Is there a minimum age to volunteer?
You must be 16 or older to volunteer. Individuals ages 16 and 17 will be required to obtain and turn in a completed MA Youth Work Permit prior to volunteering. You will be provided the signed application for this after acceptance and attending a virtual orientation.
We are unable to make exceptions to the minimum age.
What’s the time commitment?
Commitment varies by role. Details are listed within the description of each volunteer role. Most require an on-property commitment once a week on a set day and time, ranging from 2-4 hours.
To ensure the best possible care of our animals, we take attendance very seriously. Volunteers who do not meet attendance requirements for their role will be removed from the program, and will not be eligible to return.
Can I bring my child with me when I volunteer?
We are not able to have volunteers bring children to their volunteer shift.
Can I drop in to volunteer?
We cannot accommodate requests for drop-in volunteering. All volunteers must go through our full onboarding process, which can take a month or more.
I need community service hours for court or school.
Thank you for considering us as your service location!
In limited circumstances, we may be able to fulfill requests for community service hours assigned by court. Court-ordered community service must be approved in advance. Verification to courts will not be provided unless your service need was disclosed in advance, and approved. To request approval, email nevinsvolunteer@mspca.org with the number of hours needed, the date the service is due by, the offense you were assigned community service for, your full name, and the contact number of someone at the court who assigned your service. Include “Court Community Service” in your email title. If we can grant your request, you will be eligible to apply for our Shelter Care volunteer role. You will not be eligible for other volunteer roles. Depending on how many hours you are assigned, it may take 3 months to 1 year to complete your hours.
We have enrolled many students seeking community service hours for National Honor Society or college applications. To best meet our needs, our volunteer program is aimed at volunteers able to make an extended commitment. If you are seeking only a small amount of hours for your community service, our program will not be a match. You must be able to complete the minimum required commitment in the role you are applying for. Shelter Care is typically the best role for students seeking service hours!
Whatever the reason you are seeking community service hours, we cannot accommodate requests to complete hours in a short turnaround time. All accepted volunteers must go through our full onboarding process, which can take a month or more after you are accepted.
Can I just volunteer to pet/read to/play with animals?
While socialization is important, it is part of a larger volunteer role. You must be willing to do everything involved in volunteering, not just the “fun” stuff! Emptying litterboxes, mucking stalls, picking up after a dog you walked in the rain or snow, scrubbing dirty food bowls, and washing loads (and loads) of soiled bedding are all part of volunteer life here at Nevins.
Where do you need the most help?
While roles involving animal care attract many applicants, we have a high need and lower application rate for volunteers in other areas. Community Outreach and Shelter Care are two often overlooked roles.
If you are fully bilingual in Spanish and English, your skills would be ever so helpful in Concierge, Community Outreach, or Greeter roles!
I’m enrolled in veterinary school, and need an internship with farm animals.
We’re sorry, but we are not able to offer this. We outsource most farm animal veterinary needs, and therefore do not complete the procedures needed for large/farm animal internships.
I would like to observe surgeries.
Observation of surgeries is not allowed.
Can I foster a puppy/kitten?
Many animals in need of foster homes are adults who are pregnant, sick, under socialized, or not thriving in a shelter environment. Some may be hospice cases. If you apply to be a foster volunteer, you must be willing to take on more than young, healthy animals. Most animals placed in foster are cats or small animals, like rabbits or guinea pigs. We are actively searching for dog foster homes as well! All animals are placed in foster on a case by case basis with those decisions being made by staff. Interested in fostering? We need you! Apply here.
Do you need people to ride or groom your horses?
While many of our volunteers are accomplished equestrians, only staff are able to ride our horses.
Grooming is most often done by staff. For horses deemed appropriate for grooming by volunteers, this is a small part of the barn volunteer role, and reserved for volunteers who have been approved to groom. We do not enroll volunteers seeking only to groom horses. You must be willing and able to complete all tasks listed in the barn volunteer description.
I work/go to school, and can only volunteer on weekends and holidays. Is that possible?
Yes! Staff and volunteers are here 7 days a week. While not all areas have weekend openings, there is typically at least one accepting applications for a weekend shift. Please review the detailed volunteer role descriptions for current openings here.
Please note, we do not have evening volunteer options available. We have recently expanded our shifts that are compatible with after-school hours, including several 3pm-5pm shelter care openings.
I’d like a remote data entry volunteer role.
We do not have remote volunteer needs, aside from fostering animals.
My friend and I want to sign up to volunteer together.
Every applicant is evaluated for acceptance as an individual. Should you apply, it cannot be dependent upon someone else being accepted into our volunteer program, or being able to volunteer on the same shift.
Your transportation cannot rely on another volunteer. This negatively impacts attendance.
I’m looking to place a student or client in a volunteer role.
After having reviewed the detailed volunteer role descriptions, please email nevinsvolunteer@mspca.org to discuss if volunteering at Nevins will be an appropriate match for the role in which there is an interest. We are lucky to have students and clients from several school transition programs and organizations volunteering with us on an ongoing basis, and are extremely limited in our ability to serve as a placement site for additional individuals or organizations at this time.
Please note, we cannot accommodate exceptions to skills, qualities, or experience required in most areas. The safety and wellbeing of our animals, staff, and volunteers must always be considered when evaluating these requests. This includes the safety of your client or student.
MSPCA at Nevins Farm is happy to welcome volunteers of differing physical and intellectual abilities when accommodations are possible. Volunteers requiring support must be able to provide a supporting co-volunteer for each shift who will be responsible for making sure all shift requirements are done completely, correctly, and safely. The supporting co-volunteer must be the same each week. Any new co-volunteer will need to go through the full volunteer onboarding process.
Co-volunteers are responsible for explaining and modeling all volunteer policies and guidelines, and actively participating in each shift. Co-volunteers found in violation of any of these policies, or general volunteer policies, may be asked to suspend the volunteer service of their differently-abled volunteer, or both parties may have to leave the program until a replacement co-volunteer can be onboarded.
We are unable to adjust shift times to match shared or public transportation methods. Applicants must be able to be present for the duration of a listed weekly shift.
I already know how to handle (insert animal type here). Why do I need to wait for training to begin?
As an MSPCA volunteer, you’ll need to do things the way we do them! This is different from the way you interact with animals in a home environment. While animals are at our shelter, we have protocols that must be followed for the safety of staff, volunteers, and the animals themselves.
I would like to volunteer to fix computers, take photos, help with marketing, or another unlisted role.
While we appreciate your desire to help, we are seeking volunteers only for the roles we currently have listed as open.
I would like to work at the MSPCA. Is Nevins hiring?
Open MSPCA staff positions for all locations can be found on our website, under careers. Applications must be submitted via the careers website, and will be reviewed by Human Resources. Staffing needs are not handled by Volunteer Coordinators.
I have a question not addressed here or in the role descriptions.
Questions regarding our volunteer program for those 16 and older should be sent to nevinsvolunteer@mspca.org. Questions about programs for those 15 and under should be directed to humaneeducation@mspca.org. The two are handled by separate staff.
Return to the Nevins Farm Volunteer Program landing page by clicking here.