The Impact of Investing in Volunteers Report conducted by Aston Business school is now available on the Investing in Volunteers website.
Volunteers working in organisations with the Investing in Volunteers quality kite mark are likely to have a good volunteering experience, according to newly published research.
The Impact of Investing in Volunteers looked at the benefits of adopting and using the organisational-based quality mark and showed that those organisations using the standard had improved their practices and made things better for volunteers.
To achieve the standard, organisations have to demonstrate they are using good practices in ten different areas such as fair recruitment procedures, properly resourced programmes, policies and procedures in place, adequate induction and support.
The study found that volunteers expressed pride in their organisation’s Investing in Volunteers status although the main benefits were organisational. Groups reported that working towards Investing in Volunteers had provided the opportunity to review the way volunteers are involved and this had led to changes and more consistency in the way volunteers are involved.
They also report that receipt of the Award had raised the profile of volunteering and they were hoping the increased publicity would enhance their fundraising capacity and help them attract more volunteers.
The study, carried out by the Centre for Voluntary Action Research at Aston Business school, interviewed a number of voluntary organisations across the UK. These organisations were at various stages of the accreditation process, from those who had achieved the standard to those at the final assessment stage.
The Awarding body for Investing in Volunteers is the UK Volunteering Forum which is made up of the four lead volunteering umbrella organisations in each of the countries.
Volunteering England is responsible for running the process and registered organisations in England and is pleased that 18 organisations have achieved the standard to date.
Jane Curbishley, Investing in Volunteers manager in England said: “It’s fantastic to know the regular informal feedback we receive is supported by the findings of this report. It’s clear that Investing in Volunteers is making a positive impact on organisations of all sizes across the UK.”
The Impact Report is available freely and can be found on the Home page of the website under the 'Key Documents' section or click on this link
