The United States Association of Museum Volunteers (USAMV) was incorporated in 1979 under the Not-for-Profit Corporation laws of Washington, D.C. The USAMV became an affiliated committee of the American Association of Museums in 1981. In 1986, the USAMV changed its name to American Association for Museum Volunteers (AAMV).
The American Association for Museum Volunteers (AAMV) is the only national association representing the over 1,000,000 volunteers in all categories of museums and cultural institutions.
AAMV is affiliated nationally with the American Association of Museums (AAM) and internationally with the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM).
Board Changes - May 2009
We were delighted to introduce two new board members who were voted into office by the AAMV membership, May 2009:
Program Director Danielle Stephens Docent Program Manager Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Samantha Andrews (Southeast)
Volunteer Services Manager Frist Center for the Visual Arts
Several serving board members have been elected to new
positions:
Kristi Cotner is now Membership Director and Victoria Wilson is New England
Regional Director.
Leaving the Board after serving with distinction for many years are our
former President Wendy Evans, Program Director, Amy Farmer and Regional
Directors Carol Allen Smith and Rhonda Hethcox. AAMV thanks all of them for
their many years of service and
we are grateful that both Wendy and Amy will continue to serve the AAMV as
members of our Advisory Council.
AAMV 2009 Annual Presidents Report
A Year of Transition
Over the 27 years since its incorporation, AAMV has maintained a position of leadership in the U.S. in the field of volunteer management in museum and cultural institutions. AAMV is the only national association in the US serving the over one million volunteers in all categories of museums.
We operate on a regional and local level to assist museum volunteers, volunteer managers and other staff working with volunteers on issues of concern, sharing information at roundtables, panel discussions and through personal contact to enable them to build better volunteer programs.
This year, we have been working closely with AAM, as a member of AAM’s Museum Advocacy Team, by participating in phone conference meetings and making calls to congressmen and senators to gain more support for our museums. We thank Maretta Hemsley-Wood from the National Air and Space Museum for representing AAMV on Museum Advocacy Day. Our goal continues to be to show the value and importance of museums, volunteer managers and museum volunteers. The AAMV is well aware of how difficult it is for Museums right now and we are doing everything we can to help and support our museums and volunteers.
Last year we worked on Strategic Planning. We spent hours discussing our goals on how we can improve the AAMV. From these discussions we came to the following “vision statement” for planning our next few years. “The AAMV’s Vision is to put us on the map as a major player in the museum world. To do that, we must constantly challenge ourselves to do better at everything we do – to raise awareness of the value not only of our volunteers, but also volunteer managers, to create new programs that will bring help and support to more people and to grow our base of loyal supporters.” This plan has been the force that has driven AAMV in 2009, a year of transition.
Sometimes one must sacrifice things in the present for a brighter and better future. Our newsletter had to be delayed for a few months, but the delay was something we had to sacrifice to enable us to make the transition to going green. Having a new updated and more useful website is all part of this transition. We are adding a “Members Only” section, where members can not only access new newsletters, but where they can read past newsletters as well. This new way to distribute our newsletters will allow us to enlarge them and include even more helpful articles.
Other updates to the website are almost complete and hopefully should be up and running before the AAM Meeting in Philadelphia. We are currently collecting information from our members who are willing to share information that we can put on our web. We are creating an FAQ section for our website, as well as a place to post volunteer management job openings. AAMV is also starting a new section on www.aamv.org that will give Regional News and Information on a quarterly basis.
Whenever there is change or one is making improvements, there are setbacks. It has taken much longer to get our new website up than we had planned because we have run into several unexpected technical delays. Soon we will have a new and more helpful website, a better newsletter and we will be introducing new and exciting programs that we have been working on all year to honor volunteers. The AAMV has created a Volunteer of the Year Award and will later create a Volunteer Manager of the Year Award for our members; another way to raise awareness of the value not only of our volunteers, but also volunteer managers.
Again, in a year of transition, we have also updated and improved our membership files and the process by which we handle membership. These are all wonderful things that will improve the way we can serve our members better and in a more timely manor.
Through out all this transiting, we still feel that the number one way we can help and support more people is through our book. One of our members put it this way: “I am a new volunteer manager and this one book has given me everything I need to do my job. I do not no what I would have done without it.”
Transforming Museum Volunteering contains more than 175 pages of practical information, sample forms, helpful resources and a toolkit for engaging 21st Century volunteers. Its nine chapters cover everything from “Staffing the Volunteer Program” and “Measuring Success” to “Recruiting, Selecting, and Placing Museum Volunteers.” It also includes a chapter on “What’s Ahead for Museum Volunteer Programs,” with action steps for volunteer programs and program managers alike. It is one of AAM Bookstore’s Best Sellers.
Much of our time is still focused on getting the word out that this book is available and is extremely helpful to volunteer managers everywhere.
One of the most popular things that we offer to our members is the AAMV Listserv. It is a interactive member Listserv used to discuss topics of interest. Listserv members feel very connected and they are there for each other whenever they encounter a problem or situation they have not dealt with before. With the leadership of AAMV, this dedicated group of volunteer coordinators and volunteers are always there with help and suggestions.
The AAMV continues to present programs to the museum community.
AAMV is sponsoring sessions at the AAM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, 4/30 – 5/ 4 2009:
May 1st - 12:15 to 1:45 P.M.
AAMV Annual Meeting and Luncheon
Featured Speaker: Connie Pirtle, Principal and founder, Strategic Nonprofit Resources, Bethesda, MD
Connie will speak on:
“Volunteer Engagement: Keeping it Relevant, Responsive, and Real”
Museum volunteer programs face some of the same challenges as their institutions: engaging volunteers in relevant ways, staying responsive to the ever-changing needs of volunteers and making the work of volunteers real. Join museum volunteer professionals at the AAMV annual luncheon to learn some tips and techniques for engaging volunteers in relevant, responsive and real ways.
May 2nd – 10:45 to 12:00
“I Have to Do What? – A Benchmark Success Story”
Chair: Debbie Young, Director of Volunteer Services, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, IN and AAMV Board Member
Learn the process and results of the first year of a benchmarking study including ten museums of different types and sizes from around the country and discover how to apply these measurement standards to your own institution.
May 2nd – 2-5 P.M
“Talking Shop: Roundtable Discussion with Volunteer and Docent Managers”
Chair: Gin Wachter, AAMV President and AAMV Board of Directors
Participate in a “roundtable” brainstorming forum where those who work with or manage docents or volunteers share new ideas and solutions to common issues and challenges.
Also:
Karen Fink, Lois Kuter and Debbie Young will be participating in a session at the Association of Children’s Museum Interactivity Conference in Philadelphia. The session will be on Thursday, April 30, 2009 from 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. The preliminary description is as follows:" Teens are volunteering more than ever before. How can museums take full advantage of and overcome the barriers to participation by this key volunteer demographic? Explore and discuss best practices for engaging youth in service and hear from colleagues who are putting practice into action in some amazing youth volunteer programs.” The conference is at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center.
Regional Conference Sessions
Here are sessions that fellow board members have conducted this fall.
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)
September 9-12, 2008
Roundtable Discussion of Volunteer Issues
Chair: Michael Kruelle
Presenters: Maretta Hemsley-Wood and Amy Farmer
Southeastern Museum Association (SEMC)
Birmingham, Alabama, October 14-18, 2008
Presenters: Rhonda Hethcox and Sarah Ward
Association of Midwest Museum’s Conference (AMM) and Mountain Plains
Kansas City, October 2008
Presenters: Debbie Young, Robbin Davis, and Mary Anne Schierman
Tim Deegan and Deirdre Araujo presented at the California Association of Museums in February. The session is called “Auditing Your Volunteer Program. Do You Have the Nuts and Bolts?”
The AAMV has reached out to all our Regional Associations offering help to them and their members with any volunteer related issue. We also stand ready to help AAM Affiliate groups with any issue relating to volunteers. (We are proud to say that we have 92 active members with 35 additional that are up for renewal and over 400 that have shown an interest in joining.)
Issues affecting the field:
What is ahead for museum volunteer programs? With the change in the economy, many museums are afraid that they will not be able to get as many volunteers. Will volunteers now need to find a paid position? Retired people, where a large percentage of the country’s volunteers come from, might now feel the need to go back to work again. At the same time the pool of volunteers may be becoming smaller, museum’s need for volunteers may be increasing. With staff cutbacks, many museums are looking for volunteers to fill some of the positions formally done by paid staff. This is the potential for a real problem: more museum volunteers are needed and fewer volunteers will be available.
Museums need to know how to attract volunteers. They will need to rethink their assumptions about volunteers and what they want, eliminate barriers for volunteering and offer more short term volunteering opportunities.
Submitted by Gin Wachter, President AAMV