Volunteering - its place in community capacity buildingThis paper was delivered by Diane Morgan, Chief Executive Officer, Volunteering Queensland
at the MAQ State Conference,
15-16 September 2001, Cairns
VOLUNTEERING TODAY
The volunteer movement historically came from a social
infrastructure based on the notion of ‘haves and have nots’.
Traditionally, the churches provided health, education, and welfare support and
services to the ‘needy’. Some of the traditional models of
volunteering have often been linked to the lady bountiful image and even today
often carry the stigma of being seen as work done predominately by women and is
often described by some parts of society as exploitation.
Other images of volunteer activities are often stereotyped or
described as the unskilled work provided by unemployed people or carried out by
people with altruistic motives to ‘help’ or provide a service to
someone in need. These do not provide a true picture of volunteering. The
coordination of volunteer work continues to be under-resourced or entirely
neglected within many organisations who use volunteers. Many community
organisations currently experiencing a drop in volunteer numbers often have
extremely under-resourced volunteer programs within their organisation’s
management structure.
Volunteering comes with a high price tag for any community
organisation serious about deploying voluntary workers. The price tag includes
costs such as the salary of a volunteer manager; training, orientation &
recognition; motivational activities; support; management infrastructure -
policies and procedures, evaluation review and record keeping; insurance;
facilities that comply with WPH&S Standards; and lastly, often not as
tangible as dollars, the skills to consult and involve volunteer workers in all
aspects of the organisation.
CHANGING TRENDS IN VOLUNTEERING
Volunteer Centres throughout the world are experiencing
increased numbers of people offering to volunteer in a wide variety of community
activities. However, the current profile of volunteers is changing
dramatically. For instance, Volunteering Queensland’s statistics reflect
an annual increase in the number of men compared to women volunteering. They
also reflect a rapid increase in the number of younger people seeking voluntary
opportunities. Volunteering Queensland’s Referral Service places more
than 6,000 people a year into community organisations throughout Queensland.
Other trends reflected in this data include an increased number
of people from different cultural experiences, students, people with different
abilities, and people in full-time employment. These trends were also reflected
in a survey done by volunteer centres throughout America by the Points of Light
Foundation, America’s national volunteer centre.
CHALLENGES FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS
Despite the increase in the number of people volunteering and
the diversity of skills individuals are bringing to voluntary activities, the
retention rate within community organisations is dropping. This poses a number
of serious questions that community organisations need to address.
A closer look at some of the challenges organisations are faced
with include the:
- demand for increased professional skills and
accountability of volunteer managers.
- public
accountability.
- community capacity building -
individual, community and social development versus volunteers as a simply cheap
human resource.
- future impact of information
technology.
- public image of
volunteering.
- response to change and uncertainty
in all aspects of society.
VOLUNTEER MANAGERS SKILLS
The position of Volunteer Manager within not-for-profit
organisations, if it exists at all, is often under-resourced and a fair way down
in the organisation’s management structure.
Members of the Volunteer Managers Association, which is a
professional network of volunteer mangers facilitated by Volunteering
Queensland, often report the lack of recognition within their organisations,
both of the position of volunteer manager and of volunteers themselves. There
is no professional or academic recognition of the role of volunteer manager
contrary to the practice in other countries such as the UK, USA and Canada where
there has been for many years now, career pathways and education to the level of
doctorates in volunteer administration and management. Ten years ago,
Volunteering Queensland’s member organisations recorded less than 5% of
their 800 members as having a paid volunteer manager. That figure has since
increased to approximately 20%. Improvements to the status of volunteer manager
within community organisations in Australia have included accredited training
for the management of volunteers and national standards for involving volunteers
in not-for-profit organisations. However, there is a long way to go. There are
still no national competencies for the management of volunteers or for community
management.
Volunteer managers may not have formal training in the area of
volunteer management and often generic management does not pay specific
attention to volunteering or community development in voluntary organisations.
However, managing volunteers does not end with management skills. It is about
community leadership. It is about being able to identify and recognise the
potential and human resources that exists within the community and in particular
in volunteers and match those to the requirements and needs of the community
organisation providing a particular service to the community.
PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
There is now a need within community organisations to seriously
address the issues of risk management. The most ellaborate and expensive
insurance policy will not protect any organisation if there are no policies and
procedures and infrastructure that support and protect the work of volunteers
within that organisation. Volunteers are also covered by all of the legislation
which protects paid workers.
While there are no industrial awards or conventions such as in
America that address the legal issues of volunteer workers, volunteers still
have the ultimate say in how well they are managed and that is they can walk if
they feel in any way unsafe or uncomfortable about their environment.
Insurance companies with which Volunteering Australia and
Volunteering Queensland have regular contact in regard to volunteer insurance
are reporting a rapid increase in the number of claims and litigation. It is a
startling revelation to learn that Victoria has the highest number of recorded
insurance claims from voluntary workers, outside of America.
COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING
The latest ‘buzz’ word in governments, corporations,
and community is “community capacity building”. Perhaps it is a new
way to describe some of the original notions of community development or social
action. However, one of the exciting concepts being talked about are the
partnerships within the community that enable communities to identify resources
to address local issues and problems within communities.
This notion of community capacity building is identified and
discussed in a number of government documents. These include the Blair Compact
from the United Kingdom, a Government of Canada and Voluntary Sector Joint
Initiative paper called Working Together, which was tabled last year, and
a number of well documented studies and positions taken across America. There
are also many sites on the Internet which discuss and expand the notion of
community capacity building.
There are a number of factors that lead to the changing way to
view community issues. Some of these factors include the changing role of
governments, increasingly diverse populations, and new social and economic
realities, to name a few.
The most exciting challenge for the not-for-profit sector is to
recognise the common ground which brings together partnerships between the
community, corporate, government, and public sectors. There is still a commonly
held belief that businesses or corporations have no interest in community other
than the desire to exploit resources. However, there are more and more emerging
examples of corporate citizenship demonstrated by a number of large companies
who have initiated employee-volunteer programs, allowing their staff to work
within community organisations often in paid company time, matching gift schemes
and group fundraising or project support, to name a few.
FUTURE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Most not-for-profit organisations are not technologically
sophisticated and are not equipped for the technology transformation that is at
hand. The digital divide separating people also separates organisations.
Not-for-profits that are creating online services are so under-funded and
under-resourced that the visible and accessible presence of not-for-profit
sources on the web is endangered.
There is a widening gap within not-for-profit community
organisations between organisations who ‘have the technology, skilled
people and resources’ and the organisations without these technical
resources.
Technological skills have impacted both on the motives for
volunteering as well as the sorts of jobs within organisations available to
volunteers. More and more students studying information technology are
requesting placements to obtain the opportunity to apply their skills in the
process of job search.
While these people provide a great resource to community
organisations there is always the issue of ongoing maintenance and consistency
of skills within the organisations after these people move on into paid
work.
PUBLIC IMAGE OF VOLUNTEERING
Just as technology is creating a wider division within the
not-for-profit organisations, so is formal and informal volunteering. There are
still a large number of very small community groups, wholly dependant on
volunteers with no paid staff at all. Often, these organisations reflect a more
informal structure with consumers accounting for the bulk of both volunteer
workers and committee members.
There are often many issues and crises within organisations once
these organisations move into a more formal structure of becoming incorporated
and gain government funding. These issues include the changing relationships
between paid workers and voluntary management committee members.
Services delivered by not-for-profit organisations have also
changed from a pure service delivery focus to now embrace social justice and
community action. Volunteering can be found in all aspects of society and not
restricted to the traditionally identified voluntary activities performed in
welfare and health, emergency services, sport and recreation, environment and
heritage.
As previously stated, the profile of people offering to
volunteer has changed quite dramatically, particularly in the past five years.
In many traditional not-for-profit organisations the voluntary population is
predominately older. Young people are seeking out voluntary opportunities
within community groups, looking for diverse and challenging experiences.
CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY
The changing nature of work and leisure has impacted on
not-for-profit organisations in regard to their volunteer programs. It is quite
common for a man or woman over the age of 50 to combine a number of activities
that include voluntary work, part-time work, social and family activities.
Obviously, there are issues of economic stability or economic ability to
maintain such a balance.
It has to be said very clearly that volunteering is in no way a
substitute for paid work.
While there are many benefits, there are also many dangers
inherent in schemes such as Work for the Dole and the notion of mutual
obligations for people on benefits. It would be a great shame to marginalise
volunteering as an activity or a punishment of people who were unable to find
employment.
There is no doubt that volunteering is a great asset to the many
unemployed people who participate in voluntary programs as part of their job
search. The Volunteer Centres throughout the world have always recorded a high
number of volunteers moving into paid work as a result of their voluntary
activities. However, this also provides a challenge to not-for-profit
organisations in regard to their volunteer programs. Having short-term
volunteers means a never ending turnover of volunteers which can be expensive
and time consuming. Many organisations express great frustration at providing
expensive training programs for their volunteers, only to find that the whole
volunteer team has changed within six months. There are many solutions to this,
and they include a well developed infrastructure where volunteers who are able
to make a longer commitment act as mentors and trainers.
These days, a successful volunteer program should reflect
society itself - that is, people of all age groups with a wide range of skills
and abilities, people from a variety of cultures and life experiences as diverse
as society itself. The greatest challenge for not-for-profit organisations is
in the leadership of this great community resource.
“While soul is what allows us to make intimate
connections and so create community - even a global and universal sense of
shared life - it is also responsible for our most profound sense of
individuality and uniqueness. Those two - community and individuality - go
together. You can’t have a genuine community unless it consists of true
individuals, and you can’t be an individual unless you are deeply involved
in community.”
(Source: Soul Mates: Honoring the Mysteries of Love and
Relationships by Thomas Moore © 1994, Harper Perennial, New York, page
233)
|
