It is clear from our discussions with volunteer managers that Investing in Volunteers appeals to them because they feel the time is right for a quality standard that focuses on volunteer management. Many of them have procedures and policies, often of an informal nature, and are keen to know how they measure up to standards that have been devised externally.
During the pilot phase from 1998 - 2002, over sixty organisations achieved the Investing in Volunteers Standard, and they found many practical benefits from working towards and achieving the Standard.
Benefits identified by organisations without established policies
Organisations that do not have any volunteering policies in place see that achieving the Standard helps their organisation in a number of ways. These include:
- more awareness of the issues surrounding volunteering
- better use of volunteers skills
- more structured environment for the volunteers and their managers
- more awareness of the boundaries between volunteers and paid staff
- clear understanding of volunteers roles
- proper documentation put in place
- shared ownership of the organisation by staff and volunteers
- external recognition of their good practice.
Benefits identified by organisations with established policies
Organisations which already have some formal procedures in place see improvement in terms of:
- finding out their weak spots
- making them more scrupulous, eg. carrying out risk assessments.
- introducing policies in areas that hadn’t been covered before
- specific references to volunteers in all policy documents
- raising awareness of other staff who work with volunteers
- systematic documentation
- a comprehensive and properly laid out Volunteers Handbook
- external recognition of their good practice.
Valuing volunteers
Many volunteer managers said that the benefits to the volunteers themselves during and after achieving the Standard are:
- proper documentation volunteers can refer to at any time
- better training opportunities
- a better-informed appreciation of volunteers by all concerned
- a professional approach to the management of volunteers
- a safe environment through risk assessment, health and safety and other practical measures that hadn’t been in place before
- better recognition of volunteers motivation.
Volunteers experience in the wider world where quality standards are becoming the norm suggests that Investing in Volunteers will give them confidence in the organisations ability to provide a good standard of management.
Further benefits
Maximum benefit from your valuable people resource
Investing in Volunteers organisations manage their volunteers effectively. The improved motivation that this will bring to both volunteers and paid staff leads to higher morale, improved retention rates, reduced absenteeism, readier acceptance of change and identification with the organisation beyond the confines of their role.
Increased status for your organisation
Investing in Volunteers demonstrates real achievement measured against a rigorous national standard. Being an Investing in Volunteers organisation helps to attract volunteers, paid staff, and may also be looked upon favourably by funders as part of your commitment to high management standards.
Framework for future action
Working towards the Investing in Volunteers Standard will provide your organisation with the opportunity to review current policies and practices against a recognised benchmark. It will also provide a framework for planning future strategy and action.
Investing in Volunteers has been praised for the way it helps organisations think through the Indicators leading to a much clearer grasp of management and identifiable procedures for involving volunteers, giving confidence that organisations measured up to best practice in managing volunteers. Before working towards the Standard, virtually all organisations had their procedures dispersed in boxes and heads. With achievement of the Standard, organisations feel that knowledge is now encapsulated at organisation level, whereas previously, if a volunteer manager left, much of the organisations knowledge went with them.
