One World Foundation Africa

Name of Organisation

Why did you decide to go for Investing in Volunteers?

Working with volunteers is at the heart of our organisation and we wanted to make sure that we were working in the best way possible. It was a chance to update our policies and procedures and receive outside input on these. It is also useful to prove to potential funders that we are working well with volunteers.

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

It was useful to look at all of our policies and procedures and to give them a rehaul. It allowed us to think critically about how we work with volunteers and to make improvements where necessary. It also helped us to recognise some of the good work we were already doing before we began the process.

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

Our assessor was very helpful throughout the process and helped us out when we had queries. The assessment was thorough but fair. The assessor was friendly and the experience wasn’t as intimidating as I had imagined! Having gone through all the steps of the development plan the assessment itself was relatively straight forward.

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

Make sure you work through every stage of your development plan and pay attention to the details.
Talk to colleagues and volunteers to find out what you are doing well and what you could improve
Be self critical, but also recognise what your organisation is doing well.
Put aside regular time to work on the process and work steadily, you can’t do a rushed job at the last minute.
Try and get colleagues and volunteers involved, it is impossible for one member of staff to go through the process alone.