National Volunteer Recognition Week

by

Thank You
Thank You

Dear Texas Master Naturalists: 

April is a celebration of many things! The best of those celebrations is YOU!! Today, April 1st, launches the start of Global Volunteer Month 2022, with the week of April 17th to 23rd highlighted as National Volunteer Week.  April also has a whole host of conservation and stewardship events with Earth Day, Arbor Day, City Nature Challenge and so many other nature festivals and events taking place to celebrate the return of spring across Texas.  In our minds, April should be recognized as Texas Master Naturalist Volunteer Month! The work done by Master Naturalists volunteers this month –and in fact every day of the year — is worthy of celebration on a state, national and global level! 

National Volunteer Week (April 17-23rd) is an opportunity for our Texas Master Naturalists to be celebrated and to celebrate with each other.  Watch our Texas Master Naturalist social media channels that week as we highlight the work of our incredible volunteers. 

One of the most serendipitous events that could take place during National Volunteer Week is our first ever Texas Master Naturalist in space! Gulf Coast Chapter Member, Kjell Lindgren is a NASA Astronaut commanding the SpaceX Crew-4 shuttle to the International Space Station. Currently, the planned launch is for April 19th. Stay tuned for the chance to virtually downlink with Kjell form the ISS in an upcoming #TMNTuesday we’ll host later this summer!  More news on that special event will come! 

Rounding out our National Volunteer Week is Earth Day (Friday, April 22nd). Though these two special events are not tied together, for us, they offer a stewardship-focused capstone to one amazing week! And just think about the possibility of having one of our own being able to give us a view of our Earth from space on Earth Day! What better way to see the needs, impacts and true potential we have on our resources than with a view from the International Space Station! 

All of these events serve as opportunities to recognize the impact of your volunteer service and the power of the Texas Master Naturalist Program. You ability to tackle our communities’ and society’s greatest natural resource challenges is unrivaled. 

As a Texas Master Naturalist, you’ve heard us say before that when you put on the dragonfly badge, your name tags, your pins, or your Texas Master Naturalist shirt – you are part of something bigger.  You are part of our state’s largest conservation and stewardship movement. YOU ARE our Texas Master Naturalist Family! And our family is awesome! Consider these incredible impacts of the Texas Master Naturalist Program this past year (2021) and through the entirety of our program since its 1997 inception. 

You have: 

  • Helped to train – or become – one of our 474 new members in 2021 adding to the ranks of some 15,220 who have been trained as Texas Master Naturalists since our program’s inception. 
  • Contributed 442,595 hours of service in 2021 and more than 5.9 million hours to date! 
  • Your service in 2021 is valued at $10.18 million and more than $131.53 million to date! 
  • Obtained 64,551 hours of Advanced Training in 2021 and 877,664 hours of AT to date. 
  • Reached over 137,526 youth, adults, and private landowners in 2021 and more than 6.63 million people to date. 
  • Added 2 new acres under your stewardship and management projects in 2021 and you’ve made an impact on more than 229,100 acres of Texas to date. 
  • Developed or maintained more than 2,234+ miles of trail to date. 

The impacts you and the entire Texas Master Naturalist Family make on behalf of our two state agency sponsors of Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, are noticed, felt, and appreciated more than can ever be expressed. Our agencies recognize the power of conservation stewardship and your volunteerism — and they fact that “it’s needed now more than ever”!  We hope you and your chapters utilize this month-long celebration as an opportunity to inspire others to join your ranks as you shout from the rooftops how amazing you are! 

Happy Global Volunteer Month
Happy National Volunteer Week 
Happy Earth Day 
and Good Luck to Astronaut and TMN Volunteer, Kjell Lindgren

We appreciate you! We celebrate you! We have so much to look forward to with you! You make a difference! YOU make everything possible! 

THANK YOU!!! 
Michelle Haggerty and Mary Pearl Meuth 
Texas Master Naturalist Program Coordinators

National Volunteer Week Chapter Resources

April is National Volunteer Month that is hosted by the Points of Light organization. To participate and capitalize on this timely and relevant month-long national holiday, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Master Naturalist program will coordinate to promote the volunteer program and its volunteers.

The purpose of this campaign is to highlight the statewide service and achievements of Texas Master Naturalist volunteers across the state, recognize chapter impact made in local communities, and generate overall awareness about the volunteer program to attract new potential volunteers.

All Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service County agents, administrative assistants program specialists and Texas Master Naturalist volunteers are encouraged to use the resources in this document to participate during this month-long campaign.

Strategy

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service marketing strategy team will oversee the communication strategy of this campaign, activating news articles through AgriLife Today, using Texas Master Naturalist program statistics, social media graphics, and finding opportunities for cross collaborative digital promotion with Texas A&M AgriLife, Texas Parks and Wildlife and other relevant partners.

During National Volunteer Week, from Sunday, April 17 through Saturday, April 23, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Master Naturalist program chapters will participate in highlighting and sharing the quantitative impact volunteers make in communities across Texas.

Ways to Participate with Social Media

1)  SHARE FROM STATE CHANNELS: Easiest method, most general info. Don’t forget to tag your local partner accounts for maximum visibility – These may include: Agency partners, Conservation partners, County pages  2)    CREATE ORIGINAL CONTENT: Create original post from our pre-made Canva templates! Use the language provided. Customize the images with your county or local information. Use well branded content ensures we are all sharing a consistent voice. Use hashtags ensure we are part of bigger online ‘conversations’. Call to Action: Direct audience to Program resources.

Deliverable Templates

Use a free Canva account to access these Texas Master Naturalist graphic templates.

Facebook and Twitter:

Click here to use a similar frame to the National Volunteer Week campaign – Nat’l Volunteer Week Template

Click here to use a graphic template on: Extension-TMN-Facebook-Post

Facebook Profile Photo Frame:

Click here to use a graphic template on: Extension-TMN-Facebook-Profile-Photo-Frame

Instructions: Facebook Profile Photo Frame Instructions

Instagram: Click here to use a graphic template on: Extension-TMN-Instagram-Post-1

Click here to use a graphic template on:  Extension-TMN-Instagram-Post-2

Instagram Story:

Click here to use a graphic template on: Extension-TMN-InstagramStory

Flyers (print and digital):

Click here to use a graphic template on: Extension-TMN-Flyer

Sample Social Media Copy

Facebook & Instagram:

  • We are celebrating #NationalVolunteerMonth throughout April! Volunteers are the heart of communities across Texas. Their selfless service, dedication and continuous hard work makes an impact every day. We thank you for your devotion to the Texas Master Naturalist program, your community and Texans everywhere.
  • Join us as we celebrate #NationalVolunteerMonth! Volunteerism helps create better communities. Texas Master Naturalists across the state are committed to providing education, performing outreach and serving, from restoration projects to conducting workshops. Tag a Texas Master Naturalist you know!
  • What does volunteering mean to you? Texas Master Naturalists volunteers learn and train others about natural resources, helping Texans be good stewards of the land. Through continuous learning opportunities, networking and hosting educational programs, our Master Naturalists embody the spirit of volunteerism.
  • It’s #NationalVolunteerWeek! We’re sharing just how our Texas Master Naturalist volunteers serve in counties and they impact they make. Want to make a difference in your community? Visit (website here) to learn more!

Twitter:

  • It’s #NationalVolunteerMonth! Throughout April, we are highlighting the service and impact our Texas Master Naturalist volunteers have in (name of county) through education and outreach. Stay tuned for more!
  • As Texas Master Naturalists, our mission is to develop informed volunteers to be stewards of education, outreach and service. We are dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and areas in Texas. 
  • This year, Texas Master Naturalists volunteers in (name of county) participated in over X number of volunteers hours! Thank you for your selfless service and time dedicated to your community.
  • Throughout the year, our Texas Master Naturalist volunteers host and participate in numerous educational and outreach programs for their communities. This year, (name of county) hosted X events. Which was your favorite?
  • How do you make an impact in your community? As a Texas Master Naturalist volunteer, (name of specific volunteer in specific county) makes an impact through their passion of conservation, dedication and heart of service.  

Important Tags

Be sure to tag the following social media accounts to notify those organization of your participation in the National Volunteer Month campaign:

Facebook Accounts:

Instagram Accounts:

Twitter Accounts:

Hashtags:

#TexasMasterNaturalist #AgriLifeExtension #TexasParksWildlife #NationalVolunteerMonth #NationalVolunteerWeek #landstewardship #communityservice #conservation #volunteers #volunteering #service #texas