Volunteer Basics

A Primer for Calvert Stewards Volunteers

  1. Our Mission. 
  2. Vocabulary. 
  3. Roles. 
  4. What Happens When Someone Wants To Volunteer? 
  5. What Happens When a Volunteer Fans a Program? 
  6. What Happens When a Volunteer Responds to an Opportunity?
  7. Recording Calvert Steward Hours. 
  8. Qualifications. 
  9. How to Know if an Opportunity Has Qualifications. 
  10. How to Know If You Qualify. 
  11. How to Be Qualified. 
  12. Updating Your Volunteer Qualifications. 
  13. Submitting Qualifications. 
  14. To submit qualifications from your user profile. 
  15. Manuals and Resources

Download the PDF

How To Log Hours (pdf download)

Our Mission

The Calvert Stewards volunteer program provides an opportunity for public service in education, research, and stewardship which support the overall missions of the Calvert County Division of Natural Resources and the Calvert Nature Society. This benefits the participants, the parks and the community as Calvert Stewards use and develop their skills to form an environmentally aware community and become the environmental stewards of Calvert County.

We also encourage youth and families to volunteer for projects to create a pipeline of engaged citizens that will continue their involvement in the parks into adulthood.

The minimum age for volunteers varies by project, usually 10 years. Volunteers under the age of 18 must be supervised by a parent or guardian.

When you Respond to an Opportunity, you are committing to that volunteer position.

Contact us if you have any questions at volunteer@calvertparks.org  or 410-535-5327

Attend a Volunteer Orientation to learn more.

Liability and Covid Waiver

Background Check Policy. Please contact volunteer@calvertparks.org for details.

Vocabulary

  • A PROGRAM, or Agency, is the umbrella group of Opportunities. Programs are broad categories of different volunteer jobs.
  • OPPORTUNITIES, or Needs, are the Volunteer Jobs or Activities.
  • EVENTS are activities for Calvert Stewards that do not trigger volunteer hours. Examples would be Appreciation Dinners or Field Excursions where only current Calvert Stewards can attend.
  • When you FAN a Program, you will get notifications when that agency has posted a new need or event; fanning a Program is a way of "following" the Program online.
  • When you RESPOND to an Opportunity you are committing to volunteering for that activity and/or time spot.
  • CAUSES are the main purposes of the different Programs.
  • SKILLS are those interests and abilities the you have, can share, or are needed for an Opportunity.

Roles

ADMIN: A Site Manager can make changes to the site as a whole.

  • Calvert County Natural Resources Division Chief (Karyn Molines)
  • Calvert Nature Society (TBD)
  • Volunteer Coordinator (Grace Hanners)
  • Others as needed (Sarah Godwin, CCNRD Office Specialist)

PROGRAM MANAGER: (or agency manager in the Help documents) a special type of user who can make changes only to specific volunteer programs. This person's primary capabilities include editing their program profile, posting opportunities and events, and approving reported hours.

  • Staff
  • Lead Volunteer

USER: Anyone who have an account and are interested in participating in Calvert Steward volunteer opportunities and events. A User is, essentially, anyone who is not an Admin.

  • Program Mangers
  • Anyone who’s interested and creates an account

CALVERT STEWARD: A User (or Volunteer) who has successfully volunteered for an Opportunity within the last five years.

What Happens When Someone Wants To Volunteer?

  1. Go to https://calvertstewards.galaxydigital.com to learn about the different Programs and Opportunities
  2. Sign Up for an account.
  3. Once you have an account, you are one of our Calvert Steward Users

What Happens When a Volunteer Fans a Program?

  • Whenever we post a new Opportunity or Event, an automated email announcement about the posting is sent out to all of the Program’s Fans.
  • A weekly email digest to volunteers, sent every Monday morning, will include a link to your fanned Program’s Opportunities or Events.
  • To opt out of receiving messages, login and “un-fan” the Program.
    • Important: On your profile, you can select to opt out, but this means you opts out of all automated notifications. We recommend that volunteers should simply "un-fan" the Program.

What Happens When a Volunteer Responds to an Opportunity?

  • An automatic email will be sent soon after you respond.
    • This email provides general information about volunteering
    • Provides a link to the Opportunity
  • Program Manager many send an email with additional details. You can contact them for additional information.
  • An automatic reminder email will be sent about a week before, and then a day before, the Opportunity.
  • An automatic Thank You email will be sent a day after the Opportunity.
  • An automatic follow up email will be sent about a week after the Opportunity as a reminder to log their hours.
  • Program Manager may follow up to remind you to record their volunteer hours.
  • Program Manager will approve all Volunteer Hours.

Recording Calvert Steward Hours

  1. Please Respond to an Opportunity so that hours can be tracked and recorded accurately.
  2. Log in to https://calvertstewards.galaxydigital.com
  3. Click Add Hours
  4. Scroll down or Click “Add Hours” and complete the form
  5. Click “Submit Hour Entry”
  6. For more details, download this PDF: How To Log Hours

Volunteer / Users are expected to:

  • Keep their profile updated: Skills, Fans, Responses
  • Fulfill the responsibilities of all Opportunities they Respond.
  • Provide feedback and suggestions to improve the Calvert Stewards program

Qualifications

While many volunteer opportunities ask only for your time, some require a little more than that. If you want to volunteer to provide animal care, teach education programs, or assist with the nest box monitoring projects, for instance, you will be required to have training, experience, certifications, or even degrees in the field.

 https://learn.getconnectedvolunteer.com/en/articles/10258366-submitting-a-prerequisite-or-qualification-qualifying-for-volunteer-opportunities

How to Know if an Opportunity Has Qualifications

If am opportunity has requirements that must be met in order to volunteer, you'll see them in the Required Qualifications section on the Opportunity page.

How to Know If You Qualify

If you have not submitted the required qualifications, you will see a Qualification Needed button when you attempt to respond to a need. If you have the appropriate qualifications, this area will say Respond.

How to Be Qualified

Qualification for most Opportunities are satisfied by successfully completing a training workshop. These training workshops will be listed as an Opportunity or Event within the Volunteer Program.

To volunteer with an Education Opportunity, yearly, volunteers must undergo an online background check. A PDF of the documentation that you have successfully passed be uploaded to your profile. The Program Manager can assist with this process.

Updating Your Volunteer Qualifications

You can update your volunteer qualifications at any time by returning to your My Qualifications area. Note that an updated qualification must go through the approval process again before it can become active. Please Contact Us if you need help updating your qualifications.

Submitting Qualifications

You can go to your My Qualifications page of your user profile and submit the information there. Please contact us or the Program manager if you have questions about qualifications.

To Submit Qualifications from Your User Profile

  1. From your profile dropdown, select Qualifications to access your My Qualifications
  2. Click Edit Qualifications.
  3. In the Edit Qualifications dialog box, provide the requested information. You may be asked to type in an answer, select from a group of answers, upload a file, or provide qualification expiration dates.
    1. You are not required to answer all qualification questions.
  4. If you see an Expiration Date field, enter the expiration date of your qualification. 
  5. Click Submit Qualifications.

Your submitted qualifications must be approved by a Site Admin. Qualifications will appear with a "pending" status in your My Qualifications area until approved. Once approved, a qualification will have a status of Qualified.

Note: Once your qualification has been approved, you will receive an email letting you know that you are eligible for that opportunity. The email will contain a link directing you to the site so that you can respond.

Manuals and Resources