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We have asked IiV achievers to share their knowledge and expertise with other organisations looking to start their IiV journey. These are some of their suggestions:

After achieving IiV no less than four times, Sally Dyson at Norfolk & Norwich University NHS Trust reflects on the value of IiV for her organisation and the healthcare sector.

As IiV Programme Manager, the number 1 concern I hear from organisations about to start Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is time constraints. When I go out and meet organisations the first question they ask is “how long does it take?”. I wish I could give them a definitive answer but it varies from organisation to organisation; factors such as number of staff involved, how embedded a volunteer programme is and how much of a priority IiV is within the organisation impact on the length of time taken to achieve. The majority of achievers take between 6-12 months.

We recently invited IiV achievers to feed back in one word what the biggest impact has been on their volunteers, here are the results:

Four-time IiV achiever Kent Union gives an account of the impact of achieving IiV on their organisation and what advice they would give to fellow Students’ Unions.

Two-time IiV Achiever Reading Museum gives an account of the impact of achieving IiV on their organisation and what advice they would give to fellow Heritage organisations.

Shelter Cymru is the most recent organisation in Wales to achieve the prestigious Investing in Volunteers Award, helping thousands of people every year who are struggling with bad housing or homelessness and campaign to prevent it in the first place.

	INVEST TIME	Make sure that you have enough time to dedicate to IiV. It is not a quick and easy process but it is worth spending the time to work through it properly. Rather than an expense, consider it an investment.
	ENGAGE ALL STAKEHOLDERS FROM THE START	Communication from the very beginning is crucial. Let everyone know what is happening and why. Make sure everyone, including senior management, is aware of the benefits of achieving IiV and why it is important to your organisation. Ensure volunteers are aware that they are not being tested but the organisation is. Keep staff fully informed about the process and make sure they are aware of their roles in it.
	SET UP A WORKING GROUP	Set up a small working group that includes staff, volunteers and trustees representing all levels in the organisation. Ensure that the group has clear objectives and timescales and treats IiV as an ongoing project. Where appropriate a steering group can help share the workload or at the very least provide feedback on any policies or processes the IiV lead has developed.
	CREATE AN ACTION PLAN	Plan, plan, plan! If possible build the award into work plans before you apply - that way you will already be going along the right lines. Don’t rush, try to do the work in manageable size chunks. Make an action plan with key deadlines and block time out in your diary weekly to allow enough time to complete these tasks. When setting deadlines, find out the IiV Quality Assurance Panel dates in advance and work backwards.
	KNOW THE IIV INDICATORS BACK TO FRONT	Read and understand all of the IiV criteria indicators and keep reading them throughout the process. Some organisations used the IiV indicators at a team meeting getting their staff to self-evaluate where they thought the organisation was against the standard. This introduced IiV to those who didn't know much about it and got everyone focused on what they wanted to achieve.
Find out more about the assessment process and its benefits on the IiV website. Feel free to contact the IiV Team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions or if you would like to get in touch with organisations that have achieved the Quality Standard.