What Counts as MMNP Volunteering?

While there are many kinds of important volunteer work, only face-to-face teaching counts toward the MMNP course volunteering requirement, in keeping with MMNP’s mission. To count toward the MMNP volunteer requirement, the volunteering work must:

• Be done without compensation.
• Be sponsored by an organization or organized group that does not operate to make a profit. Examples include, but are not limited to: land trusts, schools, libraries, towns, parks, reserves, government entities, tribes, churches, museums, senior colleges, and other community groups or organizations.
• Not be part of an existing paid job unless the volunteering is an unpaid extension of the job.
• Be conducted face-to-face either in person or over video-conferencing.
• Present nature-related material.

Volunteering that doesn’t count:

• Creating a natural history blog, Facebook page, video, book, article, letter to the editor, or brochure.
• Developing curriculum.
• Making or organizing specimen collections. 
• Advocating at the legislature or working on a political campaign.
• Citizen/community science such as work on the Bird Atlas or plant surveys. (However, teaching during a citizen/community science event would count as MMNP hours.)
• Physical labor such as trash cleanup, invasive species control, clearing trails, or building infrastructure. 
• Projects conducted in isolation from direct users such as desk jobs, data entry, administrative tasks, and committee work.
• Event facilitation such as coordinating speakers, taking registrations, and communicating with attendees.
• Informal instruction of friends, family, fellow workers, or community members about the natural world.