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4-H Interest Survey

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Program Contact

Autumn Britt, 4-H Program Manager
Phone Number509-588-7817 Email Address • autumn.britt@wsu.edu

There are many different ways a club leader could gauge the interest and availability of club parents for volunteer opportunities. One tool is an Interest Survey.

Interest Survey Examples

Regardless of the format you choose for your interest survey, be sure to include the prospective volunteer’s contact information. This should include, at minimum, their name, address, phone number(s), email, and their preferred method of contact as well as a good time to contact them, if they prefer phone calls, email, or texts.

Checklist

The New Jersey 4-H Parent Interest Survey is formatted as a checklist. This is one way you can gather interest from volunteers in a way that doesn’t require them to try to describe every area in which they would be comfortable contributing. The following is their welcome and list.

4-H Parent Interest Survey

Dear 4-H Parents or Guardians,

Welcome to the 4-H Family!

4-H helps youth to develop knowledge, attitude, and skills they need to become competent, caring, and contributing citizens of the world. Parents and 4-H leaders working together can do so much more for the youth than either can do alone.

We hope you share in 4-H by encouraging your child to participate and, as the 4-H motto says, “To Make the Best Better!”

Please check the things you are willing to do to provide learning opportunities for the 4-H members. Return to the club leader.

Home
  • Enable my child to attend all meetings and encourage him/her to be an active, contributing member of the club.
  • Encourage my child to start and complete projects on time. I will take an active interest and encourage pride in his/her
  • own achievements.
  • Encourage my child to participate in county workshops, public presentations, fair, camp, and other activities which enhance
  • learning opportunities.
  • Encourage my child to keep an up-to-date calendar of 4-H meetings and events.
  • Encourage my child to maintain current records of 4-H projects and activities.
  • Enable my child to meet financial responsibilities in monthly dues, project expenses, etc.
Club
  • Provide an occasional meeting place for the club.
  • Help provide light refreshments for a 4-H meeting.
  • Share a special interest or hobby with the group. List interests or hobbies:
  • Help carpool transportation for meetings or field trips.
  • Be a leader’s helper for one project. List projects of interest:
  • Help youth prepare for public presentations or fair.
  • Serve on committee to help plan and conduct events.
  • Make telephone calls.
County
  • Help carpool transportation to county meetings or events.
  • Help at county events.
  • Serve on county committee as an interested parent.
  • Assist during the 4-H fair (set up, take down, staffing booths, etc.)

Ranking Chart

Wyoming 4-H uses a ranking chart for their parent interest survey, where parents indicate how they work and what they like to do, rating them as “all of the time,” “most of the time,” “a little,” “not at all,” and “would like to learn.”

The following is their list of interests that are then each marked with one of those five levels.

How I like to work

  • With a group (i.e. committee/team of people)
  • By myself
  • With detailed instructions about the task to be completed
  • With general guidelines and lots of room for creativity

What I like to do

  • Make snacks/light refreshments for club meetings
  • Plan and coordinate one club activity (for example: club picnic,
  • field trip, holiday party, guest speaker)
  • Coordinate trips (logistical arrangements)
  • Chaperone trips (camp, state fair, regional or national events, etc)
  • Plan and organize fundraisers
  • Mentor new 4-H families
  • Be a 4-H club project leader
  • Be a 4-H club activity leader – Serve on a committee to help plan and conduct on-going activities
  • Teach individual members
  • Teach groups of members
    • Please list the hobbies, interests, skills you would be willing to teach others:
  • Help 4-H members with record books
  • Help 4-H members with presentations (demonstrations,
  • speeches, etc)
  • Help members get exhibits ready for the county/state fair
  • Plan and organize club recognition for members/leaders
  • Develop and maintain web pages
  • Make telephone calls to remind members about activities

What I could provide for our 4-H club (please indicate what you would loan/let us use)

  • An occasional place for club meetings/activities (kitchen, garage,
  • backyard, living room, basement, etc)
  • Transportation (car pooling) for meetings/activities
  • Kitchen type equipment (roaster, large cooler, grill, etc) for club outings.
Back to Strategies to Engage 4-H Parents and Guardians
Back to Volunteer Resources

Adapted from the New Jersey 4-H Parent Interest Survey (PDF) and Wyoming 4-H’s Club Level Parent Interest Survey (PDF).