Club Volunteer Survey

Our annual Fossil Fair requires numerous talents to make the event a success.  There are many ways to assist: security, silent auction, kid’s dig pit, entry table, volunteer coordination and support, event planning, marketing, displays and membership table.

Skills & requirements involved: a variety of skills and talents

Admissions Table: Greeting visitors with a smile, taking the money, giving them a free door prize ticket, etc.

Kids’ Dig Pit: Explaining the dig rules, getting the kids in (and even harder…. OUT) of the pit, taking money, sweeping sand, identifying fossils the kids find, etc.

Silent Auction: Logging donations, selecting items for each auction round, taking money, soliciting donations from the vendors, announcing the beginning and end of the auctions, etc.

Membership Table: Handing out club info, helping people join the club, explaining about the field trips and other activities, selling t-shirts, etc.

Fossil Display Area: Telling visitors about the fossils on display and answering questions or suggesting other sources for the answers.

Setting up on Friday, Oct. 5th and packing up after closing on Sunday, putting the signs out on the streets early Saturday morning, 

Communications: get out the flyer, Facebook (social media) posts, putting up the yard signs and retrieving them. 

Bring Food!
One of the really extraordinary things about our Fossil Fair is that we feed our volunteers and vendors. We firmly believe full tummies make for happy people. So we ask that everyone bring a casserole, or salad, or dessert, or bag of munchies to share. The club foots the bill for the lunch meat and fixings for sandwiches as well as the paper plates and utensils.

Donations for the Kids’ Pit and Silent Auction
Search the back of your closets and the garage for all those boxes and buckets of fossils and rocks that you can live without…. to say nothing of the room it gives you for some really exciting future finds. Bring the fossils to the Fair and donate them for the Kids’ Pit or the Auction. To you, it may be just another beat up shark tooth but to a kid, it’s a priceless treasure.

For the Silent Auction, you can donate display cases/shelves, modern bones, figurines, prehistoric animal toys, etc. as well as fossils or minerals

The shifts
Saturday: 8:30 am to 12:45 pm and 12:30 pm to 5 pm 
Sunday: 9:30 am to 12:45 pm and 12:30 pm to 4 pm 

Meetings

Meeting planning, speakers, set up, membership table

Skills & requirements involved: email communications and cooperation with others.

Kids’ Fossil Blast

At the Meetings we have a special hour beforehand for children ages: 5-14. During that time various topics and fossils are shared and have fun with fossil hands-on activities.

Skills & requirements involved: patience and cooperation with others, creating fun activities, joy working with children, and research subjects.

Fossil Auction/Bucks

Throughout the year, our efforts to enhance the club are rewarded when we earn Fossil Bucks.  A couple of times a year we get the opportunity to spend those Bucks at Auctions for great fossil prizes.

Skills & requirements involved: email communications, record keeping, planning skills, acquiring donated auction items

Membership

We have new members sign up regularly.  We need to ensure our communications with them and membership renewals. Maintain membership info and lists.

Skills & requirements involved: computer skills (spreadsheets), email communications and record keeping.

Social Media

One of our most successful outreaches is our Facebook group with more than 15,000 members.  This requires multiple admins to ensure proper posting and answering questions.

Skills & requirements involved: Facebook account, patience and cooperation with others.

Website

Our website is maintained professionally , but there are opportunities for volunteers to improve upon out site.  Perhaps someone would be interested in providing more resources or authoring blog? The site is a WordPress built site.

Skills & requirements involved: good writing skills, comfortable with technology, knowledge of Florida fossils

Club Email Communications

Manage club email account, answering questions from the public, passing along communications to appropriate officers.  Emailing the club newsletter and information out to the membership.

Skills & requirements involved: comfortable with gmail and checking it regularly, effective communication in email replies, comfortable with the technology.

Photography

Good photography helps to promote events and document our adventures.

Skills & requirements involved: have camera equipment, comfortable with technology to share photography with online folders.

Education & Outreach

Attending community events and setting up tables with displays. Examples: at the science center, school talks, zoos, museums and more.

Skills & requirements involved: travel to locations, talk to the public about collections and the club

Field Trips

We regularly have trips to places like the Vulcan Mine, Peace River and more.  Volunteers to organize and be the contact for information are critical for success of each event.

Skills & requirements involved: email communication, mobile phone number, effective communication with other, planning skills.

Officers

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

Chairs

• Education
• Field Trips
• Fossil Fair
• Fossil Auctions
• Fossil Bucks
• Fossil Lotto
• Membership
• Newsletter
• Photography
• Facebook Group Admins

Board of Directors