructs motor lifeboats, three lifeboat stations that are manned by paid staff (due to location and service requirements), a limited number of seasonal paid lifeguards (paid for by local councils) and a small administrative staff. Mind you, the service operates over two hundred lifeboat stations, three hundred plus service lifeboats and over 100 reserve lifeboats. Their organization requires the service of 4,000 lifeboat men-better than 95% of the total being volunteers. Even now, austerity cuts are requiring the destaffing of HM Coast Guard coastal observation stations and now much of the coast watch work is also done by volunteers. Many of the volunteers of these organizations serve for many years-some for an entire lifetime. We would do well to see if there are any things that these organizations do that could apply to our own operations.

As the 'upper management' at SFTM, I make an effort to personally, verbally, thank each of our volunteers when we are working together. It seems polite and appropriate, yet a bit odd, because they aren't doing me a favor, they are helping to make our museum better. As Dave said, that should be where volunteers get their thanks, from the satisfaction of a job well done. Maybe more important than 'thanks', is saying 'good job', since a new volunteer might not know if they are doing a good job or not.

I get most of my thanks from the folks who come, have a good time, and show their appreciation, directly or indirectly.

As a volunteer, I don't really want the museum's resources going to various ways to thank me, I want the resources to go toward furthering the museum's mission. We do have a Volunteer Appreciation lunch, and award someone as Volunteer of the Year.

Greetings:
I began volunteering at the Illinois Railway Museum in c.1969.
IRM was already departmentalized. Unless you asked around, you might not know who was on the Board of Directors.
One thing that I was told early on was: "If you are looking for appreciation, you have come to the wrong place".
The satisfaction that I derived from working at IRM was largely just being a museum member and seeing what we were accomplishing, we joked that we "were on a mission from God", but for many of us out there, that is what it was: a mission.
As the head of the Steam Department (c.1970-c.1980) I sort of mentally sorted out the folks who came out to help: some were "on the mission", some needed something meaningful to do with their spare time and some just looking for friendship. I made a point of personally thanking those folks who weren't "on the mission". Perhaps I misjudged some folks who I thought were "on the mission" but were really looking for a thank you. And perhaps that accounted for some of the turnover in volunteers over the years.
Most of the "thanks" that we got from the Board of Directors/management was being mentioned in the IRM newsletter that usually listed who had done what on which projects.
Be well,
J.David

Interesting philosophy. Does that mean if the manager is also a donor that it's not necessary to thank donors?

When I thank someone I think of it as a thanks on the part of the project or organization as much as it is personal. I have trouble conceiving why a volunteer can't thank other volunteers for their contributions to the organization. I guess as a board member and officer, I'm "upper management," but I'd rather think of myself as a member of a team which shares a common goal. We need every one of our volunteers, monetary donors, and in-kind donors and we (the organization) and I (individually) appreciate all they do and try to take every opportunity to let them know that they are appreciated.

Dick

I've always tried to thank those who have volunteered on my crews, as well as seeking out and thanking any new volunteers on the site. If you've been volunteering for years and it's a way of life, it may feel odd to be thanked, but it still feels good. For newer volunteers, or those who have made exceptional efforts to make time to volunteer, it can make the difference between staying or leaving.

Our board and staff all feel this way now, and our volunteer numbers are steadily rising. If you feel appreciated, you're more likely to make the effort!

We don't spend a lot on volunteer appreciation, but a couple of barbecues through the summer help everybody feel appreciated and it's a great chance to reflect on all the progress that has been made.

Volunteer appreciation awards can be tricky, as they can introduce pangs of jealousy in some people who weren't chosen. It would be interesting to hear how some groups do this, without inadvertently driving a wedge between members.

It hasn't always been that way, four consecutive presidents had a knack for making people feel unwelcome, driving away volunteers and visitors alike.

Thankfully, these individuals and their attitudes are long gone, and a far more enlightened bunch are in charge.

Definitely, thank your volunteers!

Steve Hunter

I've seen too many awards , apart from those easily quantified such as XX years of service, become more about popularity than for truly outstanding work or results above and beyond those reasonably expected. I'd like to see it stop......until we do it properly. Competence is an expectation, not something unusual to be rewarded. If your organization finds ordinary competence unusual......you have other bigger issues.

Moving on.....how many of your rank and file workers actually thank each other? I think that there's a lot of opportunity to reinforce each other without worrying about what the BOD thinks about the details, since we don't want them micromanaging anyhow. If your individual volunteers are doing intramural infighting, they simply don't understand the Big Picture and where the other guy's stuff fits into supporting your stuff down the line. Our newsletter is about 60% articles copied from Modern Railroading and similar sources, yet we don;t know what the minutes from the last meeting are, what the organizations financial situation is, or what the vision for what the place is going to be in 5 years looks like. Why even bother printing it and mailing it out?

dave

Many years in the "business" has shown me, and many others here, that there exists a very wide range of "volunteer" work at our operations, from the locomotive engineer or motorman to the gift shop manager, from the woodworking craftsman to the army of tracklayers that swoops in for an extended weekend, from the guys who find the repair manuals to photocopy to the retiree who sits at home and markets the operation to school groups or edits the newsletter/website.

The mission of management has to be to coordinate the absolutely necessary--staffing the weekly excursion trains or museum openings, doing the accounting, keeping the rolling stock running or the doors open--with what people are available and what they are willing to do. That can be simple, or horribly complex, depending on operation scope. And sometimes it does mean telling people that what they want to do isn't what needs to get done, and steering them to painting or sweeping rather than something more glamorous.

There have been previous threads on the subject here. Search for a few threads that pretty much turned into "rants" about how some places "mistreated" volunteers and drove them away. There are probably lessons to be learned from such threads.

I'd agree with the earlier assessment that there isn't a one size fits all volunteer organization. Most of the criteria for getting involved (in my mind) revolve around two key points; the people and the enthusiasm for the mission of those people.

I've been with three other non-profits over the last six years. One of those was for the full six years, and dealt with mental health. After all of the work I put in with them, I came to on rather painful conclusion; with the current leadership I feel that this group is doomed to failure due to what I would call incompetence (I'd talk more about it over PM if someone really wants to know the details). The other two (Seven Railroads NRHS and the Depot Foundation, both of which were discussed on this site at one point or another) were failures in the sense where enthusiasm was an issue. Both of those had good people in charge, but the circumstances which beset both groups killed any enthusiasm that anyone held.

Of course, I'm falling in with the WW&F, but my distance from the museum and lack of available funds makes getting there rather difficult. That leads to a third, rather pesky (I wouldn't say core) factor of distance and the availability of cash to make travel plausible.

Dave said:
Oh, how true. I'd add folks who are vested in the community that the organization serves.

Since when did common courtesy, as in thanking someone, go out of style ? Internal motivation, which drives most volunteer efforts, is a 'delicate flower' that needs to be cultivated.

(a different) Dave

This brings up a somewhat different subject: is the BOD a manager, or a visionary and resource raising entity?

I hate to see the BOD mired in day to day operations.....but when the BOD is elected from the "known quantities" who are known because they take part in and probably lead in the day to day operations, it's difficult to recruit for the BOD from people who don't know how to run a railroad, aren't interested in the technique of driving staybolts or milling woodwork, but are very capable of reaching out into their spheres of influence and bringing back the funding and political support to make the larger goals of the organization happen.

I'm thinking about hybrid forms of structure: the BOD is there to build funding and support, and work on vision and mission based on feedback from the visiting public, outside experts and the volunteer core: The volunteer core is structured into areas of interest or project definitions, and each elects its own leader to represent their part of the whole in an advisory council that works with the BOD.

Apart from the "How?" of recruiting the connected BOD, is this practical?

dave

At National Capital Trolley Museum we shifted from a membership-elected board to a traditional self-perpetuating board. The "new" board (changed ca. 2000) is made up of members and outside representatives elected to three-year terms. The nominating committee works to maintain this balance as each class comes up for election. Quarterly board meetings now spend less time in the details and focus more on the big picture: what do we as a board need to be doing to support the mission of the Museum and thus support the mostly volunteer staff that manages the daily operations? So far I'd give us a 7 out of 10 on the hybrid, only because we have yet to attract the right mix of outside board members.

Wesley

I have been a volunteer at rail museums since 1958. Perhaps the most effective thanks have been where the superintendent of the division where you are working personally thanks you for coming and shows interest in your work every day that you both are at the museum.

Other museums have had an annual volunteer appreciation dinner. These can be effective. Museum officials have made short talks thanking everyone for their service in the past year and often pitching for help with future projects.

To all that took the time to Post a reply to my question regarding "volunteers"
You have given me food for thought. I will down load your posts and hopefully put your observations to good use.
Thank you All!
Dave