"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
Report Your Volunteer Hours!
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Keeping Hours is Important
Since we are a volunteer community service organization sponsored by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Texas AgriLife Extension, it is important for all of us to keep track of our volunteer hours in order for our chapter to collect an accurate tally of total annual hours served.
This information is important because it is the basis for funding from grants and other programs which help further our goals as Master Naturalists.
It is best to report your hours regularly on a quarterly basis so that the tally of your hours can be the most accurate: March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.
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Form Instructions in 4 Easy Steps
Although filling out forms is not high on anyone's list of favorite things to do, we try to make it as painless as possible. The information asked is pared down to the essentials that are useful for keeping an accurate chapter tally for the reasons given above.
The information you fill out on the form is for chapter use only and will not be disclosed to outside parties per our privacy policy.
1. Download the Form
Choose the form format that you want to use and download it. The download links are to the right of this page.
2. Fill Out the Form
The directions on filling out the form are below, along with a form example to help you fill out your hours.
Click on the form to view a larger examplePlease fill out each column that applies to your volunteer activity. If it does not apply, leave it blank.
- A. NAME KEY:
- Put your last name first, then your first name.
- B. DATE:
- Put the date of the activity (mm/dd/yyyy).
- C. ACTIVITY:
- Putting the activity title is usually sufficient, but if the title is vague or unusual, then give a brief description.
- D. LOCATION & SPONSOR:
- Put the location or the sponsor of the activity. Some common abbreviations are found in the chart above.
- E. SVC HRS (Service Hours):
- Round the number to the nearest 15 minutes, in decimals, so that you can easily use a
calculator to add up your total hours (each 15 minutes equals 0.25 of an hour):
(e.g. 1:05 = 1.00, 1:15 = 1.25, 1:32 =1.50, 1:44 = 1.75). - F. ADV TRAIN (Advanced Training):
- Round the number as above with Service Hours. See also Travel Time.
- G. TRAVEL TIME:
- You may report your time to and from any activity (volunteer service and advanced training) as Service Hours. However, if the activity to which you are traveling is for advanced training, only the actual advanced training time may be reported as Advanced Training, the travel time must be reported as Service Hours.
- H. OUTREACH:
- If you volunteer as a speaker or a guide, then please also fill out the
Outreach columns. If you are volunteering on a trail or a restoration,
then give also under Activity the trail length or the restoration area.
Guess, if do not know for sure.
- a. TOT ATT (Total Attendence):
- Put how many people are at your activity.
- b. AUDIENCE:
- Put how many of the people at your activity are adults and how many are children. For the purpose of outreach, also put how many are either Caucasian (C), Black (B), Asian (A), or Hispanic (H). Guess, if you do not know for sure.
3. Send In Your Form
The easiest way to send in your hours every quarter is to fill out the form in Microsoft Excel.
Download the Excel file on the right of this page, fill it out, attach it to email, and send it to either: Wilt Shaw if your last name begins with the letters A-M, or Ling Yin Liu if your last name begins with the letters N-Z.
If you prefer, you also can download and fill out the form in Microsoft Word. If you do not have an email account, you may print a paper copy in Adobe PDF and mail it in to one of the addresses listed on the right of this page.
4. You're Done!
Okay, so there is no step 4..... Repeat these steps every three months.
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