Ways to Support Bird Clubs, Part 4: Volunteering

For those that belong to "live" bird clubs, meaning that their club is not on the Internet and has meetings regularly, other ways to volunteer present themselves. If you look around your local bird club, I'm sure you'll find that there are many ways to volunteer without taking on an officer's position. In fact, most of these "little" jobs mean as much to the club as stepping up to tackle a large position.

If the club holds events, such as bird fairs or shows, there will be plenty of volunteer positions to be had. At a show there will need to be people to check in birds, be a steward, help the judge move cages, run any concessions area, cover the raffle table, and be available to answer questions. If this sounds like a lot of work that needs to be done, you're right. Thankfully, most clubs hosting a fair also have lots of help. Still, a fresh pair of hands will be welcome and appreciated.

People are also needed to work outside of club functions. These people will contact business for donations, papers for advertising, and generally drum up support within the community for the bird club. Oftentimes local pet stores will want a contact to send all those bird related calls to, and this, too, is an area that a bird club covers. Distributing flyers, keeping in touch with local authorities, and booking accommodations for fund raisers are also much needed jobs.

At a club meeting people need to host presentations. Even if you don't have decades of experience in breeding a particular species, you can give a presentation. Some suggestions might be time or money saving ideas, ways to be a do-it-yourself hobbyist, just the story of your first bird or first hand feeding experience are all game. If standing in front of a crowd isn't your cup of tea, then perhaps writing for the newsletter might be. Short articles on any aspect of bird keeping find their way into the newsletters of bird clubs. Also, since many clubs share newsletters with other organizations, the article might be circulated to a wider audience (with your permission, of course). It's nice to hear a fresh perspective on bird care.

I hope this series of articles has whetted your appetite for helping out your local bird club. Although you may enjoy the final product, keep in mind that there are usually people working to bring a presentation, fair, or show to you, and usually it's the same people over and over. Some fresh interest is a balm to a bird club, and keeps things from becoming stale.

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