Understanding Volunteer Management in Florida 4-H

Overview

A key responsibility for 4-H agents is to engage volunteers and expand their involvement in 4-H programs (Windon et al., 2021). Understanding the role of a volunteer administrator, knowing and following UF/IFAS volunteer policies and procedures, and utilizing management approaches will successfully involve volunteers in a county program. This publication will provide an overview of these functions, including a historical perspective, emerging research on volunteer involvement in UF/IFAS Extension, the role of the 4-H agent as an administrator and trainer of volunteers, risk management, and a recommended process for managing volunteers.

Extension Volunteers

Volunteers are an essential component of Extension programs, delivering nonformal education to audiences who might otherwise go unserved (Boyd, 2004) and playing a critical role in advancing local, state, and national initiatives (Windon et al., 2021).

Volunteer impacts benefit the individual, Extension programs, and their communities (Lobley et al., 2025). Emerging research shows volunteers often develop competencies through their service that support their own skill development and effectiveness, possibly extending into new environments such as the workplace and other community organizations (Grant et al., 2020). Additionally, research indicates that long-term volunteering is associated with decreased depression and anxiety, increased life satisfaction and wellbeing, and reduced social isolation across age groups (O’Neil et al., 2021). Volunteers play a critical role in advancing Extension’s mission through outreach and program delivery. These contributions add public value to their local communities by increasing both resiliency and community capacity (O’Neil et al., 2021).

Volunteers have historically been involved in UF/IFAS Extension for three primary functions: advisory, education delivery, and program support.

Volunteer Roles in 4-H Programs

One way to think about volunteer management within county 4-H programs is through a puzzle (Figure 1). The whole puzzle represents the overall goals and objectives of the 4-H program. The puzzle pieces represent the various educational activities and program tasks that need to be completed to achieve the goals and objectives. As the 4-H agent, the goal is to design and shape these individual pieces in concert with both staff and volunteers.

Integrating Volunteers Into 4-H Programs

Another key aspect of involving volunteers can be illustrated using overlapping circles (Figure 2). The first circle represents the needs of the 4-H program. Ask yourself these questions:

• What core educational delivery methods and program support initiatives of the 4-H program are not being accomplished?
• What other activities, projects, or initiatives would enhance the quality of the 4-H program?
• What are some tasks that require specialized skills?
• What are some tasks that current funding resources do not support?

These answers help define volunteer roles that integrate into and add value to the 4-H program. By recruiting volunteers to complement staff expertise and empowering them to lead projects that address unmet community needs, Extension can extend its reach and foster a collaborative staff-volunteer relationship. 

The second circle represents tasks that volunteers are willing and able to do. Volunteer willingness is directly related to their intrinsic motivations (Maley et al., 2015). The Volunteer Motivation Inventory describes ten key categories of volunteer motivation based on research of more than 2,400 volunteers from 15 different nonprofit organizations (Esmond & Dunlop, 2004). These categories are as follows:

• Values—Describes a situation where a volunteer is motivated by the firmly held belief that it is important to help others.
• Recognition—Describes a situation where a volunteer enjoys the recognition that volunteering gives them. They enjoy recognition of their skills and contributions, which motivates them to volunteer.
• Social Interaction—Describes a situation where a volunteer particularly enjoys the social atmosphere of volunteering. They enjoy the opportunity to build social networks and interact with other people.
• Reciprocity—Describes a situation where a volunteer enjoys volunteering and views it as an equal exchange. The volunteer has a strong understanding of the “higher good.”
• Reactivity—Describes a situation where a volunteer is volunteering out of a need to heal or address their own past issues.
• Self-Esteem—Describes a situation where a volunteer seeks to improve their own self-esteem or feelings of self-worth through their volunteering.
• Social—Describes a situation where a volunteer seeks to conform to normative influences of significant others (e.g., friends or family).
• Career Development—Describes a situation where a volunteer is motivated by the prospect of gaining experience and skills in the field in which they may eventually find employment.
• Understanding—Describes a situation where a volunteer is particularly interested in improving their understanding of themselves, the people they are assisting, or the organization for which they are a volunteer.
• Protective—Describes a situation where a volunteer is volunteering as a means of escaping negative feelings about themselves.

Contemporary research continues to group volunteer motivations into three broad categories—achievement, affiliation, and power—based on McClelland’s well-established Needs Theory. These categories reflect core psychological drivers that influence why individuals engage in specific volunteer roles (McClelland, 1987; Kurt, 2022).

The power motive causes a person to desire control or influence over another person or group. People motivated by power do things to draw attention to themselves. Volunteers motivated by power may satisfy this need through leadership roles.

Another major motive is the affiliation motive. An individual with this motive will act for the enjoyment of mutual friendship. Affiliation motivation is defined as establishing, restoring, or maintaining a close, warm, friendly relationship with another or others, or being emotionally concerned over separation from someone else (McCurley and Lynch, 2011). Volunteers with a high affiliation motive spend more time interacting with others than people with weaker affiliation motives do. Mentoring and group projects are excellent roles for volunteers with affiliation motivations.

Volunteers with achievement motives will act in ways that help them outperform someone else, meet or surpass a standard of excellence, or do something unique. Definitions of achievement differ, but what is constant among these achievers is the notion of doing something better. Volunteers as achievers prefer working on moderately difficult tasks and are drawn to work in situations where they take personal responsibility for their performance. Such work might include coordinating and managing events, gathering data, or leading meetings.

Another aspect of this illustration is that a volunteer must be capable of performing or learning to perform their assigned role. A key to sustaining a volunteer program is the ability to match the interests, skills, and abilities of a potential volunteer with an appropriate role in the Extension program. This is represented where the two circles overlap.

Managing a 4-H Program

Today's volunteers are highly integrated into Extension. Volunteers will often work more closely with staff than with the 4-H agent. This dynamic requires the volunteer administrator to be linked to both volunteers and staff (Figure 3). A key role is ensuring that the needs and concerns of staff working with volunteers are addressed, while at the same time empowering volunteers to expand their roles within Extension.

An important consideration in working with volunteers is reducing risk for volunteers, as well as clientele, faculty, staff, and UF/IFAS. A number of policies, procedures, and regulations have been established to protect both volunteers and the organization.

General Requirements

A policy and a regulation for the University of Florida each outline the same definition of who is a volunteer: “A volunteer is any person who, of his or her own free will, provides services to the University with no monetary compensation, on a continuous, occasional, or one-time basis” (University of Florida, 2016, 2020). Additional guidelines in these documents advise the following:

• Volunteers must be at least 14 years old.
• All volunteers must complete a volunteer application.
• Youth volunteers must have their application signed by their parent or guardian.

Youth Protection, Volunteer Screening, and Selection

To protect youth involved in Extension programs, University of Florida regulation has established a volunteer screening process to support compliance with Florida Statute 409.175 (University of Florida, 2016, 2020). For UF/IFAS Extension, this policy applies to all volunteers who want to work directly with youth (who are not their own children) on an ongoing basis or at an overnight event. Furthermore, volunteers who serve more than 10 hours a month or chaperone minors are required to complete a Level 2 screening. Refer to Ask IFAS publication 4H444, “UF/IFAS Extension Florida 4-H Youth Protection Policy,” for details.

These policies are designed to protect youth participants by implementing risk management practices. The policies further protect volunteers by establishing and communicating policies that reduce risk in specific situations. Finally, the policies protect UF/IFAS Extension faculty and staff by establishing consistent guidelines for structure and behavior.

A Process for Managing Volunteers

Volunteers fulfill many of the same roles and functions as paid staff, and as such, these guidelines should be followed when involving volunteers. When administering and managing unpaid staff, utilize approaches designed to engage and empower volunteers. UF/IFAS Extension uses the ISOTURE model for managing volunteers. ISOTURE is a nationally recognized leadership model for volunteers that encompasses the same concepts used to hire new employees. Each letter in ISOTURE refers to a building step for volunteer success:

• Identification of how volunteers will be involved in the Extension program
• Selection of the most appropriate volunteer for a volunteer role through effective recruiting strategies and screening
• Orientation of volunteers to Extension and their specific duties
• Training volunteers and staff to increase their capacity
• Utilization of volunteers through empowerment
• Recognition of volunteers for their contributions
• Evaluation of volunteers by focusing on results (Boyce, 1971)

The saying “there is no such thing as a free lunch” is very fitting for volunteer programs. Volunteers are not free. In addition to the financial commitment often made to an Extension program itself, involving volunteers requires a significant investment in time and energy. Furthermore, the costs associated with the inability to retain volunteers are high: ~$1,200 per volunteer lost (Eisner et al., 2008).

Where to Start

Do not expect to accomplish everything at once. Begin by getting to know the status of the existing 4-H program. Review all current volunteer files to ensure they are up to date. Once completed, implement the Identification part of the ISOTURE model.

Conclusion

Expanding volunteer involvement can be an effective strategy in meeting the goals and objectives of an Extension program. To do so, 4-H agents must understand their role in administering and managing volunteers. Figures 2 and 3 may help with visualizing this role. Be aware that there are several policies and procedures for working with volunteers. Florida 4-H uses the ISOTURE model because it is a well-established strategy to expand volunteer involvement in Extension programs.

Understanding the role of a volunteer administrator, knowing and following UF/IFAS volunteer policies and procedures, and utilizing management approaches designed for volunteers will increase the net benefits of volunteer involvement in an Extension program and increase the satisfaction of your volunteers.

References

Boyce, M. V. (1971). A systematic approach to leadership development (ED065763). USDA, Extension Service. Education Resources Information Center (ERIC).

Boyd, B. L. (2004). Extension agents as administrators of volunteers: Competencies needed for the future. Journal of Extension, 42(2), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.4781

Eisner, D., Grimm, R., Jr., Maynard, S., & Washburn, S. (2008). The new volunteer workforce. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 7(1), 32–37. https://doi.org/10.48558/ya69-2r58

Esmond, J., & Dunlop, P. (2004). Developing the volunteer motivation inventory. Lotterywest & CLAN WA Inc.

Florida 4-H. (2025). ES237: 4-H enrollment statewide and county data. UF/IFAS Extension. https://florida4h.ifas.ufl.edu/about-us/florida-4-h-impact/es237/

Grant, S., Maass, S., Vettern, R., & Harrington, R. (2020). The impact of volunteering: A multi-state study of 4-H youth development volunteers. Journal of Youth Development, 15(4), Article 6. https://open.clemson.edu/jyd/vol15/iss4/6

Kurt, S. (2022, October 17). McClelland’s three needs theory: Power, achievement, and affiliation. Education Library. https://educationlibrary.org/mcclellands-three-needs-theory-power-achievement-and-affiliation/

Lobley, J., Freeman, J., Close, D., & Dierenfield, C. (2025). Logic model—Extension volunteerism [Unpublished].

Maley, M., Dennis., L., & Eckenrode, J. (2015). Systematic translational review: Volunteer motivation. Cornell University Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.

McCurley, S., & Lynch, R. (2011). Volunteer management: Mobilizing all the resources of the community (3rd ed.). Interpub Group.

O'Neil, K., Vettern, R., McGlaughlin, P., Harrington, R., Maass, S., Grant, S., & Good, T. (2021). How volunteering with Extension 4-H youth development contributes to public value. Community Development, 52(4), 505–521. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2021.1889630

Terry, B. D, Godke, R., Heltemes, B., & Wiggins, L. (2011). The volunteer life cycle: A key to 4-H volunteer involvement: 4H 6.2/4H300, 10/2010. EDIS 2011 (1). https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-4h300-2010

UF/IFAS Extension Administration. (2019). Advisory committees for UF/IFAS Extension. https://extadmin.ifas.ufl.edu/resources/extension-advisory-committee/

UF/IFAS Extension Program Development and Evaluation Center (PDEC). (2014). Advisory committees: A guide for UF/IFAS Extension faculty.

UF/IFAS Extension Program Development and Evaluation Center (PDEC). (2025). Workload and impacts annual reporting.

University of Florida. (2016). Regulations of the University of Florida (3.0031 volunteers.). https://regulations.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/30031.pdf

University of Florida. (2020). Volunteer policy. UFHR. https://hr.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/volunteer-policy.pdf

Windon, S., Stollar, M., & Radhakrishna, R. (2021). Examining volunteer management needs and preferred professional development delivery methods among Extension educators. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 9(2), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.54718/PBFG9558

Further Reading

McClelland, D. C. (1987). Human motivation. Cambridge University Press.

Schmiesing, R., & Safrit, R. (2007). 4-H youth development professionals' perception of the importance of and their current level of competence with selected volunteer management competencies. Journal of Extension, 45(3), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.4257

Sinasky, M., & Bruce, J. (2007). Volunteers' perceptions of the volunteer management practices of county Extension 4-H educators. Journal of Extension, 45(3), Article 28. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.4276