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.

How your role description can attract a volunteer.

A basic role description is comprised of several elements, expressed clearly:

 Role title
 Hours
 Tasks
 Location
 Skills needed
 Reimbursement of expenses
 Information about the organisation
 Who to report to

The role title should grab people’s attention immediately.  Try all the advertisers’ tricks of language: humour, alliteration, glamour and status.  Be positive and realistic.  Try these on for size: Website Wizard, Debt Buster, Personal Stylist, Money Stretcher, Facebook Fan, Digital Display Artist, Obstacle Course Overseer.

If you want a Co-ordinator, try advertising for a Branch Manager or a Regional Facilitator. A club volunteer could become a Social Assistant or a Hospitality Assistant.  An Administrative Assistant could become a P.A., or a Project Assistant or even an Administration Angel.

Flexible role possibilities will extend the appeal of your organisation.  You might like to consider offering flexibility of time, so that volunteers can choose their own hours. 

Other possibilities are shared roles where one or two people may complete the task, either by working together or working individually.  Short-term roles (episodic volunteering) are what many people are looking for.  If they enjoy their first ‘assignment’ they may well sign up for another.
Give details that will allow volunteers to relate to the organisation, and to feel that they can contribute something worthwhile. Many people will want to pay back help they have been given in the past.

Others will regard volunteering as a great way to meet new people. They will appreciate the social opportunities created by the organisation.

Offer flexibility and freedom to volunteers, and make volunteering a good experience.  Give the volunteers support and ensure that they benefit too.  There should be rewards and recognition built into the experience.  If you offer training, work experience and references these will help volunteers who are seeking paid employment.

Organisations must make it clear that they value volunteers and have processes in place to support them.

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.

Employee Volunteering-Observations from the front line

Employee Volunteering is the key way businesses have relationships with voluntary organisations, and Volunteer Centres play an important role in facilitating Employee Volunteering projects.  These are some of the findings of research recently completed by Dr Louise Lee from Massey University.  Other interesting facts are:

• Most employees prefer volunteering roles unrelated to their professional skills
• Overall the choice of volunteering activity tended to be driven by the needs of employees and the business rather than the receiving voluntary organisation
• The major barriers to greater staff involvement were: pressures and nature of work, lack of line managers’ buy-in, and inadequate information sharing
• Key challenges for measuring programmes included the lack of defined or measurable programme objectives, lack of time, and limited knowledge of suitable measurement practices.
• Effective employee volunteering programmes call for both business and voluntary organisations to develop the knowledge, skills, attributes and resources to meet the demands of cross-sector collaboration

The full report is available to download from the Papers page of our website.
                             Ruth G.

Supporting Volunteers from non-English speaking backgrounds

Lesley Markham from PEETO the Multicultural Learning Centre discussed this topic with the Volunteer Co-ordinators’ Network. 

Reasons why migrants may want to volunteer are:
 Values-based – service, giving back
 To feel part of the community – wanting to be New Zealanders
 Social needs  - meeting people from other ethnic groups
 To share expertise and gain knowledge

While these reasons may be the same as for English-speaking volunteers, those from non-English speaking backgrounds may be very apprehensive about taking such steps and will require ongoing training and support.

Retaining these volunteers will depend on your keeping an open mind and being aware of different values systems.  This can be an opportunity for everyone to learn about working alongside someone from a different culture.  Things to remember are:
 Check language proficiency at the beginning – ask open questions to ensure understanding (some people may say yes rather than admit they don’t understand).
 Talk at a moderate pace, not too loud, and avoid using jargon or colloquialisms.
 Be very specific about tasks to be done and provide written role descriptions and information, including frequently asked questions, in plain English, that they can take away and read.
 Ensure they have one key person to report to, whom they can phone if they have problems.
 Remember the volunteer’s name and pronounce it correctly.
 Be flexible, allowing for personal circumstances and cultural demands.
 Some cultures have different concepts regarding volunteering, and these volunteers may be dealing with people in their own culture who wonder why they are working without payment.
 Encourage, provide regular evaluation and opportunities for feedback.  Do this quietly and discreetly.
 Have a review process after initial training where they can tell you how things are going and what could make it better.
 Acknowledge their culture, take time to find out about their lives and background, and share yours.
 Some cultures expect authority and formality rather than equality and informality, and volunteers may prefer explicit direction.
 There may be different cultural attitudes towards gender, perhaps a reluctance to take instruction from a female Co-ordinator.
 Volunteers may prefer to work in a communal way, as part of a team.
 Show that you appreciate them.
 Above all, listen to what they say!

Volunteering Canterbury recommends “New to New Zealand – A Guide to Ethnic Groups” by Daphne Bell, published by Reed Books 2005, RRP $25.  This is an invaluable resource for anyone working with people from different ethnicities.  We find that volunteers from non-English speaking backgrounds are highly motivated and committed to their voluntary work.
                             Ruth G.

Recruiting and Supporting Male Volunteers

This topic was discussed with Donald Pettitt of the Canterbury Men’s Centre at an all female meeting of the Volunteer Co-ordinators’ Network.
We noted that men are educated and socialised to earn money and be providers, which means that undertaking voluntary work comes less naturally to them than to women.
In general, male volunteers:
 Are hugely resourceful
 Prefer one-off events to a long term commitment
 May not recognise their own social isolation
 Will often stand rather than sit

To enhance our recruitment and support of male volunteers we need to:
 Create a male-friendly environment
 Ensure our name is inclusive, and not off-putting
 Offer active physical tasks, such as sporting activities
 Give clear brief instructions (brevity is a sign of respect)
 Have a good structure with plenty of opportunities for debriefing
 Avoid trying to match men with traditional female roles
 Ensure there are other men around to provide male support
 Beware of a tendency for them to over commit themselves
 Take care with the language we use, e.g. talk about ‘sharing actions with others’ rather than ‘building relationships’
 Watch that they stay ‘on track’
 Give them one task at a time
 Feed them
 Remember that a male perspective helps bring balance to our organisations
 Make sure they’re informed about the whole range of the organisation’s operations – they may well volunteer for further tasks.
                     Ruth G.

“Just a Housewife”

This is the name of a short story in a book by Tessa Duder, titled “Is she still alive?”.  Fictional, it give a great account of how much one New Zealand volunteer can do, and what the rewards might be.  Recommended reading for anyone involved in supporting volunteers.       RuthG

Visiting Volunteers

An English Language School in Lower Hutt has contacted us seeking places where their students could be involved in “social” volunteer projects.  The students are mostly from Germany or other European countries, all aged 18 or over, and want to volunteer for 20-40 hours a week for periods ranging from two weeks to six months.  They all have police clearances from their home countries.  The students would require accommodation, but can pay for their own food.  In some cases sponsorship for other accommodation can be arranged.  The School runs this programme on a not-for-profit basis.  If you have suitable projects (perhaps camps?) or would like to know more, please contact Emma Kim, emma.kim@wbs.ac.nz         RuthG

21st Century Volunteering - Beyond the Stereotypes

At this workshop led by Martin J Cowling, we considered the different generations of volunteers, how they are represented within our organisations, and how best to recruit, manage, and reward each generation.  While the descriptions below are generalizations, workshop participants of all generations agreed that they were accurate.

Silent Generation  (aged 64+)

• started or expanded most of our voluntary organisations
• 60% of the volunteers in social services
• read newspapers and listen to the radio
• prefer systems with structure (e.g. accurate minute-taking)
• seek appreciation of their experience
• like consistency, courtesy, and respect
• will be loyal to an organisation

Saying ‘no’ to a Volunteer

One of the hardest things to say to a volunteer is “No, you can’t work for us.”  At the February 2008 meeting of the Volunteer Co-ordinators’ Network  in Christchurch Mary Woods facilitated a discussion on this subject.

There are three main occasions when we may need to say “no”.

*At selection time – provided we have good processes in place this will usually be the easiest occasion.
*When a volunteer has started behaving out of character due to illness or a life crisis, and where such behaviour is likely to be temporary.
*Where a volunteer is losing some of their ability and there is reason to believe this is not reversible.

Before we say “no” we need to be very clear about the reasons and these must be specific and valid.  Fundamentally the reason for saying “no” is because the volunteer can no longer fulfill their role adequately. This becomes obvious when the volunteer:
 Makes mistakes (perhaps for physical, medical, or emotional reasons)
 Is unreliable – doesn’t turn up at the agreed time
 Risks the safety of clients or self (perhaps because they forget)
 Presents badly, causing a negative experience for public or clients
 Acts outside guidelines/their authority
 Is rigidly resistant to change
 Has a different personal agenda to that of the organisation