Section-C: The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Volunteer Program

The purpose of the Tallgrass Prairie Volunteer Program is to promote The Nature Conservancy’s mission of scientific conservation through restoration of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.

A primary function of the volunteers is to interact with public visitors to the Preserve. Conservancy employees focus on activities directly related to the scientific mission, which means that the public relations with preserve visitors falls mainly on the volunteers’ shoulders. Volunteers explain the Conservancy and Preserve missions to visitors, provide information about the preserve history, status, bison herd, tall grasses, etc., answer visitor questions, and staff the Visitor’s Center gift shop. In order to conduct these activities effectively, volunteers must receive training in Preserve policies and Visitor’s Center procedures; trained volunteers are called docents.

Volunteers also have the opportunity to participate in specific work day activities, such as trash pickup along the preserve roadsides, maintenance of the preserve trails and picnic area, and other such needs that arise from time to time. Sometimes these special activities include events after the work is done, such as cookouts, and hikes in the preserve where we are normally not allowed.

The Docent Program

The Tallgrass Prairie Docent Program is completely self-managed. A coordinator is drawn from the ranks of the docents themselves, and he or she is responsible for coordinating with the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve management and with the Oklahoma state office of The Nature Conservancy. Other volunteers accept responsibility for specific docent activities, such as publishing the monthly newsletter, maintaining the Visitor’s Center work schedule, conducting the training sessions, recruiting new volunteers, organizing the annual docent recognition function, maintaining the docent web-site, etc. A list of individuals currently taking responsibility for such functions is shown on the copy of the Docent Contacts webpage (under Section E ***INSERT LINK WHEN AVAILABLE***), and can be found on a continuous basis in the newsletter and on the website.

The Preserve’s Visitors Center is open from March through mid-December. Docents staff the Visitor’s Center seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The goal is to have two or three docents on duty each day. Every attempt is made to make it relatively painless to sign up to work on a specific day. The sign-up calendar is online, available through the docent website, and may be checked at any time. Signing up may be done directly on the web, by sending an email note to the volunteer docent scheduler, or by calling the docent scheduler.

A link to the sign-up calendar is published each month in the index of the docent newsletter. The newsletter also contains a notices of other docent events, such as training and information activities, as well as a number of informative articles (written by docents, of course) about the preserve. The signup calendar and calendar of events are also maintained and continuously available on the docent website.

General Guidelines & Information

• New volunteers will undergo one day of docent training, typically in April, prior to working in the Visitor’s Center. Topics include The Nature Conservancy, the Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Management, Osage County History, and Flora and Fauna of the preserve. The first three shifts worked after completion of training will be intern shifts with other experienced docents. The intern shifts can be repeated if the new docent desires.
• Returning docents should attend a single-day training update session in early March. From time to time throughout the year learning opportunities are provided on specific topics, announced in The Docent News newsletter.
• Each docent should work at the Preserve’s Visitor’s Center a minimum of three days per year during the March through mid-December season. Some docents make a monthly shift commitment, while others volunteer more often.
• Docents should conduct themselves in a professional manner, and in accordance with preserve policies and procedures, always being polite, nonjudgmental, and willing to listen to other opinions.
• Docents should wear appropriate attire for the particular activity, and should wear nametags when on duty at the Visitor’s Center.
• When participating in volunteer activities, docents should not be under the influence of drugs, including alcohol, or use profanity.
• Volunteers are invited to make suggestions regarding projects, other potential volunteers, or any aspect of the docent program.

Important Facts to Communicate to Visitors

• The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
• The Nature Conservancy is not a government organization, it is a private, non-profit membership group.
• Land is protected with private dollars, purchased at fair market value from willing sellers. Many projects are partnerships with landowners who retain ownership.
• The goal at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is to protect species diversity by restoring a functioning tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The main ingredients needed to accomplish this are fire and bison — the historic influences under which the prairie evolved.

Questions & Answers

• What if a visitor asks me a question I can’t answer?
  • It’s okay — in fact, best — to tell the visitor you don’t know the answer but that you’ll find the answer and get back to him or her. You may record these questions on the Docent Daily Activity Log form in the comments-suggestions area.
• What do I do if there aren’t many visitors?
  • You can tidy the gift shop, pick up trash in the parking lot and around the grounds, browse through reference material, etc.
• What expenses can I deduct as a docent?
  • The IRS considers The Nature Conservancy as a qualifying organization for charitable donations. Therefore docent-related expenses are deductible as charitable contributions. Any unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses directly related to volunteer service may be included in itemized deductions. For complete information on tax deductions for volunteers refer to Internal Revenue Service Publication #526 Charitable Contributions.
  • Examples of the types of expenditures that volunteers may deduct on their tax returns include:
    • Automobile mileage and expenses for gas and oil,
    • Telephone bills,
    • Supplies purchased to perform volunteer duties,
    • Non-cash contributions of property such as books, household items, etc.
  • Non-deductible expenses include the value of your donated time. Good record keeping for transportation-related costs is a must if you intend to claim automobile-related deductions. You may record your personal-car mileage on the form shown at right that is available for download below.

Personal Car Use Mileage Form

To help with your record keeping, you can download and print a copy of the personal car use mileage form shown here at right.

Two versions of the form are available for download: in Open Document Spreadsheet (ODS) format, or in Portable Document Format (PDF).

• As a spreadsheet format file, you can open it and maintain your records with your spreadsheet software.
  • Personal-Car-Use-Mileage-Form.ods
• As a PDF format file, you can print it and maintain your records by hand with pen and paper.
  • Personal-Car-Use-Mileage-Form.pdf

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Revised: 23 March 2014

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