The Association of Volunteer Managers response to the Conservatives’
Green paper ‘A stronger society: Voluntary Action in the 21st Century’
About the Association of Volunteer Managers
The Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) is an independent body that aims
to support, represent and champion people who manage volunteers in England
regardless of field, discipline or sector. It was set up by and for people who
manage and involve volunteers in the work of their organisations.
The Association of Volunteer Managers works to:

promote the effectiveness of volunteer managers through the provision of a
voice and increasing their profile in the volunteering sector;

promote the education, training and professional development of volunteer
managers; and

enhance the employment capabilities of volunteer managers through the
provision of support and advice
We work across the private, public and third sectors with a range of stakeholders
to ensure recognition and support of the vital part that volunteer management
plays in developing safe, effective and sustainable volunteering.
We defines volunteer managers people who, directly or indirectly, oversee,
manage, co-ordinate or administer volunteers or volunteer programmes.
Volunteer managers operate in all sectors and at all levels. We recognise that
other terms can and are used to describe volunteer managers, that volunteer
management may only be part of a volunteer manager’s role and that volunteer
managers are both paid and unpaid.
The role of government in developing volunteering
We agree that government should support efforts to establish volunteering as a
social norm and believes it has a threefold role to play. Government should:

promote the role and value of volunteering across the many aspects of
society;

intervene, when appropriate, in developing policy initiatives and providing
support, recognising that volunteering can and does thrive without
intervention; and

lead by example.
The role of volunteer management
Volunteer management is not a new phenomenon. Volunteering has always
needed some form of co-ordination, management and leadership. What is
comparatively new is the recognition that the management of volunteers is
different to the management of paid staff.
Volunteer management has evolved from the traditional style of workplace
management in response to

the more fluid needs of volunteers in particular with the growth of episodic
volunteering, employer-supported volunteering and the involvement of
traditionally under-represented groups in formal volunteering;

the diverse motivations people have for volunteering;

the more complex environment that volunteer-involving organisations now
operate in such as the legal connotations that surround volunteering; and

the recognition that much volunteering happens outside formally structured
organisations.
Skilled volunteer management understands the needs of volunteers in the
particular organisation or group they are volunteering for, the volunteering needs
of the particular organisation or group that they operate in, is aware of the
different models of management and draws on them appropriately that best meets
the needs of the client, the volunteer and the organisations
The current state of volunteer management
Last year, the Institute for Volunteering Research carried out the first ever survey
of volunteer management ‘Management matters: a national survey of volunteer
management capacity’. The research showed:

32% of Voluntary and Community sector organisations provide no funding
for supporting volunteers;

58% of volunteer managers individually support at least 50 volunteers, with
44% individually supporting at least 100 volunteers;

Just 15% were actually called volunteer managers, the rest had volunteer
management as part of their role;

26% of volunteer managers were unpaid; and

Only 63% of volunteer managers had it in their job description
From research we carried out in 2007 of our peers ie people who identified
themselves as ‘volunteer managers’:

59% said that managing volunteers was only part of their role;

54% said that managing volunteers was an afterthought in their job
descriptions;

57% said that volunteer management was considered a low status
occupation;

64% said they had to recruit volunteers according to funders’ needs rather
than clients’ needs;

53% felt there was lack of support for the role.
As mentioned in the green paper, volunteers are the ‘beating heart of Britain’s civil
society’ and would cost £27.5 billion to replace with paid staff and yet research
shows the structure that directly recruits, supports and manages volunteers is
poorly-funded, poorly-supported and lacks recognition.
The impact of volunteer management
Such is the relative newness of the profession that there has been little research
that assesses the impact of volunteer managers, however a number of smaller
studies have all shown the positive link between volunteer management capacity
and an improved volunteering experience.
In 2001, Zimmeck (The Right Stuff: New ways of thinking about Managing
Volunteers) showed a positive correlation between volunteer satisfaction and the
volunteer manager. 78% of volunteers asked said their satisfaction relied on the
role of the volunteer manager.
In 2006 an internal volunteer survey by one organisations, found a strong
correlation between the positive experiences volunteers had had and the
existence of a specific volunteer manager.
What was your experience of applying to volunteer?
Volunteers with a volunteer manager
83% said it was good/satisfactory
Volunteers without a volunteer manager
62% said it was good/satisfactory
What was your experience of the selection process?
Volunteers with a volunteer manager
85% said it was good/satisfactory
Volunteers without a volunteer manager
64% said it was good/satisfactory
Do you feel valued as a volunteer?
Volunteers with a volunteer manager
Volunteers without a volunteer manager
94% said yes
64% said yes
Would you recommend volunteering at the organisation?
Volunteers with a volunteer manager
91% said yes
Volunteers without a volunteer manager
66% said yes
In 2008, Hutchinson and Ockenden (The impact of public policy on volunteering in
community-based organisations), found that an increased capacity within
volunteer management led to an improvement in recruiting and managing
volunteers.
One organisation that secured funding to employ a volunteer manager noticed the
benefits:
‘It’s because we have been able to dedicate more time to recruiting, training
and supporting the volunteers. We are getting better at attracting and retaining
skilled volunteers’.
Another organisation that received funding to develop its involvement of
volunteers did not just see a benefit in diversifying their volunteer pool but also
saw a knock-on effect in diversifying their service-users:
‘We have been successful in recruiting for diversity; we have been successful
in recruiting BME volunteers, which means we have been successful in
drawing in BME service users.’
In addition, anecdotally, both the number of people with a remit to manage
volunteers and the support available has increased significantly. If this is correct,
then a correlation can be drawn with the results from the national volunteering
surveys in 1997 and 2007. In 1997, 71% volunteers said they felt their
volunteering could be better organised. Ten years later this had fallen to 31%.
The importance of the role was also identified by Baroness Neuberger’ in her
review in March 2008 of volunteering in the health & social care
‘Most importantly, they need to be managed strategically by a professional
volunteer manager who can ensure that the volunteers’ needs are being met,
and that the role they are fulfilling is of use to staff and beneficiaries.’
Our recommendations
We are pleased to note the commitment to excluding any notion of compulsory
volunteering and keeping the distinction between volunteering and other forms of
community service.
We are also pleased to note the commitment towards moving to a culture of threeyear rather than one-year grants, although we believe this should be a first step
towards five-year grants in recognition that the practical implications of recruiting
staff, setting projects up etc means even three year funding rarely provides an
effective three year project.
1.
Direct funding for volunteer management
Effective investment and support in volunteer management is of paramount
importance in developing volunteering. The majority of volunteer managers
say that on current resources they could not support more than another 10
volunteers in their work (Management matters: a national survey of
volunteer management capacity, 2008).
AVM does not believe that Government should permanently fund volunteer
management, rather that it is for organisations to recognise that volunteer
management is an essential part of their core business and to prioritise
accordingly.
However, many organisations do not have a culture of volunteer
management and therefore the ability to recognise the importance of
volunteer management.
We recommend that a future Conservative government establishes a
volunteer management ‘pump-priming’ fund, whose aim is not just to
develop volunteering in a particular geographical area, with a particular
client group or an under-represented volunteer demographic but also to
assess the impact of having a volunteer manager so that the organisation
has the evidence to prioritise its funding in the future.
This fund would partly replace current funding programmes that target
specific under-represented groups to volunteer.
A properly skilled and supported volunteer manager has the skill and
knowledge to involve volunteers from under-represented groups. Simply
targeting under-represented groups does not always meet the needs of
clients and fragments the volunteering population rather than developing
volunteering as a continuum through a person’s life.
2.
Provide an access to volunteering fund
Establish and continue to provide a fund to cover the additional costs, over
and above any reasonable expenses, of adjustments that need to be made
in order for disabled people to engage in volunteering.
3.
Ensure policies and initiatives are ‘volunteer-management’ proofed
Volunteering has a role to play in helping deliver government targets and
we envisage volunteering will become even more important during the
current recession. However, too often, organisations are expected to
deliver services, and involve more volunteers, without that necessary
support. As a consequence, service delivery suffers, quality suffers and the
volunteer experience suffers, thus making it less likely that they will
volunteer again.
Government should therefore ensure that all policies and initiatives that
involve and affect volunteering are promoted across Government are
‘volunteer-management proofed’ so that there is the volunteermanagement infrastructure to support the volunteering development.
4.
Develop a more volunteer-friendly society
Many people and organisations still find still find bureaucracy, regulations
and attitudes one of the man obstacles to volunteering, for example, job
centres failing to adhere to Department for Works and Pensions regulations
that allow time for volunteering while claiming benefits.
Action is therefore welcomed to develop a society where volunteering is
more accessible by:

ensuring that there is proper cross-departmental working that
ensures volunteering initiatives are not misapplied or
misunderstood;

ensuring that regulations, legislation and policies are understood
and acted upon within the public sector;

developing regulations, legislation and policies in consultation
specifically with volunteer managers (not just the volunteering sector
which normally means chief executives), so that there are no
unintended consequences that discourage volunteering;

where services are being commissioned, to ensure that
commissioners recognise the ability of volunteers to deliver services
and the added value that involving volunteers brings to a contract;
and

To lead by example by enabling and actively encouraging
government staff to volunteer.
For further information
The management of volunteers is integral to volunteering becoming a social norm.
We would be pleased to help the Conservatives expand their thinking on
developing volunteering.
John Ramsey, Chair
Association of Volunteer Managers
9 Stamford Road
Watford
Hertfordshire WD17 4QS
www.volunteermanagers.org.uk
john.ramsey@volunteermanagers.org.uk