Thanks Lori, I really like that 2-stage procedure. I mentioned it (and a
number of other suggestions from listers) during our board meeting
tonight and it was well received. I think we may try to incorporate
something along that line for next year's gardeners. We have the winter
to work out details, and with a bit of gardener participation, we hope
to see an increase as well..
Tim
On 10/16/2013 12:42 AM, Lori wrote:
We orient new members year round as plots become available. With the
year round garden, life gets busy and/or people travel and time
becomes an issue. Most people start with good intentions, but don't
truly understand the time and labor commitment. Which led us to our
newest procedure.
We now require new member inquiries to attend a volunteer day before
they can attend an orientation to join. This gives inquires a good
idea of the level of work required to have a garden and gives them and
us a chance to connect before the orientation. Those who are not
willing to participate generally will not follow through and make it
through the two stages of orientation. Since we lead the volunteer
days anyway, this saves our volunteer board the time it would
otherwise take to orient new members, enter their data, monitor
attendance, make many contacts, ultimately issuing notices being left
with overgrown plot that need to be cleared and covered before a new
member can be reassigned. The members we have coming now are more
inclined to jump right in and help out around the garden and do better
maintaining their personal plots.
Lori
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