Backyard Abundance volunteers are invaluable in ensuring our presentations, classes and events are fun and top-notch. You will learn valuable skills while creating an abundant community.
Specific Roles
Receive notifications about help with fun events: Sign up for volunteer notifications
Cooking Demonstrators
Do you enjoy preparing garden-based snacks or lunches? Encourage the local-slow-organic-happy food movement by demonstrating your cooking prowess at events. Time: Weekends for 1-2 hours, 4-10 times per year.
Snack Makers
Do you love making and sharing yummy goodness? Snacks are needed at many events and your contribution would be greatly welcomed. Time: Weekends, whatever time you have to make snacks.
Website Updaters
Help our community stay updated on the latest gardening news and events. Moderate computer skills are needed to update the online calendar, create online media, create event emails, and update the website. Time: Throughout the month, 2-6 hours per month.
Graphic Designers
Use your graphic design skills to attract more folks to the goodness of ecological gardening. Help is needed creating online media, shiny posters, and educational handouts. Time: Throughout the month, 1-6 hours per month.
Board Secretary
Help guide the Backyard Abundance strategy by documenting meeting minutes and keeping board documents organized. Time: The fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm, 2-3 hours per month.
Abundant Safari
The Abundant Safari is an exciting new program that will put all of Iowa City’s abundant sites on a map for self-guided tours. Assistance is needed to launch ribbon-cutting events, build sign posts, and contribute to the website. Time: 2-3 hours per month.
Blogger
Do you have lots of ideas just bursting to get out? Become a Backyard Abundance blogger and share your wisdom and inspiration with the world. Time: When you have time.
Garden Implementor
If you like dirt under your fingernails, then you can help us prepare and plant educational garden beds. Time: 1-3 hours per month.
Tweeter
If you love finding and reading online gardening and ecological design articles, become a Backyard Abundance Tweeter and retweet your juicy finds on our Twitter feed. Time: A daily post is preferable, but posts can be done when you have time.
Facebooker
Are you doing wonderful things in your own landscape? No matter how small the change or activity, sharing your pictures and stories is the most effective way to inspire others to change their landscaping paradigm.
Share your pictures and stories with the community on the Backyard Abundance Facebook page. You can consolidate your landscaping story and all your pictures on the Abundant Landscapes page. (No need to contact us… just start sharing!)
Promotion
Point your friends and family to the Backyard Abundance website, Facebook page, and events. Sometimes a gentle “look at this cool stuff” message is all that is needed to point folks in a more abundant direction.
Internship
Please let us know if you are or know of a student looking for internship opportunities. Many of the volunteer ideas above may easily translate into an internship with Backyard Abundance.
Committees
Join a committee to plan events and promote our mission: Contact us to learn more about committees
Curriculum Committee
Made up of permaculture designers and teachers, this committee oversees the curriculum development of current and future classes.
Events Committee
This large group of passionate organizers collaborates with partners to coordinate all our events: classes, workshops, presentations, and gatherings.
Finance Committee
This small group provides input on our budgets and financial business plan.
Fundraising Committee
This committee raises funds by locating and applying for grants, requesting donations from businesses, and organizing fund drives.
Landscape Design Committee
These talented permaculture designers and landscape architects plan and design regenerative landscapes for educational events.
Marketing Committee
This group of well-connected community-minded folks develops and oversees our marketing plan which includes publications, press releases, promotional materials, and social networking activities.