Volunteer Role Descriptions for Fairfax PRISM

Thank you for your interest in volunteering to help the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM. We have several areas where one can volunteer, including: 

  • Community Representatives Team
  • Site Visit Team
  • Public Awareness TeamArea
  • Survey Team
  • Workforce Development Team
  • Corporate Outreach Team
  • Grants Team

Read on below for more details about each of these areas to better understand where you can best contribute! It’s fine to volunteer for more than one role. :) 

Please fill out this form to let us know your interests.

Our intention is to try to have everyone work in teams or at least pairs. It’s more fun, and as volunteers, we need back-up for when other things come up in our lives. 

Common responsibilities for all volunteers

  • Please stay in communications with the team leaders periodically so they know what is getting done.
  • Notify your team leader immediately if you are unable to do something you signed up for. There is no shame in that - things come up for everyone! We just need to know so someone else can step in to help or take over.
  • (See information elsewhere on our safety policies)

For organizers

  • Use the Fairfax PRISM Google Drive (not just your own Drive) to keep records.
  • Be very careful not to share contact information with anyone who doesn’t need it for their PRISM work.

Community Representatives Team

Community representatives (1+ for each community association or neighborhood)

  • Raise awareness in your community
  • Distribute information that we’ll email you periodically
  • Work with others to strategize about how to get the invasive plants under control in your local area.
  • See details here.

Area coordinators (2 for each area)

  • Organize community representatives within an area
  • Have a meeting for them (virtually or otherwise) at least once a year

Site Visit Team 

Site visit volunteers (at least a dozen)

  • Two-three volunteers per visit
  • Walk around with the decision-makers on community or commercial properties.
  • Identify invasive plants and discuss management options.
  • Create a report for them and for our records.
  • Follow up periodically to answer further questions and offer encouragement.

Site visit organizers (at least 2)

  • Match visit requests up with volunteers
  • Keep track of it all.

Public Awareness Team

Social media 

  • Content creators (at least 3)
    • Create and post series with nice graphics, at least one posting monthly
    • Create one-offs as needed
  • Site administrators (at least 2 for each platform)
    • Monitor replies and messages
    • Post announcements, news
    • Share Blue RIdge PRISM posts when timely 

Writers

  • Newsletter article writers (at least 2)
    • Produce at least one article for each newsletter
  • Other article writers (at least 2)
    • Seek out publications that would accept other articles and obtain permission
    • Write and submit articles
  • Team update writers (1 for each team that needs this)
    • Work with team leaders to produce updates for their volunteers

Newsletter organizers (at least 2)

  • Solicit, collect, and organize material on Google Docs
  • Update the email server contact list. Use tags to separate audiences.
  • Publish approximately monthly 
  • Maintain contact list of people willing to share, and request they do so each time
  • Post on social media

Website managers (at least 3)

  • Keep it organized
  • Create new pages and edit content when needed
  • Maintain the calendar and event sign-ups

Survey Team

Survey volunteers (many, many)

Survey coordinators

  • Tree counts
    • Review each new submission by Plant NOVA Natives Tree Rescuers
    • Keep spreadsheet organized. Download periodically as a backup.
    • Clarify boundaries of surveyed areas (and anything else that isn’t clear) with the submitter
    • Add submissions to the Google My Map. Download map data periodically as a backup.
  • iMapInvasives
  • Look for parks that haven’t been surveyed and encourage volunteers to do do it.
  • Review each new submission. Clarify any questions with the submitter.
  • If necessary, edit data (or the whole submission, if needed)
  • Add tags and titles where needed.
  • Approve volunteers
  • Add volunteers to projects

Workforce Development Team

Trainers (many)

  • Arrange and conduct hands-on training events for volunteers on invasive plant ID and management.
  • Train new FCPA Tree Rescuers at their sites.

FCPA Tree Rescuers coordination (at least 2)

  • Coordinate volunteers going through the certification process.
  • Keep track of the volunteers
  • Help them navigate the process
  • Keep the calendar updated.

Trainers for landscape professionals (at least 4)

  • Help develop  and run the certificate courses
  • Teach modules
  • Manage the paperwork

Corporate Outreach Team

 Recruiters for corporate donations (at least 4)

  • Work with the team on a strategy for approaching corporations to adopt parks to pay for invasive plant management.
  • Reach out to the companies.

Grants Team

Grant writers (at least 2)

  • Seek grants to be given out as matching mini-grants for communities to control invasive plants
  • Manage the implementation paperwork

 Mini-grant managers (at least 2)

  • Help develop mini-grant programs and work with the communities as they go through the process of applying, doing the work, and reporting so they can get reimbursed.