Volunteering is now a “Choose Your Own Adventure” Story

Volunteering as we’ve traditionally known it is no longer working - so let’s change it up and see if we can find a model that works for AORE members. Team AORE has spent time trying to reimagine the volunteer experience that can simultaneously serve the association, but more importantly our membership. This is how we came up with the “Choose Your Own Adventure” model. 

Do you remember as a kid trying to get your hands on these novels (these were always hard to come by at my school, since they were so popular)? Imagine the idea of reading a book where YOU are not only the main character but you also get to determine the path of the story.  You decide if we take the path to the left, the right or the middle, or if we keep walking in the rainstorm or take the risk of finding what’s in the cave - all the choices are yours, including how the story ends. 

With this idea in mind, AORE wants to put the power back in your hands. You determine how much time you are able and willing to commit to volunteering with AORE.  You get to decide the type of projects you want to work on and how you want to share your talents. 

Let’s paint the picture (or write the first chapter as it were):
You are part of this community of outdoor professionals known as AORE, likely because you share their vision of helping more people connect with the outdoors. You have made the decision to embark on this volunteer adventure.  Here’s your first prompt: 

How Much Time Do You Have?
Where previously you have been locked into a year-long commitment, we’ve lowered that entry point to start at just three-month increments. From there you let us know how much time you have per week or month to give back to AORE.
 
Path One Path Two Path Three
1 hour per week / 4 hour per month 30 minutes per week / 2 hours per month 8 hours per month / one day of bulk work

Now that you’ve chosen your time commitment. You get to determine where you are interested.  Here’s your second prompt:

What area are you most interested in?
Do you like to forge new relationships and spread the word about AORE? Or perhaps you’d rather help current members make the most of their membership by ensuring they know about all that we have to offer. Or maybe you are just looking to make genuine connections and meet new people with similar experiences? You decide which path you want to travel down: 
 
Path One Path Two Path Three
Attract New Folks
Identify and build a connection with organizations and individuals that should know about AORE.		 Help Members Engage
Learn about AORE’s resources and work to increase member participation.		 Connect with Current Members
Connect with membership to hear what their new needs and interests are. Build genuine relationships.

You’ve determine the category of work you want to do, now the final prompt:

How do you want to spend your volunteer time?
We want to help you have a successful volunteer experience - doing what you find most meaningful! Do you love to make phone calls and connect with new people? Or perhaps you’d rather take on more of a research role and do some Google sleuthing? We can find the right spot for you (we are open to your ideas too)! 
 
ATTRACT
This is a brainstormed list - not a finalized list of tasks.		 ENGAGE
This is a brainstormed list - not a finalized list of tasks.		 CONNECT
This is a brainstormed list - not a finalized list of tasks.
Research (Google Sleuthing):
  • Maintain/Update Academic Database
  • Build out Co-Curricular Database
  • State Outdoor Organizations Project

Message New Potential Members:
  • Send emails or have phone calls, reaching out to individuals and organizations to help spread the word of who AORE is and what we do
 Provide a place and process to host members meeting up:
  • Get Connected
  • Stay Relevant
  • Be Empowered

Help members maximize AORE tools:
  • Podcast
  • Virtual education
  • JOREL
  • Blog

Social Media:
  • Help AORE create evergreen content supported by prompts from our Social Media Coordinator

Share experience with fellow members:
  • Volunteer to share your experience with a topic on a networking call (provide 10 minutes of your story and encourage others to share theirs)
 Host Membership Calls:
  • Lead/Facilitate calls to learn what members are needing

Membership Survey:
  • Create
  • Administer
  • Analyze

Personal phone calls to current members.

You’ve made all the decisions (& have done the work) - it’s now three months later.  Are you ready for your story to be done? If so, AORE gives you our genuine appreciation for your support.  If you aren’t quite ready to stop “reading”, we invite you to revisit our first prompt and work through the different options again to continue the “Choose Your Own Adventure” volunteer experience.