|
|
Ireceived a note the other day from a fairly new member. He wanted to know about programs and opportunities to
volunteer at the Museum. This Member is roaring to go, and he wants to plunge in and contribute to the Museums success.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a good answer for him about volunteer programs other than that a good area to contribute his volunteer time
is with the train crew Transportation Department, and with the track crew Maintenance of Way (MOW) Departments.
The Transportation Department has built a train crew volunteer program to assure consistency in training and to assure that
the Museum professionally operates our demonstration train rides. The MOW Department has built a volunteer program to
assure that the track receives continual care and maintenance. These two departments have made big steps to creating and building
a volunteer program for their responsibility areas. And one of the most important steps is that:
1) The goals and projects of each department are clearly defined;
2) The Department Managers have created lines of communications to the Members
thatvolunteer in their department.
However, many other Museum departments organize volunteer work in a completely different manner. Here, volunteer
work tends to be casual and ad-hoc. With an ad-hoc volunteer program, a new volunteer must show up at the Museum, and
wander the grounds until he or she finds a Member who is working on something. Then, our new volunteer has to approach
the working Member and ask if they can help. Hopefully, the working Member has something for the volunteer to do to help.
But that may not be the case if it is a small, one-person project. Consequently, the volunteer either continues to wander
around looking for a volunteer task, or the volunteer just gives up and goes home.
The Museum is not user friendly to new
volunteers. However, before suggesting any changes (and there are many I could
suggest), I want to write a few words on why the Museum relies on an ad-hoc volunteer system. Many of our newer
Members may not realize that the Fox River Trolley Museum has been owned and operated by two very different organizations.
Today's Museum, with 303 Members (06/01/2006), is the Fox River Trolley Museum (FRTM), a membership based Illinois Not
For Profit Corporation. Yesterday's Museum, with 27 Members, was the Railway Equipment Leasing and Investment
Company (RELIC) tightly held closed stock and also a membership based corporation. (organization.)
But, despite both being membership organizations; RELIC was a vastly different from FRTM. RELIC Members did not join
the organization and pay annual dues. Instead, RELIC Members bought into the organization by the recommendation of
current RELIC member through the purchase of stock shares. Because of the way people became RELIC members, it was a
vastly smaller organization. How much smaller? My 1982 RELIC membership roster lists 21 Member stockholders and 6
Friends (non stockholders). There were only 27 people in the entire organization to operate and support the Museum! Now, if
my memory serves me right, of those 27 people from 1982, 15 people were Active Members, over 55% of the total
membership! During the Museums operating season, these Active Members would volunteer on average about 2 weekends a month. And
a lot of Active Members were volunteering every weekend a month.
Now, a small organization, where everyone knows everyone else and where 55% of the Members are active volunteers runs
a lot differently than larger organizations. In small volunteer organizations, most projects are done at an informal, word of
mouth level. For example, in RELIC, with the exception of scheduling operators for our demonstration trolley rides, most
projects were planned, and executed informally and through word of mouth communication between the volunteers. Most
Active Members would be already out at the MUSEUM, and if you weren't super active, but wanted to volunteer, you showed up
and wandered the grounds until you found a Member working on something and they needed help. Sounds familiar, it should as
that is today's method of Museum volunteering!
RELIC was then what about today? Today, the membership of the Fox River Trolley Association is over 11 times larger than
the membership of RELIC. In an ideal world, our Museum would have over 11 times more volunteers than in 1982. That
would translate into over 166 Active Volunteers! Yet, it seems that we only have about 30 Active Volunteers. Membership
grew 1100%, but Active Volunteers grew only 100%. Where are the rest of the Active Volunteers?
They are waiting for a Volunteer Program. They are waiting for a program:
1) Where the Museum takes seriously its role to teach
volunteersthe skills theyneed to volunteer at the Museum;
2) Where the Museum establishes a Volunteer Policy
andVolunteer Guidelinesto assist the volunteer to rapidly
startcontributing to the Museum Missionand Vision;
3) Where the Museums Managers concentrate more on
leading,organizing,teaching, planning, and managing of
volunteer projects, instead of actually taking on the actual work of
thevolunteer project;
4) Where the Museums Managers take advantage of the
Volunteermanagement concepts of other railway preservation
groups, suchas the Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railway
andapplies them to the specific needs of our organization.
Creating a volunteer program will take an enormous amount of work and effort. But not only in creating the program, but
in changing the Museums culture and outlook so that we do not behave as past relics, but embrace the dynamic future of
creating service opportunities for volunteers.
I challenge the Museums Board and Managers to start thinking along these lines so that we can create and deliver a
real volunteer program for the 2008 Membership year. I also challenge the Museum Membership to share their ideas with
me, other Directors and Managers and other Members about what they want in a volunteer program. Please send me an Email
or write a letter to me at the Museums address.
See you in South Elgin.
Edward
Konecki
edwardkonecki@aol.com
|
|
|
|
There is goooooood news concerning the L202 motor repair fund. We have received $5740 or are over 33% of our way to
the approximately $17,000 needed to fund the project. This has been done in less than three months. The donations are
greatly appreciated. Ralph Taylor, project coordinator, is eagerly awaiting more funds to come in to advance the project. He
has begun marshalling forces including member volunteers to help in the undertaking. There is much preparation work and
volunteers are needed to complete it before two motors are removed from each of L202's trucks. They will then be placed
on the carrier's truck to be taken to Wisconsin for work. In addition, when the motors are returned and placed in the trucks
more work will be required to restore L202 to operating condition. This will include reestablishing electrical connections and
other effort, possibly a new pant job.
If you would like to volunteer, contact Ralph at 630-357-4653 or write him at 27W174 Bauer Road, Naperville, IL 60563
or e-mail him at Ltaylor500@aol.com. He is anxious to begin the work and wants to hear from you soon! Write, e-mail, or
call Ralph to today! You are needed. If you can't work, the L202 fund still needs over $11,000 to finish to job.
Let's go over the top before the next issue of
"Fox River Lines."
Don MacBean
|
|
