Heritage and culture organisations do vital work, preserving the legacies of our past for future generations. They rely on dedicated individuals and effective organisation. This is where volunteer management can be a great tool!

The Role of Volunteers in Heritage Preservation

Volunteers generously offer their time and expertise to nurture and protect our cultural heritage. Whether they’re cataloguing artefacts or leading tours through historic sites, volunteers foster a deeper connection between communities and their heritage.

Challenges in Volunteer Management for Heritage Preservation

While their contributions are incredibly valuable, managing heritage volunteers still comes with its own set of challenges. These include recruitment struggles, providing adequate training, coordinating schedules, and retaining engagement. It’s no doubt that heritage organisations face a fair few hurdles when optimising their volunteer programs.

Volunteer diversity can be a big issue for organisations in the sector. A 2019 report from the Heritage Volunteering Group raised questions about the lack of diversity and the roles volunteers play. Is this still the case in 2024?

Over the years, some great resources have been developed to address this issue. For example, take a look at this Make Your Mark webinar on how you can remove class barriers to heritage volunteering. This is just one of the factors which might be limiting your volunteer diversity.

Make Your Mark have also developed an Inclusive Volunteering Toolkit which is well worth a look at.

Digital resources and tools can help you mobilise a wider range of volunteers as you can recruit outside of your usual ‘bubble’ in a quick and easy way.

The Importance of Effective Volunteer Management

Effective volunteer management is the cornerstone in overcoming these obstacles and maximising impact. By implementing streamlined recruitment processes, offering comprehensive training modules, and fostering open communication channels, heritage organisations can fulfil the true potential of their volunteer base.

Best Practice Volunteer Management for Heritage

To ensure the success of a volunteer programme, organisations must prioritise best practices. This may include establishing clear roles and expectations, providing ongoing support and recognition, and embracing technology to streamline administrative tasks. For example, a volunteer management system. A VMS can save you countless admin hours and help you cultivate a great community of volunteers.

Within TeamKinetic, volunteers are allowed to self-serve – meaning they have an active role in filling out their profile, choosing which opportunities to join, and following opportunity types that interest them.

Overall, volunteer management stands as a powerful tool in heritage preservation. By recognising the invaluable contributions of volunteers and implementing effective management strategies, we can safeguard our cultural legacy for generations to come.

How are we involved with the heritage & culture sector?

We recently announced our partnership with the Heritage Volunteering Group. This collaboration marks a commitment to the preservation of heritage sites and their volunteers.

Our shared aim is to foster community engagement and amplify the impact of volunteer efforts within heritage and culture organisations. In line with this, we are supporting all HVG events as well as their 2024 conference.

HVG’s annual conference is taking place on the 26th and 27th of November. Make sure you get the date in the diary by clicking on this link.

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