Volunteer

Computer Data Entry

• There are many areas of record keeping for the museum that require computer and software skills. These tasks include managing membership records, collections cataloguing, contact information, running reports, updating collections data, records on accessioning museum artifacts, and other miscellaneous areas. Computer work might also include creating documents, brochures, display posters, or flyers for events or advertising.

General Office Work

• This may include making copies, folding brochures, production of walking tour guides or other publications. We often discover new tasks in this area, such as sending thank-you notes and other mailings.

Grants

• We must complete many hours of preliminary work before submitting a grant application. We need help with research, documentation, and grant writing. If you have experience in this area and time to contribute, your support would be especially valuable. We depend on grants in many areas, and the more we apply for and receive, the better we can provide the public with a quality museum and programs.

Museum Maintenance – Inside

• These volunteers receive training and follow established museum procedures for regular household maintenance. Tasks include dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning windows, cleaning bathrooms, etc.
• There is also a need for occasional handyman skills for minor repairs and carpentry.
• Occasionally, there is a need for technical skills, such as assisting with electronic equipment set-up or configurations.

Museum Maintenance – Outside

• Volunteers who enjoy being outdoors in the warmer months plant flowers, weed, trim shrubs, sweep sidewalks and steps, maintain the trash receptacle enclosure, track supplies, and handle other similar tasks.
• The Town of Johnstown provides sprinkler system maintenance, outdoor pest control, fire extinguisher and boiler system maintenance and inspections, lawn mowing, and snow removal.

Museum Docents

• Trained docents are responsible for opening the museum to the public by turning on all the lights in all rooms on the main level and display rooms in the basement, unlocking doors, posting the “open” sign outside, and ensuring that the house is in order. When a visitor arrives, the docent will greet guests and have them sign the guestbook.
• Generally, the tour starts with the viewing of a 15-minute video tour in the Visitor’s Center, followed by a tour of the Parish House and Museum, starting at the front steps. The docent provides a tour through the house and answers questions, as needed.  
• Before leaving for the day, bring the open sign back inside the front porch, turn off the lights and any running fans during the summer, lock the house, and activate the alarm.

Accessioning/Cataloguing

• The Historical Society records each item it acquires—whether through purchase, loan, or donation—on various forms and then enters it into the museum’s PastPerfect software database.
• To be a part of the collections group requires learning the numerical system used to record the objects, training in the handling of collections items according to established museum policies and procedures, training to assess artifact condition and writing the descriptions, measurements, and following procedures for caring for and cleaning the items when necessary.
• Collections volunteers may research the use and history of the objects, record the information on paper, and place items in a logical, appropriate storage location, whether that be on display or in storage.
• Data entry of this same information requires training of PastPerfect Web Edition software. This is a cross-check for the beginning collections process and requires knowledge of the numerical system as well as a general knowledge of the collection process.

Oral History

• There are many volunteer opportunities with this program. One might schedule appointments with interviewees, obtain background information for use during the interview, conduct the interview with the client on camera, manage the camera, transcribe the interview into a written document, upload the digital interview files to the computer or cloud.

Displays and Exhibits

• You can assist the Museum Director with both on- and off-site displays and exhibits by researching specific subjects, helping set up or take down exhibits, managing publicity, and completing paperwork to track artifacts as they move in and out of displays. These tasks ensure proper handling, tracking, and record-keeping for all objects.

Research

• We need research on historic Johnstown properties, past businesses, and resident profiles—both past and present—to support our exhibits and ensure we share accurate, factual information with the public. This role isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea,” as it often involves spending hours at a computer or searching through the JHS library and archives to piece together the past like a jigsaw puzzle. However, volunteers can work on their own schedule and even from home. The JHS also provides three computers at the Parish House for volunteers who prefer to work on-site.

Memberships

• JHS memberships and volunteer involvement are critical components of our organization. Without them, we could not survive as a non-profit. There is always a need for creative ideas for increasing our memberships and volunteer base. One who works in this area might assist with membership records maintenance and participate in membership/volunteer drives.

Volunteer Coordinator

• A Volunteer Coordinator serves as a main point of contact for other volunteers during larger events and fundraisers, tracks volunteer hours and logs them in PastPerfect, participates in planning the JHS Annual Meeting of the Membership and occasional group outings to other museums, and helps the Museum Director when needed with administrative tasks. 

Fundraising

• Develop materials needed to promote the Johnstown Historical Society and the Parish House and Museum to businesses or individuals who could be potential donors or sponsors. As part of this volunteer assignment, you might research of a potential contributing company to identify who handles financial decisions and, if needed, help present the materials in person or prepare the necessary correspondence to complete the task. 
• Sponsorships:  Seek donors that can support the JHS by donating something needed to stage an event, such as equipment, supplies, or funding. 

Events

• Each year, we plan events to raise funds for managing the Historical Society and the Parish House. We rely on volunteers to help set up and break down equipment and to clean up after the events. Our annual events include participation in Johnstown’s BBQ Day (first Saturday June), the Cemetery Crawl (last Saturday October), the Annual Meeting of the Membership each November, and a Holiday Open House (first Saturday December). 
• Additional events throughout the year have included fashion shows, teas, car shows, rummage sales, membership drives, a joint presentation with the Milliken Historical Society, and more. The JHS team is always looking for new opportunities to engage with the community.

Historic Preservation

• The JHS takes on projects that serve to benefit the community as defined in our mission as a non-profit cultural and educational entity. 
  • The Johnstown Breeze Digitization Project:  The Breeze has been in continuous publication since 1907. This JHS historic preservation project includes raising the funds through grants and donations to have the newspapers digitized and included online in the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection (CHNC) to benefit any researcher world-wide on the history of Johnstown.

Publicity

• Every event that we do requires communicating it to the public. This may include contacting businesses, newspapers, or radio stations for permission to place advertising materials before the public. It also involves distributing the posters or flyer information around town. If you are creative and have graphic design experience, you may be able to help with creating posters/flyers, but this is not a mandatory part of this volunteer project. We advertise prior to every event that we do and it is a critical element of every event.

Marketing

• Assist with social media as needed for the JHS Facebook and Instagram pages, and our website.
• Long-term planning to grow our non-profit outreach.

JHS has the following committees that volunteers can participate on. These committees, which include a JHS board member, are small groups of volunteers knowledgeable in procedures and policy development who, as a group, make decisions for planning and carrying out activities related to the committee’s function, and they provide project update reports as needed to the JHS Board.

• Buildings and Grounds
• Collections
• Finance
• Fundraising/Events
• Memberships/Volunteers
• Publicity/Marketing