Membership Chairs and Better Impact Administrators

Typical Duties of chapter Membership Chairs

• Maintains a roster of the Chapter’s member names including in-training members plus addresses, phone numbers and Internet addresses.  Maintains race and gender data in a confidential file in accordance with federal guidelines.

• Maintains a record of volunteer and advanced training hours and class training attendance.

• Notifies the Board of members meeting certification and threshold hour achievements.

• Orders and maintains the member certification and recognition awards (e.g. shirts, name tags, certificates, business cards, pins). 

• Ensures members have a current signed liability form on file.

• Maintains a record of high level interests and specific expertise of members.

NOTE: These are taken from the VMN Chapter Operating Handbook template. Each chapter may have added, to and/or removed, duties from this list. For the specific duties of the Membership Chairs in your chapter, see your chapter's Operating Handbook. Your chapter leaders will know where this file is kept.

Recognition Items

If you're looking for information about Recognition Items specifically, please visit the Recognition Items page.

Transfers, Reinstatements and Dual Memberships - How they work

For basic information on "Transfers, Reinstatements and Dual Memberships" see the section of the same name in the VMN Volunteer Policy Handbook, starting on page 12. For more information on these procedures from a Chapter Leader perspective, read the sections below. In all cases described here, the VMN State Office will copy the appropriate chapter's Membership Chair(s) on all correspondence with the volunteer.

Transfers

Transfers are handled by the VMN State Office. The process begins with an email from the volunteer or their chapter requesting the transfer. The State Office will then send an email to the volunteer and a representative from the chapter the volunteer is leaving and a representative from the chapter the volunteer is hoping to join. 

Then, each person must do the following:

• The volunteer must confirm that they have updated their profile in Better Impact.

• The representative from the leaving chapter must confirm that the volunteer is currently in good standing (hasn't been dismissed) and the volunteer's current certification status and volunteer hours.

• The representative from the new chapter must approve the transfer into their chapter.

• The State Office transfers the volunteer within Better Impact and notifies all parties when it has been done, including tasks that the new chapter will need to complete for/with their new volunteer.

Reinstatements

Reinstatements must go through the VMN State Office. The process begins with an email from the volunteer or their chapter. Any VMN volunteer that has graduated from a basic training course is not required to retake the course. If they are being Reinstated in a chapter that is in a different geological/ecological area from where they took their basic training, they might want to sit in on specific sessions of the chapter's next basic training course. This can be worked out with the chapter once the volunteer has been Reinstated.

The Reinstatement process requires that the volunteer complete several tasks in Better Impact. The VMN State Office provides instructions for how to do each of these tasks and supports the volunteer if they have any technical issues, including how to log in to Better Impact.

It is sometimes the case that a VMN volunteer wishes to be Reinstated but has been away from the program for so long that they do not have a profile in Better Impact. When this happens, the VMN State Office will create a profile for the volunteer, including any historical hours and service hour milestones, and send them the login information along with the other instructions.

Dual Memberships

Dual Memberships must go through the VMN State Office. Dual Membership status is only granted when a volunteer’s situation truly allows them to participate in two chapters. Dual membership is not granted when a volunteer is seeking to be on the mailing list of a second chapter or a similar situation. Most often, this status is granted when a volunteer lives between two chapters and can truly work on projects in both chapter's areas or when a volunteer has more than one home in different areas of the state.

Dual memberships must first be approved by the VMN State Office and then by both chapter boards. While volunteers with Dual Membership are required to participate actively in both chapters, they are not required to "double" their annual volunteer service or CE hours to achieve Recertification. The hours logged in both chapters count.

The Dual Membership request process begins with an email from the volunteer or their first chapter. The State Office will confirm why the volunteer is seeking Dual Membership and then, if appropriate, begin the process of getting it approved by both chapters. Once that is done, the State Office will enroll the volunteer in the second chapter in Better Impact and inform all parties when it has been done and any follow up tasks and information they need. Recognition items are sent to only one chapter of the volunteer's choosing. The volunteer is included only on that chapter's Mid-year and End-of-year reports.

The VMN State Office is working on a Reinstatement Orientation Checklist to use with returning volunteers that will be posted here when it is complete.

Documents