What are the ethics of volunteering? How can this relate to sport? What is the impact of CSR programmes on volunteering? This outline is from a presentation to BASIS in 2012 and raises questions for companies and individuals about volunteerism
2. Ethics and Ethos
• Ethics – what is it?
• Ethos
• Goal of ethics
• What is volunteering?
• London Olympics – games makers
2
3. Good intentions
• Volunteers are backbone of many
organisations
• Many companies encourage volunteerism
• Contribution of volunteers to sport
3
4. Core ethical values
• Citizenship and philanthropy
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Compassion and Generosity
• Justice and Fairness
• Trustworthiness
4
5. Self or society?
• Reasons for volunteering
• Significant benefits for the volunteer
• What about benefit to companies?
• Can it be bad?
• Changing times?
• Legal issues and ethics
5
6. A privileged few?
• Face of volunteering is changing
• Ethics of economics
• Unwaged employment?
• What about time constraints?
• How to increase engagement ?
• Sustainability and youth volunteering
6
7. Questions and thoughts
• What is impact of CSR on volunteering? Good
or bad
• Do organisations recognize generational
differences to find prospective volunteers
• How does the economy affect volunteerism?
• How can sport benefit from this?
7
Ethics - moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity:Ethos the distinctive character, spirit, and attitudes of a people, culture, era, etc. the revolutionary ethosFundamental goal of ethics is to build a just , caring and loving communityVolunteering is an activity that someone performs, entirely at their own will, for other people or for a community without any expectation of monetary payment or any other direct return.Why are we discussing volunteering? We call our London 2012 staff and volunteers ‘Games Makers’ because they help make the Games happen. Games Makers will be on hand at all venues to answer your questions, help you find your way around and direct you to your seat. You can spot them by their snazzy, brightly coloured uniforms. If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask one of them!Belief that the wealthly have a social obligation to care for the poor was promentsamongh the Puritans
More than 90% of non- profits rely on volunteers to function Well managed corporate philanthropy provide employees an opportunity to fulfill their altruistic needs which deepens employee identification with both the company and the communityEmployee volunteerism has gained momentum as a critical component of corporate citizenshipVolunteers are hugely important resource for sport in England- 2003 report states value at being over £14 billion
These values should translate into volunteerism
Question we want to ask- is volunteering about self/ society or both Studies on individuals who volunteer show a number of Reasons why individuals do it: I should help out, responsibility, religion BUT in some cases t might be travel ego and might not meet the goal of an organisation The total of 63.4 million volunteers in 2009 contributed 8.1 billion hours of service at a total value of approximately $169 billion. The report found that homeowners who were more educated and had a greater sense of community were more likely to volunteer. Conversely, in areas where unemployment was higher and foreclosure rates increased by 1 percentage point, volunteerism decreased by 1.2 percentage points. Understanding what motivates volunteers and what benefits people gain from volunteering becomes important in continuing to serve communities across America in these difficult economic times:Company Benefits : Improves relationships with surrounding community, Improves public image, Builds a cohesive, motivated workforce, Increases employee performance and productivity, Helps establish and enhance corporate or brand reputation in new or existing marketsKnow your community – get the facts about the word that most impact their workforce, people in sixties see themselves as middle aged rather than oldMany of us live in increasingly litigious societies. Whether you see this as a good thing or a bad thing, the fact remains that volunteer management professionals increasingly must be aware of the legalities of their work, whether that is the risks organizations can pose to volunteers or the liabilities volunteers can pose to the organization and/or its constituents
No Doubt that face of volunteering is changing. The social value of volunteering is seen in economic terms e.g CSR – corporates going beyond grants, active partnerships with NGOs – is it about venture capitalism? Supportfor clubs from central and local government activities- needs to be taken more seriously If you are not being paid – some community projects e.g. abroad may not Is it more accessible to the middle class or retirees with pensions? Impact of generational differencesk – increase in prospective volunteers