Volunteering 101: finding valuable assistance is no simple task.

What kind of volunteer program policy does your department implement? This question-along with several survey questions about orientation, tracking hours, rules and projects-was recently posted from West Chester, Penn., on NRPA's forum, eCommunities. For information on how to join the discussion, become a member by clicking on "Join Now" on the right-hand side of NRPA's Web site, www.nrpa.org. Here are some responses regarding the neglected resource of citizen volunteers:

The orientation process varies depending on what they will be doing. Each of the programs/special events/activities that we use volunteers at, are given instructions/ training appropriate for the individual activity. It may be as little as 30 minutes before a special event or as much as two days working at one of our program sites. Our volunteers are held to the same standards as our paid staff regarding accountability and conduct. Identifying volunteers from staff--they wear staff shirts that say, VOLUNTEER on the back of the shirt. We deal with mostly individuals. We have had groups associated with the schools or local community groups volunteer for special events and they are handled the same way."--Fort Washington, Penn.

"When you say volunteer in the park, I'm not sure if you're referring to special events that take place in the park where volunteers are used, or an "Adopt-A-Park Program" where volunteers come out and clean the park. I'll share with you how volunteers would be coordinated for each. Please note that the Municipal Volunteer Program is a newly implemented program just announced to the public on 3/27/04. Let's take a special event in the park: All volunteers are asked to complete a Volunteer Application form. If the volunteers recruited are on behalf of an organization (Ex: Roanoke College--Student Government Association), then an application would be completed by the head contact (president) on behalf of the group. Once an application is received, the volunteer coordinator (me) will conduct an interview with that individual. Our program was just rolled out to the public (March 27); therefore, to date we have not had an orientation. However, we have incorporated an orientation process in our Municipal Volunteer Program (MVP) manual and look forward to having one once our volunteer numbers increase. All volunteers are asked to complete a "Work Release or Assumption of Risk" form. There is a liability form we use for special events and one for all other volunteer opportunities. We have a set of policies and procedures outlined in our MVP manual that we plan to distribute at our orientation. All volunteers are asked to sign-in upon arrival to their assignment as well as sign-out. Plans are being made to generate quarterly reporting to our city manager. Access will be used to generate the reporting. Recognition programs--Our city clerk's office currently coordinates an annual recognition program for all volunteer participants that sit on various boards, commission, committees, etc. We plan to tie our MVP recognition in with that office. Volunteers of all ages can become involved in the city's volunteer program. A minimum age of 14 years is set unless the youth volunteer is working in a volunteer group position with a parent, teacher or other caregiver. Individuals versus group projects--The city currently has two adopt programs: Adopt-A-Park and Adopt-A-Street. My role is to highlight all volunteer opportunities within city departments including these programs. In a majority of cases, interested volunteers represent a group or organization. Once a group expresses an interest, a volunteer application along with a letter explaining the MVP is sent out.--Roanoke, Va.

"The first thing I would like to share with you are two outstanding chat groups. One is cybervpm@yahoogroups. com. This is a resource of volunteer program managers all over the world from a variety of settings. Anyone who works with volunteers is invited to join, ask questions, or respond to questions. The other is gov-vpm@listserv. pointsoflight.org. This one is strictly for individuals who administer volunteer programs in a government setting. It works the same as cybervpm. Finally, there is a national organization called NAVPLG (National Association of Volunteer Programs in Local Government). The current president is Karen Siemsen and her e-mail address is [e-mail].

I oversee a city-wide volunteer program. We have a park ambassador component of our volunteer program, and these volunteers are the ombudsman of our main open space park. Individuals are required to complete an application and sign a waiver. They must pass a background check. Either the Ranger or one of the "long time" volunteers gives the new volunteer an orientation. All participants in our volunteer program are issued a handbook. The park ambassadors receive a supplemental booklet specific to that program. The two of these clearly address program policies including volunteer conduct. All of our volunteers are issued timesheets to log their hours. Each department is assigned a specific color timesheet. Some volunteers report their time on a monthly basis while others (including the park ambassadors) report their time on a quarterly basis. Volunteers are responsible for submitting their timesheet to their supervisor on their last working day for the month/quarter. The supervisors are responsible for submitting timesheets to Volunteer Services by the fifth of the next month.

We encourage the supervisors to show appreciation to their volunteers as often as possible. We have had an annual appreciation event, however the attendance has always been low, even though we have changed the theme and type of event each year. We hold a small intimate recognition luncheon each year during National Volunteer Week. We recognize individuals throughout the program who have accomplished one of the following: accumulated 1,000 hours or celebrated either their fifth or 10-year anniversary; 1,000 hours or five years gets your name on a large recognition board.

Generally, the age: requirements are set by the supervisor. We require our park ambassadors to be at least 16-years-old. We also have a group of volunteers we call our Trailcrew Volunteers. They get together once a quarter and repair local trails. We do not have a minimum age requirement for them, as long as the young ones are working with a responsible adult. All of our volunteers are issued a color-coded badge. The color of the badge is the same as the timesheet and it is specific to the department they are assigned to. We do have some volunteers who work in more than one department. They are issued a badge for each department and they are responsible for wearing the appropriate one at the appropriate time. We get calls from time-to-time from groups who want to come in and do a one-time special project in one of our parks. We have a separate application process for them. We also have several local high school clubs we call on for our special events. They come as a group, but are typically assigned as pairs. I mentioned two reporting methods. We have what we call Traditional Volunteers who work at least four hours a week for at least six months. These are covered by our Worker's Compensation and report their hours each month. We also have what we all Short-Term Project Volunteers. These individuals may work as little as one hour, but no more than 53 in a consecutive six months.--Fairfield, Calif.

"Because most of our volunteers help with special events and festivals, environmental education and kayaking, most orientation is done on site at the activity. Our volunteers are covered under our torque liability insurance. Policies for the program are addressed in the Volunteer Handbook. Volunteer hours are reported by the first of the following month. Annually we host a 'Volunteer Appreciation Picnic in the Park,' which is a fully catered picnic with outdoor activities from the climbing wall, volley ball, horse shoes, bicycles, etc. We accept volunteers at 13 years of age. For any of our larger events requiring 150 volunteers, we recruit group volunteers."--Charleston, S.C.