Volunteering for everyone: meeting complex volunteering needs

Volunteering doesn’t happen by accident. Creating and sustaining an enabling environment for volunteering can be complicated. Volunteers and potential volunteers have different motivations, skills, interests and confidence. Equally, volunteer involving organisations (VIOs) also have differing motivations, approaches and purposes.  

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When we began to develop the Volunteering Doesn’t Happen By Accident resources, we needed a way to unpick this complexity to make sure volunteering welcomes everyone. We started from member feedback that most relationships local infrastructure organisations and volunteer centres have are with small- and medium- sized, locally based, volunteer involving organisations. We then brought together examples of the support that different organisations and volunteers commonly receive from NAVCA members:

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Example 1: A growing community organisation

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A volunteer-led community organisation could receive funding and governance advice as they become more established. They would have access to training and planning advice to ensure that new volunteers were properly supported and had good experiences. They would receive advice in designing engaging adverts to help with their word-of-mouth recruitment.

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Example 2: A small charity maximising peer support

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The Volunteer Manager of a small charity would learn from their peers at a local Volunteer Managers’ forum. They receive advice about addressing personality clashes between volunteers. They would have access to resources that helped them to develop more inclusive recruitment. They might be introduced to local businesses with employees that wanted to share their skills.  When there was a new structured volunteering initiative, like social prescribing, in their area they’d find out more and get involved.

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Example 3: A potential volunteer

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A prospective volunteer, unsure of what they could offer or where they might go, had a 1:1 session at a Volunteer Centre to talk about their interests and what they wanted to get out of volunteering. They would be introduced to a local organisation they might help with, including help working out which bus to get there.  

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These examples demonstrate that an enabling environment for volunteering requires a range of different interventions and approaches that are informed by the very specific needs of organisations and volunteers. Very few VCSE organisations have the resources to collate and signpost information, sustain networks of Volunteer Managers, and enable new partnerships. Not only do local infrastructure organisations fill that resource gap but, by bringing different organisations together, they enable innovation and experimentation.

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If you’re a NAVCA member, and want to work with local partners to evaluate and develop your local volunteering system, download our free guidance and toolkit via the NAVCA member hub now.

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