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Professionalisation of volunteering

Volunteering is becoming increasingly professional. Recent years have seen the emergence of the volunteer manager and widespread development of training, volunteer job descriptions and personalised volunteer programmes. Risk aversion and a fear of being sued have also increased the formalisation of certain volunteering roles.

What are the implications?

• Volunteering may be increasingly perceived as a means of developing skills and a career, especially for young people.
• Increase in numbers of volunteers of working age looking for career development opportunities.
• Older or vulnerable volunteers may be discouraged from ‘professional’ volunteering, causing a decrease in numbers of volunteers.
• Rigid structures may discourage those who would prefer a less formalised approach.
• Increased levels of complexity for organisations and particularly volunteer managers.
• Increasing numbers of support structures for volunteer managers.
• Risk that innovation and spontaneity between volunteers and organisations are stifled.

Moving forward

• If volunteering becomes increasingly professionalised and seen as a path into the sector, do you need to think more about the different skills volunteers can develop with your organisation?
• Could your organisation do more to recognise the wide variety of skills needed to manage volunteers? Could your organisation invest in some training to develop these? Do you know about the different support structures available for volunteer managers?
• How can your organisation help encourage people to volunteer despite the increased complexity and regulation around volunteering?

A more formalised approach to volunteering may mean there is a bigger focus on the risks involved in volunteering.

• Do you know what risks arise from involving volunteers?
• Do you have policies in place to ensure your organisation is covered against potential risks?
• What strategies can you put in place to manage risk without stifling innovation? Can you help others (e.g. your funders or your volunteers) to increase their appetite for risk by clearly communicating the risks, but also the benefits of the work that you do?

Want to know more?

Risk Toolkit - How to take care of risk in volunteering: A guide for organisations

Published by: The Institute for Volunteering Research and Volunteering England - the integrated national volunteer development organisation for England

Date: 2007

Format: PDF

What is it? This report explains the risks associated with volunteers and proposes ways to deal with them.

How useful is this? A useful resource for any organisation that involves volunteers.  It provides: information on the main risks, legal liabilities, insurance; offers advice and guidance on setting up; and provides techniques, tools and forms for implementing systems.  It also includes a comprehensive ‘further sources’ section on risk management and insurance.

Other comments:

Groups fear 'professionalisation' of volunteering

Published by: Third Sector – a magazine for the voluntary and community sector

Date: 2007

Format: Web – free registration required to access

What is it? An article exploring negative reactions by community groups to the Government plans to give more than £100m to youth volunteering, as they fear it will "professionalise" volunteering.

How useful is this? Although a very short article, this is useful in highlighting concerns in the sector over professionalisation of volunteering and fears that volunteering could be separated from the work of grass-roots organisations.

Other comments:

Widespread support for the professionalisation of volunteering

Published by: Charity Times – a magazine for the voluntary and community sector

Date: 2007

Format: Web

What is it? An article reporting findings from a survey by Volunteering England on corporate-style management techniques and training.

How useful is this? This is a short article but states the main findings from Volunteering England’s research that most respondents were infavour of a move towards a more professional status for volunteer managers.  It includes comments from organisations supporting the findings, as well as those highlighting that organisations are already making use of volunteers’ existing professional and management skills.

Other comments:

What’s wrong with incentives anyway?

Published by: Association of Volunteer Managers

Date:2008

Format: Web page

What is it? Transcript of a speech debating incentives to volunteer by Volunteer England’s 2008 AGM

How useful is this? This short speech examines the impact offering incentives could have on volunteering.  It briefly looks at people’s reasons for volunteering, and thereby examines how incentives could affect this and the sector in general.  A useful start to thinking about the debate of volunteer incentives, which was carried on by Third Sector magazine in this article.

Other comments: The Association of Volunteer Managers’ blogoffers opinions into different aspects of volunteer management and volunteering in general.