Introduction

Much recent commentary emphasises the changes in voluntary work, some of which are seen to put volunteering under threat. In the midst of these changes, organisations are seeking the best ways to attract and retain volunteers. Volunteer management has been the object of recent scrutiny, with a general consensus that the dominant professional/ workplace model is not an adequate response to the diversity of volunteers’ characteristics, motivations and needs. In what has become something of a well-used phrase in volunteering research, ‘one size does not fit all’.

This report focuses on volunteers’ own views. Through investigating what makes for a satisfying and enduring volunteering experience, it proposes a model of progressive volunteer involvement with eight pressure points which can influence a person’s likelihood of becoming and staying a volunteer.

A model of volunteer involvement

The model starts with the non-volunteer and progresses to the long-term volunteer. Four stages are characterised:

• The doubter is outside volunteering and may have attitudes, characteristics or circumstances which keep them a non-volunteer.

• The starter has entered volunteering by making an enquiry or application.

• The doer has committed to being a volunteer and begun volunteering.

• The stayer persists as a long-term volunteer.

The aim of organisations and the volunteering infrastructure is to aid each transition in the most positive way possible, to transform the doubter into a starter into a doer into a stayer. The eight points at which an appropriate intervention may achieve this are:

1. The image and appeal of volunteering
2. Methods of recruiting volunteers
3. Recruitment and application procedures
4. Induction into volunteering
5. Training for volunteering
6. Overall management of the volunteering
7. The ethos and culture of the organisation
8. The support and supervision given to volunteers

From doubter to starter

The first three pressure points influence this transition.

The image and appeal of volunteering

The issue of people’s perceptions of ‘volunteering’ and ‘volunteer’ has been highlighted for some time. Improving its image and appeal requires making volunteering in general more visible and more ‘normal’; highlighting the variety of volunteer roles; and publicising specific voluntary activities and opportunities. This should be done through promotional materials that are attractive and inclusive, countering common misconceptions and appealing to people with different backgrounds, interests, motivations and degrees of commitment.

Methods of recruiting volunteers

Many people are hampered by a lack of information and access points to route them into volunteering. Organisations can get their recruitment messages out through targeted advertising to particular groups; innovative media with messages and designs that present a modern image for volunteering and emphasise the benefits for the volunteer; outreach, talks, roadshows, presence at public events etc.; active promotion of websites and databases and, where needed, the creation of new ones; and maximising word of mouth recruitment by encouraging current volunteers to act as ambassadors for volunteering.

Publicity and promotion should be backed up with multiple points of access, involving networks of gatekeepers in education, workplaces, careers advice offices, exclusion centres, youth groups, cyber cafés, community centres, libraries, JobCentres and volunteer bureaux.

Recruitment and application procedures

People making an enquiry about volunteering or applying to volunteer prefer procedures that are relaxed and not too bureaucratic. Organisations can deliver this by providing well-staffed reception and walk-in/call-in/email access; a welcoming and efficient initial response; and informative handouts in multiple languages, as appropriate. They should provide applicants with an informal but efficient interview process; clear descriptions of volunteer roles, rights and responsibilities; individual matching to opportunities; as wide a range of opportunities as possible; and referral elsewhere if an appropriate placement cannot be found.

From starter to doer

This transition involves two pressure points.

Induction into volunteering

Induction provides a crucial point which can reinforce volunteers’ motivation and their sense of identifying with the organisation, but it often falls short of ideal. Organisations should design induction to convey a balance of informality and efficiency. Its content should include an introduction to the organisation and a full orientation to the work the volunteers will be doing; what to expect and what is expected of them; policies and procedures that affect them; what support they will receive and how to claim expenses.

Training for volunteering

Effective training not only equips volunteers with confidence and skills, it contributes to high retention by encouraging a sense of commitment and reinforcing the perception that volunteers are valued.

Training needs to vary depending on the role and the volunteer: an intensive initial course to develop particular skills and awareness; ongoing courses for updates of skills, policies and regulations; minimal or no training. It is important that organisations judge the content and extent of training very carefully, to serve exactly the volunteer’s and the organisation’s purposes.

Offering training progression and accreditation options plays a vital role in attracting volunteers who are motivated by the desire to improve or learn skills, particularly young people and those wanting to increase their employability.

From doer to stayer

This involves the three final pressure points. Ongoing training (previous section) is a fourth important factor.

Overall management of the volunteering

The way volunteers are managed and supported is crucially important. This research confirms the growing dominance of the bureaucratic ‘workplace model’ of management, in which volunteers are treated as if they are paid staff. Many volunteers find this offputting, preferring a balance between efficiency and informality. One way of achieving more volunteer-friendly management is to develop volunteers’ role in managing other volunteers.

Volunteers want their voluntary work to be well-organised but flexible. The current emphasis on flexibility in volunteering is a response to trends towards shorter term volunteering and takes account of the other demands on volunteers’ time, which affects both young and older people. Organisations’ strategies include organising one-off, short-term or drop-in volunteering; having a pool of volunteers so demands are not unrelenting; and a flexible rota system that recognises that volunteers can often make only a limited commitment.

The ethos and culture of the organisation

All volunteers want a welcoming atmosphere, a sense that the people in the organisation value their contribution. The organisational culture should be volunteer-orientated, with governance and management structures giving leadership and all personnel levels aware of the role and needs of volunteers. The ethos should be inclusive. Training should be given about volunteering in the organisation, especially where it is relatively new or expanding, and on working with volunteers ‘atypical’ for the organisation, such as young people, black and minority ethnic people, disabled people, or older people. Training on diversity should also be given to existing volunteers.

It is vital that the volunteer feels part of the organisational culture and identifies with its philosophy. Organisations need to create the conditions in which volunteers can play an influential role and the capacity to respond effectively to what this brings forth.

The support and supervision given to volunteers

Satisfaction with the support and supervision they receive is a key factor in keeping people volunteering. Above all volunteers want to know that there is someone they can go to when they want advice or support. An important aspect is not just the personal support the volunteer experiences but the underlying structure. Good support includes systems such as databases and supervision that enable the organisation and progression that contribute to volunteer satisfaction.

Organisations should provide volunteers with personal and professional support; a clear individual line of support; light-touch supervision (in most cases); and prompt and straightforward payment of expenses. They should facilitate volunteer get-togethers and socials, peer support networks and mentoring. In the case of free-standing volunteer-run groups, it is important that some support is available from an intermediary body such as a volunteer bureau or other community support agency.

A choice blend

The crucial point about volunteering is that it is freely given and done without compulsion. Anything that abrogates the spirit of choice in volunteering endangers the willingness of people to go on doing it. What puts volunteers off is feeling used, not appreciated, not consulted and not accommodated. The full report of this research identifies the needs and actions associated with each pressure point to encourage positive feelings towards volunteering and enable the transition from non-volunteer to committed lifelong volunteer. There are, of course, resource implications because effective volunteer management needs people and systems in place to provide it. However, the payoff is beyond dispute.

Volunteers want to feel welcome, secure, respected, informed, well-used and well-managed. Since they do not have the incentive of a pay packet, rewards must be supplied in other ways by the organisation. The task for volunteer management is to find the right blend: combining choice and control, flexibility and organisation, to be experienced by the volunteer as a blend of informality and efficiency, personal and professional support. This must take full account of the mix of characteristics, motivations and needs within the volunteer workforce; and the type of volunteering and context in which it is carried out. For the volunteering infrastructure as a whole, this suggests a blend of different management approaches and structural arrangements, rather than over-dependence on a single model.

The research

The research
The research, commissioned by the Institute for Volunteering Research for the England Volunteering Forum, was carried out by Katharine Gaskin in February/March 2003. It involved three focus groups of 26 volunteers of all ages and a review of relevant literature.

Order a copy of the full report by Katharine Gaskin, which is fully referenced and quotes extensively from the focus groups.