What do volunteers do?

Enjoy, explore, and protect the planet - volunteers do it all

What exactly do volunteers do? What might you do as a volunteer?

The short answer is - a little of almost everything. Volunteers talk, write, think, move papers and electrons, and maybe even do Eskimo rolls in whitewater. They do political work and take people on hikes. In this article I can't possibly list all the possibilities, but I'll try to tell about the most common ones, and a few less common ones too.

If you want to start with something easy, you might want to help with something clerical. In our Chapter Office in Berkeley we are constantly preparing mailings, entering data into the computer, sorting and filing. Some of our groups and activity sections have mailing parties for their newsletters. Much of the clerical work is done by groups of volunteers congenially chatting around our big table, although if you like to work quietly off in a corner, that can often be arranged too.

When you come into the office, we encourage you to visit our Action Alert board, which we stock with one-page alerts about letters for you to write about current conservation issues. The instructions are easy, and in 10 minutes you can write a letter that can make a difference for a key public decision. The Yodeler, too, is full of action alerts. Even a one-sentence letter saying: "I urge you to do X" is influential with public officials.

The telephone is one of our most important tools. Our conservation and political campaigns often hold phone banks, where a team of volunteers gathers to make calls. We explain to you what the calls are about and give you a script to follow. You then call folks to spread the Sierra Club's message. Another important phone task (a much more challenging one) is that of office receptionist. This person comes in each week for a four-hour shift of answering phone calls and greeting visitiors, answering many questions themselves and referring others to the appropriate staffperson or volunteer. The receptionist quickly becomes quite knowledgeable about the Chapter and often finds their way into other related responsibilities.

The Bay Chapter depends on volunteers for office computer work, too. We would be lost without our gang of volunteers who help us keep up with data entry, typing, and other office work. Volunteers with database skills help keep us on top of our member database. With over 39,000 members in the Bay Area, that is not an easy task!

Another key tool is just plain talking to people. You can make a difference through telling friends and neighbors about important issues (which you can learn about through the Yodeler). Volunteers often staff tables at fairs, farmers' markets, and similar events. In political campaigns volunteers go door-to-door spreading our message.

Key people to talk to are public officials. Every Yodeler is full of calls to action for you to contact officials by phone and/or in writing. When you make such a phone call or write a letter, you are directly influencing public decisions. When you get other people to call and write as well, you are amplifying your voice. Sometimes groups of volunteers go to lobby officials at their offices, locally, in Sacramento, or even in Washington, DC. One of the most important places to use our voices is at public hearings and meetings. Our role here may be as simple as standing up and saying, "I support the Sierra Club position," or as challenging as explaining a complex Club position to a hostile bunch of politicians.

Once you've done almost any of the above activities, you may be ready to advance to organizing - a fancy name for recruiting and helping other people to do something. Perhaps you will help organize an event. It may be something as simple as a mailing party or a phone bank. The job is calling people to make sure that they show up and making sure that the needed room and materials and information are ready. Other folks organize such varied events as meetings, picnics, parties, film festivals, and public forums. You may find yourself asking other volunteers to play a role, say to bring cookies or an avocado dip, to make a presentation, or to help with set-up. Bigger, more complex events may require a team of organizers working together. For most volunteers, working together is one of the best aspects of volunteering - Sierra Club volunteers tend to be congenial and interesting people to work with. Organizing is a great way to get to know lots of these folks. Would you like to organize a house party at your own home to let your friends know more about some conservation issue like global warming or a Club-endorsed candidate? That's organizing too.

Serving on a Chapter committee can involve lots of these activities. At the meeting itself you may be asked to write a letter to officials. You are likely to learn about hearings or other meetings that you can attend, perhaps representing the Club. Committees may have detailed discussions about policy issues and strategies for Club campaigns. At most committee meetings you will have the chance to learn about a variety of other volunteer opportunities; the Sierra Club doesn't hold meetings for meetings' sake but to work together to advance environmental concerns. Committees may organize events, and you may be asked to help with the organizing. Each committee has a chair who organizes the agenda, coordinates with other Club leaders, and helps oversee the committee's activities.

Administrative volunteers can also have a great mix of activities. Chapter and Group Executive Committees and activity-section leadership committees make decisions about all our policies and budgets and activities. A volunteer may organize a specific project, say shipping or marketing for our annual sale of Sierra Club calendars, or getting mailings to the Post Office.

Special skills

You don't need special skills to volunteer, but if you have some, they can be valuable and utilized.

Good writers can write articles for the Yodeler, outreach letters and brochures, and letters to the editor. Volunteer proofreaders carefully ponder Yodeler copy. Volunteer photographers and artists provide most of the Yodeler's photos, drawings, maps, and other graphics. Occasionally the Club needs people with language skills to help with translating.

If you have expertise (professional or not) in planning, science, or engineering, you can help study environmental reports and draft Sierra Club responses to them. Many lawyers are active in the Club. Some help bring pro bono lawsuits, some serve on the Chapter Legal Committee helping evaluate possible legal matters, and many help in the Club's policy discussions. The members of the Club's California Legislative Committee, who evaluate state legislation for the Club's support or opposition, bring a wide range of such technical skills and experience. Business skills can be useful in preparing budgets and in many areas of the Club's operations.

Outings

Our 11 volunteer-led activity sections help people enjoy and explore our environments. We hike Mount Tam as well as the streets of San Francisco. We backpack, snow-camp, and crosscountry-ski in the Sierra. Many sections hold social events. All the activities are organized and led by volunteers.

Sierra Club outing leaders are folks who have learned outdoor and leadership skills, often through participating in Club activities with other, more experienced leaders. Some activity sections sponsor more formal trainings in skills such as beginning hiking, beginning backpacking, or snow camping - all taught by volunteers. All outing leaders are also required to take classes in first aid.

Miscellaneous

I can't fit all the possible volunteer roles into one logical framework. Think about the volunteers who help deliver stacks of the Yodeler to stores and libraries. (Is anyone doing this in your area?) Once in a blue moon volunteers make costumes or signs for events.

Occasionally we need fix-it help in our office.

On Club service outings everyone is a volunteer - restoring habitat, maintaining trails or wildlands, or helping to keep up the Club's Clair Tappaan Lodge or ski huts in the Sierra.

Volunteers help in the Chapter's major-donor fundraising programs.

In short, in the Sierra Club volunteers do almost anything - and whether you have advanced training or just a bit of enthusiasm, you have the skills to be a volunteer, making a difference for a cause you care about.

To get started volunteering, contact Chapter administrator Joanne Drabek at (510) 848-0800, ext. 315, or by email at joanne -at- sfbaysc.org.

Don Forman