Effective volunteer engagement is crucial for organisations striving to make a difference in their regional communities. And new National Standards for Volunteer Involvement, developed by Volunteering Australia, provide just the framework for organisations to adopt to enhance their volunteer programs and ensure a meaningful experience for volunteers and the communities they serve.

Creating a Culture of Volunteering

At the heart of these standards lies a commitment to fostering a culture that values volunteer involvement at all levels. Leadership plays a pivotal role in modeling positive attitudes towards volunteering, promoting best practices, and ensuring that policies align with industry standards. By making key documents publicly available, organisations can communicate their philosophy and objectives clearly, building transparency and trust.

Meaningful Roles and Diverse Recruitment

The standards also emphasise the importance of creating volunteer roles that are both meaningful and aligned with an organisation’s goals. This means engaging volunteers in role design, considering their interests, skills, and availability. Equitable and innovative recruitment strategies should also be employed to attract a diverse range of volunteers, ensuring that opportunities are accessible to all.

Support and Development

Supporting volunteers throughout their journey is vital for their success and satisfaction. Providing comprehensive induction, ongoing training, and regular feedback helps volunteers understand their roles and grow accordingly. That means organisations need to allocate enough resources and time for volunteer managers to support and develop volunteers and to foster a strong and engaged community.

Safety, Wellbeing, and Recognition

Volunteer safety and wellbeing are paramount. Organisations must meet their legal and ethical obligations to protect volunteers, offering clear policies and procedures that address health and safety concerns. Recognising and appreciating volunteer contributions is also essential. Whether through formal acknowledgment or simple expressions of thanks, volunteers should feel valued for their efforts and the impact they make.

Continuous Improvement

Finally, the standards advocate for a culture of continuous improvement. Regularly reviewing policies, gathering feedback from volunteers, and monitoring performance can help organisations adapt and enhance their volunteer programs over time. This not only benefits the organisation but also enriches the volunteer experience, fostering a more engaged and motivated community.

_ _

Volunteering Australia says the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement are intended to be flexible enough to apply to organisations of different sizes, with varying levels of resources and staffing, and in urban as well as rural, regional and remote settings. That means organisations can use them as a general guide, as a checklist to identify potential improvements, as a framework to establish new volunteering programs, or as a tool for auditing an organisation’s performance.

Additional tools and resources to support organisations who want to adopt the Standards are also available from the Volunteering Australia website.

Training in volunteer management

If your community is looking to improve the way they recruit, manage and retain volunteers, we can help. Wombat Creative provides training for community groups, movements and rural and regional communities to help them improve the way they interact with volunteers. Drop us a line to find out more.