Liverpool FC Foundation is the first professional football club’s community programme in the world to launch a digital volunteer portal for their outreach programme.
The club’s Foundation has joined a host of other sport and voluntary organisations already supported by TeamKinetic, which aims to make it easier for volunteers to make a difference in people’s lives and communities. The portal will improve the recruitment and deployment of volunteers across all of Liverpool FC Foundation’s activities.
For 20 years LFC Foundation’s outreach programme has benefitted many of the communities in Merseyside and beyond. Through various initiatives and programmes, the foundation has embedded itself within the community. This includes supporting young and old, military veterans, those in need of some emotional support or even those just looking for something to do in the holidays. These programmes all share a focus on one or more of three fundamentals of community, skill and wellbeing.
Coach and Players working together
LFC are using TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software, which has already logged nearly one million voluntary hours of various organisations. These hours are making a difference in people’s lives and communities and LFC Foundation’s involvement will only increase the impact this makes.
Dawn Georgeson, Volunteer Project Lead at Liverpool Football Club, said:
“The new online volunteering portal provides volunteers with increased access to the opportunities available and enables them to sign up at their own leisure. This makes the process of volunteering more convenient and the process of tracking the opportunities is much clearer for them. The software will also support LFC Foundation by reducing the time spent on administrative tasks and paperwork. This will then be complemented by the intelligent reports the system makes available. All round the software is supporting the role of volunteer managers.”
Chris Martin, Founding Director at TeamKinetic, said: “TeamKinetic has a long history in sports volunteering, so it is really exciting when we can work with a partner such as Liverpool FC and look to make a real difference to those at the community level and enable them to do more. Liverpool FC is world renowned and we’re delighted to welcome them on board and keen to see how we can we can help them use their brand to do even more good work. We look forward to supporting Dawn and her team, who have been doing a great job and we are confident that TeamKinetic will only add to their success.”
TeamKinetic has been providing volunteer management software to third-sector organisations for over ten years. As part of our service, we also provide free volunteer management software to organisations through our national brokerage website tryvolunteering.com providing TeamKinetic FREE.
This is the perfect opportunity for organisations to test the benefits of advertising opportunities nationally, understand the benefits of volunteer management software’s reporting functionality and test the responsiveness of volunteers to join opportunities through an online portal. TeamKinetic FREE lets you manage an unlimited number of volunteers on one opportunity.
To help understand the benefits of volunteer management software, TeamKinetic have put together this short guide:
What is volunteer management software?
‘Volunteer Management Software’ is a term coined to describe a built-for-purpose computer system which can be used by voluntary organisations to recruit and manage volunteers. It creates an online portal for volunteers to access advertised opportunities, which in turn makes volunteering more accessible. There are various systems available on the market. Each provider of volunteer management software takes a different approach to delivering their software system and this is reflected in the functionality, features and design.
Who uses volunteer management software?
Volunteer management software is used by many voluntary, non-government, education, health and sport organisations. The staff that use the systems often include volunteer managers, community engagement officers, events coordinators, sports development officers, volunteer coordinators, HR and operation staff, and many more.
What does volunteer management software do?
Volunteer management software helps organisations to reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks. The software also helps to recruit and deploy volunteers. Depending on the software provider, additional functionality may be available, such as reporting features, social media sharing, communication tools and much more.
What is the difference between free and paid versions of volunteer management software?
Free volunteer management software often has limitations or simplified functionality. As more functionality, reports and functionality increase, so does the price of the software.
TeamKinetic provides several volunteer management software options to match the needs of different organisations. We have one free version and three paid versions of volunteer management software.
TeamKinetic FREE is a free volunteer management software system that is hosted on tryvolunteering.com. You can’t control the look at feel of the site, but you can advertise opportunities and invite volunteers.
TeamKinetic ADVANCED and TeamKinetic ENTERPRISE are both bespoke systems that are hosted on their own domain and include higher functionality features. You can find out more about this on our website.
What features and functionality does TeamKinetic FREE include?
TeamKinetic FREE is a national volunteer brokerage system with advanced volunteer management functionality; it acts as a virtual portal for volunteers to find voluntary opportunities. Removing the restrictions of traditional volunteering sign-up, your organisation will be bought into the digital age and will save valuable time, previously spent on administration tasks.
In all versions of TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software volunteers can access all of the same features. These features include:
the ability to join opportunities,
Create a profile
track achievements
add CPD and qualifications
track opportunities attended
log hours
Search for opportunities, events and training by:
keywords
categories
activities
distance and date
leave opportunity feedback
share opportunities on social media
As an opportunity provider you can:
Create a profile for your organisation
Create opportunities
Manage unlimited volunteers
Group volunteers
Check DBS
Request references
Access automated emails
Upload documents
Restrict opportunities
Share the opportunity onto Do-It
Using TeamKinetic enables you to report on essential KPIs and Data, including:
Gender of Volunteers
Volunteer Ethnicity
Volunteer Age Groups
Volunteer Group Membership
Hours Logged by Category
Opportunity numbers by category
Monthly cumulative logged hours
Unique Active Opportunity Sessions
Available Opportunity Sessions
All of this data is available for download in a CVS file.
What if my organisation needs its own system?
As mentioned, TeamKinetic also provides bespoke volunteer management software systems which can be integrated into your organisation’s current website. We are more than happy to discuss the pricing of the system, the specification required and which version would best meet your organisation’s needs.
Where can I find out more / Can I discuss this further with you?
TeamKinetic is always happy to help and support voluntary organisations and we will happily discuss which option of our software would be best suited to your organisation’s needs. Speak with one of our specialist Team today.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
If you haven’t started preparing your organisation for compliance then the next 3 months are crucial. If you have started getting ready for the GDPR deadline, keep going.
Make sure your board is bought in to the importance of the project. Having the support you need from the top is vital to the GDPR compliance process.
ONCE THE GDPR COMES INTO FORCE, YOUR BUSINESS MUST:*
Keep a record of data operations and activities and consider if you have the required data processing agreements in place
Carry out privacy impact assessments (PIAs) on products and systems
If applicable to your organisation, designate a data protection officer (DPO)
Review processes for the collection of personal data
Be aware of your duty to notify the relevant supervisory authority of a data breach
Implement “privacy by design” and “privacy by default” in the design of new products and assess whether existing products meet GDPR standards
What are TeamKinetic doing right now
See what we have already put in place, to be ready for 25th May 2018.
Are the rules different for electronic communications?
What is TeamKinetic doing right now?
Disclaimer: The information in this whitepaper is for your general guidance only and is not and shall not constitute legal advice. If you need advice on your rights or responsibilities or any legal advice around data protection matters, please obtain specific legal advice and contact an adviser or solicitor.
Let’s refresh…
What is the GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a binding legislative act from the European Union for the protection of personal data. The Regulation tackles the inconsistent data protection laws currently existing throughout the EU’s member states and facilitates the secure, free-flow of data.
Why do you need to know about it?
As of April 2016, businesses have been preparing for the legislation coming into effect on 25th May 2018. Although we are in the process of leaving the EU, working towards GDPR compliance remains crucial.
If you fail to comply with the Regulation you could find yourself being fined up to 4% of your company’s global annual turnover and your reputation damaged beyond repair.
That is 4500% increase on current fines that can be issued by the ICO!!
Now that the deadline is just 3 months away, is your organisation ready?
Why has the GDPR come about?
There is a need in Europe and beyond for a standardised data protection framework that addresses the rapid technological advancements that have taken place in recent years, putting the personal data of the masses at risk.
Where do vulnerabilities lie?
Everywhere. All organisations are at risk of a cyber-attack, despite common misconceptions that some industries are more secure than others.
The results of a survey carried out by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of 173 councils at the end of 2016 reveals that more than 15% of councils do not have data protection training for employees processing personal data and a third do not carry out privacy impact assessments (PIAs) as required by the GDPR.
The survey’s release coincided with the news that the ICO had fined Norfolk Council £60,000 for a data breach in which social work files were discovered in a cabinet bought in a second-hand shop by a member of the public.
Capgemini: The Currency of Trust, February 2017
74% of UK SMEs had a security breach in 2016.
While leaving vulnerable information in a cabinet or on a train may seem like a problem from 1997 rather than 2017 – when cloud technology means physical files never need to leave the office – the overarching security challenge remains.
Professionals across the public and private sectors must be aware of the nature of the data they are accessing from their home networks and ensure they are doing so securely.
Computer Weekly: Many Councils Still Unprepared for GDPR, March 2017
What about Brexit?
Despite the vote to leave the EU, UK businesses must continue to work towards GDPR compliance. Not only has the UK government stated that it is good business practice to do so, but the legislation applies to all businesses working within the EU and with EU data. A failure to comply can lead to significant fines and irreparable damage to a company’s reputation.
The latest thinking is that the UK could replace the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA) with legislation that mirrors the GDPR, enabling the UK to achieve free data flow with the EU post-Brexit. The government has warned that it may take two to three years for the European Council (EC) to decide that the UK has an adequate data protection regime.
While the impact of the Investigatory Powers Act on the UK’s GDPR compliance has yet to be fully understood, it is possible that the mass surveillance and data retention practices carried out under the Act could cause issues when the EC comes to decide whether the UK’s practices are adequate. The existence of these two extraordinarily contradictory legislations could result in a UK equivalent of the Privacy Shield agreement held between the US and the EU to facilitate secure transatlantic data flow.
If your business activities are contained within the UK or elsewhere within Europe, you will have to observe the protections afforded by the GDPR for citizens.
What happens if my business is not complaint?
The GDPR introduces a two-tier fine system that emphasises just how small a financial deterrent existed under the Data Protection Act (DPA).
As of the 2018 deadline, any data controller or processor that fails to comply with the Regulation will face the following fines:
Tier 1
If a data breach occurs that puts highly important data at risj, the data controller/processor will be fined upto €20M (£17.25M) or 4% of the previous year’s global annual turnover, whichever is greater.
Tier 2
Any other data breach could lead to fines of up to €10M (£8.6M) or 2% of the previous year’s global annual turnover, whichever is greater.
It is estimated that if breaches remain at the same level as in 2015, the fines given will raise 90 fold from €1.4 billion to €122 billion
Key changes to consent
Do you ask your customers for permission before you use their data? Do you go a step further and tell them what it will be used for? If the answer to either – or both – of these questions is no, you could be in trouble if you don’t start changing your ways before the GDPR deadline.
Why is consent important?
Consent enables your business to lawfully process data.
Organisations applying the GDPR’s standards are giving individuals greater control over their information and, in turn, building trusting relationships that ultimately keep customers coming back for more.
Any business found to be misusing personal data will be fined according to the highest level of the two-tier system and – most poignantly – is at serious risk of damaging its own reputation. When is consent required? You must have the data subject’s consent to lawfully process their data. However, just to confuse things, there are instances that will call for consent to be acquired via alternative methods; we’ll clarify this shortly. Consent is also needed under ePrivacy laws if you’re in the business of tracking communications and installing software and apps on devices.
If you want to use someone’s personal data they must give you explicit consent to do so. This means in practise no pre-ticked boxes, a user must always choose to tick the box.
If you want to use an individual’s personal data for multiple purposes, they must give consent for each purpose, separately
Who might need an alternative method of gaining consent?
Most commonly, data controllers in a position of power such as public authorities and employers who are likely to find getting valid consent challenging and so must consider the alternative options.
For example, if you are a highly successful eCommerce business is bringing on board a new supplier of garden furniture, you will need a contract with them that clarifies the role of each party and enables you to lawfully process their data.
Whether you are the data controller or processor, you must always record how consent was given, who from, when, how, and what the interested parties were told.
You must not bundle your consent request with your standard terms and conditions.
Does your consent process meet GDPR standards?
Carry out a thorough review of existing consent processes and asses whether they meet the Regulation’s requirements. if they do, there is no need to request consent from the subject again.
Key changes to breach notifications
Europe had a phenomenally inconsistent data protection landscape. It meant that when a Switzerland-based business suffered a data breach affecting people in Greece, Italy and Spain, the organisation would need to comply with the breach notification standards of each of the three member states.
This lack of uniformity throughout Europe means that while some member states, such as Spain and Germany, are recognised for their rigorous data breach privacy laws, there are also member states with minimal to no regulations in place.
In this environment, organisations in lax member states have not needed to notify an authority of a breach.
The GDPR smooths all this out with the introduction of a single breach notification requirement.
What is a personal data breach?
A personal data breach is not simply the loss of data but a breach of security, resulting in the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of or access to personal data.
When must the relevant supervisory authority be notified?
The relevant supervisory authority must be informed of any data breach that puts an individual’s rights and freedoms at risk. This includes a loss of confidentiality and financial loss.
Data controllers must inform the supervisory authority without undue delay and within 72 hours of learning of a personal data breach. They must state:
Its nature
The approximate number of people affected
The contact information for the organisation’s DPO (if one has been appointed)
The controller must also pin-point the likely consequences of the breach and the measures taken to reduce further risk to those affected.
Data processors must tell the data controller about a data breach without undue delay after having become aware of it.
If a breach is significant enough that it is in the public interest, those responsible – be that the controller or processor – must do so without undue delay.
The impact of data breaches If we hark back to our real world TalkTalk and Yahoo examples, we can see that the severe consequences each company experienced following their respective breaches were related to how they handled the aftermath of the breach and not simply because the breach happened in the first place.
What should you be doing now?
A personal data breach is not just the loss of that data but a breach of security, resulting in the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of or access to personal data.
Educate your employees about personal data breaches and how to spot when one has occurred.
Set-up an internal process for reporting a personal data breach.
Make sure you have the internal resources and processes in place to detect and investigate breaches. Speak to any third-party data processers if they are storing your data.
Put an incident response plan in place.
Are the rules different for electronic communications?
No, not really. The EU has introduced a complementary legal framework to the GDPR to clarify exactly what data controllers and processors must be doing to protect individuals’ communications; electronic or otherwise.
New cookies responsibilities for browser providers Users must be given the choice to consent to cookies as part of the browser software set-up. This should reduce or eliminate cookie banners on websites entirely.
Extra-territoriality and 4% fines The Regulation no longer applies solely to the EU. It applies to anyone in the world that provides publicly-available “electronic communications services” to acquire data from the devices of EU citizens. Any organisation that breaches the Regulation will be subject to the GDPR’s two-tier fine system. That means you should be paying attention even if your business is contained within the UK.
The Regulation application is expanded Unlike its predecessor, the ePrivacy Directive, the ePrivacy Regulation goes beyond the traditional telecommunications organisations and internet service providers. It incorporates messaging apps like WhatsApp, and email providers, amongst other communications suppliers such as Facebook and Snapchat.
New rules for processing communications data The Regulation introduces new rules for handling: what was said, who said it, where and when. This data is confidential; interfering with it could result in a Tier 1 fine.
Exemption analytics cookies Businesses are exempt from the cookie consent requirement when using firstparty analytics. However, using third-party analytics platforms such as Google Analytics requires user consent.
For the non-techy amongst you, ‘party’ refers to the website that places the cookie. So when you visit www.ukfast.co.uk, and you find the domain of the cookie placed on your computer is www.ukfast.co.uk, this is a first-party cookie. If you visit www.ukfast. co.uk and a cookie by a suspiciously dissimilar name appears, this cookie has been placed by a third party.
Like the GDPR, the ePrivacy Regulation will come in to effect on the 25th May 2018.
Continuing our celebrations of #IVMD17 and the latest update to VolunteerKinetic 7.3, we’d like to introduce our newest addition to the team, James Carr.
Much like d’Artagnan, my journey began by setting out in search of a new beginning.
I was ready for a challenge, using my skills and knowledge to prove myself as capable.
My studies in Sport Management had equipped me with the theoretical knowledge needed and a handful of short-term internships had given me the practical opportunity to apply it. I enjoyed the dynamic nature of marketing, from understanding the needs of the target audience to creating strategise and analysing results. I also realised how important it was for me to believe in the company, its purpose and values.
When I was invited to an interview at a small business office in Manchester for the role of Marketing Coordinator, I knew such an opportunity had arrived.
Despite all my preparation, on the morning of the interview, my apprehension began to build. With clammy hands, a dry mouth and my collar feeling like it had shrunk an inch since setting off that morning; I eventually arrived at the entrance.
The moment I met the three men who greeted me I relaxed. Perhaps it was their warm welcomes, the light-hearted small talk or just the overall friendliness of these guys that made me so at ease. As we spoke I realised that their work was more than just a job. Collectively they were driven by the goal of delivering a product focused on: building better communities through volunteering.
Of course, those “three men” were TeamKinetic – Chris, Rolf and Steve!
Thankfully, our introductions skipped any duels! In a short space of time, I gained a real understanding of their camaraderie, the crucial role each played and the extensive knowledge that each possessed in understanding their client’s needs.
In the interview, I shared my vision for a Boxing Club at the University and the story of how I turnt it into a reality.
I coached my club each week, drilling them on technique, fitness and skill. My success measured by the numbering regulars and increasing new members who turned up. I learnt the importance of organisation, communication and leadership. My experience volunteering equipped me with skills I had never considered before, which I now hold to be invaluable.
Like me, TeamKinetic had their own vision. They wanted to enhance the ability of volunteers managers with a system that engaged volunteers, made their management simpler and more intelligent. Although they had already been working hard to make this possible, they needed someone to help market their brilliant product.
This was certainly something I could do. Thankfully, they thought so too!
Since settling into the team I have learnt so much more about those who make TeamKinetic possible. I have also had the opportunity to speak to some of their clients, who expressed how much they like working with TeamKinetic and their application.
Now my role is to support the company through marketing the great
service they deliver for the likes of Manchester City Council Council, Glasglow Volunteer Centre and Cardiff Metropolitan University.
With a real love of sport, volunteering and marketing, I am excited to begin this opportunity alongside everyone at TeamKinetic.
“All for one; one for all.”
James Carr
Marketing Coordinator
If you have any thoughts you would like to share, please feel free to contact me at:
The Special Olympics is truly a bona-fide international event but it’s athletes often require a little more care and attention. This article gives a great example of how professional services for events of this nature can be safely provided by the voluntary sector.
If you have a story about Volunteers providing a service in exceptional circumstances we would love to hear. Get in touch at info@smarterindesign.com.
The role of the 3rd Sector in the delivery of Health and Social care may be the only long term way to ensure some services survive. This fantastic article from Sarah Swindley, Chief Executive, Lancashire Women’s Centres outlines some of the major problems but also shed some light on the potential benefits.
How do we best define and articulate the role of the voluntary sector in health and social care? I’ve been asking myself that question increasingly regularly.
I run Lancashire Women’s Centres – a medium-sized regional charity working across a number of areas, including health, social care and criminal justice. As well as being a charity, we are also a company, a provider delivering NHS contracts and part of a private-sector-led criminal justice supply chain. The boundaries between the sectors are so blurred they’re becoming hard to see. However, we retain at our heart a set of core values to offer the best services to the most vulnerable in our communities and to have the basic aim of putting ourselves out of business by not being needed any more.
In 2013, Lancashire Women’s Centres was the overall winner of the GSK IMPACT Awards, funded by GSK and run in partnership with The King’s Fund and awarded annually to recognise and reward charities doing excellent work to improve people’s health. One of the key benefits of winning this award is the opportunity to join a growing and formidable network of past winners. As a group, we regularly get together to build our leadership skills, to share challenges and solutions and to shape our relationship with The King’s Fund, the NHS and the wider health and social care system. The knowledge and expertise we bring from running a range of successful health charities is there for commissioners and policy-makers to use and draw from. But how far is this expertise recognised?
The external environment since we won has changed fairly dramatically, with integration of health and social care becoming one of the key challenges to be addressed by the NHS five year forward view. However, despite the recognition in the Forward View that ‘voluntary organisations often have an impact well beyond what statutory services alone can achieve’, from the discussions we’ve had locally and nationally, it appears that the third sector is still poorly represented in successful integrated partnerships. Why is that? How do we better articulate our ‘offer’ and how it fits into an integrated model?
There are some considerable barriers to integration. Looking from the sidelines I see the practical issues – pay scales, organisational culture, information-sharing and measurement to name a few – which mean local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have difficult conversations ahead. Bringing volunteers into the picture as recognised assets who will support outcomes in health and social care and add to workforce capacity is only just starting to happen.
When thinking about writing this blog, I hosted a roundtable for local health leaders from CCGs and public health – to gauge their view of the sector and understand how they saw us fitting into the developing plans. It was apparent that there is a definite appetite and willingness to engage with the third sector, although lots of energy has been spent trying to find a single point of contact, which seems to be causing some paralysis. Working through consortia and partnerships goes some way to addressing this, but I wonder if the same would be asked of the private sector?
Much of the third sector is well able to operate with maturity in a competitive market place. The skills and delivery models within the sector go far beyond delivering volunteer-led services to older people, vital though this work is. Third sector organisations provide flexible and diverse services within health and social care, reaching and benefiting communities often most distanced from statutory services.
I would like third sector organisations to be treated as providers that are already modelling integrated commissioning. Lancashire Women’s Centres work holistically across silos to reduce individuals’ vulnerability and help them to reach their potential. If you help someone to free themselves from debt, improve their literacy, live safely without fear of abuse, then as a consequence their health improves, their management of their long-term conditions improves, their attendance at A&E reduces, and their risk of suicide decreases. Commissioners are starting to understand that.
There is a view that what the third sector offers can be replicated and driven from inside the NHS, that community programmes can be bolted onto clinical services. I would argue this is the wrong way round and is the most expensive option; I advocate getting clinicians out and into communities. My vision for Lancashire Women’s Centres over the next couple of years is for us to have access to GPs that ‘belong’ to the service users – who will be able to prescribe medication or send for X-ray in a responsive way that fits those with complex needs who might not turn up for an appointment because they are scared to go out in case the bailiffs come, or are so wracked with anxiety they can’t get out of the door.
So let the third sector be round the table when plans for communities are being shaped – we understand this is no guarantee of future funding, but we have links to communities and patients that can help shape services in new ways.
Kathryn Edwards is NCVO’s volunteering development team assistant. She assists with projects supporting NCVO’s work on volunteer management and good practice and plays a key role in helping to organise Volunteers Week. Kathryn also supports the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, working with organisations attaining the standard.
This week we celebrate Student Volunteering Week. This is a great time to recognise their significant contribution to the wider community, and to pay special attention to them as an invaluable source of time, talent, skills and creativity.
Having proudly volunteered and worked within a student volunteering charity, I’ve seen the extent of the role that student volunteers play throughout a city’s volunteering infrastructure. There were many essential roles fulfilled by diverse and energetic student volunteers, mostly benefiting people outside of their university. Research by IVR shows that 95% of student volunteers are motivated by a desire to improve things or help people, ranking higher than developing skills (88%) and gaining work experience (83%).
My top tips for involving student volunteers in your organisation.
1. Getting the opportunities right
Student volunteers have differing requirements, whether that is time commitments, varying skills or interests. Providing a broad range of opportunities will help you to recruit and retain them.
Be aware of their academic timetable and provide opportunities outside of the normal working day.
An NUS report states that the main barrier for students who do not currently volunteer was not having enough time; students said they would like to see more one-off opportunities to encourage them to volunteer. Student Volunteering Week is a perfect time to run one-off ormicro volunteering to give potential volunteers a quick snap shot of volunteering with your organisation and could potentially lead to students volunteering on a regular basis.
2. Create opportunities that develop skills
Think about what skills and experience the volunteer will need and gain from particular opportunities and include this within the volunteer role descriptions.
Even though a large majority of student volunteers are motivated by the desire to make a difference, developing their skills and getting work experience in meaningful roles is key to attracting student volunteers.
Opportunities that have skills which link with their academic course may seem more appealing to potential volunteers. The NUS report states that 40% of students said that education institutions linking volunteering opportunities to their course or academic qualification would encourage them to do more volunteering.
3. Provide clear and accurate role descriptions
Volunteer role descriptions must provide an accurate idea of the work the volunteer will be doing to avoid any misunderstanding. It should identify why the role is needed and the benefits to both the volunteer and the organisation as identified in the Investing in Volunteers standard.
Think about how you might adapt a role to meet the volunteer’s skills and requirements. Being able to provide materials in alternative formats, for example, audio and easy to read versions, can be extremely useful when trying to engage a diverse range of volunteers – which leads me on to…
4. Engage a diverse range of student volunteers
Think carefully about where you promote your volunteering opportunities. Is there a volunteering hub within the university/union to promote your opportunity? If not, try and build relationships with the Student Union and departments within the university to engage a diverse audience. Look at promoting in shops, cafes, libraries, magazines and newspapers that students regularly use and read. Think about the different groups and activities they might be involved in.
You could also work with existing student volunteers to spread the word. Ambassadors can provide real examples of their volunteering experiences and can help to produce creative recruitment messages that appeals to that audience. Using social media can help to share these messages through stories, photos and videos, and are a powerful way to inspire, engage and sustain student’s social action.
NUS research shows almost half of all students found out about volunteering opportunities through friends and family, with their place of study the second most common source of finding out about volunteering opportunities.
5. Support your student volunteers
Support and consistent communication is key to retaining volunteers. Volunteers should be provided with:
a point of contact
the opportunity to attend regular supervisions
group meetings.
This also provides an opportunity to regularly recognise the contribution they have made.
In order to retain volunteers, they must feel valued and supported. The quality of support and communication they receive can determine how effective they will be as a volunteer.
Work with volunteers to clarify their interests and what they would like to gain from volunteering – this will help you to offer them the right kind of role and opportunities to develop.
Half of the UK workforce would be given three days’ paid leave each year to volunteer, under Conservative plans unveiled on Friday. Every public sector worker and anyone working in a company with at least 250 employees – more than 15 million people in total – would be entitled to the volunteering leave, David Cameron announced. The Prime Minister said the pledge is “clearest demonstration of the Big Society in action”.
A series of high profile business figures welcomed the new plans for paid volunteering leave.
Mike Rake, chairman of BT, went one further than the Prime Minister, describing corporate volunteering as a “triple win”. He said it was “a win for the community, a win for individuals doing the volunteering, and a win for companies”.
“We welcome the Prime Minister reminding us of the importance of business to society,” he added.
Peter Cheese, chief executive at the CIPD, the professional body for the HR industry, said: “Our research shows that corporate volunteering benefits society, as well as businesses through building stronger roots with the communities they work in and serve, and engaging and developing new skills in their employees. It’s great to see this agenda being championed.”
John Cridland, Director General of the CBI: “Businesses encourage their employees to volunteer in the community and should do even more to increase this. It is a win win for everyone concerned”
Bear Grylls, the adventurer and TV presenter, also backed the plans, saying: “Firm Government support that enables millions to volunteer is a huge step forward towards building solid communities all around the UK.”
However, not everyone supported the idea. Lisa Nandy, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Civil Society, said: “Giving every public servant three extra days off could cost millions of pounds but there’s no sense of how it will be paid for. If just half of public sector workers took this up it would be the time equivalent of around 2,000 nurses, 800 police and almost 3,000 teachers.”
Some business groups are in little doubt that the policy will hit companies’ bottom lines. As Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, put it:
“Businesses should support their staff if they want to volunteer, but the architects of this idea cannot pretend that forcing firms to give an additional three days of paid leave will do anything other than add costs. This announcement not only undermines the Tory record on reducing business regulation, it also puts additional pressure on public sector employers, and ultimately the taxpayer. Frankly, the essence of volunteering is that it is voluntary. The IoD would welcome proposals to incentivise and make it easier for companies to facilitate volunteering, but it has to be a choice.”
Ryan Bourne, head of public policy at the Institute of Economic Affairs, was even more trenchant in his critique the Conservative’ latest plan to increase volunteering:
“This is another example of politicians imposing burdens on business and taxpayers for the sake of sounding caring. At a time when everyone is telling us that the NHS and other services are overstretched, the idea that it should be a priority to allow public sector employees to take three days off for volunteering elsewhere, funded by the taxpayer, is ludicrous.”
What does it mean for the voluntary sector? Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, and Asheem Singh, director of public policy at Acevo, think this is a exciting proposal for the voluntary sector and businesses.
Etherington said: “Many charities urgently need more volunteers to support their work, while volunteering is an excellent way for employees to develop skills and confidence that will benefit their employers. Anything that helps encourage our culture of volunteering is very welcome. We look forward to seeing the detail of the proposal.”
Singh said: “It recognises the crucial role of charities in building a better society. The workplace is a new frontier for social action, and this new legal right will help support a new generation of socially responsible citizens.”
However, some people on Twitter question the Conservatives’ agenda with this policy, arguing that it is just another way to fill gaps in public services.
Oonagh Aitken, chief executive of CSV, said: “As an organisation with an established employee volunteering programme, we know the benefits to employees, the workplace and communities.”
She does, however, argue that: “If this policy is to be implemented, it highlights the need to invest in volunteering organisations so that the best use is made of employees’ skills and interests when they do volunteer.”
The key question is how to make all this work for the charities – traditional team building initiatives (such as fence painting) can be a drain rather than a boost so the challenge is to design something more meaningful that can be completed in three days. Most successful schemes take a lot of resource to set up well and often a broker is required to develop something that is mutually beneficial for both businesses and charities. Volunteering in a more collaborative and flexible way, for example allowing employees to choose causes they care most about, or being able to ‘pool’ their volunteering days. That way the volunteering has greater impact on the charity, is more engaging for the volunteer – and yields greater benefits for the business will be key to this policy leading to Volunteers rather than the Volun-told. It seems certain that the Big Society is still very much a controversial subject.
If you saw our post about the Labour Manifesto, you might be wondering what the other parties are bringing to the table! This is a very brief summary of the main policy points in the Lib Dem and UKIP manifestos we think you in the voluntary sector will want to know about.
Liberal Democrats
The Liberals have a strong theme of support for social action and community rights throughout the manifesto. Ruth Driscoll, Head of Policy and Public Services at the NCVO welcomes “their focus on early intervention” “which would better support vulnerable people and would lead to long-term cost-saving”
Improved incentives for work programme providers, many of which are voluntary organisations. To update the Lobbying Act to draw on Lord Hodgson’s work is also seen are very positive.
The manifesto recognises the value of the public having a voice in decision-making. The voluntary sector’s role in providing and enabling this must be protected though it is not clear how this will be done.
UKIP
UKIP have said they would like to energise the voluntary sector in the build-up to this manifesto, but what does that mean? They are committed to scrapping the National Citizen Service, repealing International Aid, reducing the cabinet office spending on ‘big society projects’ and scrapping the Defra Waste resource action project. They believe this will save £250 million in the first year.
They would replace these projects with the funding of 800 food banks and local advice centres, a veterans administration that would coordinate the work of existing charities and most interesting is the funding of “community agents and the voluntary sector” although specific details are very thin on the ground.
They also claim that by leaving the EU they would be able to offer more VAT relief to charitable organisations on some services and products.
In summary
What is clear, is that all parties recognise the importance of the voluntary sector, especially in a time of economic difficulty and for the poorest in society. There do seem to be some real differences in how they think the sector should be funded and governed, and the role of government in that process. Whoever wins, I think the sector is going to see even greater change over the next parliament and will need to be ready to adapt.
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With the dust starting to settle and people having time to digest all the promises we look at some of the key areas of the Labour manifesto and what it might mean for Volunteers.
A Labour plan to bring back guaranteed childcare from 8am to 6pm in all primary schools has made it into the party’s manifesto. First mooted in September 2013 the policy had since been sidelined as the party focused on criticising unqualified teachers and opposing the government’s free schools programme. But “wraparound childcare” is back on the agenda. A single sentence in Labour’s education manifesto, released last week, has become an entire paragraph in the party’s main manifesto, launched today in Manchester.
“We will help families by expanding free childcare from 15 to 25 hours per week for working parents of three and four-year-olds, paid for with an increase in the bank levy. We will also introduce a legal guarantee for parents of primary school children to access wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm through their local primary school. As well as helping parents, this will provide children with before and after-school clubs and activities, helping to raise their aspirations and attainment. This will be underpinned by a new National Primary Childcare Service, a not-for-profit organisation to promote the voluntary and charitable delivery of quality extracurricular activities.”
Most interesting is the final point which refers to this provision being provided by the voluntary and charitable sector, although detail is thin on the ground right now it would appear that Labour are keen to see the existing 3rd sector providers meet this demand but it does not explain how this will be funded. With many schools already offering extensive activities and providing some type of service it is unclear how the National Primary Childcare Service will actually operate.
Asheem Singh, Director of Public Policy at the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, the UK’s largest trade body for charity and social enterprise leaders said:
“Charities and social enterprises will be most excited by the Labour promise to repeal the Lobbying Act. When politicians voted to restrict the amount grassroots campaign groups could spend on campaigns in this election year while voting at the same time to raise the amount that politicians could spend on their own campaigns, a basic principle of decency and democracy was violated. At ACEVO we are pleased that our sector’s persistence and the argument of our manifesto ‘Free Society’ has been accepted. We look forward to this injustice being rectified, ideally in the first hundred days of the new parliament, whoever wins the election.”
The Lobbying Act reduces the amount grassroots campaigners can spend in an election year by 60%. Earlier this year politicians voted themselves a 23% rise in the amount they could spend during the campaign.
Labour’s commitment to early intervention and preventative, community care is welcome and it is only through proper partnership with state and community providers that we can make a difference on a community basis. Labour have committed to pooled budgets that bring health and care together, but more detail is needed to see how this might be delivered on a community-by-community basis and what this might mean for the voluntary sector providers.
Labour’s proposals to localise public services and get funding to organisations that deliver social value through regional banks are welcome news to the sector but will require more detail. Localism has three dimensions – economic, constitutional and public service based evidence suggests that detailed policy is needed on all three if excellent services with a plurality of providers can be delivered.
What is really becoming clear is that both parties see a growing role for the voluntary sector in the next parliament which is sure to see a continuation of budget cuts and austerity whichever party wins. Both main parties have recognised the importance of an active voluntary sector to protect some of those public services. Volunteers and volunteer organisations must wake up to the new politics of the 21st century where they play an ever more important role.
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