Volunteer with CFO

Volunteers Drive CFO

For over 50 years, CFO has provided learning opportunities for Colorado's birding community and supported research on and conservation of Colorado's birds through the dedication and hard work of countless volunteers.

CFO thanks all those individuals who have offered their time and support to volunteer causes and encourages new and returning volunteers to join the efforts.

Volunteer opportunities include a mix of in-person and at-home opportunities from helping on small projects and leading field trips to serving on CFO committees and being part of the CFO Board of Directors.

CFO will occasionally put out specific volunteer announcements when specific skills and open positions are available but encourages anyone to contact us at any time about opportunities. Some of the best new initiatives of CFO have occurred because someone had a great idea and brought it to the CFO board and collaborated to make it a reality.

Father-and-Daughter-Birding

Special Call for CFO Volunteers

While CFO has openings for all types of volunteers all the time (see green box below), these are specific roles we are recruiting for right now.

Board Member - Membership Chair

CFO seeks a new Membership committee member who is interested in taking on the Membership Committee Chair board position at the CFO Annual Meeting in May 2026. 

Why I’ve enjoyed being the Membership Chair and why you might be interested in it. - Megan Jones Patterson, Current Membership Chair

Being CFO’s membership chair has been a great way to connect with the Colorado birding community. It has been nice to be out birding and meet someone who then thanks me for the help I provided in getting them registered for an event or answering questions about their account. Membership is a fundamental part of CFO and while this position is more behind the scenes than others, it is a critical part of the organization. I was relatively new to Colorado and CFO when I became Membership Chair. It is a great role that introduced me to being in the leadership for the organization. There is relatively little time commitment in the role itself and I took the opportunity to get more involved with other aspects of the organization, like helping plan a successful convention through being a board member.

Responsibilities

  • Manage CFO Membership in the NEONOne CRM (updating records, etc.). Training is provided.
  • Correspond with members/potential members about CFO, their member accounts, etc.
  • Coordinate CFO membership recruitment campaigns (email, social media, something more creative?).
  • Assist new and renewing members with membership registration and renewal (reminders are automatic in the CRM). 
  • (Optional) Lead the CFO Membership Committee. Over the last 6 years, this has varied between a solo position without a committee and a small committee with one or two people to help generate ideas for creative membership recruitment. 
  • Work with the Editor of Colorado Birds journal to provide the print vendor with the current mailing list and managing journal returns (quarterly). 
  • Attend CFO Board meetings as scheduled (quarterly). 
  • Compile, analyze, and provide reports on membership composition and trends for the Board (quarterly). 

Desired Skills/Experience

  • Ability to use the Google Workspace suite - Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet, etc.
  • Past experience with, or willingness to learn, a CRM. We use NEONOne but experience with Salesforce, SAP, Zoho, Agile CRM, Insightly, or any of the myriad others would be useful. No experience? Intuition for using any sort of database would be applicable.
  • Patience with people who may have technical difficulties and less familiarity with online accounts. 

Organizational Support Provided for Onboarding to the Membership Chair Role

  • Prior to and in the months after May 2026 - training/mentorship from the outgoing Membership Chair
  • Detailed documentation of the role and its responsibilities.
  • As part of the CFO board, this role has access to other experienced board members who can field questions.
  • NEONOne Support: training, help documentation, and a live service team to answer questions. 

Time Commitment

  • 3 hrs/month for membership related activities.
  • 15 mins/quarter to send a current mailing list for the printed journal to our print vendor (simple report from our CRM). 
  • 30 mins/quarter to prepare a membership report for CFO board meetings.
  • 3 hrs/quarter to attend board meetings (this could change but recently they have been held quarterly for 3 hours on a weekend - in person and online options available). 
  • Board members may choose to serve on other committees (conservation, convention, etc.). These committees would have additional time commitments and responsibilities. 

Interested?

If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Megan Jones Patterson, CFO Membership Committee Chair, at membership@cobirds.org.

CFO Travel Program Coordinator

PIJA_banner_ScottSomershoe

Survey for Pinyon Jays

CFO is partnering with other regional organizations to map Pinyon Jay activity across the western US in pinyon-juniper habitat and surrounding areas. Volunteer community scientists (you!) record data anytime the bird in the appropriate areas -- whether or not they see jays.

Volunteer on a CFO Committee

Committees form the backbone of CFO with most of the work and idea generation occurring at this level. Volunteering to be part of a committee is a great way to be part of exciting initiatives, meet CFO board members, and to give back to your community. CFO committees are chaired by a CFO Board Director and have a mix of other directors and volunteers on them. Most committees meet monthly throughout the year for 1-2 hours. Additional time commitment by committee members varies depending on tasks and, for many committees, an annual cycle around events.

A complete list of committees and committee membership can be found on the CFO Leadership page. Descriptions below highlight some of the types of committee volunteer opportunities.

Communications

Do you have an interest in communications, marketing, or education? The communications committee ensures that the Colorado community knows about CFOs upcoming events through the website, social media, and emails.

Conservation

Be part of planning how CFO will support conservation in Colorado.

Education

This new committee will focus on creating partnerships and implementing educational efforts for learners of all ages.

Events

Do you like event planning and want to make CFO conventions the best possible events? Is planning a Big Day event and helping raise funds for conservation your thing? These committees are for you!

Field Trips

Field trips & workshops cannot operate without trip leaders! Enjoy birding in your local area and want to share it with others? Let us know! There are opportunities to shadow experienced trip leaders before you start leading.

Interested in Voluntering? Let Us Know

Interest in joining the CFO Board?

The CFO Board of Directors provides oversight and direction for CFO. In addition, Directors serve as Committee Chairs and participate in various committees to ensure the success of CFO's endeavors.

CFO strives to have a board that geographically represents all of Colorado, to facilitate this, quarterly board meetings occur online. Many board members are still actively working or raising families so don't think you need to be retired to participate! Directors serve a 3-year term with 2 term limit but may return to the board for additional non-consecutive terms.

If you are interested in joining the board, please download and fill out the application form and return it to the CFO President.

Looking for short-term volunteer opportunities?

Check out our Events page.