Your thoughts on Volunteering or Volunteer Management!

Happy New Year to all who read this blog around the world. One of my many resolutions is to get to know more people globally that are involved in Volunteerism and Volunteer Management. I’d like to start that process by inviting you to write about your experience. Maybe you have never written before? Maybe you have an inspiring story to tell? Maybe you would like to kick start a debate? Maybe you want to share stories about volunteers in your organizations or a story about your volunteering? Maybe you want to share an inspiring poem you wrote?

Why not share your writing on a blog that has had close on 250,000 page views with the most popular blogs receiving between 25,000 to close on 29,000 reads?

I am happy to volunteer my time to help you review and edit or just hear your suggestions first and help you turn it into an inspiring blog post. Nothing will be published until you are entirely satisfied. It doesn’t matter what experience you have or if you’ve never written before. Because I believe that if it is written from the heart then the story will take care of itself! J

Please get in contact with me by emailing acim4me@live.com

And don’t forget to like my FB page on Volunteering

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Volunteering/1459337747677886?ref=hl 

Thanks for reading

DJ 

Follow me on Twitter: @thedjcronin

Why volunteer management requires specific skills

I came across some great writing on Volunteer management today thanks to a twitter prompt from Rob Jackson from Rob Jackson Consulting Ltd

Skills - Third Sector is an organisation based in the UK that helps to make sure that charities and social enterprises have the right people with the right skills to make a difference to people and their communities.
They believe that a thriving voluntary sector is crucial to building stronger communities and delivering good quality services.

Here’s some of what they say about Volunteer management in a position statement released on May 31st this year

“Skills – Third Sector champions the skills of volunteer management. From our research and experience we know that the nature of volunteering means that people who manage volunteers require specialist skills – skills that are distinct from those needed to manage paid staff. By skills we mean the knowledge, understanding and experience that someone needs to do their job well.”

I like this language on Volunteer management. They go on to say – “Managing volunteers is a skilled job that is different from managing paid staff. While the role has more in common with other management roles at a senior or strategic level, at the day to day level there are a number of important differences.”

They go on to list some of these and then talk about Evidence for specialist volunteer management skills

“Research on Valuing Volunteer Management Skills carried out by the Institute for Volunteering Research identified: “several differences between managing volunteers and staff including differences in terms of motivation, recruitment methods, attendance at meetings, taking holidays, boundaries between paid and volunteer roles and the need to deal with mental and physical decline as volunteers got older.”

The volunteer managers interviewed felt strongly that: “There was a need for volunteer management to be seen as a more clearly defined profession.”

Nodding your head? Are we not hearing this globally for some time now?


One of their conclusions states that “Not understanding the different skills needed to manage volunteers and how they differ from managing paid staff, can lead to poor quality services for the people who use the services and poor volunteering experiences for volunteers”

I felt that this was simply a well articulates position paper and something that should be adopted by professional associations for volunteer management firstly and secondly embraced by all bodies and associations involved in volunteerism.

A call for action as well as a wake up call.

At the very least please publish these types of articles and position papers on your websites.

To read the full article just click on this posts title.

On taking a risk

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.” – Andre Malaux

The volunteer recognition day is a huge day in my calendar year. It’s a ceremony and lunch that honors the contribution of volunteers. It’s an event packed with VIPs namely the Volunteers, Members of parliament, CEOs, invited dignitaries and so on and so forth.

“You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.” – TS Elliot

Each year I MC the event. As well as planning the program I love this aspect.

Each year I try and do something different. One year we had opera singers volunteering their time. Another year a wonderful school band. This year I was looking to do something a little different. The thought struck me that it would be good to invite one of the volunteers to MC the event. The volunteer I chose was 18, bright and cheery and had told us of her interest in Theatre where she had performed. It seemed a natural choice. The face of the future in many ways.

When I asked her she was extremely excited. And what she then asked me came as a surprise. “Can I sing?” she said beaming. She informed me she was getting singing lessons but had never sung on her own before in front of an audience.

Here was the risk.

But I told her go for it. In fact I told her that I had a feeling that her contribution would make it the best recognition event ever. No pressure! Me? – I simply pictured the best event ever subscribing to the mantra that “thoughts become things so think the good ones”.

“The two important things I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the first decision” – Robyn Davidson

And what happened? People are talking about the best Volunteer Recognition event ever!

That’s one example of risk taking that we can take. Whilst we never take risk with safety matters, hence our marriage to risk management, I wonder if we don’t take enough risks in our own personal and professional development, in our advocacy for volunteers and in speaking out on volunteer management.

Many years ago I first took a major risk by walking into a CEOs office stating that I felt that that the organisation could do a lot more to recognize volunteers and resource volunteer management.

But what exactly was the risk there. There were many. The risk of rejection. The risk of being reprimanded for not going through so called official channels. The risk that people would not get the fact that successful volunteer programs need effective volunteer coordination and management.

But the risk paid off.

“You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on.” – Paul Bradbury

How about the risk to try a new way of doing things? Or an innovative program. What holds us back from trying something new?
Do we play volunteer management safely? What about the risk of speaking up on behalf of your profession. The risk of challenging a status quo or a long held belief on volunteerism.

What about the risk of putting a viewpoint of yours down on paper and publically expressing yourself?

How about the risk of advocating for volunteers and not just coordinating them?

Or do we prefer it all to be safe, secure in doing it the way we always have done things and sailing on a calm water never rocking the boat?

Horses for courses of course.

‘Go out on a limb – that’s where the fruit is” – Jimmy Carter

Keeping an eye out for Volunteer management at the IAVE Conference (2)

Channelnewsasia.com reports

Mrs Tan Chee Koon, who is the Volunteer Chair of the 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference Organising Committee, said: "It is no longer enough to look narrowly at volunteer management issues from recruitment to retention.

"We need to focus on leadership issues, strategic partnerships and emerging trends that impact volunteerism, amongst others. Volunteers are a national asset, and they should be cherished, nourished and recognised for their contributions in changing society, and therefore changing the world."

Keeping an eye out for Volunteer Management at the IAVE Conference (1)

Mr Goh Chok Tong is a Senior Minister in Singapore. Mr Goh spoke at the opening plenary of the 21st International Association for Volunteer Effort World Volunteer Conference held at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore in front of an audience of about 1,000 people.

On volunteers in general, Mr Goh said that "continuously recruiting but not retaining volunteers is not a sustainable strategy".

He went on to say "Unfortunately, volunteer management is often neglected, and is considered secondary to serving clients. This is short-term thinking."

"We have to manage volunteers better so that they come back," Mr Goh said.

Well said Mr Goh! Long term thinking must incorporate effective and resourced volunteer management.

Keeping an Eye on Volunteer Management in 2011

Its 2011 and here is my first blog of the year. Happy New Year to those of you who’s New Year commences on January 1st.

For the Volunteer management sector I hope it’s a great one. I plan to keep an eye on happenings throughout the year and offer my own slant on things as well as engage in dialogue and debate about matters with people within the sector and with you the blog reader. Here’s some of the things I will be watching in no particular order

•Conferences: IAVE conference in Singapore this year – I will keep you up to date with what’s going on there

•New Zealand’s National conference on volunteering – it looks like a great line up of speakers and workshops, interesting topics and a good focus on leadership and volunteer management.

•The Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management will be held outside Australia for the first time ever. This year New Zealand will be hosting. No details yet realised by organizers. I hope to be there and report back, in fact live via daily blog

•It’s European Year of the Volunteer this year. Will be keeping in contact with European colleagues for stories on this. I am very interested to know if management of volunteers will be a topic

•Professional associations for Volunteer management worldwide. Will they make more noise in 2011? Will be keeping a close watch this year on PAVMW to see if they make any noise. When they do – I will tell you. If they don’t I will be telling them and you!

•IYV + 10 is being celebrated this year. Am I the only person who does not like this title at all? While I support the concept of having a year supporting volunteering I think we could be a bit more imaginative with titles.

•Volunteering Australia hosts another National conference to mark IYV+10.

•Dialogue moving our sector forward. More Volunteer Managers have entered the blogsphere writing. And I predict that even more will do so in 2011. I’ll be keeping an eye on the conversation and no doubt having my own say.

I’ll also be keeping an eye on how people are talking about our sector. I’ll be watching the Hot Topics to see what we are saying and wondering if we are rehashing the same topics or coming up with innovative ideas and or actions.

I am sure there are many ways of tracking progress in many fields. I’ve just invented my own novel way to track progress in the volunteer management sector. It’s called the Hot Topic litmus test.

Since April 1997 Susan J Ellis has given us a monthly Hot Topic on her website Energize. Down under Andy Fryar has done the same since July 2003 on his site Ozvpm

So I’ve quickly looked through almost 14 years of conversations and dialogue to conduct my Hot Topic Litmus test on certain topics. I will narrow it down to 2 or 3 topics for this blog for I could write a book otherwise!

Come with me as I go on a crazy travel adventure back and forwards through time. This is all done with a sprinkle of lightness and fun. We could land together on any random date or year and have a peak at the type of dialogue going on through the spectrum of these Hot Topics.

I’ve taken topics at random and again I must emphasize that they crop up at random. I don’t want to do anything as serious as year to year. Just compare it to being a time traveler in a time travelling machine that has gone a bit awry casting you into random years where you pick up snippets of conversation here and there.

Of course there is a serious side too

In 1997 Susan J Ellis asked if Volunteer management was really a profession. 13 years later the Association of Volunteer management in the UK was asking if Volunteer management was a profession in an article to Volunteering England’s magazine (February 2010 by Nikki Squelch)

In 2004 in another hot Topic titled “Chicken or Egg: Why Are Our Professional Associations Weak? “ Susan asked… “Which came first: weak professional associations or a weak profession?” and went on to state “This issue, which obviously starts at the local level on up (or perhaps on the national level on down), is integrally related with the recurring question of “is volunteer management a profession?”

In 2006 someone challenged a post I sent to Ozvpm by asking “Are we a sector really?” and continuing thus “I think there are a lot of assumptions made that VPMs have congruent agendas, ideologies, motivations and ambitions when clearly we don't”

In March 1998 Susan was asking Why don't we read and write more?
She went on to state “Some of you will head for the hills when you see this question! My reputation for nagging people to WRITE about what they do is probably unparalleled. But too many of us are so busy "doing" that we won't make time for reflection, new learning, and sharing with others. True professionals keep themselves informed. And career ladders are built by gaining recognition through published articles.”

And in 2002 Susan had this to say in her June HT “The two most frustrating aspects of how our field reacts to criticism are playing ostrich and generating backroom chatter. The ostriches simply don't pay attention. They are rarely aware of anything outside their own agencies or, if they read negative commentary, they never reply. More often, there is a good bit of discussion, but it's done as complaining to each other (on practitioner listservs, in the halls of conferences) rather than expressing opinions in forums where they might educate others. In general, volunteerism practitioners don't like to make waves. Isn't this ironic for a field that owes its history to pioneers and activists? A profession must stand for something and its members must stand for the profession.

Back to Ozvpm and 6 years ago Andy titled a Hot Topic “do we need a new title for volunteering?”

In it he made the intriguing point “Surely the more important part of any title is what a person actually does and not what their rate of pay is - after all, we don't use titles like 'paid CEO', 'employed gardener' or 'salaried bus driver' for staff who are on the payroll!”

Switch back to Energize and in 1998 a guest Hot Topic writer Sarah Jane Rehnborg, wrote a piece titled “The Limits of the "V" Word: Communicating What We Really Do”

Sarah opened her article by asking “Are we helping ourselves by continually trying to group everything that happens in our field under the label "volunteer"? We are selling ourselves short by not clarifying our language and by lumping all manners and forms of service within one broad and reasonably useless classification of "volunteer."”

Back to the present day now and the latest Hot Topic on Energize is The Word “Volunteer” Can Reveal, Conceal, or Confuse

“Confusing things is the fact that the English word volunteer is commonly used when something is voluntary but still recompensed financially. Thus the “All-Volunteer Army” in the U.S. means non-draft, not non-paid. Similarly:

•We are asked to “volunteer” to give up our overbooked airplane seat for travel benefits.
•Most medical experiment “volunteers” are paid for their time and expenses.

Again, most of us understand that this is not the kind of “volunteer” we mean in our field, but what’s the public perception of this label?”

And finally, for now, a responder to an Ozvpm Hot Topic wrote in 2009 “My frustrations over time has been resurrected by attending retreats and seminars, not eased. This frustration stems from the same issues being raised over and over, with no real outcomes.”

Well that’s an interesting snapshot of dialogue on the Volunteer management sector via the Hot Topic columns I mention.

I wonder if we should be asking if we are raising the same issues over and over again with no real outcomes.

Can you start my blog off for this year by telling me what you would see as some real outcomes for our sector in 2011 and how that might be achieved?

Volunteer Management: Be careful what you wish for!

Have been watching the Energize Hot Topic with interest this month. Link to the site is on the right hand side of this page. I always encourage readers of this blog to have a look at the Hot Topics both on Energize and the OzVPM sites. For Volunteer Management to move forward we need to engage with these hot topics. By engaging, I mean more than just reading. When I was President of AAVA some years back I used to constantly encourage the board to respond to Hot Topics. I believed then as I believe now that Professional Associations for Volunteer managers should be taking every opportunity to respond to issues of the day.

Anyway, back to the Energize Hot topic. In this months topic Susan J Ellis explores some of the issues of vocabulary and labelling, pointing out that how someone defines the core word of our field often has strong impact on some critical, practical matters.

It was in fact a couple of responses to this Hot Topic that got me in turn responding. I simply had to respond to the people who gave their opinion on what a “True Volunteer” was.

I have come across in the last 12 months some people within our sector talking about “True Volunteering” and “Pure Volunteering”. Some have a view that volunteering should be solely altruistic. Some say there should be absolutely no tangible benefit to the volunteer themselves. I once came across an organisation that wouldn’t take on job seekers as volunteers simply because they would up and go as soon as they got a job! Some people hold the view that if you volunteer for selfish reasons it not volunteering in its truest essence! Humbug!

I worry when people judge the motivation of people who volunteer. Ask their motivation by all means. Plan your program accordingly. Use people’s motivations for research and study but judge it? Please no!

If someone comes to your organisation and they want to volunteer their time simply to have volunteering on their resume or to utilise volunteering as a stepping stone into paid employment do you have a problem with this? I don’t.

Do you see a volunteer as “less true” if they aren’t volunteering for altruistic reasons? I don’t.

I believe that we get into risky territory when we begin to use the language of “True volunteer”. I know plenty of people volunteering who utilise the experience they get as a stepping stone into employment or further study. I see their motivation to be different to other people motivations and I certainly see them as true volunteers. I know people who volunteer to purely escape social isolation. Should we be ever suggesting that they are not ‘True Volunteers”? I know people who are volunteering to add to their resume. I know people who are volunteering for a myriad amount of reasons. To me they are all volunteers. And they are all doing volunteering that, at the end of the day, is of benefit to the community.

What dangerous road do we go down if we start judging peoples motivation for volunteering? Do we hold separate recognition events for our volunteers – one for the “True Volunteers” and the other for the…what do we call them then….the “false Volunteers?” Do we provide a special training course for Volunteer Managers to decipher the “trueness” of volunteer applicants?

This is serious. There is a lot of debate going on about the definitions of volunteering at the moment; on this site, on blogs, at the UN and at the level of peak bodies. I urge caution as we move forward. I ask who do we risk alienating when we come up with our concrete definitions. On what basis do we come up with definitions? Are they guided by tradition, personal viewpoints, religion or morals? Whose?

What about volunteers who are excluded because of concrete definitions. Currently the peak body for volunteering in Australia states that volunteering only exists in the Not for Profit sector. They state this as though it is a fact. It is not. Hundreds if not thousands of people volunteer for private nursing homes and hospitals for example. If ones concrete statements are philosophical beliefs then name them as such. Don’t mistake or confuse them with facts.

There are many people out there in our communities doing work that benefits the communities. They see themselves as volunteers. We have no right, absolutely none, to judge their motivation… period!

So let’s be more careful as we move to define something that is so fluid and open. Let’s be careful what we wish for lest we alienate volunteers in our communities.

Why Volunteer Management must be inspiring!

"Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe."
– Winston Churchill

Our capacity as Volunteer Managers to inspire is enormous. Like other facets of volunteer management that we ourselves seem to not recognise, inspiring people is one of the strongest traits I believe in effective and progressive Volunteer Management.

To look at this in real simplistic terms we first look at our programs and teams.

Sometimes the simplest yet amazing fact passes us by. We are people who manage and lead and coordinate people who are in our team for various reasons and motivations. They are not paid. Therefore to retain these people there must be a number of factors:

• The cause
• The motivation
• The leader

Three equally valid reasons for volunteer retention in my view. I know some can exist without the other. People volunteer for organisations and couldn’t give a hoot about the cause for the organisation because their motivation is based on some other factors. I know people who continue to volunteer for organisations even though their view of the volunteer management style is somewhat negative yet the cause of the organization sustains them. And perhaps there are those who are simply retained because they arrive at some place of satisfaction or self worth due to Volunteer management.

So taking the above paragraph aside for just a moment I want us to contemplate on the role of the inspiring Volunteer manager in retaining volunteers, in having an impact on the organisation they work for and having an impact on the field of volunteerism themselves. For this is the potential power of Volunteer Management.

Volunteer management is powerful. Not potentially so. It is.

Our profession within volunteerism is akin to a box of matches. It only takes a few strikes to light it up. Think IVMD. Think retreats for Volunteer Management. Think effective associations for Volunteer Managers. Think individual Volunteer Managers networking. Think people in our profession who not only write on our issues through blogs and articles but those who respond and engage in dialogue.

We fail too often to see the inspiring quality of our field. Do we miss the tree for the forest? Isn’t volunteering powerful? Isn’t volunteering inspiring?…..just think of the superlatives you can link to the word “volunteering”

Then think of the capacity for effective Volunteer Management to inspire!

Where am I heading ?. I am heading towards such simple formulas for Volunteer Management that I wonder why its existence isn’t so prevalent and it’s this.

Effective Volunteer Management = Effective volunteer programs

Inspiring volunteer leadership = inspiring volunteering stories

An organisations view of and value in effective Volunteer Management is directly proportional to its view of and value in its volunteers!

The last one is a vital formula for our sector!

The word “effective” is there for a reason. Poor Volunteer Management can effectively ruin volunteerism within an organisation.

I will come back to “effective” Volunteer Management another day. And what I think that might mean.

Volunteering is inspiring. It is powerful. It is dynamic. It is simply awesome. No ifs and no buts. If organisations are privileged to have volunteers then they must realise this too!

It is your responsibility however to inspire and educate up on Volunteer Management within your own organisation.

How are you doing this? Let us know. How do you inspire others as a leader?

"Leadership is not magnetic personality, that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people", that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."

- Peter F. Drucker

A final comment on International Volunteer Managers Day 2010 via an open letter to many.

Dear IVMD committee

Thank you for your tireless work year in and year out in your efforts to have the profession of Volunteer Management recognised and understood. All of you, volunteers, deserve the respect and praise that is rightly yours. Don’t give up on your cause because there are many people behind you. While I may be vocal in my support please understand that some may not have the confidence or indeed time to express their support.

Dear people who are ideologically opposed to the day and have publically engaged in the debate while still demonstrating their support for Volunteer Management

Thank you for your support of Volunteer Management. Thank you for engaging in healthy debate and I look forward to more discussion with you in 2011!

Dear Media

Once again you were totally absent! However I acknowledge that the Volunteer Management sector and the Volunteerism sector are to blame for this. We need to work harder collectively to spread the message

Dear Facebook

Credit must go to you for allowing a forum to spread this global message

Dear Volunteering Australia

You are the peak body for volunteering in my country. You do some great work. Yet the perception I and others have is that you totally “dissed” this day. As a volunteer Manager who is passionate about my job and volunteering, I was hurt by this. If my perception is wrong please correct me. But I simply appeal to you to drop the politics and embrace the day for the good of unity in volunteerism. One day VA will celebrate the day. Why not now? Please don’t give me material for another blog next year!

Dear AAVA

My professional association for volunteer management in Australia. A mere mention of IVMD on your website doesn’t cut it. Please see my “Dear Volunteering Australia “ comment above and please be more vocal for my profession! Perhaps you are making strides to support our sector but we need to know this. We need to see some evidence of this. Please be louder in championing our cause AAVA.

Dear Senator Ursula Stephens

Thank you for moving a motion in support of our sector in the Australian senate!

Dear Volunteering Calgary

Your YouTube video inspired Volunteer Managers globally!

Dear Fingal Volunteer Centre

Your support for Volunteer Management stands out internationally! You inspire me!

Dear e-volunteerism

Thank you for your offer to Volunteer Managers globally with free access to your site for a period! A tangible recognition award for VMs globally! Great vision!

Dear state peak bodies for volunteering

Thank you to the state peak bodies in Australia who organized events for Volunteer Managers in their states. You know who you are! The ones who didn’t bother? We hope you try harder next year. You know who you are!

Dear everybody else who supported the day globally!

Thank you from a Volunteer Manager!

And finally

Dear Volunteer Managers, Coordinators, :eaders Administrators etc. who celebrated the day..

Hope it was fun! Hope you felt valued! Hope you continue with your brilliant profession and hope you continue to spread the IVMD word!

One day IVMD will be globally recognised for what it is…

Long live volunteerism and those who are leaders and managers and coordinators within the field!

Thank you IVM Day (with apologies to Abba)

Today is special, in fact it’s a little bit more
You could celebrate, you've probably done it before
For you have a talent, a wonderful thing
The value to communities you bring
Of this day we are proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you IVM Day, the tune your singing
Thanks for all the joy your bringing
Where were we without it, I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me

Think recognition and IVM Day walks the walk
It uses “our sectors important” kind of talk
And I’m often thankful that it came to be
For our jobs real importance is plain to see
I’m glad the day began
And, whenever it was, I'm a fan

So I say
Thank you IVM Day, the tune your singing
Thanks for all the joy your bringing
Where were we without it, I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me

We’ve been so lucky, It is the day with plenty cheer
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!

So I say
Thank you IVM Day, the tune your singing
Thanks for all the joy your bringing
Where were we without it, I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me

Thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me...

Reflection on Blog in the lead up to International Volunteer Managers Day

In March of this year I set up this blog. In the week that brings us International Volunteer Managers Day I want to reflect on the blog itself.

I truly wanted to have a forum where I could have a say about the profession that I love. I hoped that some people might come here and have a read of my views and perhaps engage in some dialogue about Volunteer management.

Being new to blogging I had no idea what to expect. I am a volunteer manager at the coalface and enjoy working every day with a great team of volunteers. I also happen to be privileged to work with and have as colleagues some great volunteer coordinators and managers who share my vision for the sector.

At some point yesterday the 3,000th unique visitor visited this site.

Perhaps this is small considering what other blog sites attract in a day not to mind 7 months.

But for a humble blogger like myself I am astounded. Truly.

Thank you for visiting this blog. At the end of the day I want to get more people engaged with the issues and challenges we face in volunteerism.

Now to get more people responding and answering polls!

However – by being here in the first place you are engaging! Thank you for sharing the journey with me.

Australian National Conference on Volunteering

Didn’t go this year. Various reasons. Thought it was costly and again felt that it was lacking a focus on volunteer management. Still I kept updated with some great updates from Pro Bono Australia who did a good job of covering the event. They should be invited to cover the next Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management.

Some points I found interesting

Bernard salt told the conference that as baby boomers approach retirement age, they will not cease activities and will turn to volunteering. He said Not for Profit and other volunteer-involving organisations will need to package and market to this generation and their expectations.

Nothing new there for Volunteer management. We’ve been saying that for years!

How about Elaine Bradley from Ireland and what she said? CEO of Volunteering Ireland Elaine Bradley said that volunteer peak bodies need to move away from ideas of ownership of volunteering and move towards a decentralisation of volunteering infrastructure.

Wow – wonder what Volunteering Australia and the state peak bodies thought of that!

No one owns volunteering right?

IVMD and Volunteer management...WHO CARES?

With International Volunteer Managers Day quickly approaching I am endeavoring to work at taking the pulse of Volunteer Managers!

On my blog currently I have two pertinent questions:

Does your “peak body” on volunteering in your country support Volunteer Management? And what are your thoughts on International Volunteer Managers Day?

Important questions that take only a few clicks of your mouse.

Add your voice because your voice will matter in shaping our future direction!

Please Don't Be Silent On Volunteer Management

In just under a month International Volunteer Managers Day will be celebrated on November 5th.

I have a poll on the day on my blog and I encourage everyone to have a say. I know how many visitors I have to my blog site and I know that it is a very small minority of them who vote on polls or write comments.

But IVMD is important for my sector I believe.

I say this as a Volunteer Manager.

It is not a day about self congratulation (though that is ok too)
It is a day that can be utilized as a vehicle for promoting our sector
It is a day that can be utilized for getting media attention (not that this has happened yet but I remain ever optimistic!)

And to me, as a Volunteer Manager, it acknowledges a profession that I am serious about. It speaks of a profession that is important in today’s society. It defies the old adage of “I’m just a volunteer manager” and thus strengthens the value in volunteering too.

Lastly but not leastly! There are some individuals who are volunteering their time to ensure IVMD is taken seriously. They need a little more respect though they will give out to me for saying so. They are people who care about volunteer management and work hard behind the scenes to ensure that we as a sector have a voice.

Support IVMD

Let’s get some more people, voting on my blog.

I am aware that there are some who do not support IVMD within our sector. I respect their point of view especially when they express that view in a public forum. I am disappointed by some, especially peak bodies who simply ignore the day.

I conclude with a wonderful quote from Ruth McKenzie, the CEO of Volunteer Canada

"As the leader on volunteerism in Canada, Volunteer Canada celebrates the profound impact volunteer managers have on the voluntary sector. Without their tireless work many of our essential community services would cease to function" states President and CEO Ruth MacKenzie, "Volunteer managers have a unique place in our society.

They are the hand that guides volunteers to support our communities, influence change and take action across our country. They motivate individuals to volunteer, create opportunities and provide support and nurturing to ensure that each volunteer has a positive experience. As volunteer managers make room for both their organizations and their volunteers to take the stage, on November 5th we have the opportunity to finally shine the spotlight on their impact.”

Wikiwherearewe?

As most of you are aware Wikipedia is a free web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 16 million articles (over 3.4 million in English) have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world
According to its own entry on Wikipedia – “Although the policies of Wikipedia strongly espouse verifiability and a neutral point of view, critics of Wikipedia accuse it of systemic bias and inconsistencies (including undue weight given to popular culture)”

I can’t help but like Wikipedia. I do question content sometimes but on the whole I believe a large proportion of it to be an honest and genuine contribution.

So given that this site is written collaboratively by volunteers around the world it intrigues me that there is not one article or entry on Volunteer Management.

My piece here in relation to Wikipedia goes to the invisibility of our sector outside the echo chambers I talk about. Well may we talk about progress in Volunteer Management but lacking an entry in wikipedia is indicative of a lack of awareness on our field.

Sure there are critics of Wikipedia. But Its content and methodology are not in question here.

Lets look at the cultural importance of Wikipedia (again from the site and their statements are referenced thoroughly)

“According to Alexa and comScore, Wikipedia is among the ten most visited websites worldwide.[ Of the top ten, Wikipedia is the only non-profit website. The growth of Wikipedia has been fueled by its dominant position in Google search results; about 50% of search engine traffic to Wikipedia comes from Google, a good portion of which is related to academic research. In April 2007 the Pew Internet and American Life project found that one third of US Internet users consulted Wikipedia. In October 2006, the site was estimated to have a hypothetical market value of $580 million if it ran advertisements.”

So why no entry on “Volunteer Management”?

While coming to the conclusion that no such entry existed I was intrigued by the entry’s on matters pertaining to volunteering

Let’s take a few examples and take samples see what they are saying:

Voluntary sector

“There are considerable problems with terminology, however. Although the voluntary, community and not-for-personal profit sectors are frequently taken to comprise the "Third Sector" each of these sectors or sub-sectors have quite different characteristics. The community sector is assumed to comprise volunteers (unpaid) whilst the voluntary sector are considered (confusingly) to employ staff working for a social or community purpose. In addition however, the not-for-personal-profit sector is also considered to include social firms”


Wow!

Let me pick at random a comment from the discussion page:

“There is no standard internationally recognised and agreed definition of voluntary sector, voluntary organisation, community group, third sector, social enterprise, non profit organisation, NGO etc which provides neat boundaries between each one of these and the others. We could debate the boundaries between one and another ad infinitum.”

And this
Critics

in the 1960s, Ivan Illich offered an analysis of the role of American volunteers in Mexico in his speech entitled, "To Hell With Good Intentions". His concerns, along with critics such as Paulo Freire and Edward Said, revolve around the notion of altruism as an extension of Christian missionary ideology and the sense of responsibility/obligation driving the concept of noblesse oblige, first developed by the French aristocracy as a moral duty derived from their wealth. Simply stated, these both propose the extension of power and authority over indigenous cultures around the world.

Recent critiques of volunteering come from Westmier and Kahn (1996) and bell hooks (née Gloria Watkins) (2004).
The field of medical tourism (referring to volunteers traveling overseas to deliver care) has recently attracted negative criticism vis-a-vis the alternative notion of sustainable capacities (working in the context of long-term, locally-run but foreign-supported infrastructures). A preponderance of this criticism has appeared largely in the scientific and peer-reviewed literature. Recently, media outlets with more general readerships have published such criticisms, as well.

And in the discussion forum again

“The term "volunteer" is a hotly contested term, and the article should say so (with an appropriate citation). Go to any online discussion group of volunteer managers and you will see debates about who is and isn't a volunteer. Is someone a volunteer because of their motivation or because they aren't paid? There is no agreement on this question, and the article should say so.


To the entry on Virtual volunteering:

“Virtual volunteering has been adopted by at least a few thousand nonprofit thousand organizations and initiatives.[10] There is no organization currently tracking best practices in online volunteering in the USA or worldwide, how many people are engaged in online volunteering, or how many organizations are involving online volunteers, and studies regarding volunteering, such as reports on volunteering trends in the USA, rarely include information about online volunteering (for instance, a search of the term virtual volunteering on the Corporation for National Service's "Volunteering in America" yields no results”

All well and good but more interesting when you hit the discussion page:

“Wikipedia may be the largest instance of virtual volunteering, and Wikipedia pages frequently mention that their contributors are volunteers, yet no Wikipedia articles that mention their volunteers link to this article. Why? I'd love to create the links myself, but all Wikipedia-related pages are locked.” "

And this:

“I've posted to all the various online discussion groups for both volunteer managers and those who study volunteerism, encouraging them to edit this page and provide citations. I did this both in 2008 and 2009. Maybe I'll try again in 2010.” I wonder how that is going?

The point I make here is that there is some discussion on volunteering on sites such as Wikipedia.

But

1. Why no entry on volunteer management?
2. And why little contribution from the volunteer management sector on what is being posted on volunteering?



“well why don’t you post an entry yourself” I can hear one say!!

Perhaps I will. But it should be an aim of a professional association of volunteer management though don’t you think? It could be and should be a tangible outcome for them?


Such is our sector though that if anyone posts an entry under “Volunteer Manager” they will possibly be a big debate amongst ourselves again on semantics.

The author will get the whole

• How dare you call it volunteer management where the people are paid!
• The fights over definitions
• Etc.


Others may say that other management positions are not mentioned on Wikipedia

Wrong!

Here are some examples:
Human Resource Management
An interesting Wikipedia article that talks about
• 1 Features
• 2 Academic theory
• 3 Business practice
• 3.1 HRM strategy
• 4 Careers and education
• 5 Professional organizations
• 6 Functions
• 7 See also
• 8 References

Nursing Management:

Nursing management is performing leadership functions of governance and decision-making within organizations employing nurses. It includes processes common to all management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. A good nurse manager should be open to anything in the environment and be sensitive to the needs of the staff under her/his management.
And there are others such as

Store manager
Marketing Manager
And other management groups that are valued and recognised


And here we are. Fighting the silly war of semantics.


And nobody is writing on volunteer management on Wikipedia!

More on "An opportunity for the Voice of Volunteer Management to be heard"

I’ve posted on "service jam" in my article "An opportunity for the Voice of Volunteer Management to be heard"

The link to the site is unclear so I have now added the link to "sites or links worth the click" on the sidebar on the right to this page!

Join up quickly! Before the forum fills up. And if it does, don’t worry - I know there are volunteer managers and people who care about volunteer management already there who will represent our voice!

An opportunity for the Voice of Volunteer Management to be heard

(with thanks to Jayne Cravens for the heads up!)


This blogger often laments that we take little action to advance our sector. My articles are mostly about advocating for the Volunteer management sector…encouraging those of usn who are willing and able to stand up and help advance our sector because we know that Volunteer managerment is a vital cog in the wheel of community and society.

And every now and then an opportunity presents itself where we can take simple measures to voice our opinion as a field. Sometime we do not take that opportunity. People challenge me on this blog to offer solutions rather than talk of our ills. I have presented many…but here is another

Many voices work. It’s a simple philosophy and tactic used to great effect by groups such as Amnesty International.

Some great things happen in the volunteerism and service world. Sometimes Volunteer Management is simply forgotten in the equation of that. It exists…but is simply forgotten. Well meaning corporate engage this world and sometimes forget that there is an established field in volunteer Management for example..On a global scale….albeit a small one..And still fledgling and unsure of itself but existent never the less.

Rather than whine it is our duty to educate them. Yes you..the Volunteer manager..yes you the person associated with volunteer management whether you are a Volunteer, CEO in the volunteerism sector on a national peak body, an MP with responsibility for volunteerism, a state body for volunteering, a trainer, consultant, blogger, or a person simply interested in the filed of volunteer management because you are intelligent enough to know that it matters!

So here’s an opportunity

I have already signed on

Will you join me?

Will you be willing to be a part of the Volunteer management voice?

It will only take a few of us

Say a few dozen globally

Imagine though…50 volunteer managers involved globally

Wouldn’t they then sit up and take notice

That little number?

We have more power than we think

When we collaborate

Read on and join me

Join us October 10th – 12th, 2010, for an important dialogue on "Service as a Solution."
The Service Jam is an online event that will engage non-profit organizations, corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies in a discussion on how social innovation can help solve our world’s largest problems.
By engaging prominent leaders, professionals, and passionate individuals, the Jam aims to generate breakthrough ideas that will redefine service and social innovation. Through IBM’s Jam technology, participants can collaborate virtually and have the flexibility to log into the Jam from anywhere in the world at anytime most convenient to them during the three day event.

Featuring special guests:
George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the U.S.
Ray Chambers, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria
Harris Wofford, U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania
Michael Nutter, Mayor, City of Philadelphia
Jean Case, CEO, The Case Foundation
Sam Palmisano, President and CEO, IBM
Marc-Philippe Daubresse, Minister for Youth and Solidarities, France
During the Jam, invited Hosts—distinguished leaders in the social sector—will be leading specific discussion forums, as well as conversing live with participants.There will be 8 discussion forums occurring at the same time. Participants are encouraged to join any forum of their choice at any time during the event. Check out the Discussion Forums and Hosts below!
• Quantum Leaps in Service
Groundbreaking innovations fueling the service movement
John Bridgeland, President & CEO
Civic Enterprises
Stan Litow, Vice President
Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM
Steve Gunderson, President & CEO
Council on Foundations

• The Digital Revolution in Service
Transforming the service sector through technology
Bruno Di Leo, General Manager
IBM Growth Markets
Michael Brown, CEO & Co-Founder
City Year

• Empowering the Individual
Personalizing civic engagement for the individual
Gloria Rubio-Cortes, President
National Civic League
Michelle Nunn, CEO
Points of Light (POL) & Co-Founder, Hands On Network

• Increasing Value & Impact of Service
Maximizing resources within an organization
Deirdre White, President & CEO
CDC Development Solutions
Diana Aviv, President & CEO
Independent Sector
• Scaling Impact
Replicating effective solutions to broaden social impact
Alan Khazei, CEO & Founder
Be The Change
Marcia Ito, M.D., PhD ,
State Technology Education Center Paula Souza, Brazil

• Measuring Social Impact
Maximizing and sustaining change through metrics
Helene Gayle, President & CEO
CARE USA
Patrick Corvington, CEO
Corporation for National & Community Service

• Progress through Collaboration
Building cross-sector partnerships critical to success
Jane Jamieson, Vice President
Digital Opportunity Trust, Turkey
Sidney E. Goodfriend, Chairman and Founder
American Corporate Partners

• Global Challenges, Local Action
Customizing solutions to solve world issues
Ariel Kestens, Head of Support Services
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Chile
Brian A. Gallagher, President & CEO
United Way Worldwide
James Anderson,
Cities of Service

Following the Jam, IBM in collaboration with key partners will produce a white paper summarizing key findings and highlighting creative ideas to share with participants. This document will reveal key trends in social innovation and will serve as a pragmatic guide to help organizations innovate, design and improve service programs.
Join service leaders from around the globe October 10-12 at 10:00 am US Eastern Standard Time, as we discuss the current and future role of Service as a Solution. If you have any questions, please contact your IBM Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs Representative or email ibmjam@us.ibm.com. To see Service Jam start and end times in various parts of the world, please visit the registration page



Ps

Lets make a special guest from the world of Volunteer Management!!!!!!!

Its raining Men (not) in Volunteer Management

I recently stumbled across an interesting blog in the US musing about the fact that 70-75% of nonprofit employees are women and wondering where all the men were.

I have been in the Volunteer management field for 13 years and have had some similar thoughts myself when it comes to the sector of Volunteer Management.

I happened to fall into Volunteer Management and instantly loved the role and have had 13 wonderful years in this sector. But I have to admit that from an early stage I did wonder why there weren’t more men in our field. It was very obvious to me, from an early stage, through attendances at network meetings, conferences and training workshops that I was very much in a small minority group. Mind you, there have been moments of good humour too. At the last Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management I attended I joined a table of 11 ladies for the retreat dinner. During our conversation I posed the question “where are all the men in our sector?” There was a brief pause until someone replied “Where are all the good looking men in our sector?” Ahem!

On a more serious note though when I pose some questions to myself about why this imbalance is the case in our sector I am challenged to reconsider my question given the fact that I imagine women would pose similar questions about career choices?

Why would I enter this sector when the pay is poor? (Whether perception of fact!)

Is there job security?

Is there opportunity for professional development?

Is there opportunity for advancement and promotion?

I’m no psychologist but does it all come down to motivation? Are men and women motivated by different things in different ways? Someone once told me that they believe that there were more women in the sector because “women were more naturally caring”. Huh? I am not too sure I buy that.

Volunteer Management for example is a dynamic profession in my view. It is challenging, rewarding, it effects change and it has the potential to make a significant impact on our society. It demands leaders, critical thinkers, intelligence, imagination, motivators and people who inspire and yes ...care!

A fascinating and inspiring career that should appeal to both sexes!

My 100th Post on Volunteer Management!

I’ve realised that this is post number 100. Thank you for visiting this site and I do hope you have read some of those posts. Thank you to people who are responding too. It is wonderful to see your viewpoint.

So how do I mark my 100th post. I thought about that and thought I would post a list! A top 100 wish list for my 100th post? Challenging but worth it. Many of the sentiments here on this list are expressed throughout my postings. So the list gives you the flavour of what my blog is all about. Here’s to the next 100! :-)

Here is my top 100 wish list for volunteer management sector

1.That the Australian, Courier Mail, Sydney Morning Herald or whatever main newspaper in your state our country does a profile on volunteer management for IVMD 2010
2.That other players in volunteerism recognise the important cog that Volunteer management is in volunteerism
3.That the other players demonstrate the above by highlighting the role of volunteer manager and publically supporting IVMD
4.Pay on parity with other management roles in organisations
5.That organisations utilising volunteers resource Volunteer Management
6.That national associations for volunteer management get more members
7.That the above associations work hard, take leadership seriously and therefore earn followers
8.That volunteer management is coopted into a degree/diploma
9.The growth of a global forum of volunteer managers working together for the betterment of our sector
10.That we share our success stories more and support each other more

11.That we collaborate on leadership with other leaders form other sectors
12.That we escape our echo chambers
13.That we promote volunteering
14.That we act as advocates as well as leaders for volunteers
15.That we educate our societies on volunteering
16.That as pure professionals we encourage volunteering in our communities
17.That we volunteer to act as mentors for those new to the profession
18.That as community leaders we speak up when we see injustice
19.That we work together to lobby government on matters pertaining to volunteering
20.That we realise that only we alone, as the true voice of volunteer management can do the above

21.That International Volunteer Management Day is more widely supported within our own sector
22.That International Volunteers Day is supported
23.That we communicate better with our state and national bodies on volunteering
24.That we collaborate better with our state and national bodies on volunteering
25.That we continue to learn
26.That we remain open minded
27.That we spot the emerging trends in Volunteer Management
28.That we acknowledge those who advance Volunteer Management
29.That we prepare the ground for volunteer managers of the future
30.That by doing so our youth will some day aspire to a career in volunteer management

31.That we remain connected to the spirit of volunteering and not get lost in bureaucracy
32.That we respect those who don’t believe in our cause
33.That we respect those who have not the desire nor ability to embrace change
34.That our sector is consulted by other sectors on leadership
35.That our sector is always consulted by Government for our perspective anytime there is new policy on volunteerism
36.That there is an international conference on Volunteer Management
37.That there is a national conference on Volunteer Management
38.That more Volunteer managers write articles on their experiences and ideas on my blog and on places such as Ozvpm and e - volunteerism
39.That we manage our time better
40.That we learn to stop saying yes top everything and everyone

41.That we never lose sight of the fact that volunteerism sustains us
42.That we realise that we are an important and dynamic profession
43.That we appreciate that there are volunteer managers out there who get no coverage, who seek no attention but are quiet achievers accomplishing remarkable things in our community
44.That a volunteer management role is written into a hospital TV drama! 45.That we keep a sense of humour
46.That we agree to disagree respectfully
47.That we become pioneers for our sector future
48.That we help build a better world – truly
49.That we inspire people
50.That we in turn remain always inspired by the act of volunteering

51.That we form or are involved in Volunteer Management Networks wherever we live
52.That we embrace social networking
53.That we feel secure in our roles
54.That we feel recognised in our roles
55.That we are happy in our roles
56.That we support diversity in volunteering
57.That we never allow a Hot Topic article on Ozvpm or Energize go unanswered
58.That we value the work that individuals have done for our sector over the years
59.That we participate in the newsgroups – Ozvpm, UKvpm, Cybervpm

60.That we value those who have set up these groups and continue to support them
61.That we become more do y and less hui (thanks Claire)
62.That we develop potential leaders and support them
63.That we avert the Tall Poppy Syndrome
64.That we find more advocates for volunteer management and only while and when we need them
65.That a survey on volunteer management in 2015 years time reveals that the sector is well trained, resourced and valued!
66.That more within our sector be willing to take on new ideas and be willing to change
67.That as Volunteer Managers we really educate people of influence about our roles – Our managers, Our Boards, Our CEOs, Our MPs, Senators, Our Peak bodies on Volunteering, Other Management and leadership sectors.
68. To really do this. To stop just talking this.
69.Rather than perpetuate a victimhood state of affairs that we more seriously analyse our current invisibility in a real and mature fashion.
70. To realise that volunteers have a right to be utilised as efficiently as possible.

71.To question if that is possible without professional/highly skilled volunteer managers?
72.To stop needing permission to feel good and proud about what we do (thanks Andy!)
73.That we realise that volunteering is so much more dynamic than the traditional paradigm normally portrayed.
74.That we embrace debate
75.That we dare to take a leadership role encompassing knowledge of best practice in the field.
76.That we believe in the value of looking at ourselves and attaining self-esteem (Thanks Stefan)
77. That we realise that the more we look into good leadership practice the more we discover the abundance of it amongst our field.
78.That we develop a Volunteer Management Champion award ( recognising organisations that recognise the importance of volunteer management)
79.The realisation that our contribution to management anywhere will be the sharing of how we lead.

80.That we stop the debates and arguments on what we should be called/titled
81.That we judge how an organisation sees its volunteers by how it sees its volunteer manager!
82.That we see the high turnover end in the sector
83.That we attend international retreats for Advanced Volunteer management
84.That we explore the possibility that the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers (Thanks Daniel)
85.That we collaborate and write a book on why we are in volunteer management, our backgrounds and how we were drawn to this sector (Thanks Wendy)
86.That we never ever hear again “I look after the Vollies” 
87.To see our sense of powerlessness as illusory and to begin believing that volunteer managers have an incredible amount of power but are hesitating to wield it. (Thanks Liz)
88.That we realise that we have an important role to play in “driving” the volunteerism agenda
89.That we understand that we lead people who have the capacity to change a persons life, to save a persons life or to bring renewed hope to a community

90.That we always find the time for professional development
91.That one understand that the first responsibility one has is to take care of ones self because one will be a better volunteer manager if one does
92. That we embrace the lightness and joy of volunteering
93.That we laugh more
94.That we run workshops at High school career development day
95.That we lecture of volunteer management at universities
96.That the day will come when more leaders in other sectors will want to work in ours!
97.That when encounter challenges people will get used of saying “Now what would a volunteer manager do”?
98. That we have a completely different dialogue in 10 years time

99. That every single day we physically do something about our dreams

100. And last, but not least that we Saunter! :-)


Phew!

© DJ Cronin 2010
Brisbane Australia

Another perspective to challenge Volunteer Management

Sean Cobley is Chair of the Association of Volunteer Managers in the UK. Hopefully a visitor to this site on occasion! :-) Hi Sean if you are there! I sense that Sean in his role would be checking out pretty much any social media that is mentioning Volunteer Management. In the UK there is a wonderful online forum on volunteer management called UKVPM. UKVPMs is a lively, friendly and participative networking and communication resource for all Volunteer Programme Managers working in the United Kingdom. UKVPMs mission is to increase the scope, scale and quality of both voluntary activity and the management of volunteers.UKVPMs seeks to achieve this by bringing Volunteer Programme Managers together in a virtual community to develop their skills and knowledge for the purpose of taking action towards our common goals

In Australia we have a similar forum called Ozvpm and in the US there is a similar one called Cybervpm. I’ve blogged about them before and on how I believe every volunteer manager internationally should be subscribers. Currently there is a bit of a debate on the UKVPM site about RockCorps. The debate goes to the heart about volunteering and incentives for same. I won’t go into the details of the debate here. However I came across a recent post by Sean Cobley that I feel merits a wider audience.

I contacted Sean and he granted me permission to repost his opinion here. Although UK centric I do believe Seans musings post some timely challenges for our sector. And yet again I state that no matter where we are our volunteer management topics, issues, trends and debates resonate globally. Enough from me – here is Sean’s post.Thanks Sean!


On many levels it seems to me that our fledgling profession is in such a
mess. More is being asked and expected of us from pretty much all sides
(including our own) and yet it seems we do not have the support we need
to meet these expectations. The only people who are going find that
support is us: Volunteer Managers.



Volunteer Managers have been around for quite a while now but as a
profession we are in our infancy. To resolve the problems that not just
volunteer managers but all those involved in volunteering (volunteers,
VIOs etc) face will require a cultural shift in the sectors that involve
volunteers. The only way I believe that that cultural shift will come
about is if volunteer managers take the lead on developing our
profession. At the moment, collectively I don't believe we are.



It took CIPD around 15 years to get to the level it is now. HR has
developed from a profession which simply ensured that companies stayed
on the right side of employment law to a profession where the main aim
is to develop the potential of staff. Our vision at AVM is to create
such a profession for volunteer managers. We can't however do it alone.
I'm not just talking about people joining us and paying a membership fee
(though it would be very helpful!), registering on our website, reading
a blog entry or silently following a debate. We need your voice and we
need your support. As Rob mentioned we need you to lobby us but we also
need you to actively help us develop our profession and campaign on the
issues that affect us.



I say that our profession is in a mess, but I question, do we actually
have a profession at the moment? What is the career path of a volunteer
manager? What's the difference between an Assistant, a Co-ordinator, a
Manager or a Head of Volunteering? What sort of experience do you need
and where should they sit in an organisation? Is volunteer management
different in a small local organisation to that of a large national one?
What qualifications do you need and what is the impact of qualifications
on our profession? There are NVQs, CIPDs, Nation Occupational Standard
and other courses out there, but are they fit for purpose?



I also question whether we actually understand volunteering anymore.
(Maybe we never did!) By we, I include volunteer managers VIOs,
volunteers and politicians! In the 12 years I've been involved in
volunteer management, volunteering has changed so much. I've found it
always to be a balancing act between (primarily) the needs of the
organisation and (secondary) the needs of the volunteer. Where there is
a third party with ulterior motives (e.g. DWP 'using' volunteering to
help people back into work) it's hard still.



I'm personally not a great fan of financially incentivised volunteering,
but that doesn't make it wrong (legal issues aside) and it doesn't take
away my respect for what RockCorps are doing. I'm a 40 something grumpy
old man, not an 18 year old and if I'm honest and I was 18 I'd probably
volunteer for a concert ticket! As Rob (I think) mentioned at some level
volunteering is incentivised, and is this necessarily a bad thing? Some
people don't consider student work experience or internships as
volunteering. I'm a romantic at heart and volunteering for me is where
the motivation comes from the heart. A student who wants to do their 2
week work placement or internship with a cancer charity because their
mum had cancer is much a volunteer to me. I've involved volunteers in
the 'traditional' way of involving volunteers whose primary motive is to
gain practical experience in finance to get a job and don't really care
about the aims and mission of the charity. Was that wrong of me?



We exist in a multi-dimensional universe. In many ways I think
volunteer management is more complex than paid staff management but also
I think there's simplicity about it too. It's down to us to bring an
order to our world and my hope is that AVM can play a big role in doing
that. Please come, join and support us and help us develop our
profession.