N.C. Cooperative Extension of Durham County is pleased to announce that it has been certified by Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, as a Service Enterprise. Achieving Service Enterprise certification is a prestigious accomplishment for an organization. In fact, organizations that certify join the top 11 percent of nonprofits nationwide in volunteer management and organizational performance. Certification signifies that organizations have the capability and management expertise to strategically use volunteers to improve the performance of their organization.

N.C. Cooperative Extension of Durham County’s certification team, Erin Matoko, Pana Jones, Ashley Troth, and Yvonne Cozart completed an extensive assessment, over 20 hours of training and coaching, and an extensive internal planning and change process to better integrate volunteers into our human capital strategy. By achieving this level of excellence and certification, N.C. Cooperative Extension of Durham County is now better equipped to leverage the time and talent of volunteers and better meet our mission.

As Durham County Extension Director Donna Rewalt observed, “The team who participated in the Service Enterprise journey have grown as leaders through the process. I am so pleased to see the many positive ways that they have updated our volunteer services program to better serve our clients and the community.”

Through the certification process, the team elaborated on a mentorship training program for Extension Master Gardener℠ volunteers of Durham County; improved resources, training, and support for all volunteers; and expanded volunteer recruitment strategies, among other initiatives.

In 2020 over 1,000 volunteers with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Durham County Center volunteered 9,692 hours achieving 7,272 client contacts.  Their estimated value in service was $246,469.

Research conducted by the TCC Group, a national program and evaluation firm, found that organizations operating as Service Enterprises outperform peer organizations on all aspects of organizational effectiveness, and are more adaptable, sustainable, and capable of scaling their work. The Service Enterprise program is a national change management program that helps organizations gain a greater return on volunteer investment to better achieve their mission.

For more information regarding volunteer opportunities with our organization, please contact Erin Matoko, Volunteer Coordinator, at ematoko@dconc.gov.