Volunteer With the Museum
The Museum is dependent on our team of dedicated volunteers — and as a small non-profit, we’re always grateful to have more hands. Whether you’d love to lead tours or want to work behind the scenes, there’s many ways to help. To find out more about volunteering, please email us.
Daily Volunteer Needs — May thru October
Tour Guides: Interested in sharing Vermont history with visitors? Does walking through an historic farmsite and Burlington’s oldest house appeal to you? Then you are who we are looking for! Volunteer tour guides are asked to commit to one weekly shift for the May-thru-October season.
Greeters: Greeters staff the desk in our Welcome Center, and help with everything from running the cash register to explaining exhibits. Like tour guides, greeters are asked to commit to a weekly shift. This is a great way for new volunteers to get their feet wet!
Gardeners: Are you interested in helping grow some of the same plants we know Fanny Allen raised in the 1780s on this very site? Help keep Fanny’s Garden blooming! The garden team meets regularly, but work can also be scheduled at your own availability.
“The Homestead is just so emblematic of Vermont: small, authentic, and a lot of heart. It’s also so much fun being able to really ‘play’ in the museum as a historian rather than have to stay away from the displays.”
Heather Kenyon-Haff, volunteer
Year-Round Volunteer Opportunities
Educators: Lead educational field trips for PreK-12th grade students. Training provided. Schedule is based on bookings, but availability 9am-2pm M-F in May, June, September, and October is our greatest need.
Historical Research: We’re hoping to learn more about the lives of the farmers who lived in the historic Allen House and labored on this land in the 19th & early 20th centuries. Looking for people with research experience & initiative.
College Internships: Create your own internship project! We will work with your institution to help you receive academic credit.
Other: Do you have a special project in mind? Marketing chops? Webmaster skills? Just want to help tidy? Reach out!
Benefits of Volunteering
Education
Volunteers have access to our research library, occasional group trips to local museums, and more ways to learn.
Community
From connecting with local history buffs to meeting visitors from near and far, volunteering helps strengthen community ties.
Discount
As a thank you, museum volunteers get a 20% off discount in our gift shop and other small perks.
Support the Museum
Want to help, but don’t have the time? Donations go far in preserving the Allen House and supporting our programming.