Suggesting that an organisation initiates performance reviews of volunteers is often met with resistance. A growing number of Volunteer Managers are countering these perceptions, choosing instead to see mutual performance review as a reflection of the importance of volunteers in an organisation.
Screening doesn’t begin and end with Garda Vetting. Screening continues throughout your engagement of the volunteer. This session will explore the various methods of screening volunteers. You will gain an understanding of what screening is and identify which screening tools best suit specific volunteer roles in your organisation.
Are you a Volunteer Manager (paid or unpaid)?
Do you want recognition for your sector?
Would you like to contribute to the development of a third level accredtied course in Volunteer Management & Leadership?
Volunteering and the work of volunteers is part of the fabric of the Irish community. There are hundreds of people across the island of Ireland who are directly responsible for volunteer management, however, there remains no formal qualification on the island to recognise and to contribute to enhancing this essential work.
In 2014, Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development agency, commissioned a report that showed that over 500 volunteer managers (both in paid positions and volunteer roles) indicated they were interested in pursuing a formal university-level qualification in volunteer management.
This accredited Certificate / Diploma in Volunteer Leadership and Management aims to provide an introduction to leadership, management, communications, and personal and professional development skills for volunteer managers and those considering, working or volunteering in volunteer manager roles.
This would be the only programme of its kind on the Island of Ireland to focus specifically on volunteer management, balancing between the theoretical principles of volunteering and practical elements of managing and leading volunteers.
This workshop and focus group will give you a background to the proposed course, an opportuntiy to learn more about the course as well as the opportuntiy to inout on the content, delivery styles and location.
The workshop and focus group is free to attend and faciliated by St. Angela’s College Sligo, NUI Galway, Volunteer Ireland and Volunteer Now.
International Volunteer Day (IVD) December 5th is an international observance designated by the United Nations since 1985. It offers an opportunity for volunteer organisations and individual volunteers to make their contributions visible – at local, national and international levels – to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Apart from mobilising thousands of volunteers every year, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme works closely with partners and governments to establish national volunteer programmes to create structures that foster and sustain local volunteerism in countries. Through the Online Volunteering service volunteers can take action for sustainable human development by supporting the activities of development organisations over the Internet.
The International Volunteer Day (IVD) mandated by the UN General Assembly, is held each year on 5 December. It is viewed as a unique chance for volunteers and organisations to celebrate their efforts, to share their values, and to promote their work among their communities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), United Nations agencies, government authorities and the private sector.
Apart from mobilising thousands of volunteers every year, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development by advocating for the recognition of volunteers and working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming.
Through the Online Volunteering service, volunteers can take action for sustainable human development by supporting the activities of development organisations over the Internet. Every day thousands of people are volunteering, online or on-site, contributing to peace and development, working to achieve the MDGs and engaging people to shape the sustainable development agenda.
International Volunteer Day 2018
International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2018, “Volunteers build Resilient Communities”, recognises volunteers worldwide – with a special focus on local community volunteers – who contribute to making their communities more resilient against natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks. The campaign theme combines the recognition of volunteers with concrete evidence from the State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) 2018.
#IVD2018 focuses on the values of volunteerism through the appreciation of local volunteers, including the marginalised groups and women, who make up nearly 60 per cent of volunteers worldwide, and their impact on building #ResilientCommunities
Downloads and resources
Dowland a Certificate of Recognition for your volunteers (MS Word)- International Volunteer Day 2018 Poster 1 (Adobe PDF)
- International Volunteer Day 2018 Poster 2 (Adobe PDF)
(If you would like a hard copy of either poster posted to you please contact Stuart) - Volunteer Recognition Ideas (Adobe PDF)
- Download a toolkit for online activities for IVD 2018
- Download a toolkit for offline activities for IVD 2018
- You can download other resources for the 2018 event from the UN Volunteers web site
In October 2018 I was fortunate enough to attend and moderate at the World Volunteering Conference organised by IAVE (the International Association of Volunteer effort) that took place in Augsburg, Germany. Volunteer Ireland has been a member of IAVE for a number of years and along with our membership of CEV (The European Volunteer Centre) and Points of Lights these networks give us the opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues and learn about volunteer management and leadership in their countries. October was a busy
month as the European Volunteer Centre held their General Assembly in Brussels.
In a previous blog I spoke about our need to be aware of the changes in the increase of Informal volunteering, according to the UN report on the state of the world volunteering (2018), 70% of volunteering globally is informal – without an organisation, person to person.
At the 2014 conference in Mexico City I spoke to colleagues in the Latin American countries that informal volunteer was to the fore and that they would like to have more formal volunteering but lack the volunteering infrastructure to deliver. When speaking to these colleagues I suggested we had a lot to learn from them about their experiences.
Organisations reliant on formal volunteering with volunteers turning up on a consistent regular basis need to be aware that formal volunteering is declining and they need to start thinking about longer term volunteer strategies, this isn’t just a fad, it is happening around the world. Today’s volunteer is much more precious with their time and we’ve got to be proactive in our approach to engage these volunteers, we must be flexible in our approach.
There were many topics and discussions at the 2018 IAVE World Volunteering Conference and I hope to share a number of them with you on our upcoming Webinar Global and European Volunteering Trends, which takes place online on Friday 7 December 2018 at 11:00. If you can’t make the live webinar a recording will be available afterwards.
Stuart Garland
Training & Programmes Manager
Volunteer Ireland
Volunteers who are well supported from the start are happy volunteers and happy volunteers are more likely to make a difference. Support and supervision is a key element of the volunteer management cycle and when good procedures are in place volunteer retention is higher. This full day workshop is useful for any organisation that is interested in improving methods that help to retain volunteers and encourage good performance.
Developing an effective and positive volunteer culture can have real benefits for your organisation and this course helps will help you plot out the practical steps you need to take to create one. At the end of the training session you’ll be able to engage, empower and influence others to get support throughout your volunteer involving organisation.
Volunteers play a key role in making festivals and events a success. They can fulfil a range of roles: managing your social media, welcoming your guests, finding sponsors or capturing video footage of your event allowing you to promote the work you do. This course has been designed to support you to develop the skills and knowledge to effectively recruit, manage and make the most of event volunteering.
Download a copy of the training course brochure.
MICRO VOLUNTEERING DAY
Microvolunteering Day is a unique opportunity for microvolunteering platforms, volunteer involved organisations & individuals to join together in a synchronised effort to demonstrate the empowering potential of the microvolunteering concept. It is primarily aimed at:
- engaging individuals in microvoluntering tasks
- inspiring organisations to embrace the idea
- stimulating discussion on the concept
- sharing photos + stories via #Microday!
Microvolunteering Day is recognised every year on April 15th and promotes awareness of the microvolunteering concept and how it can enable worthy causes and individuals to better the world via bite-sized actions.
It is a unique opportunity for dedicated microvolunteering platforms, volunteer-involving organisations and individuals to join together in a synchronised effort to promote their contributions and demonstrate the power and potential of the microvolunteering concept.
So what is microvolunteering? There’s a few definitions out there, but the most generic one is:
“bite-sized, on-demand, no commitment actions that benefit a worthy cause”
The term ‘microvolunteering’ was popularised in 2008 by The Extraordinaries (now Skills For Change), where the concept has since grown in stature and momentum to become a global force for matching up people who want to put the spare moments in their lives to more impactful use, with worthy causes who need a small volunteering task completed.
International Volunteer Managers Day (IVM Day) is celebrated globally on November 5 each year. The day is put aside to allow volunteer managers a chance to reflect on and celebrate the critical work they do, and more importantly, it allows an opportunity for them to educate others about the significant role they play in mobilising the often complex resources volunteers bring with them.
Mission / Statement of Values
We celebrate the profession of volunteer leadership because:
- Volunteer Managers have the skills and knowledge to help people be part of the solution in meeting community needs. Even in cynical times, they practice the art of the possible.
- Volunteer Managers change lives — both the lives of volunteers themselves and of those served by well-led volunteers. It is a life-changing profession. Volunteer managers provide the leadership and direction that allows people to build a good and just society and to mend the social fabric. Without professional leadership, people’s time, talents and efforts could be wasted.
- A well-run volunteer program shows the community, including potential donors, that the organisation is not afraid of public scrutiny and involvement and endeavours to make the most efficient use of monetary assets.
- Well-led volunteers become an advocacy and public relations force for an agency or program — a force no amount of money could buy.
2018 Theme – Time for Change
Join our IVMDay 2018 campaign! Make your pledge “Time for Change”” for volunteer managers and demonstrate how we are agents and advocates of change for volunteers and volunteering. We hope that this timely theme will allow us to explore the changes needed in our great profession to ensure it remains relevant and powerful into the future.
Please feel free to post your pledge by email your photos to andy@ozvpm.com
Get Resources for International Volunteer Managers Day from the IVMD web site.
Download the 2018 Pledge Sheet, print it out and make your pledge and post it online and make sure you tag #IVWDay18
