Volunteering undervalued?

Recently I’ve been thinking about how I describe the Volunteer work I do to others. I mainly use the word ‘unpaid’ instead of the word ‘volunteer’. My reasoning is that the minute I describe the work I do as Voluntary people seem to view it less favourably than my paid work.

I would be interested to know your thoughts on the following:

• I s Volunteering undervalued?
• If the Voluntary sector put greater emphasis on the more skilled work their Volunteers did would this help?
• Do we need to make the image of Volunteer work more professional? What would this mean? Pros and Cons? Would this increase the value society places on Voluntary work?
• Do we need to view and hear more stories about the work Volunteers do e.g. in newspapers, on the web, in magazines? Would this change perceptions of ideas about what Volunteers do and how the Volunteers themselves perceive their work? 
• If Voluntary work was held in higher esteem by society what would this mean for the sector? Would Volunteers be easier to attract?
• Is there a particular stigma or perception about board/committee work? Is this partly why these positions are difficult to fill?

I look forward to some great discussion on this topic.

Cindy

Budgeting for Volunteer Expenses

Hard economic times mean less discretionary income, and it’s likely that some volunteers who’ve previously chosen not to claim for their travel expenses may now want to do so.  As we look at our annual budgets we need to be aware of this.  It may be timely to remind funders that the VAVA (Value Added by Voluntary Agencies) Project showed that for every one dollar provided to a voluntary agency, between $3 and $5 worth of services are delivered.  Christchurch City Council research last year showed that for every dollar from the Community Board Community Development Fund, the community receives eight and a half hours of volunteer effort.

                                                      Ruth G

 

Heritage Volunteers

Nicky Lee, Volunteer Manager at ChristChurch Cathedral, was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to visit England and look at volunteer management in heritage tourism sites especially cathedrals.

  Nicky found:

 

-         Heritage sites usually do not advertise for volunteers, often relying on existing volunteers to recruit new ones

-         Volunteers were usually selected by one person, not always a paid staff member

-         Most places required a police clearance

-         Some had agreements to be signed. One cathedral had a 30 page policy for the volunteer to sign, and it appeared that this could be seen as a way of dissuading older volunteers

-         Most favoured a buddy system for training, with new volunteers shadowing existing workers

-         The National Trust has comprehensive generic induction training material and a well developed manual of policies and procedures for the management of their volunteers

-         Verbal training was usual to supplement written material as heritage sites tend to be very “visual”

-         Some cathedrals run courses in the winter off-season to maintain volunteers’ interest and skills and to train new volunteers

-         Many cathedrals had a progression of positions available to volunteers

-         Length of service recognition was sometimes seen to be difficult as older volunteers were reluctant to retire before they reached a ‘recognition’ anniversary

-         One place visited offered twice yearly bus trips for volunteers as a way of recognising their gift of time

-         Good rest facilities for volunteers in their workplace and the quality of biscuits for their tea breaks were important (National Trust excelled here!) and was a reminder about recognising volunteers and the work they do

 

Some concerns were:

-         Long-term volunteers can mean that the “face” of the cathedral is an elderly one

-         Safety – in the absence of ACC, public liability insurance for over 80 year olds who are volunteers becomes an issue in the UK

-         Many of the environments inside cathedrals and mansions are potentially hazardous (low level lighting, worn steps, uneven floor surfaces, furniture) which is particularly significant when volunteers are elderly

-         Child visitors – legal issues regarding the responsibility and protection of children in the U.K. are a major part of the planning needed for visits of children to heritage sites and can influence programmes offered

 

Other observations:

-         Volunteers usually stayed for a full day, due to travelling time from their homes to workplace.

-         A higher ratio of paid staff to volunteers than in N.Z.  We rely more on volunteers to be with visitors (In U.K. they have paid staff in the Cathedrals to welcome visitors as well as volunteers)

-         Winchester Cathedral had no co-ordinator in place, leaving rostering to the various groups of volunteers who have historically managed themselves

-         Some places were reluctant to involve volunteers in handling cash, especially to collect entrance charges (which visitors may resent), but also working in Cathedral shops

-         Management understanding of the ethos of the cathedral may differ from that of the volunteers (e.g. commercial interests needed to support the cathedral financially versus spiritual ethos)

-         No difficulty attracting volunteers in most places – sigh…

                                                                             Ruth G

Using photos in publications

Collecting material for our 21^st anniversary booklet has raised some concerns regarding publishing photos under the provisions of the Privacy Act.

 

The Privacy Commissioner states that we need permission from anyone whose photo we wish to publish, and that ideally, this permission should be written.  (If the subject of the photo has since died, you don’t need to get their permission!)

 

Apparently, though, you can publish photos without the subjects’ permission if they are taken in a public place (or at a public event) and do not defame the subject. It’s standard practice in newspapers, who don’t identify such subjects by name.

 

The best advice we can give you about publishing photos is to consdier having a “permission to use photo” tickbox on any enrolment or nomination form that you design.    Ruth G

 

Towards Volunteering for the Future

The following are excerpts from a presentation given by Margaret Bell, past President of the International Association for Volunteer Effort, at 12th National Conference on Volunteering, Australia, September 2008. Reprinted with permission.

“The volunteer movement is at a crossroad. It can choose to maintain the status quo thus becoming an echo of its former self by promoting and encouraging little more than a benevolent model of volunteering which was urgently needed in the 19th and 20th centuries, or, it can accept the enormous challenges of the modern world by supporting new models of volunteering to a develop strong inclusive civil society. To do this there will be need to be the introduction of a radical transformation in education programmes for volunteer leaders and volunteers.” “For volunteers now we can emphasise “volunteering for social inclusion and change” as volunteers by the very nature of their work are in a unique place in society to insist on animosity free zones in which to carry out their tasks. “The volunteer movement is ideally placed to tackle today’s big questions and to pledge itself more than ever before to fight against bigotry, racism, violence, and hatred, all of which come out of exclusion. And to commit instead to the notion of social inclusion to fight the ills of poverty, ignorance, greed, waste, conflict and fear.” “Multi-identity volunteering is a vital act of engagement, demanding, sometimes uncertain, unrelenting and not always understood. “It is not for the faint hearted and is recognized by the following characteristics: • That whatever the task the first role of the volunteer is to build social inclusion where they work. To practise it personally and to demand it in the workplace. • Belief that volunteering in this pro-active way can make a difference. • A willingness to walk beside and not in front of or behind the other • Shows a desire to experience the situation of the other without imposing judgment • A willingness to tread a path never traversed before • An expectation that there is deep learning for both the volunteer and the other in this model • An understanding that the survival of the planet will have a lot to do with our capacity to identify with the life experience of others and to feel comfortable in doing so • The knowledge that after sharing this experience I will return home by a different path “Examples of multi-identity volunteering: These are likely to be found in organisations working for a sustainable future, a clean environment, poverty eradication, human rights, low cost housing, in creative community development, striving for different and better education, and in areas such as theatre, regional and local arts, and sports. It can be found too amidst those who are working for the elimination of all kinds of prejudice against women, children, aged people, indigenous communities, refugees, gays and lesbians and other disadvantaged or minority groups.”

The full text of Margaret Bell’s ‘Spirit of Volunteering Address’ can be found at www.volunteeringaustralia.org under Conference Papers & Presentations.

Social Networking – learn from our mistakes

Two days before I attended an “E-engage your community” Conference in Wellington, Facebook disabled the profile I’d set up for Volunteering Canterbury (VolCan).  When I originally started that profile I’d noted that Facebook said it must be for an individual, not a group or entity, but I blithely ignored that, not knowing any other way to set up a Facebook presence for VolCan.  I also created a Group and a Page, and recruited Friends (at least 150).  Suddenly it was all gone!  I was slightly consoled by the fact that at least one colleague who’d taken similar action was similarly disabled, and I suspect there may be more to come.

At the Conference I learned that what I could have done instead was to set the Page up through my personal account.  I try hard to keep the boundaries between personal and work life clear, but it seems to me that Web 2.0 makes this very difficult.  So, I’ve now created (through my personal profile) a Facebook Page for Volunteering Canterbury, and I’ve started again to persuade people to become fans of the Page.  I’ll keep hoping to recruit a suitable volunteer to maintain VolCan’s Facebook presence for us.  If you are “on” Facebook please become a fan of our Page.  The more widely we can spread the word the more we will all benefit from increased awareness of volunteering in Canterbury. 

I also learned about the possibilities of Ning , and have dipped my toe in that water.  This is a site where you can create your own social network, and I think might prove useful for a voluntary organisation to use to communicate with its members.

Then there’s Zoho , whose open source customer relations management system may be just what we want for VolCan’s individual membership list, currently administered through an antiquated Access database.

We also heard about the potential of Skype for online chatting and teleconferencing. 

We would love to see a similar conference held in Christchurch, and have started some work towards this.   Ruth G.

Where do we get our support?

Sources of support identified by a meeting of the Volunteer Co-ordinators’ Network were: Colleagues, Supervision, Volunteers, Committee or Board, Internet and other resources, Family, Training workshops, Regular holidays, Lifestyle choices, Coaches, Video and phone conferences, Mentors, Networks, and Buddies

Support from family and friends is often emotional and/or practical.

Support that can help us grow and develop in our role may come from external supervision, from mentors, and from our networks.   In Christchurch some of us meet informally each month over early morning coffee to share peer support.  Anyone who supports volunteers within an organisation or group is welcome to join us.                          Ruth G.

Are Volunteers being used?

We were disappointed to note that a recent Government Report on Support for Volunteering referred to ‘organisations that use volunteers.’  Nobody likes to feel ‘used’ and we encourage all our readers to carefully consider how the words we use can affect perceptions.  ‘Involve’ or ‘engage’ much more accurately describe the contributions volunteers make.      Ruth G.

Giving and Volunteering

 

Hugh Lawrence, Acting Director of the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector spoke about this project at Volunteering Canterbury’s 2008 AGM.  Some of the project’s aims are to:
• Simplify the means to donating money or time
• Recognise the multiple avenues into giving and volunteering
• Provide guidance on facilitating business-nonprofit relationships
Government can help by:
• Supporting research to better understand the territory
• Overcoming policy barriers
• Supporting the Volunteer Centre Network
• Providing more online resources
More government funding may be needed, but better co-ordination between government agencies will help.
There is fresh data available on giving and volunteering.

Four main themes have been agreed.  They are:
• Giving of money
• Giving in-kind
• Giving of time
• Acts of kindness
Some of the next steps include promoting giving and volunteering through multiple media, but as with all cross-sector projects this will take time.                         Ruth G.

Raising Volunteer Awareness

Jo Smith, Volunteer Co-ordinator at the Methodist Archives, organised a chocolate treat, with a special Volunteer Awareness Week wrapper for volunteers at the Archives and other staff at the Methodist Church Administration Division.  The chocolates were mini Mars Bars (because volunteers are ‘out of this world’), and provided an opportunity for all staff to talk about the different kinds of voluntary work they do.    Ruth G.