2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Master Gardeners are a critical resource for Delaware (DE) Extension, and we conducted a survey in winter of 2017 to measure their demographics, perception of initial training, attribution of skills to learning experiences (initial training, advanced training, and volunteer experience), volunteer satisfaction, connection with sponsoring organizations (DE Extension, DE State University, and University of DE), and intent to remain with the organization. We distributed a survey via Qualtrics (Qualtrics, LLC, Provo, UT) to 282 current, active DE Master Gardeners, receiving 198 responses for a 70.2% response rate. The majority of the responding MGs are female (154; 87.20%), white (183; 91.92%), and college-educated (136; 70.10%), and the mean age is 70.45 years old. While not representative of the general population, these demographics are similar to those of other MG programs (Jeannette and Meyer, 2002; Schrock et al., 2000a). Delaware Master Gardeners had an average of ten years of service, gardened an average of four times per week, and participated in an average of seven volunteer activities. Master Gardener Volunteers highly rated their overall training experience (M = 6.31, SD = 0.99; scale of 1 to 7), and they felt general knowledge could be attributed most significantly to original training, whereas the confidence to teach practices and find answers to questions could be attributed most significantly to advanced training and volunteer experience. As measured by the Volunteer Satisfaction Index (VSI) (Galindo-Kuhn and Guzley, 2001), Master Gardeners highly rated their overall program satisfaction (M = 6.00, SD = 0.92; scale of 1 to 7), with empowerment as the highest sub-category (M = 6.18, SD = 0.95) and participation efficacy (volunteer's perception of their ability affect change with their volunteer work) as the lowest sub-category (M =5.83, SD = 0.91). Regardless of home county, Master Gardeners felt significantly stronger connections to DE Extension than either academic institution, University of DE, or DE State University. Finally, Master Gardeners reported that they intend to remain with the program, for the next year (M=6.44, SD=1.24; scale of 1 to 7), and for three years (M=5.91, SD=1.63). Overall, these data suggest DE Master Gardeners are satisfied with their work and learning opportunities. However, there are several areas for improvement. Long term goals include diversification of the volunteers to better match the constituent population (Bobbitt, 1997) and increasing volunteers connections to the sponsoring academic institutions at which they can find valuable resources. More attainable in the short term, volunteers need to see the impact of their own and others’ volunteer work such that they can build participation efficacy, increasing their sense of ability to affect change.