Volunteering Victoria - Research Digest
Issue 3, April 2014
Research
Organisation
Item, source, keywords
Cosmopolitan Civil
Societies (CCS)
Research Centre at
UTS, NSW
[Research preview]
Measuring the invisible value of volunteering
National Council for
Voluntary Organisations
(NCVO), UK
UK Civil Society Almanac, 2014
Access here
Keywords
social value measurement
Access the full Almanac here
Keywords
civil society, UK, volunteering statistics
Page 1 of 5
Summary
The economic and social value of community-based
organisations and volunteering in Australia is being
underestimated according to a group of UTS researchers.
The Cosmopolitan Civil Societies (CCS) Research
Centre at UTS, with the help of Surf Life Saving Australia
(SLSA), has been working to develop a new tool to better
measure the wider social impact of volunteering.
Researchers led by centre co-director Jenny Onyx,
Professor of Community Management at UTS Business
School, have come up with a "ripple model" that uses
statistical indicators to make visible all the contributions
such organisations make – rippling out from the individual
and club to wider networks of people and organisations
and society itself.
The 2014 Almanac aims to provide a comprehensive
overview of the scope and changing nature of civil society
in the UK. It uses the latest data available – mostly
2011/12 – to describe a voluntary sector experiencing
significant transition.
Key facts on UK volunteerism:
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Institute of
Volunteering
Research (IVR), UK
IiV Impact Assessment 2013- Summary report
21 February 2014
Access here
Keywords
volunteer management, quality assurance
161,000 voluntary organisations
£39.2 billion: voluntary sector income
800,000: voluntary sector employees
29%: proportion of people formally volunteering at
least once a month
44% proportion of people formally volunteering at
least once a year
Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard for
good practice in volunteer management. It enables
organisations to benchmark the quality of their volunteer
management and involvement, to prove and improve the
effectiveness of their work with volunteers and enhance
the organisation’s reputation.
This report shares the findings of the recently completed UKwide evaluation of Investing in Volunteers (IiV), carried out by
the Institute of Volunteering Research (IVR).
School of Sociology and
Social Policy, University
of Leeds, UK
Changing Landscapes for the Third Sector
[Research website]
Access the website here
Keywords
Volunteering research
This developing website acts as a knowledge bank for
understanding the voluntary sector by bringing together
evidence from a network of projects that are 'walking
alongside' third sector organisations as they navigate a
shifting policy landscape.
Based on a national network of qualitative longitudinal
research projects on the third sector, the project is designed
to:
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Page 2 of 5
Bring together academic and practice based
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organisations for collaboration and knowledge sharing
Enhance the evidence base on the third sector in times of
austerity through a programme of archiving, data sharing
and knowledge exchange across the network
Conduct a review and synthesis of findings across the
network, and carry out a secondary analysis of selected
datasets, working with key themes of relevance for the
sector;
Disseminate the findings of this work via a practitioner
conference and a special issue of the academic journal
Voluntary Sector Review
Produce tailored outputs addressed at policy and practice
audiences, including a policy report and briefing paper,
training materials and web resources, for use by those
working in the third sector and those co-ordinating or
commissioning third sector services.
Australian state and territory volunteer organisations: significant news
Organisation
NSW Centre for
Volunteering
Item, source, keywords
NSW Centre for Volunteering helped by technology donation
Aimee Chanthadong, ZDNet
1 April 2014
Access here
Keywords
Volunteering technical infrastructure
Page 3 of 5
Summary
A technology donation from EMC in partnership with Ingram
Micro and Always Up IT, has enabled the NSW Centre for
Volunteering to speed up its operations.
International volunteer organisations: significant news
Organisation
National Council for
Voluntary Organisations
(NCVO), UK
Item, source, keywords
Summary
The NCVO Strategic Plan for 2014-2019
Access here
Fifteen months after their merger with Volunteering England,
NCVO have launched their first post-merger strategic plan.
View a short infographic about the Strategy
The plan has five core strategic aims, two of which explicitly
reference volunteering:
Keywords
strategic plan, UK
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We will champion volunteering and the voluntary sector
We will grow and enhance volunteering, wherever it
takes place.
Commentary, articles, blogs, presentations on current volunteering issues
Organisation
ProBono News
[Opinion]
Item, source, keywords
Investing in Volunteering Underpins Civil Society
Brett Williamson, CEO, Volunteering Australia, and Sue Noble,
CEO, Volunteering Victoria.
Summary
The authors argue that If Australia wants to foster a civil
society and mutuality; it must develop and promote a
thriving volunteering culture.
10 April 2014
Access here
Keywords
volunteering and civil society
Volunteering Sector
Network, Volunteering Hub,
UK
[Blog item]
Page 4 of 5
Is microvolunteering the future of giving?
Eva Bhattacharyya
5 March 2014
The author argues that microvolunteering and the internet
are together offering a powerful platform to support worthy
causes at home and around the world. The concept is
quickly gaining momentum and has opened up a
Access here
Keywords
microvolunteering
Coyote
Communications.com
[Blog item]
Research on USA volunteerism excludes virtual volunteering
Jayne Cravens
7 March 2014
Access here
communication channel between volunteers and charity
which could potentially could shape the future
of volunteering in years to come.
Commenting on the recent USA Bureau of Labour Statistics
that indicated volunteerism declined during 2013, Cravens
argues that due to the limited definition of volunteerism the
BLS uses, the validity of these numbers can be
questioned.
Keywords
virtual volunteering, US, volunteering statistics
VolunteerMatch
[Blog item]
The Obvious Reason Volunteering Was at a 10 Year Low
Greg Baldwin
9 April 2014
Access here
Keywords
US, volunteering statistics
Page 5 of 5
Baldwin argues that there is a deep misunderstanding about
volunteerism as evidenced by media reporting of the decline
in US volunteerism. He puts the case that volunteerism rates
reflect the health of an economy.