Dear Robert,

 

My suggestion is to “think out of the box” and start from the premise that for almost any skill you need “in house” you will find those who are retired or “between jobs” who can help you from home e.g. Administrators, marketers, Accountants, computer specialists, you name it….

 

Personally, I wouldn’t start with ideas like data entry as that may require remote access to your systems (all kinds of security and software/hardware issues). Or if you are prepared to allow volunteers to download files from your systems to work on at home, how confident are you on end use control? This is not as bleak as it sounds! Those at home can still help with systems design, checking input, and all kinds of quality control.

 

The other aspect of all this is what does your HR department feel about homeworking – for staff? If they are supportive of staff working at home, then they may help you out with migrating these ideas across to volunteers. If, however, they are not sympathetic, then sharing their reasons why may help you avoid some pitfalls….

 

Hope that’s helpful.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Jerry Symonds – Snr. Internal Auditor

Historic Royal Palaces

Surrey

England

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne M. Nagrant
Sent: 22 February 2011 22:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] At home volunteering

 

We’ve had volunteers

 

-washing and ironing soiled tablecloths that were used during programs

-making the schedule for front-desk volunteers

-repairing repro clothing worn by staff

-repairing wooden toys that were broken by enthusiastic young visitors

-producing flyers and program postcards from home

-research at off-site libraries for specific museum needs

 

Good luck!

 

Anne Nagrant, Museum Staff

Troy Museum & Historic Village (Michigan)

 

 

 

We are a small prehistoric Native American focused Museum.  

I will appreciate any suggestions on the subject of “at home” volunteering.  We recently surveyed our visitors and found that 42% would like to have “at home” volunteer opportunities.  Right off the top, except for those with specialized skills like graphic design or language translation, our ideas are limited to data entry and scanning documents.  

Does anyone have experience or insights with this type volunteer opportunity.

Thanks,

Robert Connolly


Robert P. Connolly, PhD
Director, C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa
1987 Indian Village Drive, Memphis, Tennessee  38109
901-785-3160, ext. 15

Associate Professor, Anthropology
The University of Memphis 38152
901-678-3331

http://www.memphis.edu/chucalissa/
http://rcnnolly.wordpress.com/

The mission of the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa, a division of the University of Memphis, is to protect and interpret the Chucalissa archaeological site’s cultural and natural environments, and to provide the University Community and the public with exceptional educational, participatory, and research opportunities on the landscape’s past and present Native American and traditional cultures.

 

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