The following is from the CAMN Membership Manual:

To preserve the goals and direction of the TMN program, prevent conflict, and ensure that all or most volunteers are aware of each activity, CAMN requires committee approval to be obtained for all volunteer service.

Approval process
New activities must be submitted for approval in writing (postal mail, e-mail, or personally delivered) to the Volunteer Opportunities Committee Chair. The activity will be submitted to the committee for approval. Please include the following information:

  • Location
  • Date/time
  • Sponsoring organization (if appropriate)
  • Contact information (At least one person to contact for further information, directions to site, etc.)
  • Description of the activity
  • Special considerations such as equipment, water, restroom availability, etc.
  • The activity must have 3 approvals from committee members to be approved by CAMN. On rare occasions, the Chair may elect to bring the activity to the attention of the Board for a decision. This may delay approval, so that prior approval is not possible.

Criteria for approval are:

  • the activity must further the mission of CAMN
  • the activity must use the volunteer’s specialized knowledge or provide useful experience in a naturalist field.

If prior approval is not possible, a CAMN member may decide to participate in that activity with the knowledge that the activity is not guaranteed to be approved. Such activity may be submitted for approval at a later date.

At least half of the 40 hours needed for annual certification must be worked on projects in the Central Texas area. Work on projects outside of Texas will not be approved as volunteer service.

Committee Work
Service on CAMN committees, as well as on the TMN State Advisory Committee, and the Volunteer Representatives Council, counts hour for hour as CAMN volunteer service. However, volunteers are encouraged to diversify their activities and allow the large workload of running this organization to be spread thinly and evenly among members.

Travel time
CAMN members are encouraged to concentrate their service hours on projects within their community. However, travel time of more than one hour to and from a prior-approved CAMN event may be counted hour for hour.

Reporting Volunteer hours

CAMN members are asked to report their volunteer hours to the Administrative Secretary monthly. An online reporting form as well as a “print and fill out” version, and an electronic document can be found at camn.org (See Appendix A). CAMN operates on a calendar year basis. You will have until December 31st each year to fulfill your requirements. All volunteer and advanced training hours must be reported to the CAMN Administrative Secretary by January 6th of the following year. Please report all volunteer hours, even if you will not qualify for certification. This will help to maintain your active member status and provide us with a more accurate measure of the impact of CAMN in our community. Please include the following information in your hours report:

  • Your name and year of graduation
  • Name of activity
  • Date of activity
  • Service Hours spent at activity and in preparation for that activity (example: actual presentation time plus time spent preparing the presentation)
  • Activity leader, contact information
  • Activity location
  • Number of people who benefited from the activity (if applicable, such as at a presentation)
  • Number of acres impacted by activity (if applicable, such as in a habitat restoration project)
  • Date report submitted

Other Guidelines
CAMN general meetings do not count as volunteer service.

Volunteers may receive unsolicited gifts or small amounts of money (as for travel expenses) for CAMN volunteer activities, but may not request remuneration either for them selves, or for CAMN. Members may not receive CAMN service hours if they are being compensated as part of their regular employment.

Volunteers may elect to work for multiple organizations. However, when volunteers must accrue hours for a certification, rank designation, etc. (such as a Certified Master Gardener), time must be counted for one organization or the other, or split among the organizations. This is to maintain the integrity of each organization when we use these volunteer hours as “match” money in applying for grants.

In general, unless the activity is performed in conjunction with a larger habitat restoration program, trash pick-ups will not be approved as CAMN volunteer service. CAMN does, however, recognize the importance of these activities, and encourages its members to participate in local beautification efforts.

Administrative work for other organizations, such as serving as president or secretary, will not be approved as volunteer service. Work that is consultative in nature, such as serving on an advisory panel or coordinating a work day to remove non-native plants, may be approved.