Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Before you rule out working with a large organization, especially a corporate group, keep in mind
that they often have funds allocated for employee-volunteer events. If you are contacted about such an
event, don't be shy to ask if they'd like to cover the expenses of a special project. This might be a great
chance to get the labor and dollars for that pergola your gardeners have been dreaming about.
Mandatory Volunteer Hours. An Oxymoron?
There are programs that require gardeners to volunteer for a set number of hours per season. This is of-
ten the case with food pantry or other communal projects, where the food is either given away or shared
collectively. In other instances, the hours are in lieu of program fees (in the case of those who need a
scholarship). Sometimes mandatory hours are merely a strategy to ensure that work within the garden
is performed throughout the season, with everyone being required to contribute a set amount of time.
The upside of this approach is that, at least in the situation where hours are in exchange for program
fees, gardeners receiving the scholarship have some skin in the game and a sense of contributing to the
garden in a meaningful way. The downside is the time it takes to manage such a system.
Depending on the size of the garden and the number of gardeners involved, a mandatory hours pro-
gram could become a management nightmare. If you implement a program like this, the volunteers
managing it need to have the stamina to carry through with it all season long. Should you implement
a program only to have it fall apart mid-season, your credibility for such a program has been damaged
for the following season. Develop the guidelines around the program, including the consequences of
not fulfilling mandatory hours. Are the gardeners penalized or excluded from the garden the following
season? Is there a financial penalty? Be careful when setting up programs like this—you (or a volunteer
managing the program) don't want to be seen as “the boss.” Nobody wants that.
Some mandatory hours programs are on an honor system. Gardeners are required to track their own
involvement against a suggested minimum. These programs can work, in that they reinforce the com-
munity element of the garden—everyone has to take part for the garden to succeed—but an individual
or team of individuals doesn't have to be the heavy and make sure everyone is doing their part.
