1. 21ST CENTURY VOLUNTEERING
MAKING TIME DONATIONS COUNT FOR
YOUR ORGANISATION
With Sue and Laura of VMmovement
@vmmovemen
t
ivo.org/vmm
2. Who are VMmovement?
o We are a group of Volunteer Managers who
are passionate about our profession
o VMmovement is all about connecting
professionals to share experiences and learn
from one another
Also…
o Empowering and supporting Volunteer
Managers to develop and believe in
themselves and become leaders in their field
We aim to do this by…
o Challenging, sharing and inspiring people to
change the way they think about volunteer
management and volunteer involvement
3. do·na·tion
/dōˈnāSHən/
Noun
Something that is given to a charity, esp. a sum of money
The action of donating something
Synonyms
gift - offering - grant - present - donative – endowment
• planning strategically to ensure your organisation gets maximum benefit from
donations of time
• current approaches to engaging and involving people who want to give time
• developing staff within your organisation to lead and co-ordinate this work
• examples of successful practice from different organisations
6. Successful impact means…
1. Thinking strategically about
volunteering
2. Clear results and impact
3. A key role for volunteer
management
4. A culture shift
7. We need to…
o Link volunteering activities directly
to the organisation’s aims
o Acknowledge that volunteer
involvement is not an add-on
oBe honest in our evaluation of
volunteering & improve our offer
o Accept that supporting & involving
volunteers is everyone’s
responsibility
o Recognise the key role that the
8. Where does volunteering fit
with your organisation’s
overall strategy and goals?
What role can Volunteer
Management play in helping
you make the most of time
donations?
9. “Time is more valuable than money. You can get
more money, but you cannot get more time.“
Jim Rohn
"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin
you have, and only you can determine how it will
be spent. Be careful lest you let other people
spend it for you."
Carl Sandburg
“Waste your money and you’re only out of
money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a
part of your life”
Michael LeBoeuf
Editor's Notes
Welcome everyoneIntroduce ourselvesExplain we are here as volunteers who are part of VMmovement
Who are VMmovement? – Explain key points from slideAdd that we are most well known for leading and facilitating the weekly tweet chat and on-line discussion dedicated to Volunteer Management issues called Thoughtful Thursdays, plus blogging, writing and speaking at events like this.You might be thinking - why is this so important?Well, we feel strongly that:Too often, volunteering is treated as a separate, add-on activity within organisationsThe way that volunteering is supported, led and resourced is key to how effective it can be and the impact it can make within communitiesThinking differently about volunteering is vital if we are to continue to attract and encourage people to give their time to enable us to deliver servicesVolunteer Managers are integral to this, yet don’t generally have the authority or influence to lead on key changes and developments
Which brings us to our focus for today…We’re here to talk to you about this word – DonationGoogle provides this definition - read outAnd suggests these similar words to help us gain meaningIt’s interesting and perhaps unsurprising that the description includes reference to donating money – in charitable terms, as members of the public it’s what we know and are most familiar with. And as organisations, fundraising is of course a form of vital income to enable us to continue to deliver crucial services. And yet, there’s an additional type of donation which isn’t given nearly as much priority and emphasis, which can enable you to build resources, develop new areas of work and be more creative in how you deliver those services. It could definitely be described as a gift or a present – and is also an offering – that of time.So, for the next hour or so, we’re going to ask you to think more broadly about this word donation and explore:planning strategically to ensure your organisation gets maximum benefit from donations of time current approaches to engaging and involving people who want to give time developing staff within your organisation to lead and co-ordinate this work examples of successful practice from differentorganisationsClearly, these are all really big themes, so we’ll be touching on each of them through a mix of presentation, discussion, film & audio and sharing our own examples.
I’d like to begin by asking you how you feel about time – what does your time mean to you?Gather initial thoughts from the group – look for: it’s important that I spend it well, it’s valuable, I don’t have enough, want more time to do the things I enjoy etc.Make the link that – we could therefore make a case for time being our most valuable commodity in the modern world.And – if you were giving your time to a cause, to a project, to an event or activity that you felt strongly about or wanted to be a part of – what would you expect in terms of how your time was regarded?Look for: that it is valued, made the most of, channelled appropriately, spent well, makes an impact, feels worthwhile(If helpful, capture thoughts on flip chart)Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? And yet – although volunteer-involving organisations often make lots of positive noises about volunteer involvement and do deliver some great work with volunteers, we know from working closely with Volunteer Managers – and from our own experiences that there is an awful lot of wasted potential, missed opportunities and sometimes a general lack of interest or engagement with what volunteers actually do. Link to It Takes a Whole Organisation – introduce the film
Invite reflections on the film, asking whether they feel there is as much of an emphasis on making the most of donated time, as there is with donated funds in their organisations.Briefly discuss and say that it’s time we thought differently about volunteer-involvement because the landscape is changing, the way we’re being expected to deliver services is changing, and expectations from those wanting to get involved in their communities and with organisations is changing and we have a real opportunity to work differently in a way that is responsive, exciting and can make an impact for our organisation.In making the most of donated time, we need to think more strategically about volunteer-involvement and we need to be prepared to allow people to get involved in different ways.If we don’t – then we risk losing people, maybe not straight away – but over time, volunteers will look elsewhere for ways to get involved – even creating their own opportunities and groups, rather than giving their time to established brands and well –known organisations.We’re not saying that money isn’t important – we’re saying that we are potentially missing out on just as valuable a resource in the donation of time if we are not maximising the benefit offered.
And where organisations have begun to make this shift – they have benefited in all kinds of ways as our case study examples show.In our first example – Laura is going to share some of the insight following changes in their approach to volunteer-involvement made by her organisation George House Trust in the last couple of yearsQ1 – So Laura, how has your organisation changed in terms of approaching volunteering more strategically?Q2 – And what are the results of your taking this new approach?Q3 – What can you tell us about the role of Volunteer Management within all this?Q4 – Would you say there has been a sort of culture shift within the organisation in terms of how volunteers and volunteering is viewedQ5 – Is it fair to say that you are making time donations count?Invite questions for LauraIn our second example, we have Darren from Blue Cross sharing his thoughts on Strong Strategic Volunteer Management - Share part one & reflect on key points made - Share part two & invite reflections and questions
So – in order to make time donations count, we need to:Talk through points
So – it’s over to you.Here are some questions to kick start your own discussions on the issues raised in our presentation.If time – allow discussion in pairs/small groupsIf no time – ask them to take these questions away as a starting point for following up on the content covered.Facilitate a closing round – sharing what they are going to do next as a result of this session.
We’d like to thank you for joining us this evening. We hope it’s been worthwhile and has encouraged you to begin to think differently or more so about volunteering and volunteer management.If you have any questions or want to follow up with us we’d love to hear from you – write up contact details on flip chart.Share the quotations about the value of time to encourage them to reflect and think about how all this applies in their own organisation or project.
