Volunteer Opportunities

Are you looking for ways to get involved? Our dedicated and growing community of member-volunteers are essential to running all of our programs! If you have a passion for our mission and want to support our work and programs, join us! Send us an e-mail at info@grownativemass.org.

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    Our Members are Our Volunteers

    For our first four years, Grow Native was an entirely volunteer organization. From the board on down and throughout our membership, so many people contributed both their time and essential financial support to help us build our programs. We are very grateful for this strong commitment to our mission and we celebrate our community of members who are both doers and donors. Today, more than 50 members volunteer and work closely with our two-person staff each year, quite simply making all that we do possible. Because of their dedication, we accomplish much more than many organizations our budget size. As a small nonprofit organization, we know the importance of this model to achieving change in this world. Our members are our volunteers, and our volunteers are some of our most generous members. Thank you, all!

  • Evenings with Experts Volunteers

    Promote our mission and programs at our Evenings with Experts lectures. This is a great opportunity to meet and network with other Grow Native members in our community, or share your own Grow Native experience with those who are new to our organization.

    Roles & Responsibilities:

    • Arrive an hour before the start of each lecture.
    • Staff our outreach table to share information about Grow Native programs, the importance of native plants, and answer general questions.
    • Staff our membership table to encourage membership support from new and renewing members.

    Time Commitment & Qualifications:

    Volunteers will work for one hour prior to each lecture, from 6:00 – 7:00 pm, on the first Wednesday in February, March, April, and May. We prefer volunteers who can commit to helping at all four events. Volunteers should enjoy interacting with the public, and answering questions.

    Native Plant Sale Volunteers

    Our annual Native Plant Sale is one of the largest of its kind in New England. We depend upon 40-45 dedicated member-volunteers to organize and run this event each year. We need volunteers to work the day of the sale, and during the days leading up to the sale, especially when we receive plant deliveries and sort plants.

    Roles & Responsibilities:

    There are many different jobs, and you can select the roles that fit you best. We need skills in all these areas. You might be asked to do a number of different tasks, but no one person does them all!

    • Interact with Plant Sale customers, make plant recommendations, and answer questions about plant selection and planting.
    • Assist customers reserving plants in the holding area (where customers can set aside plants as they shop).
    • Arrive early, or stay late on sale day to set up and/or break down tables, tents, and signage.
    • Set out plants for the start of the sale, and/or label plants with informational plant ID signs, and restock plants, as needed.
    • Collect and process payments, including checks, cash, and credit card transactions.
    • Sell tickets for raffle prizes, and sign up new Grow Native members.
    • Organize customer pre-orders and assist with pre-order distribution, ensuring orders are correct before the customer leaves.
    • Help with intake, sorting, and storage of plants prior to the day of the sale.
    • Work the checkout lines, filling out order forms with customers in order to help speed up checkout, and encouraging customers to join Grow Native as members.
    • Arrive early to direct traffic flow and parking in the busy hours leading up to and at the start of the sale.

    Time Commitment & Qualifications:

    Join us for a few hours or a few days. The work is intense, fun, and rewarding. Some roles require confidence in identifying native plants. Other roles require lifting, moving, and sorting plants. Volunteers will also need to attend a Crew Training Session prior to the sale. This is a rewarding job for those who enjoy working with plants (ALL of us!), interacting with other native plant lovers, and jumping in where needed in a very busy environment. We all enjoy the camaraderie and teamwork that goes into our sale!

    Grow Native Ambassadors

    Join our corps of outreach ambassadors and represent Grow Native at events held throughout the Commonwealth. We are developing a dedicated outreach team who can help amplify the reach of our organization by staffing the Grow Native table at community events, conferences, fairs, and festivals.

    Roles & Responsibilities:

    • Be familiar and involved with Grow Native— our programs, operations, and mission.
    • Staff our outreach table at these events to answer questions and talk to attendees about the ecological importance of native plants in our landscapes.
    • Encourage new members to join and support us. Promote attendance at our many programs.

    Time Commitment & Qualifications:

    The time commitment per event is typically 2-3 hours, plus travel time. Ambassadors should love native plants, and enjoy interacting with the public. Most of all, they need to value our work and share their enthusiasm for all that we do.

    Office Support

    We periodically need task-oriented volunteers who can help out in the office with periodic mailings or preparing materials for events. If you are interested in coming in and helping with the nitty gritty, let us know and we will add you to our call list for when we have a project due, or need help.