|
About Volunteering
All the following topics are on this page. After you have clicked a topic and read it, click the TOP link at the bottom of the topic to return to this menu.
Definition of Formal Volunteering
Formal volunteering is an activity which takes place through not-for-profit organisations or projects and is undertaken:
Principles of Volunteering
Volunteers are people who choose to share their time, skills and energies with the community for no monetary reward.
They come from a variety of backgrounds, and collectively, have a vast array of skills. Volunteers with special needs are given the opportunity to participate in community life. Volunteers supplement but in no way compete with the work of paid people. Society could not function effectively without volunteer effort.
Volunteering North Queensland Inc. has grown from an organisation assisting 52 organisations in 1995 to 150 organisations in 2003 with a bank of around 3000 volunteers now assisting in the local community. According to the 2000 ABS study, over 31% of the population now volunteer annually in Australia. Volunteering effort contributes significantly to our GDP with an estimated contribution of 2.2 million hours valued at around $42 billion per annum (Ironmonger, 2001).
This includes organisations such as public hospitals and schools, charities, cultural organisations, activist and self-help groups.
The profit sector, e.g. banks, retail outlets, restaurants, manufacturers, is set up to make profits and must pay their workers otherwise it is exploitation of labour.
Some for-profit organisations provide support to not-for-profit organisations through 'corporate volunteering' e.g. auditing the books, or arranging for their employees to renovate a day respite centre's activity room.
In some way, small or large, directly or indirectly the outcome of any work in the not-for-profit sector has an altruistic quality of benefiting the community.
Illegal activities, although freely chosen, not paid for, and believed by those involved to benefit the community are excluded from the definition of volunteering.
Revolutionary and planned violence is not volunteering!
Many services would, without question, be seen of benefit to the community, e.g. assisting a person who has a disability, umpiring the local netball team. However, would you regard the secretary of a blatantly discriminatory organisation to be of benefit to the community? Can acts of terrorism be regarded of benefit to the community?
In deciding what is, and what is not 'of benefit to the community' Sidoti (1998, p7) gives us a measuring tool:
'Organisations that support, promote and coordinate volunteer activity are challenged to ensure through their leadership and educational roles that volunteer effort promotes human rights and positive social change, not the violation of rights.'
Volunteer work is freely chosen by the volunteer. Volunteers exist outside the framework of formal organisations, form ad hoc groups to promote a cause or provide mutual assistance and provide regular neighbourly support to individuals in need of assistance - commonly known as 'informal volunteering'.
Volunteer work is never paid. Out of pocket expenses, such as travel costs & lunch allowances, may be reimbursed. Once a salary or honorarium is offered, the work ceases to be voluntary.
Sometimes people believe that volunteer work directly leads to paid employment. This is rarely true and should never be the sole motivation for volunteering. The experience gained in the course of doing volunteer work would, however, be an advantage if a volunteer feels that he / she wishes to resume pursuit of a paid career.
Voluntary work should never jeopardise the paid work force and its conditions and awards. It should not usurp the positions of paid workers or replicate paid work. Volunteer motives vary, but depriving paid workers of an income is not one of them.
In some community organisations, the employment of a paid worker may be desirable, but lack of funding is the prohibiting factor. In such cases, volunteers may agree to carry out the work. However, as service demands increase and there is a chance that the service recipients would be seriously disadvantaged, all efforts should be made to obtain further funding to employ staff.
Volunteers have traditionally forged the way in calling for additional services involving the employment of paid workers, and they continue to raise funds to maintain paid workers' employment. Any calls for volunteers to replace paid workers will not come from volunteers, but form funding bodies which have reduced funding, or from organisations which are anxious to reduce costs.
The benefits often become the reasons people volunteer - or the ongoing motivation to volunteer. Here are some points to consider:
No reasons to volunteer are 'better' than others, however it is important to realise the reasons you are looking for volunteer work.
PERSONAL BENEFITS TO VOLUNTEERING
GENERAL BENEFITS TO VOLUNTEERING
Organisational management and paid staff involved in the many areas where volunteers work are now realising that they need to increase their awareness and competency in working collaboratively with volunteers, in order to achieve organisational goals.
PAID WORKERS
Attitudes and expectations will depend on the worker’s views on volunteering in general, and whether they believe volunteers in their organisation will present an opportunity or a threat.
The attitude towards volunteering by the board and senior management is likely to affect how paid workers view volunteers. For instance, if they are expected to supervise volunteers but are given no recognition for the extra time and skills involved, they will be unlikely to welcome volunteer involvement.
Paid workers who have confidence in their own abilities and display initiative in harnessing as many resources as possible, and in delegating responsibility, are more likely to feel comfortable working alongside volunteers than those who do not.
Responsibilities include:
VOLUNTEERS
Attitudes to volunteering often depend initially on whether families and friends have been involved and the result of this involvement. Once involved, volunteers may change their attitude, depending on their experience. One bad experience may discourage a person from ever volunteering again.
The expectations of volunteers will vary considerably depending on their motivations. Volunteers will expect that their skills, time and past experiences are recognised and used to the maximum extent in providing worthwhile services. Working as a volunteer in an organisation can provide the sense of community, which has largely been lost these days where people may not know their neighbours.
All volunteers, whether serving in the short, medium or long-term, expect to work in a well-managed organisation, and to have their efforts recognised.
Responsibilities include:
POLICY & PRACTICE GUIDELINES
The volunteer/paid worker team
People who volunteer while seeking paid work will wish to:
The fact that a person is out of work does not mean they lack qualifications or skills; some will be graduates, others will have years of experience behind them.
A client's right to privacy is an area of concern for many people when considering volunteers working with clients or doing clerical work with information about clients. This matter should be approached with volunteers in the same manner as it is for paid staff. We recommend that volunteers sign a confidentiality form as part of their training. In many cases staff members sign a confidentiality statement, and the same form may be used for volunteers. The importance of the client's right to privacy and what that entails, must be made clear to the volunteer from the beginning.
A volunteer may have to see portions of a file to effectively perform the job and to learn pertinent facts about a client with whom he or she is working. This function should be done with the approval of the supervisor. Trained volunteers function as effectively as trained staff, so the policies on confidentiality is stressed from orientation on, there should be no problem.
The staff of Volunteering North Queensland Inc. are required to sign a
confidentiality statement regarding the personal information given to us by
volunteers with the provision that we are allowed to pass on such information as
is necessary for successful volunteer placement, to the organisation involved.
The information to be passed on will be discussed with the volunteer concerned
prior to placement.
TOP
It is an organisation's responsibility to ensure that appropriate insurance cover is provided for volunteer staff. It is the role of the manager of the volunteer program to alert agency management if the insurance cover is known to be inadequate for volunteers and to review volunteer insurance regularly.
Volunteers are not separate for other components of an organisation. Therefore, it needs to be recognised that insurance cover for volunteers should form an integral part of the agency's overall insurance package and should be planned for and negotiated in this way.
A first requirement in considering insurance is to understand the various types of cover. General cover for the organisation could include public liability and building and contents cover. Cover for volunteers could include volunteers personal accident, indemnity for board members and indemnity for professionals when acting in a voluntary professional capacity.
Most volunteers will tell you that they get as much out of volunteering as they give. They say they are motivated to do the work because they:
Remember when you start working in a volunteer program, you are there as a valued team member. Whatever your skills or experience, they are of use to the organisation. At the very least, you should expect a safe working environment, training to enable you to perform your job, and ongoing support.
If something goes wrong with your placement, deal with it promptly, talk it through with your supervisor, or use the organisation's grievance procedure.
An organisation that values its staff will ensure that volunteers gain as much as they give.
National Volunteer Week Overview
Many community activities survive only through the dedicated efforts of volunteers. National Volunteer Week is a time to promote, recognise and celebrate the efforts of volunteers and the organisations that involve volunteers. National Volunteer Week provides a great opportunity to involve the media, politicians, the corporate and general public in emphasising the efforts and contributions made by volunteers to the community.
National Volunteer Week celebrates volunteering in Australia and was initiated by Volunteering Australia, which is the national peak body for the States and Territory Volunteer Centres.
The first National Volunteer Week in Australia was in 1988.
Since that time, community organisations throughout Australia have taken advantage of National Volunteer Week to acknowledge the tremendous contribution volunteers make to their organisations, as well as draw attention to the need for volunteers to provide the services of their organisations to their communities.
During National Volunteer Week, community organisations hold a variety of volunteer recognition events, such as - dinners, lunches, certificate ceremonies and awards.
National Volunteer Week is held the week following the second Sunday in every May, which is Mothers Day.
International Volunteers Day: 5 December Each Year
In 1985, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5 December for an annual celebration by communities, peoples and governments of all that is achieved by voluntary effort - by volunteers - around the world. International Volunteer Day (IVD) is already marked in more than half the countries of the globe.
IVD is for volunteers of every kind, everywhere. Whether you offer your talents to improve facilities where you live, your donations to a charity, your friendship and counsel to those ill or in difficulties, or your time for technical cooperation in developing countries, IVD is for you.
The United Nations Volunteer program acts as international focal point for IVD and can supply some basic promotional material directly or through a national source. Reports come in each year of a tremendous variety of events.
A Report
This report by Associate Professor Dr Duncan Ironmonger of the University of Melbourne, was commissioned by the Department of Communities and measures the economic contributions of formal (through an organisation) and informal (outside of an organisation) volunteers throughout Queensland.
The author, Dr Ironmonger, is an internationally acclaimed economist who has undertaken economic analysis of volunteering nationally and for both the Victorian and South Australian state governments.
Link to Report: The Economic Value of Volunteering in Queensland
The report is also available from the Department of Communities website.
Further information is available at The Department of Communities website.