The True Value of Volunteerism

Probably the most common reference to volunteering is the old saying to "Never volunteer!" To us at Trout Unlimited nothing could be further from the truth. The quote below is from an email from TU National shortly after the end of the 2009 fiscal year this past September 30th.

"Thanks to the dedicated volunteer force, Trout Unlimited members have logged in more 680,000 hours volunteering in 2009, thank you! Collectively, your volunteerism represents a remarkable in-kind contribution of $13,266,800."

$13 Million dollars! How can that be?

Well, the great thing about those volunteer hours is that they have real world value when it comes to putting up what are called "matching" funds for grants. Usually when an organization like TU does large conservation projects they either partner or apply for grant funding, often from various federal agencies. The stipulation on almost all of these grants or partnerships is that the applying organization has to put something on the table to match on a 1-to-1, 1-to-2, or if you are really lucky, a 1-to-3 ratio to the amount being granted. What makes the system work is that volunteer hours can be used to match those grant amounts. Doing the math from the figures above that comes out to $19.51 an hour (this year it goes over $20/hour)! Trout Unlimited has about 150,000 members nationwide. That is only about 4 1/2 volunteer hours per member per year!

The great thing about volunteer hours is that it is like splitting and stacking firewood, it warms you up twice. Not only do volunteer hours translate into dollars for conservation and education projects on a national and state level, but those volunteer hours actually translate to tangible on the ground work as well. Those hours spent have actually taught someone how to identify a stonefly, cast a line, tie a fly, plant a tree, restore a streambed or understand why erosion and uncontrolled stormwater runoff are bad for our streams. Yes, volunteering is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Great Bay TU files an Annual Financial Report with TU National every fall. We keep a record of volunteer hours put in by our board members and the volunteers who show up at events like river cleanups, educational events like Casting for Recovery, after school fly tying, Trout-in-the-Classroom and the summer youth camp. I am proud to say that GBTU reported 2741 hours of volunteer service in our 2009 Annual Financial Report. We have a roster of approximately 300 members, which means just over 9 volunteer hours per member on average! That is twice the national average and something to be proud of at least from a statistical standpoint.

Like most statistics we need to look at those numbers with a little more of an analytical eye. It would be like saying all fisherman catch the same number of fish! We all know that 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish, and I suspect that historically it has been a similar situation with those volunteer hours. Year after year those of us who do volunteer our time see many of the same faces, and I would venture a guess that it does indeed represent about 10-15% of our membership. I salute those 30-40 dedicated individuals who give so generously of their personal time. You are the engine that keeps GBTU going. To those of you who volunteered for the first time in 2009, I hope you discovered the deep sense of satisfaction that volunteers enjoy. You know who you are. Please give yourselves a pat on the back and accept my sincerest thanks.

To the rest of our membership and interested non-members, just a few volunteer hours a year will go a very long way.

Our website now has a "Volunteer Opportunities" link on the home page which will take you to a list of upcoming events for which volunteers are needed. Please contact the person listed for that event and give an hour or two once in a while. During the course of the year there should be plenty of events to choose from. Pick something you enjoy and feel good about supporting it. Bring some family members and make it a family outing. Teach your kids the importance of "giving back." Just think of what we could accomplish if everyone gave just a few hours a year! Let's make 2010 the Year of the Volunteer.

Remember, February is the last full month of winter, so hang in there!

Sincerely,
Mitch Kalter, President GBTU
February 2010