Turning Your Ideas into Action
Back in 2023, we shared how your feedback helped us make changes to our volunteer events to create an even more gratifying experience for all participants. But the process didn’t end there; we are continually listening to and learning from your input.
Following are some of the changes we’ve initiated since then in response to your feedback:
Clarifying year-round activities: We heard you say that you want more clarity on what to expect—not only on the day you are volunteering, but also throughout the year. We are working on it! Here's a sneak peek:
Habitat restoration priorities depend on weather, location, and even the progress other volunteers have contributed to the project thus far! Your exact project details will be identified on your event's registration page.
Expanding our outreach: We heard some of you suggest that advertising in more community gathering spaces could help engage new members of the community in our programs. In response to this feedback, our Director of Community Engagement has been working to expand outreach to places where you already spend time. If you have suggestions for where to advertise our programs, like your school, community center, or favorite cafe, contact volunteer@grassrootsecology.org!
“For most of our students, this is a new opportunity and it takes some time to build confidence and commitment, but this new learning is exactly what helps our students to advance.
Thank you for taking care of some of my favorite spaces and for caring for our students!”
More diverse opportunities: We do sometimes get conflicting feedback. For example, some volunteers prefer events where they jump right in to restoration, while others enjoy a more relaxed environment with a focus on socialization and education. To meet everyone’s needs, we are striving to provide not only more opportunities, but more kinds of opportunities.
For starters, we’ve created “advanced” volunteering opportunities for repeat volunteers, and we continue to hold welcoming spaces for those who are newer to working outside.
We are also working on offering events at different times of the day. Often we work in the morning to stay safe in hot weather, but we want to meet those of you who can’t join us on weekend mornings!
A recent sunset restoration event at Russian Ridge Open Space (August 2024)
“[Grassroots Ecology staff] treated all in our group with smiles, enthusiasm and respect.”
If you’d like to add your feedback to help us continue to improve our programs, we want to hear from you! Whether it's your first, fifth, or fiftieth event with us, we value your input and are always pushing ourselves to improve. And of course, you'll have the opportunity to enter our raffle to win Grassroots Ecology merchandise!
Thank you, and we hope to see you outside soon!
By Maya Nagaraj, Restoration Specialist
