Gloucester Association for Voluntary and Community Action (GAVCA)

Name of Organisation

Why did you decide to go for Investing in Volunteers?

We offer good practice support to local organisations in managing volunteers and we felt it would be good to achieve this standard for two main reasons. Firstly to establish that we practice what we preach and secondly for all staff and volunteers to feel confident about how we manage our volunteers

What benefits have you found from working towards Investing in Volunteers?

The volunteers have increased confidence in that they feel they have a voice in the organisations processes.

Tell us about your experience of the assessment process in your organisation.

The process was quite time consuming which isn’t easy to prioritise in part time hours. It was difficult to make sure everyone was available on the assessment day as most of the staff and the volunteers are part time too.

However it was heart warming on the day too have most of our volunteers turn up and their positive attitude to the inconvenience. It was good to focus on what we do and to formalise the process it makes it owned by GAVCA and not the volunteer manager which means that it will continue if there are staff changes.

5 Practical tips you would give another organisation working towards Investing in Volunteers

Be realistic about the time it will take and the work involved
Make sure the whole organisation staff, trustees and volunteers understand what IIV is for and support the process
Try to relax and see it as a support for the organisations volunteer management process and not as a test you can fail