This document discusses strategies for improving volunteer engagement and leadership in Texas 4-H programs. In 3 sentences: The retreat addressed changing negative perceptions of past events to positive ones, and discussed ways to build consensus through effective event management, volunteer mobilization, and use of online resources. The document also outlines management topics like chartering requirements and financial oversight for 4-H clubs, and identifies popular 4-H projects and how to use data to guide program marketing efforts toward youth, parents, and volunteers.

2. Retreat – Lets
Go / Lets Grow

3. Retreat:
• Withdraw from enemy forces
• An act of moving back or withdrawing
• A quiet secluded place in
which one can rest and relax

4. A Team Helped with This Retreat
THEIR CHALLENGE:
 Change the Language from………
◉Thank Goodness this retreat is
over!!!!!
◉ to……………………………………………
WOW, WHAT A GREAT
RETREAT!!!!!

9. Building Consensus
Event Management
Volunteer Mobilization
Working Successfully with County
Extension Agents
Web Based Resources & Where it Fits
Something New that Everyone Needs to
Know
Recordbooks! YIKES!

10. Up 2%

11. Two ways to go here!
Management
Items
What’s Ahead

12. Management
Items

13. Changes / Updates for 2014-15
 Texas 4-H Foundation
 Annual $5 Volunteer Fee
 Age / Grade Changes (2015-2016)
 2014 Texas 4-H Summit – Who needs to attend
 4-H Happenings will continue
 Possible changes in 4-H year for program planning
(Sept – Aug)
 More Marketing
◉ TEAM Texas 4-H
◉ Signs
◉ Membership Cards
◉ Web Marketing

14. Chartering
 Protects the name and emblem of 4-H in Texas and
America.
 Grants permission to local clubs/groups to operate
in the name of 4-H.
 Allows 4-H clubs/groups to operate under the 501c3
not for profit organization Texas 4-H Inc.
 All clubs should charter
2,154 - 4-H Clubs and
Groups in Texas

15. Budget and Finances
 We have to be in the GAME!
 Any club/group who has a bank account or accepts,
disburses, and/or manages any monies during the 4-H
year will provide an annual budget for review by club.
 Annually, the club/group will provide a copy of the most
current bank statement for each of the accounts the
club/group manages.
 Bank accounts require a minimum of two (2) signatures
and those two signatures have to be from more than one
family.
 Verification of account activity and/or signature card may
be requested at any time by the Texas A&M AgriLife
Extension Service.

17. What to ask…when considering
4-H Change
 Are kids at the heart of the issue?
 What will our best employees think about the
decision?
 How will this impact our program?
 What is the message that is being sent by this
decision?
 Who was involved in making the decision?
 How much lead time was given?

18. Spin – Think of the Chicken
70 new clubs
~ 1400 new youth
Common topics: Fuel Up to Play,
Rocketry, Archery
Some old clubs started SPIN?

19. Direction!
Where are we?
Big Data
Volunteer Management Leadership
and Mobilization
Unit Goals and Priorities

20. POPULAR
PROJECTS
Foods and Nutrition
Swine
Shooting Sports
Goats (Meat)
Photography
Rabbits
Horse
Beef
Clothing and Textiles
Sheep
Consumer Decision Making
Community Service
Leadership
POPULAR C.E.
Ag in the Classroom
/ Science of Ag
Junior Master
Gardener
Egg to Chick
Healthy Living
(Fuel Up to Play /
Balance Food and
Play
S.E.T.
Anti-Bullying (Take a
Stand)

21. Big Program Picture
Youth
Livestock and
Ag
Healthy Living Youth
Leadership /
Volunteerism
Youth Natural
Resources
S.E.T and
Career
Development
Project Support
(Sheep, Goat,
Beef, Swine,
Horse)
Foods and
Nutrition
4-H Club
Management /
Resource
Development
Shooting
Sports
Career
Development
Texas Proud of
Texas Ag
Fuel up 4-H Council Wildlife Ed Robotics
Science of Ag Active Living /
Exercise
Youth
Leadership
Water Ed Rocketry
Healthy
Ambassadors
Discover
Science
Method
Technology

22. Bigger Picture
 Courtney Dodd – Programming, Faculty / Staff
Development, 4-H Problems and Issues, Screening
 Toby Lepley – Texas 4-H Inc Liaison, Chartering,
Club Banking, Connect
 Darlene Locke – Leadership, Leadership,
Leadership
 Jill Martz – 50%, ADA, Title IX, Audits
 Greg Myles – Urban, Urban, Urban
 David Wright – Bigger than Military
 Larry Perez – Heifer Validation & Shooting Sports
Amy Dromgoole – Roundup is the largest PROGRAM
in the agency.

23. Who are we marketing to?
Science
Photography
YOUTH
Science
Safe Environ
Child
PARENT
FUN!
Photography

24. Let the PROJECTSDrive It
BIG
DATA
 But the key will still be
◉LOCATION | LOCATION | LOCATION
 And that means we need to work together in a
system that allows
◉TRUST and empowerment.

25. Darker the Green, the
higher 4-H participation

26. Urban vs. Kind of Rural
They ALL Need To Be Served!
Urban Participation
Rural Participation
Darker the Green, the higher 4-H participation

29. Google Analytics says this….
 Science fair project ideas (4400)
 Science experiments (2400)
 Science experiments for kids
(1900)
 Cool science experiments (1000)
 Volunteer opportunities (880)
 Volunteering (880)
 After school programs (720)
 Community service ideas
 (720) Social skills (590)
 Community service Houston
(320)
 Leadership training (320)
 Community service Dallas (260)
 Leadership development (260)
 Community service Austin (170)
 Mentoring programs (170)
 Teen leadership (170)
 Volunteer organizations (140)
 Youth challenge program (110)
 Youth activities (70)
 Youth programs (50)
 Youth leadership (50)
 Youth camp (50)
 Social skills for kids (40)
 Youth development (40)
 Youth camps (30)
In the month of February

30. The Next Step
Youth
Programs = 8
Teen
Leadership
= 19
Youth Dev. = 8
And the last step:
When it is Googled,
WE come up as the option

31. VOLUNTEERISM
What Makes You Feel Good About
“TRUSTING” a Volunteer?
◉Point #1 – Their comments were focused on
people development at a rate of 3 to 1.
◉Point #2 – Content is important, but it is a must
that we develop teaching points that deal with
how volunteers work with people through
caring and enthusiasm.

32. CARING ENTHUSIASM SUBJECT MATTER PLANNING
Reliable, follow-through,
dependable,
responsible, consistent,
invested, integrity,
servant heart, pleasant
Motivated,
determined,
confident, willing, risk
taker, proactive, self-starter,
available
Educated, well-trained,
experienced,
knowledgeable/
matched to the
task, have skills
CEAs don’t
Organized,
willing to
follow
instructions,
knows what to
communicate,
listens to CEA
PEOPLE CONTENT
Successful Volunteers

33.  Texas 4-H Inc
 Liability
 Risk Management
 Insurance
 Chartering
 IRS
 People Empowerment
 Flexibility
 Creativity
 Fun
 Engaging
 More Support
ENTHUSIASM

34. Virtual Volunteer Conference - Overall
Summary
 4 sessions/8 days
44 workshops
 660 contacts
 342 people (duplicates removed)

35. Workshop Topics
November February May July/August
Invitational Contests 4-H Record Books Teaching Public Speaking Club Ed
Teen Retreat Tools of the Trade WHEP 4-H Community Service
Clothing & Textiles 4-H Conference Center Summer Camp Opps Chartering 4-H Clubs
Consumer Decision
Educational
Robotics Recruiting Volunteers
Making
Presentations
4-H Update Photography Share-the-Fun Fundraising Do’s &
Don’ts
Tax Filing Healthy Lifestyles Inv. College Readiness 4-H Program Update
Ag Product ID 4-H Program Update 4-H Rallies & Sign-Up
Nights
4-H CONNECT
Quiz Bowls Outdoor Challenge Social Media Marketing the Program
Volunteer Awards Golf SPIN Clubs Leaders 4 Life Where Volunteers Fit
Shooting Sports Financial Management 4-H Roundup
Scholarships Invitational Contests Livestock Judging Basics
Food Challenge
How to Judge Record

36. Participation Summary
November February May July/August
# of Workshops 11 11 13 9
# of Contacts: 250 157 188 65
# of Participants (duplicates
151 69 94 25
removed):
Lunch-time Participation: 151 108 144 65
Evening Participation: 99 49 44 N/A

37. Feedback
 Loved the whole virtual conference experience – was
able to pick sessions relevant to the interests of my
club members, and able to ‘attend’ without having out-of-
town travel. Thanks so much – I look forward to
future sessions.
 Excellent method to distribute information to the field.
Should be a standard practice. Very informative.
 Very good way to get information out to the volunteers.
Sure saved lots of time and money from not having to
travel to get this information.
 I love these virtual conferences. It enables me to
participate at a time that is convenient for me and I
don’t have to travel.

38. Volunteer Focus Groups
Representation
 27 Faculty represented
◉ 6 CEA-Ag/NR
◉ 6 CEA-FCS
◉ 6 CEA-4-HYD
◉ 4 CEA-Horticulture
◉ 4 RPLs
◉ 1 Specialist

39. What is currently working?
 Virtual conferences
 4-H App
 4-H Happenings
 Social Media
 Club Ed
 LAB & Committee guides

40. What additional training and resources
are needed for leading volunteers?
 State Conference of Volunteer Administrators
 Leadership training
 Risk management
 Revitalizing programs and volunteer base
 New and fresh ideas on recruiting
 Awareness of non-Extension training opportunities

41. Why are some agents able to build
stronger volunteer bases than others?
 Greater understanding of volunteers’ strong point and
where they fit
 Length of time in county
◉ Relationships
◉ Community involvement
◉ Ability to build network
 Trust
 Maturity

42. What type of training format do we need
to utilize?
 Virtual conferences
 Close to home
 Develop a toolkit for volunteers
◉ Online training
◉ Orientation
◉Reporting requirements – need a
universal system for volunteers to use
and increased expectations for agents
to report volunteer impact

43. Less than 1%
Common things we hear:
◉Overworked
◉Don’t know that is available
◉We MUST empower them to
LEAD! But how???

44. What Does this Mean?
The content can come from
anywhere, by anyone, at any time
(as long as they are a trusted
source).
Communication is
easy.

45. And Boy do we Communicate
 Weekly Blog
 4-H Standard
 Emails (all day / every day)
 Text Messaging
 4-H App
 Virtual Trainings
 Leadership Lives / Tweetups
 Facebook
 WE HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER COMMUNICATORS
Yet, the statement I get the most:
I didn’t know yall even did that…

46. Part of Our Agenda
this Week is to
Determine how to
Best Communicate

47. CONNECTING
Cooperating
Communicating
And what about
here?
And here?
And here?
What is happening here?
Collaborating

48. Connections!
 Most workplaces are FAILING to provide
connection & people in the workplace feel
unconnected with each other.
 81% of employees say leaders DON’T listen
 82% say their leader doesn’t provide feedback
 28% of employees rarely or never discuss future
goals and tasks with their boss. 70% wish they did.
 36% of employees rarely or never receive
performance feedback. 67% wish they did
 People who feel connected to their colleagues and
LEADER are more likely to feel good about their
jobs. And when connection happens, employees
stay with their organizations.

49. Texas 4-H is no
Different!
CONNECT
 Listen
 Constructive Criticism
 Positive Reinforcement
 Show Energy
 Contagious enthusiasm

50. Questions to Ponder?
 Where does this room fit?
 Are we promoting volunteer utilization?
 Are we celebrating volunteer empowerment?
◉NOT just the volunteer, but the CEA leading the effort.
 Is it in the Perf review domain (at a high enough level)?
 Is it in career ladder?
 Does utilization go passed planning with volunteers?
 Can we LET GO?

51. Where does this
room fit?
◉Individually
◉As an Unit

52. First Exercise!
Take out your envelope.
Review your goals you
submitted for performance
review?
How are you doing?

53. How can the Unit Better Serve the
Agency?
 Continue to be an example of positivity, through user friendly,
innovative, FUN programs that are driven by our clientele (youth)
 We are doing it…. – Creating a culture of change….Think BIG ALWAYS.
We need to foster a value of BIG THINKING at the local level,
Promote risk taking and failing forward
 Model a concise, efficient, and effective method of
communicatingwith CEAs and clientele.
 Work better on content development with departmentsfor
youth
 Be seen as leaders in youth development research– and carefully
balancing that with the implementation of youth activities.

54. Top 10
Thoughts
for Us to
Consider!

55. TOP 10!

56. Empty your cup!
Find ways to pour
into people around
you!
◉Andy Stanley

57. Good leaders are
accountable; they
have nothing to
hide.
◉Archbishop
Desmond Tutu

58. Create a “beyond
you” moment.
Share threads of
kindness
Laura Schroff

59. Children may
not listen, but
they are very
good at
imitating!
Laura Bush

60. Responsibility
begins at the top.
Don’t just ask
what’s wrong
with them, but
what’s wrong
with their
leaders.
◉Malcolm
Gladwell

61. If you pick up someone’s trash, it
changes how you are viewed by
everyone in your neighborhood. It
could have been anyone, but it was
you!
Randall Wallace

62. The only thing leaders can
control in an organization is
environment.
◉Simon Sinek

63. Leadership is like exercise.
You cant measure it on a
daily basis because you
don’t see the impact daily
Simon Sinek

64. Leadership begins and ends
with the customer! So,
simplify the product.
Bill McDermott, SAP

65. I believe the true secret
to transformation is a
closely CONNECTED
culture
Angela Ahrendts

66. A Few More
 Can’t Never Could Cause He Never Tried
 Its Never Too Late to Try
Words That Are So True, The Only Way Out is
Through
Tell Me What You Are, Not What You Are Not
Connecting beats Communicating Every Time
 The Windshield is Bigger Than The Review
Mirror
 Its Better to Give than to Receive

67. The Dogs of Ron
Burns – A Tribute to
the Dogs of 9/11