All new MGs must complete a minimum of 50 volunteer service hours per year to become an MG and then 30 per year to remain certified (in addition to 20 hours of advanced training for recertification). Service credit will be granted for activities and projects falling within these guidelines. Master Gardeners are encouraged to inquire about the validity of volunteer service projects in advance. All volunteer activities must be performed without compensation of any kind (fee, salary, school credits or in-kind gifts) and the MG can not profit financially in any way from the project or service performed. The MG may not perform the activity for a grade from an educational institution nor can the work being performed by the MG benefit a commercial organization. Travel time to and from a project is not counted unless travel is the actual service (such as delivering materials). Not all volunteer hours can come from any one project and at least 15 hours of volunteer service each year must be performed on Board-approved projects, as defined below.
Criteria for All Monterey Bay Master Gardener Volunteer Service Hours and Projects
1. Must be located in the counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito or Santa Clara.
2. Must comply with the mission of the Master Gardener Program, which is as follows:
“The University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Master Gardener Program is a volunteer program designed to meet the gardening needs of home and community gardeners in the individual counties of California. Our purpose is to effectively extend University of California research-based horticultural information to interested persons through the utilization of knowledgeable volunteers.”
Eligible Volunteer Service Activities and Projects
1. Board-approved ongoing group projects. These projects may only be started by a certified MG and a project request form must be submitted and approved by the Board or its designated representative. Certain legal and/or financial restrictions may apply to an otherwise valid activity that may preclude its approval by the Board as a volunteer service project. After approval, Board-approved projects will be evaluated on an annual basis. (A list of Board-approved projects will be maintained by the Project Coordinator.)
2. Organizing or performing a research-based educational activity for a public group. Physical labor for a community garden or school garden or community group may not be counted unless the physical labor is educational such as would be involved in the initial set-up or installation of the project. It must be kept in mind that our mission is educational and not to provide free labor for other agencies and community groups.
3. Individual or personal projects (such as consultations with fellow gardeners) not reviewed by the board but which must be educational in nature and consistent with the objectives of the Master Gardener Program. A maximum of 10% of required hours will be credited (3 hours per year) for this type of volunteer service.
4. One-time events or annual educational events sponsored by MGs or in conjunction with a horticultural educational event. (Examples are the Masters Garden Tour, Santa Cruz Home and Garden Show and the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show).
5. Speaking or writing articles for community organizations or publications. The purpose of the talk or article must be to dispense research-based horticultural information to the public and it must be done without financial compensation. The time spent in the organization, research and planning of a lecture or article may count as volunteer or advanced training hours. If a MG has expertise in a particular subject and an interest in speaking on that subject, please contact the Project Coordinator who will maintain a list of potential speakers.
6. Advisory board meetings and time spent on official committees or in the performance of the duties of the office holder or assignment count as volunteer hours.
7. Responding to home gardener questions on the Hotline which is the most important function of the MBMG Program. Time spent on the Hotline can either count as volunteer or advanced training hours. First year or MG Interns (those who have completed trainingand are in the process of meeting volunteer and advanced training requirements for certification) must work on the Hotline (as well as the Youth Garden) at least three times within the calendar year in which they complete the training.
In order to encourage volunteer service by certified MG’s in the core activities of the Monterey Bay Master Gardeners in years after the training year, the Board has approved a bonus of one hour of volunteer service credit for each complete shift performed on either the Hotline or in the Youth Garden. In other words, a certified MG who works a full 4 hour shift in the Youth Garden would get 5 hours of volunteer service credit and a full 3.5 hour shift on the Hotline by a certified MG would result in 4.5 hours of volunteer service credit.
As a general rule, “double dipping” of volunteer hours is not permitted. That is, an activity that is being counted toward a volunteer commitment requirement to another organization will not also count toward volunteer service hours for the Master Gardeners. However, volunteer hours for another organization will be granted if the other organization reciprocates by performing volunteer service hours on behalf of Master Gardener projects.
Any Master Gardener who performs a cumulative total of 1000 volunteer service hours on eligible activities will be granted lifetime member status. Although most lifetime members continue to donate many hours of volunteer service, they are no longer required to report their volunteer service and advanced training hours each year to remain certified.
Exceptions to these general guidelines may be granted by the Advisory Board or its agents in consultation with the UCCE Farm Advisor.
An important aspect of the UCCE Master Gardener certification process is returning 30 hours of volunteer service back to your community. This service can be performed through one-time-only or short term MG events or by participating in a long term social service or research oriented project.
All long-term projects must have the pre-approval of the MG Advisory Board. Once approved the Board will seek regular updates on the status of the project. It is expected that the MG will continue beyond the 30 hour guideline and complete the project to the satisfaction of the organization with which they are working. There can be no compensation of any kind (salary, school credits, gifts, etc.) associated with a MG volunteer project.
Volunteer:_________________________________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________________________________
Phone/email:_______________________________________________________________
Year/location of MG certification:________________________________________________
About the Project:
1. Description of proposed volunteer project (attach detailed description).
2. What would be the MG role in this project?
3. Organization name, address and phone for whom the project will be done.
4. Name and phone number of contact person in the organization in charge of the project.
5. What hours and days would the work probably be done?
6. Names of other MG volunteers working on the project (if any):
7. Who is responsible for maintenance once the project is completed? (Long term maintenance projects are not encouraged).
8. How much money, if any, is the MG organization expected to contribute to this project?
9. Where will the funding of the project come from?
10. Liability for physical injury/damage is NOT provided by the Master Gardener Program. Will the owner of the project site be able to provide you with coverage and proof of that coverage?
