Focus on Youth

News for OCES staff working with youth.

4-H is a community of young people across America learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.

oklahoma4h.okstate.edu

May/June, 2007

Sincerely,

Charles Cox
Interim Assistant Director, 4-H Youth Development

“Simply the Best!” - Southern Region 4-H Volunteer Forum

Looking for a way to rejuvenate your enthusiasm as a volunteer or county educator?  Rock Eagle is the place!  The best way to describe the experience is "4-H Camp for Adults."  The days are packed with excellent workshops, and the evenings are filled with entertainment and Fun Shops.

The conference will be held in Eatonton, Georgia, October 4-7, 2007.  Full Conference registration will not exceed $210. A $50 deposit is due August 1. The remaining balance is due August 24th.  Visit the host state conference site at www.4hsrlf.org for current information regarding the conference.  Oklahoma’s registration information is posted at http://oklahoma4h.okstate.edu/volun/eduopp.htm.  Participants are responsible for their own transportation. Oklahoma typically travels as a group via air transportation.

The mission of the Southern Region 4-H Volunteer Leader Forum is to increase the capacity of volunteer and salaried staff to contribute to the achievement of the mission of 4-H youth development and the Cooperative Extension system as a whole. The primary purpose of the forum is to educate and prepare participants to share what they learned back home. Participants benefit from the experiential learning activities which require them to discuss, use and apply what they learn.  The ultimate application is for individuals and teams to teach others.

SRVLF is an excellent opportunity to meet adult volunteers from 13 southern states, Puerto Rico, Grenada, and the Virgin Islands.

Karla Knoepfli

State Parent-Volunteer Conference

"Step into the 4-H Spotlight" is the theme of the 2007 State Parent-Volunteer Conference.  The conference is schedule for July 14, in Stillwater.

Conference program and enrollment form are now posted at http://oklahoma4h.okstate.edu/volun/eduopp.htm. The program and enrollment form were mailed directly to 700 volunteers whose names and addresses were submitted to the state office as club leaders of “chartered” clubs.  Please assist the State 4-H Volunteer Board in promoting the conference to all other parents and volunteers in your county.

Forty-one workshops are sure to motivate the first time volunteer, as well as challenge the veteran volunteers/educator. The conference will include door prizes, as well as a silent and live auction.  Proceeds from the live auction will go towards the endowment of a Volunteer Development Scholarship with the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation.

During the Luncheon Oklahoma 4-H will recognize volunteers who have been selected by their county for Volunteer of the Year and Life-Time Service awards and announce the district and state award recipients.

The early bird enrollment fee of $30 and the enrollment form are due on or before June 22. Any enrollment postmarked after June 22nd will be subject to the full enrollment fee of $40.

Liz Taylor, State 4-H Volunteer Board President

Scholarships – 4-H Parent-Volunteer Conference

Oklahoma 4-H has received a grant from National 4-H Council, in partnership with Monsanto, to underwrite our State Parent-Volunteer Conference. 

“4-H is supported nationwide by a dedicated network of volunteers who know the value of strong, positive youth development. Partners like Monsanto make it possible for 4-H to continue to build and sustain our volunteer base and ensure that even more youth enjoy fulfilling 4-H experiences,” said Donald T. Floyd, Jr., president and chief executive officer, National 4-H Council.

“Monsanto has a long-standing tradition of providing support for 4-H,” noted Jim Tobin, director, biotech business development, Monsanto, who presented the $500,000 training award to 4-H. “Many company employees were 4-H members, and tell us that they credit 4-H for many of the skills they use today to do their jobs—a real credit to the 4-H volunteer leaders who assisted them in their learning process.”

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. For additional information, please visit www.monsanto.com.

Our funding will be used for Langston University and Oklahoma State University to enhance the volunteer certification process by encouraging new volunteers to attend the Conference.  Up to 100 $30 scholarships will be awarded to “certified 4-H adult volunteers” applying to attend the conference for the first time.

To be eligible for the scholarships the volunteers must already be certified, with paperwork, screening and orientation completed prior to making application.  The volunteer must complete the scholarship form and have it signed by the county educator/university representative prior to submitting the scholarship application. Scholarships will be dated as they are received in the state 4-H office.

If awarded a scholarship, the volunteer is expected to present at his/her local club for parents or at a county Parent-Volunteer Association meeting.

County educators, please be sure volunteers making application are committed to attending and returning home to share their experiences.  We want all scholarships to be used the day of the conference. Anyone who chooses not to make use of his/her scholarship will need to notify the state office one week prior to the conference so alternates can be notified.

Karla Knoepfli

National 4-H Conference Applications

National 4-H Conference is a working conference and a training ground for youth who are focused and committed to working for the Oklahoma 4-H program. Funds are being invested in training delegates to return to Oklahoma for the maintenance and implementation of 4-H programming.  2008 delegates will be making more than a personal commitment of their time. Initially delegates will be expected to pay two-thirds of their transportation, lodging and registration.  If the delegate fulfills his/her duties the funds will be reimbursed to the family.  The application for 2008 delegates is available online and is due July 1.

Oklahoma’s delegates must be team players. The delegation will function as a team for approximately two years from the time you attend Conference until the Back Home Action Plan is completed.  Pre- and post-conference work is mandatory. Delegates will work cooperatively with previous teams in learning, maintaining and coordinating existing programs.

National Conference is an opportunity for youth and adults to solicit input from a diverse cross-section of the Cooperative Extension System and to strengthen and expand the 4-H Youth Development program at local, state, and national levels. National Conference is an intense week of committee work, workshops, legislative visits, and presentations.  Delegates will contact and meet with Oklahoma decision makers during their time in our nation’s capital.

Karla Knoepfli

State Recognition of County and Lifetime Volunteers

The State 4-H Volunteer Board is courteously extending the deadline for counties to recognize their volunteers during the Volunteer Recognition Luncheon at the Leadership Development Conference July 14, 2007. The Oklahoma Farmers Union graciously sponsors lunch for the recipient and one guest.

Please understand that this individual(s) is not being considered for the district and state awards since this is an extension of the original deadline.

Please use the attached form for county volunteer(s) who you want recognized at the luncheon.  The form AND a photograph must be received electronically in the State 4-H Office on or before June 6, 2007.  This deadline is firm.

We look forward to honoring the outstanding work our local and county volunteers provide the 4-H program.

State 4-H Volunteer Board

2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life - Volunteerism

Volunteer Retention - http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/index.asp

Much of the good work and services provided by community organizations and non-profits would not be possible without the time and talent contributed by unpaid volunteers. Given their importance, nonprofits have devoted considerable attention to identifying, recruiting, and managing volunteers.  However, far less attention has been focused on how to maintain a stable volunteer base by retaining individuals as volunteers. This is particularly unfortunate since high volunteer turnover–just as with turnover among paid employees–generally imposes considerable and predictable costs on non-profits.

For the first time, as part of the release of the report, Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life, the Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) is able to report the retention rate for volunteers.  While the good news is that most volunteers choose to continue volunteering, in recent years we have found that roughly one out of three volunteers did not continue to volunteer the following year.  As the Corporation and its partners seek to engage 75 million Americans as volunteers by 2010, this dramatic cycling of people in and out of volunteering reinforces the fact that volunteer management is critically important and that creating positive volunteer experiences  is key to growing a widespread culture of service.

RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS

As nonprofits across the country seek to engage more volunteers in helping communities solve their most pressing needs, such as disaster recovery, illiteracy, and poverty, it has become increasingly important to take a closer look at what we know about effective volunteer recruitment and management practices that will help retain volunteers from one year to the next.  This fact sheet, along with the Volunteer Management Capacity Study (2004), and the new online guide at the Corporation's Resource Center website (which provides helpful tips, tools, and effective practices in volunteer management and retention) are all useful tools that can not only help nonprofits better understand the factors that impact volunteer retention, but can also help improve volunteer retentions rates.

The following are some tips from this research:

• Since higher levels of volunteer commitment (whether increased volunteer hours or increased number of weeks contributed) have a positive impact on a volunteer's willingness to return the following year, encourage volunteers to get more involved with your organizations by finding opportunities for them to serve more regularly.
• Offer volunteers more challenging opportunities or multiple activities that provide a variety of volunteer assignments (perhaps mixing popular and less popular assignments).
• Partner with religious organizations because they maintain a stable volunteer base, more so than any other type of organization.

KEY FINDINGS

1 out of 3 volunteers who volunteer in one year do not volunteer the next year, a 66 percent volunteer retention rate.  At the state level there is a fairly strong, positive correlation between states with high volunteer rates and states with high volunteer retention rates.  One reason why volunteer rates are high may be because these states have found ways to keep volunteer retention high.  We also find that the states with the lowest volunteer rate have low volunteer retention.

The higher a volunteer's level of education, the more likely the volunteer is to continue volunteering.  A volunteer's level of education is closely linked to their likelihood to return to volunteer the next year.

Volunteers who devote more time to volunteering have the highest volunteer retention rates.  Volunteers who serve a more substantial amount of time – 50 hours or more – are 40% more likely to serve one year to the next than those who serve 1-14 hours a year (71.4% versus 50.6%).

Moreover, volunteer retention also increases as the number of weeks a person volunteers in a year increases. For example, 76.3% of volunteers who serve 12 or more weeks per year return to serve the following year, compared to 51.2% of volunteers who serve less than 3 weeks out of the year (compared to 51.2%).

Additionally, it appears that volunteers who generally engage in more challenging activities tend to be more likely to volunteer the following year.  74 percent of those providing professional and management assistance volunteer the next year, compared to 53 percent of volunteers who provide general labor or supply transportation.

Attached items of interest from the web site/study:

• ok_volunteerism
• southernregion_volunteerism
• VIA_brief_civiclife
• VIA_brief_retention
• VIA_brief_dollarvalue
• VIA_brief_keytrends

Karla Knoepfli

2008 District and State Volunteer Awards Program

The board appreciates the counties who submitted nominees for the District and State Awards program.  Following the judging process we wished to share tips which we believe will strengthen the reference letters of those being nominated for district and state awards.

• Be sure individuals writing the letters of recommendation have a copy of the ten criteria being used to judge applications and that they address these criterion in the letter of recommendation.  The judges looked for specific examples related to each criterion.  General and broad sweeping statements do not indicate why this person should be considered for district, state, regional and even national recognition.  (Tip - Just like we train our youth in doing record books - be specific.)
• When applicable, letters should be on letter head and all letters should be signed.  Letters from county educators should be on Extension letterhead.
• Establish a cycle for submitting volunteers for district and state awards.  Example – County Volunteer of the Year and Life Time recipients recognized in the fall of 2007 (at Achievement Banquet) would be your counties nominee(s) in the spring of 2008 and recognized at the 2008 Parent-Volunteer Conference.  This would provide adequate time to develop the three letters of reference in support of the criteria used to evaluate nominees.

Thank you for you continued support and recognition of the work being done by 4-H volunteers.

State 4-H Volunteer Board

Oklahoma Centennial Parade

4-H has been invited to have 100 members participate in the Oklahoma Centennial Parade, Sunday, October 14, 2007.  Members must be 12 years of age or older and be able to participate in the entire 2.1 mile route through downtown Oklahoma City.   The event will include most of the day.  Participants should plan to arrive by approximately 9:30 a.m. and may not be finished until around 7:00 p.m.  A more detailed schedule will be available at a later date. Interested members will need to make application on the attached form.  Approved members will be notified by August 15, 2007.

Tracy Branch

Resources

The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) is a free information service of the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB). NCFY supports FYSB grantees, as well as individuals and communities interested in these focus areas: Youth Development, Mentoring Children of Prisoners, Family Violence Prevention, and Abstinence Education.  You can learn more about current programs and grants at: http://www.ncfy.com/

Afterschool Grants:  The new 4-H Afterschool 2007-08 JCPenney Afterschool Fund mini-grants have just been announced.  To view the RFP and download an application go to: www.4HAfterschool.org.

4-H Related Research:  there is a new and improvedSearchable Databases of 4-H Studiesavailable on the new AGNIC Youth Development Site:  http://apps.libraries.psu.edu/agnic/index.cfm

The current databases contain: 1800 graduate studies and papers, dating from 1911 to 2007, 800 state, national and experiment station studies and options to add additional studies that are not included!

Created by Jan Scholl, Amy Paster and David Abler, Penn State University (copyright 2007).

The databases are searchable and sortable by author, keyword, date and institution. The web site also provides access to historical youth development information.  Additional information about the databases or web-site may be directed to: Jan Scholl (jscholl@psu.edu)

AGNIC is coordinated by Melanie Gardner of the National Agricultural Library in connection with land-grant universities

Charles Cox