Giving Back: A Guide

Nepenthes seedling development

One of the great things about the carnivorous plant community is not only that there are a number of places to talk about carnivorous plants online, but also that there exists a great number of opportunities to give back and spread the obsession.

Before I really get into suggestions, I want to caution the several hundred people who will read this post today, and the few thousand that will read it in the months to come, that once you start giving back, you'll find that there a lot of people who want something for nothing and they won't value your contributions. It sucks, but there's really nothing you can do about it.

Okay, on to the suggestions:

1. Volunteering at garden clubs, garden societies, botanical gardens, etc. both in terms of giving lectures on carnivorous plants and in helping maintain collections. Now, this shocked me when I started volunteering, but a lot of garden clubs and societies would love to have speakers come and talk about carnivorous plants, even if they're specialized clubs (rose, orchid, etc). It still sounds really bizarre to me, but, even with those clubs that know quite a bit about gardening, the membership generally is interested, to some degree, in carnivorous plants, but isn't confident enough to start growing them. Similarly, your local botanical garden/university might have some carnivorous plants in their collection, but don't have the expertise to know how to care for the plants, and would appreciate some help. Now, the real kicker is, nationwide, speakers/experts will ordinarily charge a club somewhere around $175 per lecture to tell the membership the basics of plant care. So, realize that when you volunteer, you're saving that club or garden nearly $200 per visit.
2. Donating and participating in your local carnivorous plant club/group, or forming your own. If you're lucky to live in some populous areas of the world, you probably not only have a fair number of carnivorous plant growers in your area, but they've also organized into some sort of club or group. One of the great things about many of these groups is that they operate as nonprofits, or donation-sustained groups. They're a great place to meet other growers and get some different plants for below market value, largely because many of them have silent-auctions at regular meetings and giveaways to members. Of course, the thing that sustains the club is member donations. So, if you do have a local carnivorous plant club in your area, try to attend meetings and bring something to donate. For instance, I try to go to every NECPS meeting that I can reasonably attend (it's about a two hour drive for me to attend, so it's a bit of a hike), but I always bring a plant or two for the auction table, something with a market value of $10 - $15. That plant usually costs me very little monetarily, but it brings in some money for the NECPS and helps stimulate the auction.
3. Blogging. It sounds weird, but, honestly, one of the best sources of information (besides Wikipedia) is blogs. For instance, I regularly look at Paul Barden's blog to check out what mature Nepenthes hybrids will look like, Rob's blog to learn about Sarrs, Devon's blog to learn about pygmy 'dews, and Melody's blog to learn a little about everything. While it's possible to find much of the same information on a forum, it's easier to search a blog ('cause Google indexes it better), and, frankly, most people interested in carnivorous plants, and most people who visit this blog, due so thanks to Google. While actual value varies, most blog-networks paying writers end up paying, over the long-term, a few dollars per-post. So, blogging is one of the easiest ways to contribute to the community.
4. Participating in the online community, especially where newbies are concerned. It is often incredibly frustrating to visit, for instance, Reddit's Savage Garden subreddit and see multiple threads on the front page asking for help with someone looking to grow their first Venus Flytrap, but, oftentimes, they've probably Googled the issue, seen ten different resolutions, and gotten confused about what is the correct solution. (Hint: There is probably no single right answer). So, they really appreciate it when experienced growers chime in with an answer to their problem. It's a great, low work way to spend some time reflecting on our own growing methods and helping others with their problems. 
5. Giveaways. It's possible to do plant or supply giveaways on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on a forum, or to people who email or message you. Generally, people wrongly assume that the most costly part of a giveaway is postage. In reality, it's the electricity, media, pots, water, time, space, etc. that went into the growing of the plant that is being given away. I like to do giveaways when I have an overflow of plants, seeds, or supplies, and, I find, it's most rewarding to giveaway plants to people just getting into the hobby. More than anyone else, they'll appreciate the opportunity to get into it for a low upfront cost. As I consequence, I try to keep my giveaways to mostly in-person or via people who contact me with questions about plants as they get into the hobby, not to people with established collections. You can pretty much value giveaways similarly to donating to your local carnivorous plant club.
6. Specialty Work. Some of us are lucky enough to be professionals with some kind of work background that can be of significant assistance to the community, or parts of the community. I, for instance, am an attorney. To the extent I am allowed, I have been advising the NECPS on legal issues associated with non-profit status. To retain non-pro bono counsel on the same issues would have cost the NECPS upwards of $1,000. Similarly, I know a number of botanists who have tailored their work to contribute to the greater scientific knowledge of carnivorous plants, something with incalculable value. (Well, I guess, technically, their salaries, but I like to value science highly). Others work at botanical gardens and have been hard at work preserving species, like Nepenthes aristolochioides, which have mostly like gone - or will shortly go - extinct in the wild. If you do have a specialty, like those I have described, or other specialty, please consider whether you can donate in a similar way. Most of those in the community probably won't appreciate it, but for those of us who do pay attention, we do.

Oftentimes, we're not too sure how to contribute to the carnivorous plant community if we live far from conservation organizations always seeking volunteers (e.g. Meadowview), and this year's NASC Auction has already passed by, but, I hope, this post has shown that there's plenty you can do during the rest of the year, if you're so inclined.