“The Right Tools at the Right Time”: Improving Volunteer Education and Support

Success of the 4-H Youth Development (4-H) program relies heavily on the recruitment and retention of volunteers who implement 4-H programs. 4-H volunteers—in turn—rely on program professionals to Journal of Youth Development | http://jyd.pitt.edu/ | Vol. 15 Issue 4 DOI 10.5195/jyd.2020.878 The Right Tools at the Right Time 111 continually improve the education and support systems they need to succeed. In this study, the researchers used a mixed-methods survey based on the 4-H Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency (VRKC) taxonomy across the Washington State 4-H program to uncover (a) what education volunteers want for themselves and their county program, (b) what challenges they face in their role, and (c) what they need to succeed. The results of this study indicate that program professionals may improve volunteer education and support systems by focusing on 4 essential volunteer needs: (a) supportive teams; (b) engaged youth and families; (c) facilitation skills in experiential education and positive youth development; and (d) effective program administration, communication, and information systems. While this study focuses on 4-H, the results and implications may be relevant to other youth development programs that are charged with educating and supporting adult volunteers.

Engaging volunteers' motivations is another powerful retention tool (Serafino, 2001). Saitgalina (2018) found that two types of motivation-social/altruistic and exploring/growing-and one type of satisfaction-the satisfaction of working with others towards a common goal-were most prevalent among over 26,000 volunteers at professional organizations across the United States. These results echo what numerous studies have found within 4-H programs: volunteers are primarily motivated by positive social interaction at the family and community level, and a desire to help others (Culp & Schwartz, 1999;Fritz et al., 2000;Fritz et al., 2003;Henderson, 1981;Reimer et al., 2004).

Study Objective
Continually improving volunteer education and support in ways that ignite volunteers' motivations is crucial to volunteer recruitment and retention (Arnold et al., 2009;Van Horn et al., 1999). With this in mind, we studied the following research questions: • What education do volunteers want for themselves and their county 4-H program?
• What challenges do volunteers face in their role, and what do they need to succeed?
While this study surveyed only 4-H volunteers in Washington State, we suspect that the results and implications are relevant to other state 4-H programs and other youth development programs outside of 4-H that are charged with educating and supporting adult volunteers.

Methods
We developed and fielded a mixed-methods survey based on a modified version of the 4-H VRKC taxonomy to evaluate Washington State's 4-H volunteer education and support systems.
This approach, including both quantitative (i.e., multiple-choice questions) and qualitative (i.e., open-ended questions) data, allowed for triangulation, thus increasing the validity and reliability of the findings (Cresswell & Plano, 2010).

Sample and Recruitment
Before fielding, the instrument was piloted on paper across three county 4-H programs. Data collected from 127 pilot surveys suggested the instructions and questions were sufficiently clear. Following the pilot, no questions were modified; however, the survey was redesigned to be fielded using Qualtrics, a web-based survey platform.
All 39 county-based 4-H programs in Washington State were invited to participate in the study.
Fifty-four percent of counties (n = 21) participated in the post-pilot study. Study participants were recruited through their county 4-H office, which shared the study invitation with all enrolled 4-H volunteers. Each county 4-H office received a dissemination protocol to follow, which included a template introduction and reminder emails to send at 3-and 6-week intervals.
Invitations were sent to 2,524 4-H volunteers, representing 43% of all Washington State's 4-H volunteers at the time of the survey. Survey responses were collected for 2 months (April-May 2015), with 441 volunteers participating, yielding a 17% response rate. Of those who responded, the completion rate was 86% (n = 379).

Survey Instrument
In this article, we report on three sections of the survey: • volunteer demographics • general club leader: responsible for a club's overall management.
• project leader: responsible for facilitating youth learning in a specific project area.
• activity leader: responsible for short-term events or chaperoning.
• resource leader: provides intermittent or one-time support in a club or project area.
Respondents selected the role they most identified with. The role "other" was added to capture volunteers solely serving in middle-management roles, including county-level or committee-level leadership.
VRKC-Based Self-Assessment Educational needs were assessed using a slightly modified version of the VRKC taxonomy composed of 39 competencies within the six domains. Seven competencies were modified (e.g., reworded, added, combined) in an effort to increase their relevancy to the respondents. All modifications are located in the Appendix.
For each competency, respondents were asked to select one or more of the following: • personal interest: I want to know more about this skill/subject.
• personal confidence: I am confident in my abilities with this skill/subject.
• county need: Training in this skill/subject is needed to improve our county program.
• uncertainty: I am not sure.

Open-Ended Questions
Two open-ended questions were included in the survey: • "What challenges have you experienced as a 4-H leader in [specified] county?" • "What do you need to be successful in your role within the 4-H program?"

Data Analysis
Quantitative For each primary measure, quantitative analyses were conducted using SPSS, a statistical analysis platform. Descriptive statistics were used to identify frequencies for each competency.
Nonparametric tests were used to identify how volunteers ranked the competencies in relation to (a) personal interest, (b) personal confidence, (c) county need, and (d) uncertainty.

Qualitative
The open-ended questions were analyzed through coding. Before beginning data analysis, an a priori coding scheme was created (Miles et al., 2013;White & Scanga, 2019) based on the VRKC taxonomy. Three members of the research team piloted the scheme for process validity and clarity. After the pilot, two team members independently coded the responses for both questions and generated themes from the codes. For more details on this process, review White & Scanga (2019).
Many responses did not fit into VRKC domains or competencies, so an inductive coding system was developed (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Because post-analysis revealed thematic similarities between the two open-ended questions, an overarching code system was created to group responses within three major themes and their associated subthemes.

Respondent Demographics
Nearly half of respondents were general club leaders (n = 185), a position requiring increased levels of responsibility and engagement. Additionally, over half of respondents were long-term volunteers (n = 238) with 6 or more years of experience.

Personal Interest
The top five highest-ranked competencies of personal interest all related to teaching, facilitation, and engaging others in programming ( Table 2). The competencies volunteers were least interested in learning more about are within the "interpersonal characteristics" domain (i.e., honesty, ethics, and morality, demonstrating compassion and care; Appendix).

Personal Confidence
In general, volunteers were confident in their abilities, with 50% or more of respondents reporting confidence in 72% (n = 28) of the competencies (Appendix). Volunteers broadly identified the "Interpersonal Characteristics" domain as an area of confidence (Figure 2; Appendix). All three organization domain competencies that volunteers were least confident in related to recruitment, involvement, and delegation (Table 3). The top five competencies identified by volunteers as needed to improve their county program are all within the domains of organization and communications (Table 4).  Of the 39 competencies measured, five were repeatedly selected by volunteers as areas of personal interest, low personal confidence, or county need ( Figure 2). All five of these competencies are within the domains of organization or communications: • parent recruitment and involvement • delegating tasks to parents • use of technology for communication and education • youth recruitment and involvement • marketing and public relations  challenges included conflict with program professionals, other volunteers, and parents/caregivers, and lack of help from others (Table 6). Volunteers' needs for success included support and help from others, networking and mentorship opportunities with other 4-H volunteers, and motivation and encouragement (Table 7). "everyone wants the events but very few step up to help make them happen" • Communications    (Table 8). Volunteers' needs for success included education and information, simple processes and paperwork, and funding (Table 9).    (Table 10). Volunteers' needs for success included youth recruitment and engagement skills and time management and organizational skills (Table 11).   Coding results from the open-ended questions support the results of the VRKC-based selfassessment by illuminating specific-yet repeatedly referenced-challenges and needs of volunteers (e.g., parent recruitment and involvement, delegating tasks to parents, youth recruitment and involvement). Seven of the top 10 competencies of need found within the "challenges" and "needs for success" results are within the domains of organization* or communications † : • ability to develop and strengthen relationships • club management • planning and organizing* • parent recruitment and involvement* • delegating tasks to parents* • patience and flexibility • time management* • use of technology for communication and education † • youth recruitment and involvement* • marketing and public relations †

Discussion and Implications for Improving Volunteer Education and Support
All five of the top competencies selected by volunteers as areas of personal interest, low personal confidence, or county need (i.e., parent recruitment and involvement, delegating tasks to parents, use of technology for communication and education, youth recruitment and involvement, marketing and public relations) are also within the list of the most coded competencies from the "challenges" and "needs for success" questions. The results alignment between the VRKC-based self-assessment and VRKC-coded open-ended questions suggest that these topics-all related to engaging program youth and families-are clear priorities for volunteer education.
In addition to needs related to engaging youth and families in programming, the open-ended question results emphasized a need for education to increase interpersonal (i.e., ability to develop and strengthen relationships, patience and flexibility) and basic organizational skills (i.e., planning and organizing, time management). Allowing study participants a space to articulate specific challenges and needs for success also highlighted opportunities for foundational administrative improvement that could have otherwise been missed.
The results of this study indicate that 4-H professionals, particularly those who support clubbased programming, may improve volunteer education and support systems by focusing on four essential volunteer needs: • Need 1: supportive teams

Demonstrating Value
Creating a positive team environment starts with program professionals. Providing timely support and "clearing the administrative roadblocks," as one respondent put it, can go a long way towards demonstrating that volunteers are valued. However, intentional recognition of volunteers' value is also essential (Hager & Brudney, 2004). Extrinsic rewards and public recognition events are common in 4-H, but efforts need not be costly or time-consuming, as volunteers report that the most meaningful forms of recognition are often personal thank-you notes and "pats on the back" (Culp & Schwartz, 1998;Fritz et al., 2003;Stillwell et al., 2010).

Role Within the Shared-Leadership Team
4-H is at its best when volunteers, youth, parents/caregivers, and professionals work together in shared-leadership teams within organized councils, committees, task forces, and ad hoc working groups (Snider, 1985). Alongside an overview of the shared-leadership model, 4-H professionals should provide volunteers with organizational charts that illustrate the local, state, and national systems they work within, a need Arnold and Dolenc (2008) noticed in the Oregon 4-H program and one seen within this study.

Accessing Support and Strengthening Relationships
Many volunteers reported a lack of connection to and support from other 4-H volunteers, relationships they labeled as a "need for success." To facilitate the development of these relationships, program professionals should consider initiatives to help volunteers network and develop mutual purpose and trust, such as • including volunteers as peer-educators (Cassill et al., 2012) • establishing volunteer mentorship programs Shelstad, 2018) • offering social and team-building events (Stillwell et al., 2010) Volunteers also need supportive relationships with youth participants and their parents/caregivers. The development of these relationships, alongside those with 4-H volunteers and professionals, is strengthened by a host of interpersonal characteristics like the "ability to develop and strengthen relationships," which was the most commonly coded competency within the open-ended responses.
Despite reporting a need for better teamwork and ranking competencies related to building supportive teams as the top three competencies they want to know more about (e.g., teambuilding skills, parent recruitment and involvement, and delegating tasks to parents) the volunteers in this study were less interested in learning about the VRKC domain of interpersonal characteristics than any other domain. Fox et al. (2009)

saw this same dynamic among
Louisiana 4-H volunteers who also identified team-building skills and parent recruitment and involvement in the top 10 most helpful volunteer education topics while simultaneously devaluing interpersonal skill-building.

Table 12. Volunteer Education to Build Supportive Teams
Adult-learner need Associated topic, techniques, or tools

Relevant education
Training and resources should be intentionally framed within clearly relevant topics (Knowles et al., 2005;Ota et al., 2006).
According to study results, VRKC topics related to interpersonal skills most desired by volunteers include • team-building skills • parent recruitment and involvement • delegating tasks to parents • motivating and encouraging youth • youth recruitment and involvement • ability to develop and strengthen relationships • patience and flexibility

Experiential education
Training should focus on experiential techniques that draw from the previous experiences of adult learners (Merriam, 2008;Ota et al., 2006).

Examples of experiential techniques include
• problem-based learning • case studies • educational games • role play

Practical education
Training should be practical (Knowles et al., 2005;Ota et al., 2006), and provide useful resources and tools.

Need 2: Engaged Youth and Families
The vitality of 4-H programming-particularly within the club program model-relies on engaged youth and families, and previous studies suggest that parent/caregiver engagement is a crucial factor influencing youth retention in 4-H (Defore et al., 2011). Study results indicate that volunteers desire and need help with engagement, including facilitating supportive teams, clear communication, and effective learning environments. These findings are supported by previous studies, which also found that organizational skills-such as recruitment, involvement, communication, and technology use-are highly ranked by both 4-H volunteers and professionals as important educational topics (Culp et al., 2007;Fox et al., 2009).

Based on volunteers' open-ended responses, youth and families may be disengaged due to multiple factors including
• complex schedules • poor communication or organization within the club/program • ineffective learning environments (e.g., not experiential, youth-centered, or developmentally appropriate) • unsuccessful recruitment • downstream effects of poor support from program professionals Lewis et al. (2018) and Astroth (1985) also found that poor program communication (i.e., misunderstood goals, activities, meeting times, and time commitment), not feeling welcome or included, not feeling connected to other youth in the club, and conflicting time commitments In alignment with the study results and adult learning theory, volunteers should be provided experiential education that features practical tools and resources, and opportunities to learn from experienced volunteers (e.g., discussion, roundtables, panels) regarding • youth and family recruitment, retention, and valued involvement (e.g., welcoming and orienting new youth and families, delegating to parents/caregivers, empowering and supporting 4-H youth) • communication strategies • using technology for communication and education (e.g., communication apps, social media, websites) • youth-centered approaches and engaging youths' interests (Arnold et al., 2014;Nova Scotia Health Promotion and Protection, 2009)

Need 3: Facilitation Skills in Experiential Education and Positive Youth Development
The results of the VRKC-based self-assessment suggest that volunteers desire education focused on facilitating compelling, relevant, educational experiences for youth. Respondents ranked "application of experiential learning" as one of the competencies they are most unsure of-not able to self-assess whether they or their county program need training in that topic.
This uncertainty could mean that the majority of respondents were unfamiliar with the term.
However, respondents also ranked competencies related to experiential education as top subjects they want to know more about (i.e., use of multiple teaching strategies, incorporating community service-learning) and-as clearly evidenced in the open-ended responses-they are experiencing challenges in retaining new youth and engaging enrolled youth in project work, both of which could be symptoms of programming that is missing the mark.
In alignment with the study results and adult learning theory, volunteers should be provided opportunities, ideally with volunteer peer-educators, to • build or expand upon their knowledge of positive youth development (e.g., empowering youth, motivating and encouraging youth, understanding developmental stages, youthadult partnerships, youth-centered approaches) • learn how to orient their program activities through the lens of positive youth development (e.g., discussion, roundtable or panel with experienced volunteers) • gain hands-on experience with experiential education (e.g., experiential learning strategies, use of multiple teaching strategies, incorporating service-learning)

Need 4: Effective Program Administration, Communication, and Information Systems
Washington State 4-H volunteers are frustrated by the administration of the program, as 24% of the respondents reported being challenged by poor communication, support, and resource access from the 4-H office, a challenge also seen in other state 4-H programs (Arnold & Dolenc, 2008).
The high frequency of this challenge could be due to the high percentage of General Club Leaders who participated in the survey. While 4-H programming varies across states, clubbased programming is arguably the most complex delivery model for volunteers and professionals, alike. The detailed policies and procedures which govern volunteer certification, youth safety, financial management, and other critical elements of club-based programming lead to increased reporting, paperwork, education, and support needs.
This finding could also be related to the last 20 years of system-wide changes within Washington State University Extension that have affected the 4-H program's administrative capacity, including funding cuts and reorganization of the leadership structure (White & Teuteberg, 2015).
Extension personnel, such as 4-H professionals, are often challenged to balance the administrative and communication needs of program participants and their community in the midst of shifting workloads (Pellien & Lyons, 2017). Also, many 4-H professionals may not have the authority or capacity to significantly improve the systems in which they and the volunteers they support work. The results of this study highlight a need to better train volunteers on how best to navigate 4-H systems and processes, even the imperfect ones. Where authority and capacity to improve systems exist, efforts to do so must be prioritized.
In alignment with the study results and adult learning theory, volunteers should be provided experiential education, ideally with volunteer peer-educators, in • completing any required or essential paperwork (e.g., club financial reporting) • navigating online systems or sites (e.g., 4HOnline, reporting databases, 4-H websites) • accessing online or in-office resource collections (e.g., curricula library) Program professionals should also make strategic efforts, ideally working with volunteers within a shared-leadership team, to • improve the clarity, consistency, timing, and accessibility of communication with program volunteers, youth, and families (e.g., effectively use communication apps and social media; Davis & Dishon, 2017;Freidig, 2019;Garcia et al., 2018) • simplify requirements and paperwork whenever possible • improve online access to relevant and practical resources

Limitations
• The survey used a modified version of the VRKC taxonomy, including removing, combining, or rewording competencies, and in one instance adding a competency.
• The competencies included within the VRKC taxonomy were not defined. Terms could have been interpreted differently amongst respondents and researchers.
• More survey participants responded to the first VRKC domain multiple-choice questions than the last, indicating possible survey fatigue.
• The survey was collected only via email, which did not allow for those without email or computer access or skill an opportunity to contribute. There is a potential for the data set to be skewed towards middle-aged to young volunteers because of this; however, respondent age was not collected.

Implications for Future Research
The VRKC taxonomy proved a useful tool for assessing volunteer education and support needs.
However, the researchers suggest (a) not relying on the taxonomy for needs assessments without asking open-ended questions about education and support needs as well, and (b) reviewing VRKC terms with study participants to check for understanding-modifying or explaining competencies as needed.

Avenues for Future Research
• Test the validity of study results (e.g., share study results with 4-H volunteers to validate and add details and nuance to the findings).
• Test the validity of self-assessment and perspectives of volunteers versus professionals using a survey of Washington State 4-H professionals or by facilitating a program observation study.
• Explore why the term or practice "application of experiential learning" was not well understood by Washington State 4-H volunteers.
• Study how 4-H volunteers interpret VRKC terms to improve future VRKC-based selfassessment research.
• Explore how best to teach and support the competencies volunteers identified as relevant.
• Explore the root causes (e.g., funding, staffing structures, staff workload) of the perceived poor administrative support volunteers reported.
• Further explore whether volunteers of other state 4-H programs report similarly themed needs-particularly those who volunteer within clubs.

Conclusion
The education and support systems program professionals provide volunteers-new and veteran-must be intentionally focused on volunteers' evolving needs (Teuteberg & Cummins, 2017). Continually improving volunteer education and support while providing experiences that ignite volunteers' motivations is crucial to the recruitment and retention of the volunteers 4-H relies on for success (Arnold et al., 2009;Van Horn et al., 1999). Overall, the results of this study indicate that 4-H professionals may improve education and support systems by focusing on four essential volunteer needs: (a) supportive teams, (b) engaged youth and families, (c) facilitation skills in experiential education and positive youth development, and (d) effective program administration, communication, and information systems. 4-H professionals should prioritize providing volunteers with education that is not only relevant and practical related to these themes, but that is also experiential and supported by networking, mentorships opportunities, and resource access. Fulfilling these four essential needs is necessary to support the volunteers who, in turn, support the youth to "learn by doing" and experience positive youth development outcomes. 1 "Public speaking" was modified from "speaking" in the original VRKC taxonomy.
2 "Teaching" was derived from "information delivery and dissemination" in the original VRKC taxonomy.
3 "Use of technology for communication and education" was modified from "use of technology" in the original VRKC taxonomy.