Good Deeds to find love: a new take on volunteering

This post is the latest in our (very) occasional series of guest articles. Hannah Whitehead is our contributor this time. I met with Hannah in early September, intrigued by her organisation, Good Deed Dating, I invited Hannah to explain the concept for the readers of the Rob Jackson Consulting Ltd blog and that's just what she does here.

Enjoy.

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As volunteer managers, we are all on the lookout for exciting and innovative ways to engage new audiences in our volunteering opportunities.  It’s a constant battle between getting the core work achieved and providing people with one off, commitment-free opportunities.

The challenge

What people want is an easy way to volunteer.  We all know that.  We’re not talking about the incredible volunteers who keep us all going on a day to day basis; those stalwarts who have volunteered every Tuesday morning since 1994. 

We’re talking about those people who would never volunteer.  The word doesn’t even enter their vocabulary.  They don’t want to commit, they don’t want to fill out endless forms, and they think opportunities are going to be boring or only available while they’re at work. 

And here’s the problem for volunteer managers: none of that suits our needs.  Not only do we have to make time and space to run these special activities, we also have to recruit the volunteers.

So what does that mean?  You end up with a team of volunteers who are dependable and reliable, yes.  But where are your new members and supporters going to come from next year, and the year after that? 

We need to find exciting ways to pull in that next generation of supporters. We have to start listening to those people who don’t volunteer.  Why aren’t they volunteering?  Just because they don’t do it now, doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t.  We just need to give them the incentive and an easy way to dip their toe in.

It was exactly these challenges that I was facing as a volunteer manager, which spurred me on to create a social enterprise that would not only support charities to access that tricky non-comital audience, but more importantly, engage them on a level that would speak to their needs and interests. 

Enter Good Deed Dating

Good Deed Dating works with charities in London to co-ordinate volunteering events for single people.  We combine good deeds with great dates; providing single Londoners with the chance to meet someone who shares their values whilst they do something positive with their spare time. 

Our website provides information on our brand and our story.  It also showcases the work of our charity partners with their own profile pages.  Our customers can purchase their subscription and set up their account details.  The main element of our website is our events page which lists all the upcoming Good Deed Dates, where people can purchase tickets.

But how did it all happen? 

One morning last year I was reading an article entitled “Forget Tinder, Volunteer Instead”, scoffing to myself, “of course volunteering is an amazing way to meet people, everyone knows that”.  When it dawned on me that although those of us who work in the third sector know that volunteering holds the power to introduce likeminded people to each other, the rest of the world might not think that way.  Volunteering is still seen as a selfless act where you give and you don’t get.  When in fact, we all know that volunteering should always be a mutually beneficial process where you gain as much as you give.  All I needed to do was to re-brand volunteering as something appealing and relevant to single people.

For starters, don’t call it “volunteering”, call it “a good deed”.  Stop talking about “volunteers”, our customers are called “Deeders”.  Make it all about meeting people, doing something fun and getting out there.  What you end up with is the good deed being seen as a by-product of the date.  Imagine that, volunteers who want something out of their experience.

The result is a group of people engaged in your charity, who would never have been involved otherwise, and you, the charity, have three or four hours of golden time to convince them that your cause is the one they should support.  This is your opportunity to engage the next generation of your supporters, on their level and at their pace.

Following a significant amount of market research and several focus groups, the idea of Good Deed Dating became a reality.  We launched our website in June 2016 and have been blown away by the response.  People love the idea.  We’ve found that over 70% of our Deeders wouldn’t have considered themselves a volunteer before their first date.  And when asked whether their experience of a Good Deed Date has encouraged them to continue their involvement with the charity hosting their event, over 85% said yes.

Our success so far has led to significant seed investment recently and the expansion of the team at GDD HQ.  We will soon be looking to diversify our offer, developing new products and services.  We are looking forward to running events for LGBT groups very soon too.  There is so much potential for our events to expand to include charities outside London or even the UK.

Moving forward:

For me it’s all about looking at volunteering from a different angle and modernising the way we engage people.  What else can you offer?  What are they going to get out of it?  That feel-good factor just isn’t enough anymore! 

Think about the millions of people out there who don’t volunteer.  Let’s aim for them!

Hannah Whitehead, Founder and CEO of Good Deed Dating

We are always happy to hear from charities who are keen to get involved with Good Deed Dating.  Check out our website: www.gooddeeddating.co.uk to find out more, or get in touch to chat about how we might be able to work together.  Email us: hello@gooddeeddating.co.uk.

Three questions to ask about your learning plans for 2016

In this guest post for the start of 2016 our friend and colleague Sue Jones shares her thoughts about learning and development for Volunteer Managers. Sue challenges some assumptions we might make about learning and poses some questions to help us reflect on how we can make the most of our learning opportunities throughout 2016.

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Now we are back into the swing of a new year, it’s not unusual for us to focus on some of those thoughts and ideas we may have been musing over regarding changes we might want to make, courses we want to take and how we might embark on 2016 in a way that enables us to feel revitalised and focused.

One step we might be considering is to embark on a learning programme, or to at least be thinking about what workshops or conferences we might want to attend this year. Thankfully, the field of Volunteer Management has come a long way from the days of limited training options and few opportunities to learn and connect to others. There are in fact, lots of ways to access learning and development, including online, which is definitely something to be celebrated. Unfortunately though, this doesn’t necessarily translate into participation for everyone, or that we will receive the type of learning intervention that we really need.

Some of the biggest issues I see around learning relate to the assumptions we make, collectively and individually about what it is, and how to go about it.

For example:

1. Learning is simply about acquiring knowledge.
2. Learning means training, and training means attending courses in a classroom, often requiring travel to London or another major city.
3. Learning is expensive and takes up valuable time which we cannot afford.
4. Learning is just about getting a certificate to prove you can do a job.
5. Learning is something that should be paid for or provided by the organisation and I know they won’t.

These are just some of the messages I regularly hear from individuals and organisations when discussing learning and development opportunities. And there’s a tone of negativity and resignation, which if followed, can be damaging.

It’s important for us all to recognise that learning is not a luxury add-on, only to be afforded and enjoyed during the good times. It’s actually essential to our growth and development as individuals and organisations; and we have a duty to our volunteers, our client groups and communities to remain invested in ourselves and our work, so we can deliver the best at all times.

Throughout my years of designing and delivering training and working with Volunteer Managers and organisations, the most successful and satisfied individuals I have worked with are those who have taken a lead on their own learning and development. And, the most successful and thriving organisations understand the true value and impact of supporting their workforce to learn. I would argue that we need to take this approach more than ever before and to challenge our assumptions about learning because they are in fact holding us back.

So, ask yourself three questions:

1. What do I really think about the role of learning?
2. How important is it for me today, this week, this year? 
3. And, what assumptions might I be making about what learning needs to look like and what my manager or organisation thinks about it?

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If you’re interested in finding out more about learning opportunities in volunteer management, check out our website for information on the training available from Rob Jackson Consulting Ltd.

Sue and I also tutor an online introduction to volunteer management course. This takes six weeks and is great value compared to traditional classroom based training. The next course starts on Monday 15th February and you can book your place now on the course website.

Volunteer rights and the scope of the Charity Commission

For this posting we are really happy to welcome visiting blogger and our former colleague at Volunteering England, Mike Locke, who shares with us his views on the ongoing issue of volunteer rights following a recent report from the Charity Commission (England & Wales).

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The Charity Commission has recently made clear its position on allegations of unfair treatment of volunteers.  Its Operational Case Report regarding St John Ambulance saw the issue as a matter of the charity’s administration, such that the Charity Commission would only get involved if governance procedures had not been followed or if the case threatened to bring the charity into disrepute.

This may not grab the headlines, but it’s helpful because during the long-running attempts to resolve volunteer rights there has been a question why complaints made by volunteers to the Charity Commission have been regarded as outside its scope.

The actual case here concerning, in its full name, The Priory of England and The Islands of the Order of St John was that the charity adopted a regional structure on grounds of finance, quality and impact, and consistency. However, according to a “senior volunteer” in the Telegraph newspaper in 2011: “If the structure is changed … what incentive is there for local people to volunteer and raise money?” In resisting restructuring, a small number of volunteers were “disciplined”.  The case sounds like the classic dilemma which other national charities have faced of tensions between national and local control – and I’m in no position to comment, only sympathise.

The Charity Commission looked into the case given “ongoing complaints” and found: “It is regrettable when disciplinary proceedings have to be brought against volunteers and we recognise that the events brought considerable distress to those involved. We did not see anything to suggest that the charity acted in a way that would bring the charity into disrepute such that the commission should become involved in these matters.”

The point about disrepute echoes the concern of Lord Hodgson in his review of charity law where he warned that treatment of volunteers could reduce public trust in charities. He thought responsibility should lie with charities’ self-regulation but raised the question whether there should be an independent body for external referral.

Following the Volunteer Rights Inquiry, I chaired the Call to Action Progress Group (2011-2014) when I worked for Volunteering England and NCVO. Our final report reviewed, without finding a consensus, the question of whether there was a need for an external regulatory system or whether that would be disproportionate and the problem tackled through good management practice. We recommended organisations sign-up to the 3R Promise (get it Right, offer Reconciliation and take Responsibility) which had been formulated by the Inquiry.

My perception is that volunteering organisations are more conscious of the problem and widely have instituted good practice – including, to my knowledge, St John Ambulance.

But the issue of volunteer rights won’t go away. A small number of volunteers are unfairly treated, heart-breakingly so, and – at least prima facie – in ways that offend public policy, let alone charity governance.

So, I believe, the question remains whether there is a need for a procedure or institution independent of volunteering organisations? Is the Charity Commission’s position, as clarified, sufficient? And if not it, who might take the role, and how?

To Pay Or Not To Pay? That is the question

We're very pleased to welcome back guest blogger Mel White. Mel wrote a two country perspective on volunteering and welfare to work schemes for us late in 2014 and now brings that same dual nation perspective to the issue of reimbursing volunteer expenses.

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A little background – I am originally from the UK having managed a Volunteer Centre service there for 15 years. I immigrated to Australia in April 2013 and within two weeks of arriving found employment within a Volunteer Resource Centre.

I have enjoyed seeing the differences in practice between the two countries but would like to share my thoughts on the practice of paying volunteer expenses.

In the UK payment of volunteer travel expenses to and from a voluntary place of work was viewed as one of the cornerstones of good practice. Certainly within the Volunteer Centre I worked at, out of over 200 volunteering opportunities fewer than ten would not cover this out of pocket expense. When an organisation first submitted their application to receive volunteer referrals from us, and indicated on the application form that they did not pay travel expenses, we would approach them to try and instil the importance of this. If their response was that their budgets did not stretch that far (usually small volunteer led organisations) then we would put them in touch with our funding advisor to look at putting together a funding bid to cover the cost. We would then advise them that whenever they put in future funding bids that they include this cost. If funding was not an option we would look at ways they might assist volunteers with travel e.g. car sharing with other volunteers or a couple of services had a bus to pick up clients to take them to social activities and they also picked up the volunteers. In some cases (particularly two large charities with huge turnovers) we held protracted meetings with senior management to explore their reasons for not paying these expenses, especially as both organisations were fairly inaccessible by public transport. Where all else failed we made all non-paying organisations aware that we would tell prospective volunteers that they would not get their travel expenses reimbursed and that this was practice we didn’t agree with. It was then the volunteer’s personal decision whether to follow that application through.

Given this background imagine my complete surprise to arrive in Australia and find this was not the model here. In fact it is quite the opposite; there is a minority of organisations that do cover volunteers travel expenses to and from their place of work. Thankfully the volunteer project I am managing is one of the few, so day to day my morals and everything I believe in are not compromised.

In my 18 months here I have had the conversation regarding travel expenses with so many professionals and felt I needed to record my thoughts in a blog post.

To me the payment of travel expenses to and from a volunteering role is  fundamental to an inclusive volunteering program. When looking at the diversity of our volunteer base we talk about engaging people from all walks of life and where possible, not holding any bias with regard to age, gender, mental health, physical ability, race, sexual orientation etc.. However my concern is that by not reimbursing the cost of travel to and from a place of voluntary work we are in fact financially discriminating against a huge group of individuals who are on low incomes. Running a car is not without expense and don’t get me started on public transport costs!

For those who are living on state benefits or a pension, the reluctance by many organisations to cover this cost is a huge barrier to them becoming involved. It could quite simply be the choice between food for the week for the family or volunteering and it’s obvious what the majority would choose.

There is also the rurality argument. I hear so much about engaging people from rural communities and country towns. Many argue that small towns have greater community cohesiveness and there are lots of opportunities to volunteer on your own doorstep. But what if people want a different volunteering experience at, for example, a zoo or a large hospital? Those opportunities are not available where they live, but travel outside of their town may be a financial impossibility without a contribution to travel expenses.

There is also the issue of car parking. Some larger organisations like zoos and hospitals or organisations located in busy cities may not have dedicated spaces for volunteer parking and this can be another hefty cost burden to the volunteer.

Introducing the payment of expenses seems to be a terrifying prospect when they have not been paid before. There is the fear that flood gates will open and volunteer projects will not have the disposable income to cover the costs. Yes budgets need to be considered before this is done and it may, for a while, be a long term goal but an important one to work towards.

What many fail to realise is that not all volunteers want to claim travel expenses.

My advice to volunteer involving organisations in the UK used to be to encourage all volunteers to claim their travel expenses. However on the claim form they could choose to donate their expenses back to the organisation if they did not want them. The really clever organisations then gift aided this donation!

By getting all volunteers to submit a claim you can clearly demonstrate the cost of running a volunteer program whether that be to higher management, funders, government or other stakeholders. Within the project I manage here only 30% of volunteers claim their expenses. The important thing is they have the choice and the control. Every quarter, regardless, they all get sent an expenses claim sheet. People’s circumstances change quickly; people become bereaved, they or their partners lose jobs, they have families - there is a myriad of reasons why someone who once did not want to claim expenses may now need to.

One of the answers I get that really grinds my gears when I ask about payment of expenses, is the following; ‘if people are suffering hardship they can ask us and we will make special arrangements to cover their travel expenses.’

Really??? From the point of view of someone who has experienced financial difficulties, my sense of dignity would not have allowed me to make such an approach. I would have quite simply walked away from my voluntary role. Where circumstances have changed e.g. a marriage breakdown, that could be an incredibly personal and emotional situation for someone to discuss. A person’s financial status to my mind is a private matter. We don’t ask volunteers to declare their financial situation on an application form so why should we expect them to then disclose it further down the line?

In the same vein, how many projects make it clear that there will be an out of pocket cost to volunteer with their organisation? Often this is not just travel but volunteers find they have to pay for a police check, buy specific clothing or use their own telephone. Too often this is not made clear from the out set. By covering certain volunteers expenses we as volunteer managers are making a lot of assumptions about all our volunteers and we risk singling out certain volunteers for special treatment which may create team conflict if others find out about it. I know the intention is well meaning but for me personally it is really bad practice.

In the UK, one large organisation we dealt with had a volunteer manager who could not see the inequality of his practice. The opportunity they offered was completely unique but their location was semi-rural and certainly within walking distance of only two small villages. The cost of a bus fare from the nearest town was costly and the organisation was a large tourist attraction. Despite many protracted conversations with this organisation the manager always stated that none of their hundreds of volunteers had ever asked about expenses. Enquiring as to the diversity of their volunteer workforce it seemed a typical volunteer would be white, financially independent, middle aged with their own transport. It was such a shame that effectively volunteering with this organisation did have hidden barriers that no one was prepared to change.

Possibly one of the biggest volunteer projects the UK has ever seen that did not pay expenses was the 2012 London Olympics. It’s fair to say I was disappointed by the whole way volunteering opportunities were managed. Yes, people could volunteer but they had to fund their own transport and accommodation in London for the length of time the Games were on. Maybe not so bad if you lived in the capital. They rolled a program out in the lead up to the Games aimed at disengaged young people who needed literacy and numeracy tuition. The ‘reward’ upon completion of the course was a guaranteed volunteer role at the Games. Thousands and thousands of pounds was thrown into this program and many young people were able to gain a much sought after volunteer role. Was any money set aside to actually assist them in funding the cost of living in London for two weeks not to mention the plane/train/automobile cost to get there? You’ve guessed it – no!

I also took a heartbreaking call from a mature student who had worked so hard to realise her dream of getting valuable experience in stage production. She had put herself through university and had secured a volunteer role to help with set design and production of the opening ceremony at the Games. She was then devastated to discover she had to fully fund her accommodation and transport to take up the coveted place. She quite simply could not afford to. I believe the London 2012 committee missed a real opportunity to lead the way in recognising all volunteers and raising the profile of volunteering by setting a fantastic example of a full cost recovery volunteering program.
The landscape of volunteering is changing and increasingly government programs see the value of voluntary work experience in progressing people towards the (paid) labour market. In Australia a new program ‘Work for the Dole’ is about to roll out. An optional activity people can engage in, is voluntary work. I hope advisors ensure the budgets they have for individuals, go towards their travel expenses to and from their voluntary placement.

Volunteers are not free labour and should never be viewed as such, it costs real money to recruit, train, support and manage them. Full cost recovery is a term bandied about in the UK. Full cost recovery is recovering the total costs of your project or activity, including the relevant proportion of all overhead costs. Understanding the full costs of projects, or services, may not result in full cost recovery every time. However, calculating the full costs enables you to understand the exact level of funding you require. It also provides a clear picture of how a particular project draws on the shared resources of your organisation. When putting together a volunteer program the full costs are rarely fully funded / recovered but to my mind, top of the priority list should be volunteer travel expenses.
I hate using the financial argument to justify the importance of volunteers but I will indulge in this for a moment. If their work was paid for by the hour using whatever salary amount you wish (minimum wage, average wage) it is never ever going to be anywhere near the cost of a bus fare or vehicle mileage.

Most definitions of volunteering state it is a contribution of time and volunteers should not be expected to inadvertently volunteer their own money as well, without choice to do so.
By saying ‘but they are volunteers’ does not justify the argument to not cover their out of pocket expenses. In doing so we run the risk of making voluntary work a pursuit of the financially elite, an activity you can engage in if you can afford it and we restrict ourselves from the wealth of untapped potential and skills and the opportunity to grow our volunteer workforce.

Mandated volunteering - a two country perspective

I have recently returned from a five week business trip to Australia, running training on leading and managing volunteers for clients across the country.

During my time in Adelaide I met Mel White, a Brit who had moved to Australia and was continuing a career there that had finished in the UK with her managing a Volunteer Centre. Mel and I shared a number of observations about the differences and similarities between the UK and Australia and I asked Mel to write a guest blog looking at how volunteering varies yet stays the same.

What Mel has come up with is a fascinating and challenging insight into the growth in both countries of mandated volunteering, especially in regard to unemployment and welfare benefits. So, read on, reflect and please sure your thoughts and ideas in response by posting a comment.

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In April 2013 my family and I embarked on the biggest adventure of our lives when we waved goodbye to the cold north east region of the UK to immigrate to a much sunnier Adelaide in South Australia. I was leaving behind a role I had been in since January 2000 as a Volunteer Centre Manager based in a larger infrastructure organisation. Twelve months before leaving I had utilised the wondrous internet to make contacts with the sector in Australia. I was going to type ‘voluntary sector’, but there starts the first of many learning curves for me, with it being more commonly known as the ‘not-for-profit’ sector in this particular part of the Southern hemisphere.

Within two weeks of arriving and having sorted out children’s schooling, medical cover and all the seemingly more urgent items I decided I would follow the advice I had given to many people in my years of delivering talks on the benefits of volunteering. In this case its usefulness in helping individuals to settle into a community and build up work experience on my CV (next language difference; known as a resume, down under). My husband dropped me off at the local Volunteer Centre for an appointment I had made and a rather bizarre encounter ensued. They had received my CV 6 months previously when I was flogging it round to anybody and everybody, they had been emailing me for 2 months about a job they had advertised, I hadn’t got the emails but to cut a long story short I went in for a volunteering brokerage service and within a fortnight I was employed with them in a paid position. Delighted doesn’t come close and I was so glad I was where I felt I belonged – back in a Volunteer Centre.

In my 16 months of employment at Southern Volunteering I have learnt so much about the sector and volunteering in Australia. There are lots of observations and interesting similarities and differences I could share but for now at least, I want to talk about one in particular. Imagine my horror coming from the UK to discover that people volunteer in order to maintain benefits from Centrelink (the Australian equivalent of JobCentre Plus). Not only that but the system is audited and volunteers have to commit to work/volunteer up to 15 hours per week. Now I know similar schemes have been trialled in the UK but this is different, it is not hidden or disguised in any way, it is discussed openly and frankly and volunteers happily come in to say they want an opportunity that fits the requirements of their 15 hour ‘obligation’. Furthermore until recently the scheme was mainly offered to the over 55 age group as the government somewhat acknowledges they will struggle to find paid employment. Not sure if that is a good thing or not and I’m pretty sure politicians wouldn’t be so open about it in the UK! However the approach fits with what I love most about Australia and the people who live here; without stereotyping too much, I generally find you know where you stand with Australians, they are direct and polite but without the awkwardness and concern for self image that I sometimes find is a British curse!

At our Centre a large percentage of the volunteers we see are coming in to find something to meet their volunteering hours ‘contract’. Receiving organisations have to be approved by Centrelink and there is follow up from Centrelink to check people are attending and volunteering for their allotted hours each week.

I was initially shocked and so many thoughts went tumbling through my mind; is this really volunteering? Do the participants have choice in whether they want to partake? How do organisations react and involve this unique group of individuals? etc etc.

I remember in my network of Volunteer Centres in the UK one of my colleagues brought in a letter a volunteer had produced when they attended for an appointment. Basically the letter said the individual had to attend the Volunteer Centre for an appointment or their Job Seekers Allowance would be temporarily withheld. There was utter outrage within our network. The JobCentre had not informed or consulted the Volunteer Centre about this, the volunteer was very distressed and quite simply we felt ‘mandating’ volunteering in this way went against the ethos and definition of volunteering. Also as independent voluntary organisations we did not want to be viewed as an arm of the JobCentre. The Volunteer Centre involved quite simply informed the individual that if they did not want to volunteer and were being pressured into it they did not have to see the appointment through. As a network we spoke to higher management within JobCentre Plus about how inappropriate this was.

Some three years later I find myself in Australia with strong feelings opposing voluntary work being aligned with benefit payments and I am faced with a system that embraces it! I had long discussions with my Australian colleagues who assured me they and the sector had felt the same way when the system was introduced some years ago but their feelings had changed. Over time I have observed the practice in place and now I sit firmly on the fence when it comes to my views on this market of volunteers.

Here’s why;


1. The volunteers

Fifteen hours of volunteering (8 hours for those on some disability benefits) is one in a range of options the individual can engage with to satisfy the requirements of their Centrelink agreement. So, despite having no choice to do nothing, they do have a choice in what they would like to follow through; training, job seeking (but this has to be done through an approved job service provider) or volunteering. For many people, being given the option to volunteer long term takes the pressure off finding employment in a tough economic environment and gives structure and purpose to their week. Indeed once they commence I am sure it offers all the perks we regularly use to ‘sell’ volunteering; builds their self confidence, offers a routine and gives them a whole new skill set that they may not acquire otherwise, amongst many more. Some of course go onto to find paid employment within the not-for-profit organisation or a related field.

On occasion individuals have come into our Centre looking for a number of hours and when the interviewer meets them it may become apparent that they have too many restricting health issues for an organisation to safely engage them as a volunteer. Recently our worker was able to report back to the Job Service Provider that a gentleman could not meaningfully volunteer with the number of health issues he had and this was endorsed by his doctor’s letters. It seemed the Job Service Agency actually listened to us (where they had not listened to the individual previously) and the gentleman was incredibly grateful for our intervention.


2. The volunteer involving organisations. 

Organisations complete a Centrelink form if they want to be registered as an “Approved Organisation”.

Having spoken to a number of organisations I found that many were hesitant of involving this group of volunteers when the program was first rolled out.

However those that have gone on to engage with the system have found the 15 hour volunteers tend to be very reliable and commit long term. This is probably because the volunteers know there will be follow-up and consequences will ensue. They also know that they can still continue to look for work but at their own pace rather than being pressured by a case worker.

Organisations also report that the older volunteer has better work ethics and is more conscious of fulfilling their Centrelink or JSA obligations than the younger jobseeker. Generally individuals complete a Centrelink form which the organisation signs to confirm they have agreed to take the individual on as a volunteer and what the commencement date is.

If the individuals are with a Job Services Australia provider, that provider should check occasionally with the organisation on how things are going or they give the individual an attendance form which the organisation is expected to sign each week for the individual for them to take back to the JSA. There is no obligation for the organisation to report back to Centrelink or the JSA if an individual is no longer attending.  Southern Volunteering encourages the organisation to treat the individuals exactly the same as they would for any of their volunteers.

Some programs have 75% of their volunteer base made up of ‘Centrelink’ volunteers so I would imagine if those individuals were not available their programs would struggle to continue and ultimately the beneficiaries of the service would lose.

The final benefit I see is that the profile of the volunteer involving organisations and their opportunities is raised and a new community of potential volunteers is reached. Despite many individuals reluctance to engage they go on to report that they enjoy their time with the organisation.

More significantly like many other ‘incentivised’ volunteer schemes, the individual actually continues to volunteer after their obligation is finished. They continue to do it because they love it. As anyone who works with volunteers knows, the key to getting people involved long term is getting them to join up in the first place. If the gateway to doing this is a little unconventional but the outcome is the same should we put our morals to one side? Over to you.....

Mel White
Community Visitor Scheme Coordinator
Southern Volunteering (SA) Inc.


Notes
From July 2014 the idea has been extended into the ‘Work for the Dole’ pilot program, being rolled out in areas of all states of Australia. All jobseekers aged 18-30 in selected areas will have to ‘work for the dole’ for 6 months and placements will be sourced in not-for-profit organisations, local councils and federal and state government agencies.  Work for the Dole places will not be offered in private sector businesses. It will be interesting to watch how the program works with a different age demographic.

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Southern Volunteering SA (Inc) provides information on volunteering opportunities and roles available in the southern suburbs of Adelaide including the Fleurieu Peninsula. We also offer training, information and support for not-for-profit organisations. Our Community Visitors Program provides volunteer visitors to resident in Aged Care Facilities, who are socially isolated. For more information please visit our website www.svsa.org.au

The Story of a Glasgow 2014 Volunteer

In our latest blog, friend and former RNIB colleague Adrian Hare shares his experience of being a volunteer at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Our thanks to Adrian for taking the time to write about his experience and give us all a little insight into the organisation, management and fun of volunteering as a Clydesider.

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My Glasgow 2014 volunteering journey began around 18 months or so ago, when I applied via the Glasgow 2014 website to become one of their volunteers, officially known as Clydesiders.

What inspired me to apply to volunteer was a love of sport, and a love of Glasgow itself.  I had missed out volunteering at London 2012 despite living on that Game’s doorstep due to being involved with the Paralympic Torch relay.  I was therefore determined not to miss out this time around.

I applied through their website and thought nothing more of it.  That is until I got asked to attend an interview up in Glasgow during the middle of 2013.  Then there was another nerve-wracking wait to find out if I had been accepted.  Imagine my joy when I got an e-mail to say that I had been successful.

To put the Glasgow 2014 volunteer requirements into context, this was bigger than London 2012 for volunteers.  They had 50,000 applications from around the world (I had heard of people travelling from Australia and New Zealand), they interviewed 25,000 and selected 15,000 lucky individuals.

Move on a year and we are coming up to the games.  The training has been done, the uniforms have been sorted out and we have all arranged our travel and accommodation and have received our shifts, although these have been changed at least once between issue and the games themselves.

I was working within Spectator Services, and as its name suggests, I was involved with being the face of the games at two of the stadiums, Celtic Park and Hampden Park.  I had the honour of being on duty at both the opening and closing ceremonies and so saw the Queen, Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle (don’t laugh at the last one).

Being disabled, I was a little unsure about how they would accommodate volunteers with special needs.  However, I needn’t have worried about this.  I can honestly say that the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games were one of the most inclusive sporting events that I have ever attended.

Walking around Celtic Park and Hampden Park, I can hand on heart say that I have seen a number of volunteers (we were officially called Clydesiders) with various special needs.  From people with learning difficulties to those in wheelchairs and those who are blind or partially sighted like myself - I have been partially sighted since birth.  I saw several people in wheelchairs working the same shifts as me as well as people with white canes and guide dogs.  What was very impressive was that they were working the same shifts as everybody else, and they were in the same public facing roles as everybody else.  One of my team leaders for one shift was in a wheelchair as well, and we had lots of fun finding our way around with a blind bat pushing him, neither of us having a clue where we were going.

There were lots of good points, but also some less positive areas.

The good points were a great atmosphere amongst the volunteers and everybody helped each other.  This was combined with the attitude of the venue management teams, the games organisers, etc, who were determined to make the games and venues as inclusive as possible.  This gave volunteering the image of being inclusive and that everybody can be a volunteer.

What were the less positive things?  First, although financial support was available, this was very hard to access and to be honest, did not really help at all.  We were left to fend for ourselves when it came to travel and accommodation and this had to be funded by us (the same as with London 2012).  Also, the volunteers were left a little underwhelmed when it came to break time.  We were only given sandwiches over the days we were working, and they were the same fillings every single day.  Quite often they did end up running out of food for us, but that was perhaps not such a bad things, as we had stopped really eating anyway.

If I was to be asked if I had enjoyed my time in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, it would be a resounding YES!!!  I love volunteering and love being involved with sport.

I also loved the inclusive nature of Glasgow 2014 and have made many friends whilst there, hopefully I will remain in contact with a few of them.

Adrian Hare

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In our next blog (coming soon) guest writer Mel White shares her reflections on the differences between the volunteering movement in the UK and Australia when it comes to mandated volunteering as part of workfare schemes. Watch this space!

She's Electric

One of the things I love to do in my work and my writing is showcase examples of the volunteering people do. I'm a big believer that people can inspired to volunteer by seeing and hearing about example of people just like them who manage to fit volunteering in to their busy lives.

To that end, this posting is from guest blogger and friend Katriona Bailey. Kat shares her experiences of volunteering and I hope others will be inspired by it.

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It is April 2011, I am sitting in my car looking at the building in front of me. I am debating whether to go in or whether to drive home......inside is a man called Graham Main - and he has had the idea to start up a community choir in my home town. I am curious but terrified. My curiosity gets the better of me and I make my way in....there are a total of around 12 people who have shown up to find out more.

Fast forward to July 2013 - Wickerman festival - headlined by Primal Scream - but also playing to a packed tent are Dumfries community choir - all 100 of us. We go down a storm. Hours later, as I bop around to Dexy's Midnight Runners, a man approaches me - "they're good" he says "...but you guys were better".

This would all be an achievement in itself but the choir is now only a small part of what Graham and his colleagues do. It turns out there was a hunger in the town for a creative outlet and Graham has built "Electric Theatre Arts" from nothing and I am proud to say that I am the company secretary, a voluntary role that I LOVE. As a mother of 2 who works full time, I was unsure about taking on this role - where would I find the time? But let me tell you - I do find the time - and I get so much more out than I put in.

My role is varied, sometimes I have lots of things to do, sometimes not so much. Being a board member allows me to pop in and out of the building, to interact with the users of the service and to see the difference it makes in peoples lives. I love being involved and even though I have lived here all my life, I have never felt a strong sense of community here until I got involved.

Electric theatre arts is a non profit community interest company. We run youth theatre groups for kids and young people from 5 - 25, music groups for pre school kids, we have adult Spanish classes, samba classes, you can come in and learn the piano, the drums, the guitar, we will rent you a rehearsal space for your band. And all of this is done at the lowest possible cost to make it accessible for all. We now have a full time employee who is going out into the poorest areas of the town and to outlying regional towns to try and set up creative opporunities for the young people there.

It is a pleasure to be involved. I would recommend anyone to take on such a role if an opportunity presents itself. it will pay you back tenfold.

You can find more information on the organisations mentioned in this blog at www.electrictheatreworkshop.com, www.Dumfriescommunitychoir.com,  www.Dumfriesyouththeatre.com.

What impact have your volunteers had in 2012?

As 2012 draws to a close, our colleague and good friend Martin J Cowling of People First - Total Solutions provides some food for thought to help us all evaluate the year gone as we start to look to what 2013 may hold in store.

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The end of the years gives us a chance to reflect on a lot of things. For those who involve volunteers in delivery of services, I strongly encourage people to consider what has been the impact of this voluntary effort over the year.

I want to suggest that volunteering has three impacts:

1. It impacts the wider community
2. It impacts your organisation
3. It impacts your volunteers

So how has that manifested for you this year?

Firstly, how is your community better off as a result of your volunteers' service. Can you measure the impact?

Too often we measure the impact in hours worked or money saved. These are poor measures.

What is more meaningful is the lives impacted, the environmental improvement, the people supported, educated, encouraged, or rescued. How do you measure that? For example, in the last year our service has provided meals to 5,000 people worth £60,000. Then get personal testimonies of the impact of those meals by recipients of your service. The factual and the story help to underscore your success.


The second impact of volunteering is on the organisation the volunteers serve. People often suggest that volunteers save their agency money. Let's be clear - volunteers do not save anyone money. They allow an organisation to expand services beyond funding base. Notice the difference in language?
Volunteers also bring ideas and contacts to an organisation, They contribute financially through their donations and gifts. Have you considered measuring these impacts on your organisation?

Finally, volunteering impacts volunteers themselves. Have you asked your volunteers what volunteering has done for them? Many will describe the impact of the services they have given, the people they have touched and the difference they feel they have made. How do you celebrate these with them? How do you reassure those who have found volunteering to be not so rewarding this time around.

These questions are not too late to be considered for 2012. You may also want to start considering how you ask them for the end of 2013.

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Thank you Martin.

So, over to you.  Have you asked these questions during 2012? If so, what answers did you come up with? Did those answers help you in your work, for example in giving volunteers more meaningful recognition or perhaps arguing for better support for the volunteer programme?

You may also be interested in Susan Ellis' December 2012 Hot Topic which also looks at how volunteer managers can measure and report on the contribution volunteers make to an organisation.

If all this has got you thinking about how to evaluate your volunteer programme then might we be able to help so please do get in touch to discuss your needs.

What gets Volunteer Managers up and going when their get up and go has left the building?

For this post we're pleased to welcome guest blogger Kate James who share's her personal reflections on why volunteer managers do what they do.

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I think I started identifying myself as a Volunteer Manager long before I even knew what one was! My first experience as a volunteer was in my late teens. I had the opportunity to help out at the school my mum was working in at the time which was for children with a range of disabilities. It was the most amazing thing that I have ever done. Giving my time to bring a little bit of sunshine in to their lives was incredibly rewarding. Come rain or shine, through my own health problems, I was in the classroom day after day for weeks until the end of term came around and the school closed for summer. During that time, I learnt so much about these inspiring kids but also a lot about myself. I spent a lot of time thinking about my motivations for volunteering and what exactly it was that was getting me out of bed in the morning. I was making a difference.

Careers advice at school wasn't great. The majority of young teens don't know the answer to the question “what do you want to be?” or “what do you want to do?” and when I was at school I don’t think volunteer managers even existed! It certainly wasn’t a recognised career path and people who worked with volunteers were seen as cardigan wearing do-gooders who didn’t really understand what professionalism was. Thank goodness things have changed!

Today, I find myself managing volunteers from all walks of life. Each volunteer I have the pleasure of working with has chosen to volunteer for their own reasons and my motivations for being involved with volunteers haven’t actually changed all that much. The reason I do what I do is because I care. I care about individuals and I like to think that in some small way I can make their world, our world, a better place. We all have a responsibility to leave a legacy regardless of who we are, where we are from or what we do. This can be profound, such as the incredible achievements of some of our Olympic heroes or something as simple as smiling at a stranger and making their day.

All too often, this legacy is measured in financial terms or in how high someone can climb the career ladder, what car they drive or how big their house is. Take all this away and what are you left with? A simple soul. That’s why I think volunteering is so powerful, such an inspiring, exciting, fulfilling activity that enables any, every, simple soul to leave their legacy and in my career I am in the privileged position of being able to support others to do this to the very best of their ability

Until fairly recently, although I suppose I have had a recognised job title, I have found it really hard to identify myself as a ‘professional’ with a career, even though I have grown more and more passionate about professionalism as the years have passed. I considered myself a failure academically as I didn’t go to university and in many ways a failure professionally because I had predominately ‘just’ worked with volunteers in the voluntary sector whilst my school friends had gone on to travel the world and have seemingly glittering careers and fantastic lives. But managing volunteers well and working with them to make their difference takes a whole heap of skills and personal qualities that take time, effort and practice. It takes dedication and willingness, strength and patience. I learn every day and if all of this doesn’t make me a professional then what does?!

Yes, I get extremely frustrated at the hoops we all have to jump through. The paperwork and procedures, the way volunteering is often misunderstood and misrepresented in the press, the way it falls in and out of fashion depending on who is residing at Number 10. But what keeps me coming back for more are the volunteers I get to meet as I travel my journey of volunteer management.

I have recently worked with a volunteer who has decided to completely rethink her life. She has a well paid job in the city with a well respected company but has had enough of the continual stress and unrelenting pressure to chase profit all day long. It gladdened my heart to know that she had had such a positive experience and her words made me beam: “Isn't it strange how something so simple as volunteering to do data entry can trigger a change in life's course?  But I guess that's what makes life so interesting”

As we know, each volunteer has a different reason for giving their time and it is part of our role as good volunteer managers to understand these motivations but I think sometimes we need to take a step back, look in the mirror and remind ourselves of our own journey. Our numbers are now growing and we have resources, networks and qualifications. We have a voice. But what gives us a reason for being is all the amazing people out there who want to make a difference. This is what makes me get up day after day and it is volunteers themselves who inspire me to be a better person and be better at what I do.

Kate James is a happy, Hertfordshire based Volunteer Manager who has been working with volunteers for over 10 years. Kate has worked in the fields of mental health and disability and is currently supporting volunteers across the UK for a national charity.  You can contact Kate by email or via her Twitter account.  

Postcard from New Zealand

I'm really excited about this blog post in which we hear from our New Zealand colleague Claire Teal about the work Volunteering New Zealand is doing to support and develop volunteer managers.  Their work is innovative and exciting and, in my view, provides a model that we other countries could (should?) replicate in their own contexts in order to raise the profile of the important role leaders and managers of volunteers play in society.

But enough of my views, over to you Claire...

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Let me just say from the outset (with love, and humour, and all that) that development work amongst managers/leaders of volunteers is akin to herding cats. Our first response when asked about professional development is to cry out for a qualification. Pursue that a bit further and we become adamant that having a qualification will alienate volunteer managers of volunteers and/or create hierarchies between us and/or just take something away from the essence of what we do. We want a qualification, but we don’t want a qualification. Actually, we want development but we don’t want development. We are quick to rally for more recognition of our role and what we do, but equally quick to resist any attempt to change things. Doing this, we say, takes time we don’t have, takes the focus off the volunteers and, again, alienates volunteer managers of volunteers. Oh, and don’t forget our diversity…one size of development is never going to fit all, you know. Wow…what to do?

In New Zealand, our answer to that question has literally been to put a line in the sand and say we either need to accept that change will happen as a result of those demands, or stop demanding. We knew, through two conferences (2009 and 2011), some major research assignments canvassing over 800 New Zealand managers/leaders of volunteers and a whole lot of talking that there were some clear priorities for action here. Those clear priorities just needed to be outworked in a way that respected and reflected both the huge diversity of roles and the differing levels of desire for increased opportunities and recognition present in our field. The work we’re doing at Volunteering New Zealand around this is still very new, but the response we’ve received so far from managers/leaders of volunteers, wider organisations, and stakeholder groups as a whole across the country indicates that we’re on the right track.

So, what has our approach been?:

1. To focus on the total inseparability of individual development for managers/leaders of volunteers from development of the groups and organisations they work within.
   
2. To respond directly to what New Zealand managers/leaders of volunteers have said they want, without making anything compulsory or forcing it on those who aren't interested (but at the same time trying to bust the whole ‘volunteer managers of volunteers will get left behind’ myth. Who says these people don’t want to take charge of their own professional development?! Then why do we always assume they don’t?).
   
3. To collaborate as much as possible, by doing all work through national working groups, by getting on the road and facilitating workshops for managers/leaders of volunteers around the country, and by seeking feedback every step of the way.

As I said, our work is still new, but in three years we’ve covered a lot of ground.

Many managers/leaders of volunteers seem to at the idea of a qualification because they see it as one clear leverage point from which to demand the status and recognition they deserve. Maybe one day our work here will progress to a qualification, but right now we’ve pulled back from the qualification debate to focus on the questions managers/leaders of volunteers are actually asking about their professional development. Things like:

"As a manager of volunteers, how do I find out what training and study opportunities I should be looking for to help me develop the skills I want to develop? Are there even opportunities out there?"

To use their words, New Zealand managers/leaders of volunteers want a learning pathway that they can use for their own, individual professional development. A pathway suggests movement, and to show movement, you need something to act as a marker or baseline. To create markers, we've been working on a set of competencies for all New Zealand managers/leaders of volunteers. They are high-level, not task-focused, and they map out four key areas of skills/values/attributes that managers/leaders of volunteers demonstrate in their work. Our goal is to work these competencies into a self-assessment tool that will make it easier to find the best-suited-to-you learning and development options that already exist, including assessment/recognition of prior learning. This will result in managers/leaders of volunteers being able to make informed choices about their own professional development from the day they enter the field through to the most advanced level.

The competencies are still under feedback and consultation in New Zealand, and so there is a high chance what you see below will change. However, here’s a quick sneak preview of a little bit, so you can see how we’ve structured them:

	Base Knowledge	Base Knowledge Applied	Adaptive Leadership	Strategic Leadership
Competency 3: Leadership Within Organisations Managers of volunteers demonstrate organisational vision and values, and influence people to achieve them (both paid and volunteer staff)	You know the organisation’s vision and values	You apply the organisation’s vision and values to your own and other’s roles and tasks	You seek input from the team into current and future activities, and how best to align these to the organisation’s vision, values and strategic direction	You engage with others from both within the organisation and across the community to get their input into strategic direction and ideas for collaboration

Developing ourselves as managers/leaders of volunteers is one thing, but what about the groups and organisations we operate within?

Again, our method has been to draw another line in the sand and say hey, it doesn’t actually matter if organisations are big or informal, or if the manager/leader of volunteers is paid or a volunteer themselves. If you are serious about effectively involving volunteers, then you need to be serious about recognising, resourcing and supporting both these volunteers and the person providing the skilled leadership they need.

To speak into this, we are developing best practice guidelines for organisations. These aren't guidelines for how to manage volunteers well. They are tips and strategies for groups and organisations to use to ensure everything to do with volunteers (manager/leader of volunteers and volunteers, and all they do) is recognised, resourced and supported as a vital part of the organisation. Obviously, implementing these guidelines effectively means engaging across organisations much more widely than ‘just’ with the manager/leader of volunteers. It requires buy-in from Chief Executives and Boards, Senior Management, and so on. As an incentive, we are creating a category of Volunteering New Zealand Champion Organisation; organisations to hold this title will be those who can demonstrate commitment from a whole-of-organisation foundation to the principles of the best practice guidelines.

As I said earlier, we see a total inseparability of organisational development from individual development. We can have the most highly professionally developed managers/leaders of volunteers in the world, but if our organisations still don’t get what we do, then what have we really achieved?

This is very much a once-over-lightly look at what we volunteer management advocates are up to in New Zealand. I know (and many times, am reminded the hard way) that this is a contentious topic. There is no set template for what management/leadership of volunteers looks like in New Zealand or anywhere else in the world, and it’s hard to introduce change and development into the ‘field’ without many people assuming you want to create one. Trying to grow and develop management of volunteers means balancing the managers/leaders of volunteers who do want to see the field develop and those who might not be as interested in this, or are concerned about its implications. It also means encouraging both ends of the continuum and everyone in between that the stand-point we all hold is okay!

At the end of the day, we are all in it for the same reason - because we believe in the power of volunteering and we want to ensure the best possible experience for volunteers we work with.

About Claire:

Claire is a passionate advocate for the important role Managers and Leaders of Volunteers play in the design and delivery of effective volunteer programmes. She brings nearly two decades of experience working in the Community and Voluntary Sector in both paid and volunteer capacities to her role as Programme Manager at Volunteering New Zealand.

Previously she worked as Service Manager at the Central City Branch of the Wellington Citizens Advice Bureau, leading the volunteer team and taking a key role in the development of several collaborative community projects. Prior to this, she held roles as a statutory social worker and in community engagement in primary health care.

Claire is currently Deputy Chair of Volunteer Wellington, on the Leadership Team of Women in Leadership Aotearoa, and on the International Volunteer Managers Day Committee. In 2011, she was an invited international faculty member at the Australasian Advanced Retreat for Managers of Volunteers. This year, she is a participant in the Leadership New Zealand Leadership Programme.

Email: claire@volunteeringnz.org.nz

Gas to Go

This time out we're featuring a guest post from colleague Martin J Cowling, CEO of People First -Total Solutions.  Martin and Rob will be training together in the UK later this year.

Walking through a local park  yesterday, I passed a group of guys engaged in football training (Aussie Rules of course!). Calling out instructions, encouragements and ribbings, they were focussed on improving their skills, coordination and success. To do this, they were giving up their spare time to stand on a cold night on an outside oval.

I think its universally agreed and understood that to be top of any sporting field, we need to practice and train. When it comes to volunteering there seems to be two sets of extremes when it comes to training volunteers for a task.

In the first scenario, the volunteers are given no training, they are just propelled into a task. Or the volunteers themselves resist any training citing “they have been doing it for years” or “'you can’t teach an old dog new tricks". 


In our research at People First - Total Solutions, we have found 43% of volunteers have received no initial training to do the job and we've seen it all.  For example: the person who turns up to their first ever Annual General Meeting of a club, scout troop or sporting group and finds they are elected, co opted, or nominated as Club treasurer. At the end of the meeting,  the existing treasurer gives them a pile of boxes and papers and says “good luck”. That new treasurer spends six months working out how to do the job and then gets berated at a committee meeting for forgetting something they knew nothing about.

In contrast, the second scenario insists every volunteer has to undergo weeks or months of training. We tend to recruit people with a whole bunch of different skills and then train them all together in the same way at the same time. A waste of time for some and life changing for others. Those who get frustrated may choose to discontinue and not recommend your programme to others. 


In my trainings I talk about one group which required volunteers to take a 12 month course to work in a tourist information centre! Other groups made retired school teachers attend weeks of training on teaching skills before they can teach English or insisted social workers volunteering to be phone counsellors do courses on basic counselling techniques. One civil defence group I know of put a doctor through their first aid course before he could volunteer for the group!

Somewhere between these two extremes is a happy medium. I have yet to find a sufficient number of volunteer groups who have found it yet.

There are three sets of skills and trainings, we want to consider for volunteers.


1 - General Skills and knowledge
These are what you want every volunteer to have before they start volunteering. These include understanding the mission and direction of the organisation, fundamental information for working there and emergency procedures. If necessary, these can be distilled down to 15 minutes. There is no excuse for not having something in place!

2 - Applied Skills
These are the skills people need to do a particular role. If they already have them in their workplace or background we don't need to train people again. If they are missing something or you change something, then give them that specific applied training.

3 - Specialised skills
Some volunteer roles indeed require very specialised skills. Rather than train in them, we need to find people who already possess those skills up front.

Breaking down your role skills into GAS: General, Applied  and Specialised will give you the fuel you need to make your volunteer programme succeed through relevant training.

Martin J Cowling, 

Tel -  020 8133 7991 

Email - martin@pfts.com.au