Empowering Volunteers
By Hilary Star Foged, LEAD Associate
The upcoming National Volunteer Week (June 20-26) has me reflecting on my first role in the community sector as a co-ordinator for Community Volunteers Inc. in the 1970s and 80s. This incredible, and at the time ground-breaking, organisation directly supported volunteerism in community initiatives right across Aotearoa, including Work and Food co-operatives, Māori and Pacific youth programmes, and a broad range of local community centres and hubs.
Since then there have been many significant changes in the sector as to how volunteering is viewed in Aotearoa NZ. Two significant pieces of work have contributed to the change. I had the privilege of being a member of the team who developed the New Zealand Competencies for Management of Volunteers through Volunteering New Zealand. This work is a direct recognition that volunteering is a deliberate organisation strategy and that volunteers deserve good management in their roles, including being recruited and treated the same as paid staff.
In 2007 we saw the publication of Mahi Aroha: Māori Perspective on Volunteering and Cultural Obligations, collated by Joyce-Anne Raihania and Ann Walker. This work was a result of extensive research bringing an understanding of whanaungatanga being central to volunteering for Māori. To quote:
“Mahi aroha is the term that most closely translates to the concept of voluntary work. Mahi aroha is the unpaid activity performed out of sympathy and caring for others in accordance with the principles of tikanga to maintain mana and rangatiratanga, rather than for financial or personal reward. Mahi aroha is one aspect of tohu aroha – an expression that incorporates the spiritual and temporal aspects of volunteering. He tohu aroha is an expression or manifestation of love, sympathy or caring”.
My personal experience of these changes in the last couple of decades has led me to understand the diversity of how volunteering is understood and experienced. This has included many years of working with volunteers and learning how much they valued clarity and support, training and opportunities to grow. Also, in more recent years, supporting organisations in developing their practices in leading volunteers, and supporting leaders of volunteers throughout Aotearoa and in the Pacific.
Through all these avenues I have discovered some key aspects to consider in valuing and celebrating volunteers. One of the most significant learning moments for me was realising that spending time with volunteers, listening to their experiences and challenges, visiting them where they were volunteering and recognising when they needed critical resources and support, were the best ways to value them.
Here are some of those key aspects which are also referenced in a number of websites and online resources regarding valuing volunteers.
Ensuring they have an opportunity and conversation where the organisation is seeking to understand their motivation and reasons for volunteering. This provides an incredible source of information for knowing how best to find the right fit for them and also informs how they will feel valued, eg. Crystal was motivated to develop her confidence in meeting new people because she wanted to train as a social worker. Her placement with a social service agency in assisting with the distribution of food parcels brought her directly in contact with families and individuals and built her confidence in relating to them. This experience provided a depth of understanding and connection she drew on in her future role in family services.
Ensuring there is a really clear understanding of the partnership between the volunteer and the organisation – acknowledging the skills and experience they bring and how they will best fit in with the organisation’s needs, and in relationship to the staff and other volunteers.
Providing quality orientation to the organisation, the voluntary work involved, and to build relationships with the staff.
Expressing appreciation: Finding authentic ways to show appreciation of volunteers, their work, their attitudes is an integral part of volunteer retention as shown in the research work of Volunteering NZ. The appreciation needs to be specific to the volunteer and their contribution, eg. One team leader gave the volunteers an opportunity to identify the things they valued in each other as they worked alongside one another in the community centre during the school holidays. This was a very powerful moment of acknowledgement as they named the strengths and contribution of each other during the two week programme.
Spending quality time with each volunteer – giving them the opportunity to give feedback about their involvement, to talk through challenges, working out their learning opportunities and provide guidance and support.
Rewards that are appropriate and have meaning and value to the volunteers: incentives that relate to volunteers’ motivations, and acknowledge their valuable contribution. It is critical to find out what rewards are experienced as a ‘thank you’. To find out the appropriate way for each one and as a team. eg. Wiremu had been keen to contribute his IT skills in his local community and when he contacted the community centre staff they were thrilled to involve him in the film project organised for the youth in their after school programme. He was rewarded by having his work acknowledged in the presentation to parents and friends which gave him a great boost in his confidence and hopes to undertake a tertiary course in IT.
Finding opportunities to give them a sense of purpose and meaning – how they connect to the mission and vision of the organisation. Volunteers can be the best source of new staff both by their being known to the organisation and their experiences preparing them for stepping into a staff position.
Regular meetings to ensure they are up to date with changes and developments, and these also provide opportunity for training and discussion with other volunteers.
In 1998 Mary Woods wrote a seminal book called Volunteers: A Guide for Volunteers and their Organisations, which provides a rich source of ideas about how to value the contribution of volunteers, and suggests ‘it needs sensitivity and creativity’. She wrote a long list of suggested ways to support and recognise volunteers and here are a few of them:
Ask volunteers how they are going, be interested in what they are doing
Reimburse expenses that they incur as part of their voluntary involvement
Provide orientation and training
Involve volunteers in decision making that is relevant to their roles
Encourage volunteers to take responsibility
Provide opportunities for volunteers to assess their satisfaction, needs, learning and development in their work
Write about their work in your newsletter, website and online platforms
Provide a reference for them.
It is important for us to remember:
“Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless.”
Make sure your organisation acknowledges and celebrates Volunteer Week this year and let us know how you plan on thanking them for their mighty contribution.