The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate Penn State Extension educators’ volunteer management needs and desirable professional development delivery methods. The participants were 92 Extension educators who participated in the online survey. The response rate was 47.4%. We found that the top five most preferable volunteer management content area needs among educators were volunteer communication, motivation, training, risk management, and coaching. The most desirable delivery methods of volunteer management content were webinars, one-time in-service training, factsheets, and series of workshops. The point-biserial correlation coefficient was used to show the correlation between specific volunteer management content area and professional development delivery method. Face-to-face training was preferred for topics such as needs assessments, utilization, teaching ethics and ethical decision making, motivation, coaching, risk management, and communication. Published content was the most preferred delivery method for topics such as writing position descriptions, selection, teaching ethics and ethical decision making, and risk management. Online education was a preferred delivery method for most topics, with the exception of marketing skills and utilization. Staff development personnel should consider these preferred delivery methods when designing training programs for Extension educators. Such consideration will enhance training effectiveness and learning.

Our modified brainstorming technique is an assessment tool Extension professionals can use to generate new ideas. The modified brainstorming technique capitalizes on creativity at the individual level and helps maximize the contribution of the whole group. The technique leads to generation of useful ideas in a mutually supportive setting for a minimal time investment. This tool is effective for relatively small groups within Extension and may be applicable to other outreach and nonprofit organizations.

Extension professionals at all levels can use popular social media platforms to increase awareness of Extension. This article explores how our team of Extension professionals has used a blog in combination with Facebook on a weekly basis to better market Extension and our work. Every Extension professional can easily become part of a deliberate effort to more actively connect with stakeholders by using these tools.

This study sought to assess perceptions of support for organizational change and model the relationship between support for organizational change and leadership competencies among Extension educators. The knowledge gained through this work should expand current understandings regarding the nature, scope, and value of support for organizational change within the Extension educator role. We found that Extension educators mostly support organizational change. Our study also showed that leadership competencies predict a significant proportion of the total variation in overall support for organizational change. Extension leaders and leadership development practitioners should be aware that leadership education may increase receptivity to organizational change among educators.