Welcome to Chapter Insights Benchmarks and Goal-Setting Demographics Standardized
https://demographics.texas.gov/ Chapter Data from VMS
Records from 2015
Data was imported from several chapters. Those chapters had several people through the years contributing their records, along with their typos. Records with no birthdate were assigned an obviously older date. And, unfortunately, ethnic background was often left blank. General Chapter Demographics
The following slides list the top ten chapters in several categories. These are not to construed as a ranking of best to worst. It is merely a way to identify those chapters that may have techniques, strategies, or skills we can learn from. These are the chapters I would like to ask, How did you do it?
It’s also important to remember that we cannot directly compare a chapter like the Panhandle to the Capital Area. Each of the 48 chapters is very unique in its makeup and those differences should be taken into consideration. Please keep this in mind as you make any inferences for the data. Top 10 Largest Chapters by Number of Active Members
Year Rank of Population Established Density 1997 Alamo Area 4th 2001 Galveston Bay Area 23rd 1998 North Texas 2nd 2002 Hill Country 32nd 1998 Hays County 31st 1998 Capital Area 5th 1999 Elm Fork 8th 2006 Blackland Prairie 7th 2002 Rio Grande Valley 15th 2003 Highland Lakes 41st
It is understandable that the longer established chapters in the densely populated areas should have the most active members. But in order to learn effective recruiting we might look to Highland Lakes and Hill Country Chapters.
Top 10 Largest Chapters by Percentage of Total Population
Percentage of Total total Active Population population members of area
Tierra Grande 0.42% 78 18,687 El Camino Real 0.19% 47 25,394 South Texas Border 0.18% 114 64,053 Highland Lakes 0.17% 133 79,903 Hill Country 0.12% 209 170,312 Hays County 0.09% 206 218,889 Gideon Lincecum 0.09% 121 132,322 Lindheimer 0.09% 131 144,033 Lost Pines 0.08% 101 131,525 Galveston Bay Area 0.07% 189 334,128 The large red spikes in relation to the blue line tell us that these chapters are very successful at marketing their program. What is their stategy? Top 10 Chapters by Area
Square Number of MNs miles per 1000 square miles Panhandle 25,753.1 1.476 Trans Pecos 19,153.8 .002 South Plains 19,017.7 .001 Tierra Grande 12,303.5 .006 Big Country 12,271.2 .004 Hill Country 10,649.2 .020 Llano Estacado 10,104.8 .003 Rolling Plains 8,613.5 .004 East Texas 7,408.4 .009 Red River 5,928.1 .008
Most Master Naturalists Per 1000 Square Miles
Number of MNs Square per 100 square miles miles
Galveston Bay Area 378.4 65.8 Hays County 678 30.4 Alamo Area 1,239.8 26.4 Lindheimer 559.5 23.4 Balcones Canyonlands/ Capital Area 990.2 22.3 North Texas 1,779 13.2 Good Water 1,118.3 9.92 Blackland Prairie 1,681.5 9.39 South Texas Border 1,223.2 9.32 Rio Grande Valley 1,481.5 8.97
You’re more likely to run into a fellow Master Naturalist in these areas. Another example of good marketing of the program. Where and how do they market? Chapter Diversity Diversity
It is important to note that the data on the following slides is very incomplete. The graph above shows the percentage of profiles with no response whatsoever in the ethnicity field. Diversity African American Members
In Chapter In Area
South Plains 8.3% 6.2% El Camino Real 4.2% 9.0% Heart of Texas 3.1% 13.9% Gulf Coast 2.4% 18.5% Coastal Prairie 2.2% 19.9% Alamo Area 1.2% 7.2% Hays County 0.5% 2.7% North Texas 0.4% 21.4%
Diversity Hispanic Members
In Chapter In Area
South Texas Border 32.5% 92% Trans Pecos 21.1% 80.6% South Texas 20% 64.5% Rio Grande Valley 18.8% 89.5% Alamo Area 11% 60.2% Bluestem 8.3% 13.3% Lower Trinity Basin 6.3% 22.7% Piney Wood Lakes 6.3% 12.3% Capital Area/ Balcones Canyonland 5.2% 34.5% Gulf Coast 4.8% 42.3%
Diversity Asian Members
In Chapter In Area Rolling Plains 2.9% 1.42% Coastal Prairie 2.2% 18.40% Central Texas 1.9% 2.98% Heartwood 1.8% 2.54% Brazos Valley 1.8% 4.09% Cross Timbers 1.6% 5.13% Indian Trail 1.5% 0.51% North Texas 1.3% 5.95% Gulf Coast 1.2% 7.19% Capital Area 1.0% 6.37% Diversity
It is important to reiterate that all chapter data is incomplete due to the number of members who elect not to answer the ethnicity survey in VMS. Chapter Survey Chapter Insights Questionnaire 39 Chapters responding
Alamo Area Good Water Mid-Coast Balcones Canyonlands Guadalupe North Texas Big Country Gulf Coast Panhandle Blackland Prairie Hays County Prairie Oaks Bluestem Heart of Texas Red River Bois d'Arc Heartwood Rio Grande Valley Brazos Valley Highland Lakes Rolling Plains Capital Area Hill Country Sabine-Neches Central Texas Indian Trail South Plains Coastal Prairie Lindheimer South Texas Cypress Basin Llano Estacado South Texas Border Elm Fork Longleaf Ridge Galveston Bay Area Lost Pines Gideon Lincecum Lower Trinity Basin Training Training
Number of Chapters Number of Chapters Training Fees Cover: # of chapters 32 Book 2nd year dues 17 Name Badges Advertising 11 Shirt Compass/Magnifying glass 8 1st year dues 8 Facility rental fees/field trip fees First day lunch 8 Lanyard Members in Training handbook 6 Handouts Pen 5 Snacks Pin 4 Class supplies Plate & bamboo utensils 3 Binders 3 Notebook Swag 2 A Sand county almanac Temporary badge 2 Chapter Tee Trainee Info Notebook 2 Drinks Trees from the Apache Tree Grant Program 2 Graduation gift Two books on ANWR 2 Speaker fees 2 TMN water bottle Welcome gift 1 Tote bags Nature Watch Austin book Training Structure The numbers across the bottom of each graph represent the number of chapters reporting Training comments:
70 hours offered August-December Every Saturday, 8-4, early November through mid April with breaks for holidays, etc. Once a week, usually 8:30-3. Combination of class and field training Includes 8-12 hours of self-selected activities 5 site visits (only 2 required), 5 optional field trips Full days, most include a field trip to partners' locations Once a month plus 8 optional field trips Once a week All classes except Orientation are based in the field
Once a week for 15 weeks (2 hours and 50 minutes per session; 41.25 hours that can be logged as initial training), plus four Saturday field classes (totaling 15-19 hours that can be logged as either initial or advanced training) Every other week depending on the weather as much of the training is a combo of classroom and field Once a week plus field session
Twice a week for 3-4 months, but we have training sessions and activities planned throughout the year to allow people to get hours in areas they may have missed during the training class sessions. The first is an orientation/training, then all the rest are field sessions Mentor Program
Alamo Area Balcones Canyonland Big Country * Capital Area * Central Texas Coastal Prairie Elm Fork * Galveston Bay Area Hays County Highland Lakes Hill Country Lindheimer Longleaf Ridge Lost Pines North Texas Rio Grande Valley South Texas * South Texas Border
* Chapters with the longest active members. Executive Board
Years of Service Number of Chapters of Number Board Members: Additional
Admissions (chooses members for training class) At Large Directors Education and Outreach Scheduling Education Director (Youth and Adult) Grants and Donation Director Habitat Restoration and Maintenance Director Historian Hospitality Host Committee Media and Technology Seabourne Creek Nature Park Program Director (oversees grant activities) Water Resources Youth Programs Director Annual Dues Number of Chapters of Number Advertising Chapter Meetings Chapter Meetings Number of Chapters of Number
Meeting per Year Junior Master Naturalist Program
Ages Served
Brazos Valley 8 to 12 * Elm Fork 5 to 11 Galveston Bay Area 14 and below Good Water 8 to 11 Guadalupe 5 to 9 * North Texas 8 to 12 South Texas 4th to 5th grade
Starred chapters are in the top 10 areas with the largest populations of 5 to 14 year olds. Fund Raising
Amount raised in last year Big Country $2,500 Capital Area $4,000 Central Texas $1,000+ Cypress Basin $1,500 Elm Fork $600 Gideon Lincecum $1,500 Gulf Coast $3,000 Highland Lakes $2,100 Hill Country $2,200 Indian Trail Mid Coast $6,000 North Texas $4,300 Rio Grande Valley $2,500 Rolling Plains $100 South Texas Border
39.5% of chapters do some form of fund raising. In the past, we have always used our annual Silent Auction to cover all our yearly expenses. Since this is not a stable or guaranteed source of income, we will be rolling out chapter dues starting in 2020 and will no longer have the Silent Auction. Urban Wildlife Conference Plant sales, silent auction, merchandise sales garage sale, silent auction at awards banquet Amazon Smile mainly Silent auction at our December gathering
The $150 training fee doesn't cover costs. Our primary fund raiser is a native plant sale at the HummerFest in Rockport Several things - we have produced Wild flower books, Nature Need shirts, Nature quotes books - all sold by donation which go toward funding scholarships etc. We held two semi-annual all day workshop for a fee and open to the public as well as TMNs Sell outdoors crafts such as birdhouses, bat houses, used field guides, and walking sticks at the Home and Garden show. We also receive some donations from members and friends.
We do some fundraising for the chapter but do not at this time offer scholarships for Training and Annual meeting attendance. Walking Sticks and
FundRaising Events Pottery mugs are recent examples. In 2018 we raised $600 but we do not have an active fundraising program this year. Silent actions This year is our first major fundraiser. It is an all day landowner summit with 5 speakers. Attendees will get 5 CEUs where applicable. Items such as custom bee boxes and locally harvested seeds will be for sale. For non-designated funds: Cookbook with photographs and beautiful narratives about Caddo Lake. Designated funds for projects directly involving Caddo Lake/ Cypress Basin: Annual paddling Flotilla
Refreshments at Wings on the Wind festival at Abilene State Park (cancelled in 2019 because of bad weather); applied for grant from local nonprofit Funds have traditionally been used for general chapter operating expenses (speaker fees, training supplies and facility rentals, some educational materials). We received a grant from the Austin Parks Foundation to work on an interpretive signage project in a nature preserve. New class groups have done small projects (chimney swift tower, animal enrichments, etc).
Bird feeding, not necessarily; but the garage sale this year was earmarked to help with the expenses of the Annual Awards Banquet to help those attend who can't afford it
No, unless a donation is project specific
We do have some capital projects. The biggest is development of a video tribute to Dr Wayne McCalister and his wife Martha.
Some was set aside for education equipment. The rest will be earmarked for later projects Tools, T-shirts, printing, Moth Night supplies, office supplies, scholarships, speaker gifts...
No, just for the general budget. We do participate in North Texas Giving Day in September each year. In 2018 we raised $1100 to buy a second set of pelts for our Resource room. Previously we had not specified what we were requesting money for and this amount far exceeded what we had raised in previous years. This year we are raising funds to purchase 'student' quality microscopes for our educational programs. Which ones we do not at
FundRaising Projects present know.
Vannie Cook Cancer Center Native Plant Atrium St. George Church Pollinator Garden Fundraiser money is earmarked for scholarships to 5 high school seniors in our 5 county area Flotilla funds are and have been used to maintain signs on 10 paddling trails; purchase new sign-making equipment which is available for several agencies to use; Salvinia control efforts For displays and educational materials, such as discovery kits for school children who come on field trips to Abilene State Park