Big news for Volunteering Sector in Australia!

From Voluntering Australias Website

http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/About-Us/-Board-/Volunteering-Australia-Board-Communiqu-May-2012.asp

Volunteering Australia Board Communique - May 2012
Staff changes at Volunteering Australia.
The Board of Volunteering Australia met in Melbourne last week to plan the transition arrangements following the recent decision to re-locate the administrative headquarters for the organisation from Melbourne to Canberra, ACT.
The transition to Canberra will allow to VA to work more closely with the Australian Government as we jointly introduce initiatives to support the recently released National Volunteering Strategy. The strategy has re-affirmed the importance of having a strong national body to represent the interests of volunteers and volunteer involving organisations at a time of significant change in the sector.
The transition will commence with the closure of the Melbourne office on Friday 29th June. Unfortunately this also means that all current staff and volunteers of Volunteering Australia will be leaving the organisation at the end of June. The commitment of this group of individuals will be missed at VA and it is with regret that I advise of their departure. The board would like to formally acknowledge the contribution of Cary and his team to the advancement of volunteering issues and volunteering infrastructure with some team members having over 10 years experience.
Volunteering Australia has received and accepted an offer of accommodation on very generous terms from one of our Foundation Members in Volunteering ACT and we will commence transition to these new premises during July and August. For this we thank Volunteering ACT. Recruitment of a new Executive Officer and administrative staff in Canberra will commence within the next month with a view to being fully operational by the end of August.
VA is continuing discussions with its Foundation Members to ensure continuity of services during the transitional period.
This move comes at a time when Volunteering Australia is undertaking a major review of its governance and institutional arrangements to ensure that it can best represent the volunteering sector in the decades to come. The move will enable Volunteering Australia to establish closer connections with key stakeholders within government.
VA will also have some exciting new initiatives to announce over the next 4/6 weeks so keep an eye on the website.

Paul Lynch

President
Volunteering Australia
May 2012

Thanks

My blog passed 80,000 reads in the last 12 hours. This after 2 years amazes me. For a site that is non commercial and doesn’t advertise itself! Time to say thanks to everyone who follows the site. Thanks to everyone who checks back here now and then to read posts.

I am thankful that I work with such amazing and truly inspiring people. I am thankful that I have inspiring colleagues around the globe!

Volunteer management is such an awesome profession! Volunteerism is such an awesome movement!

Thank you for sharing part of my journey!

The usual platitudes on Volunteering

A keen follower of volunteering I’ve been watching how the media. Government and society in general have been reacting to National Volunteer week 2012 in Australia.

I worry a little about the message. If the sectors greatest claim to fame is the fact that we contribute x amount of millions in unpaid labor then I think that we lose the message and   the philosophy of volunteering.

I’ve seen a few speeches on volunteering this week. A few speeches from Politicians. Now folks, whether you like it or not politicians matter! And they have been referring a bit about “unpaid labor’! Now, I know I may stir some debate here but I for one do not equate volunteering to “unpaid labor” For if we do this then we devalue the concept of volunteerism to a method of getting stuff done without a cost hourly value! I put it in those terms even though I believe that effective volunteering does come with a cost. That is to say money for resourcing volunteer programs due to staffing, effective volunteer management, training, orientation, etc etc.

It annoys me that Government can say we save x amount of billions because of volunteers and don’t go on to show us how a few million can be spent resourcing effective volunteer management!

This is just my little “say” during National Volunteer week. The only way I can have this say is because I have my own blog and can say these things. A national organisation on volunteering should have a forum on encouraging feedback. I personally don’t believe we have that in Australia. If National Volunteer Week can gift us something it should be a forum where volunteers, managers of volunteers, resource centers, consultants and the peak body get together and talk about what volunteering means in 2012!

Perhaps we can aim for this in 2013!

National Volunteer Weeks and 10 possible ways to make it an Every Day event!

National Volunteer Week (NVW) is coming up soon, in May, in Australia. The week is celebrated in many other countries at various times throughout the year.

 I’m an enormous fan of NVW. It furnishes us the opportunity to promote and recognise volunteering. It also gives us the opportunity to recruit more people to volunteering through education.

 In our echo chambers we all agree that these weeks are important. But are these proceedings having a truly imperative influence on volunteerism? Are we gaining what we should be gaining i.e. society buy in into the value of volunteering and thus more participation and support from the people that govern our societies? During volunteer weeks Volunteerism does seem to garnish some attention from Government and media. How do we ensure volunteering is being supported by society and Government all year round?

Here is my top ten wish list!

 1.Volunteer programs are adequately resourced by organizations

 2.Volunteers are treated as equal members of any organisational team

 3.Volunteers have meaningful work

4.Peak bodies for volunteers and resource centre’s are supported by society, corporations and government without losing an independent voice

 5.Peak bodies for volunteers are highly accountable to those in the volunteering sector and are transparent in their actions and governance

 6.Volunteer management is taken seriously and supported and resources are made available to ensure effective and professional volunteer management

 7.Volunteering remains fluid with many flavours and colours and remains unrestricted by dogma

8.The volunteering sector adapts to emerging trends with respect and flexibility.

 9.Open and free dialogue is encouraged bringing disparate views together to encourage the growth of volunteering with no one claiming ownership of ideas and ideals

 10.Volunteering is treated with respect.

 Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? I could write a few paragraphs under each point. How much of this wish list is true in your own experience?

Volunteer Management Pillow Talk

Today is International Pillow Day. I only know because I see the story about it on ABC News online in Australia. It’s also called International Pillow Fight Day.

From the International Awareness day website:

“I couldn't believe it when I heard ... that yes, International Pillow Fight Day really will be taking place!
The Urban Playground Movement has described public spaces in our cities as 'public living rooms'. Or I suppose, in this case, it would be bedrooms!
Lots of places around the world have had great fun getting involved with pillow fight day. See some absolutely fantastic pictures of the day taking place around the world - from Amsterdam, Budapest, to New York.
The basic idea is to get every major city in the world involved in this organised event! Flashmobs like this are getting more and more common, and I think its a great way to let loose amidst our often stressful working weeks!”

On the same site I searched “International Volunteer Managers Day”
I got the result “Sorry, no matches were found containing International Volunteer Managers Day”

So I googled “International Volunteers manager day” and I got 11,900 results. Not bad!

But when I googled “International Pillow Fight day” I got 392,000 hits! Just a difference of 380,000 or so!

Obviously IVMD needs more traction. More publicity. So here’s my suggestion. On November 5 we have an international collaboration where volunteer managers engage in a massive international pillow fight. We coordinate an event where we are pictured smashing each other or ourselves with pillows through social media. When people ask us why we say that we are unashamedly stealing another idea this year because we believe that IVMD deserves more attention. And as everyone else criticizes us for being unoriginal we gain some attention for our sector and for volunteerism!

That’s the start of getting some attention on IVMD. Then we look at ways of making the day more appealing. I love IVMD and have always supported the concept. But it needs to become more social media savvy! Because that’s the world we live in now.

I’m ready to play my part with a pillow on the next IVMD. But maybe beforehand we can come up with some stunt that we can call our own!

The ART of paying volunteers!

Volunteers are not paid in money. But we forget sometimes that one can pay in many ways. And there are some ways that volunteers must be paid!
Pay is an interesting word. You can be ‘Paid” to do something” You can “pay” a compliment. Sometimes when one seeks revenge they seek “payback”. In space travel we have a payload!

I believe that ART is the currency we should be using to pay volunteers

ART

Acknowledgement

Respect

Thanks

In My opinion these three words are interlinked and similar in some ways but are the key ingredients in how organisations, government, society and volunteer managers could treat volunteers.

It is too easy to stand up and make a speech during a National Volunteer week event or a volunteer’s function and say that volunteers are acknowledged, respected and thanked. And leave it at that. The problem that we may have with these types of events is that they can be conduits for flowery language on volunteer recognition. Volunteers will know though. Volunteers will see through anyone’s attempt at ART at a volunteers function if that ART is not practiced throughout the year.
ART must be ongoing to be real and relevant. I believe that the organisation that practices good ART can have the most effective and happy volunteer program!

Let’s look at how we may practice ART

Acknowledgment


Have you ever had that moment where you are walking down a busy corridor and you see someone you know and you say hello and they completely ignore you? That person may be busy or preoccupied. They may have their attention on someone else. Sometimes they may hold positions more senior to yours. You pass by and you still think “They could have at least said hello”
Normally when this happens to me I ensure that I make a bigger effort in my greeting the next time I see them. I ensure that I always give a friendly greeting. I ensure that I am always polite in the face of impoliteness.

I’ve met volunteers who have shared such stories with me. So believe me when I say that it’s important. It’s important to ensure that staff that share an organisation with volunteers acknowledge their presence! It’s important that people acknowledge that volunteers are part of the team.

Respect


Assigning meaningful work to volunteers is in my opinion the greatest way to show respect to volunteers. Thought out and well planned roles show that you respect the volunteer contribution. Meaningful work of course can be subjective but the respect factor comes in when you have assigned the most suitable role for the most suitable volunteer. Always keep checking if the volunteer is happy with the role they are performing. Feedback encapsulates respect. If you are constantly encouraging feedback from your volunteers you are giving them the respect that they deserve.

Thanks


The ‘Thanks” factor is so overlooked in my opinion. And we are poorer for that. Sometimes we ignore the human condition.

I do a job. I am paid to do a job. I appreciate the fact that I am paid. But even in my paid capacity I feel great when I am thanked for something. It’s not ego. I struggle with praise. But I appreciate a thank you!
I believe as volunteer managers we get blindsided when we fall for the line “I am not in it for the thanks”! So many volunteer s that I have encountered in my decades involved in volunteerism have said this. In fact I probably have said this too once upon a time.But it’s a kind of fallacy
How many people do you know who have rejected a thank you?

I postulate that volunteers know a genuine thank you. If you have a once a year event where the thank you platitudes are in abundance and the rest of the year is thankless then you are in serious trouble!

I still feel real in my role when I can say thank you to a volunteer and mean it! I therefore hope that when I say those words they are understood to be genuine!

There is an art to effective Volunteer Management

What are your thoughts on this ART?

We must write and tell the Volunteering story

The volunteer that turns up during the flood or the disaster is to be commended. Their stories must be written, their bravery can be rewarded though they usually seek no such award. The Flood armies, the hurricane heroes, the storm saviors. The press loves them. Its good print. Good online material - good copy and a great grab on the TV news. And it brings the word “Volunteer” to the fore! Scenes of recent disasters over the last few years in Australia and New Zealand were heart wrenching. But hope and comfort was evident by the massive volunteering effort that touched us all. That touched humanity. And made it that little bit more hopeful.

But we must make the effort to remind society that volunteering is occurring 24/7.

They are on the streets for the homeless every day. They are on telephone lines 24 hours of the day providing counseling. They are turning up for shifts at hospitals every day; they are fundraising, advocating, protesting, and changing lives and society daily.

They are delivering meals; they are making calls to check on welfare, they are holding the hands of the dying, comforting the crying, bringing laughter to sick kids, friendship to the lonely, skills to the organisations that need expertise and knowledge.

We must tell our stories. We must show the world and its media what volunteering is doing. Not because we have to. But because our stories of hope can bring comfort to those who are disillusioned with the world, to those that see little light in the darkness, to cynics who say that the world basically doesn’t care!

I know that there are many reasons why people volunteer. I celebrate that. But right now I don my hat to those volunteers who affect change. Who make the world a more comfortable place for others. Who give hope. Who give comfort, who give a friendly smile or a helping hand.

And they exist in their millions around the globe.

The world is an amazing place…because of them!