Involve, motivate, and retain volunteers

This standard is about working with volunteers to focus on the nature of your relationship with volunteers. From before they make a commitment to volunteer, throughout their time with your organisation, and beyond the conclusion of their formal volunteering agreement.

1. use agreed methods to identify:
• the types of people who may wish to volunteer
• ways of accessing potential volunteers
• key motivations people may have for wishing to volunteer
2. use appropriate cost and time-effective communication methods to access groups of potential volunteers
3. help potential volunteers to understand:
• the importance of volunteering to meet your organisation's goals
• how people with diverse abilities, styles and motivations can make valuable contributions as volunteers
• the volunteering opportunities available and what is involved
• the commitment they need to make as volunteers
• the potential benefits of volunteering and how volunteering can meet their needs and expectations
4. provide factual evidence to illustrate how volunteers have contributed and benefitted personally in the past
5. provide opportunities for people to investigate volunteering opportunities and make a commitment to becoming a volunteer
6. refer people to other volunteering organisations where appropriate
7. evaluate and analyse the response to your promotional activities
8. help volunteers find placements that:
• meet their evolving needs and expectations
• allow them to contribute their experience, knowledge, skills and competence in tangible ways to achieving your organisation's goals
9. provide sufficient support and supervision to allow volunteers to fulfil their roles and carry out their tasks effectively, safely and securely
10. provide opportunities for volunteers to reflect on and articulate their
experience of volunteering
11. provide regular, accurate and balanced feedback to volunteers on their individual and collective contributions and their value to your organisation
12. encourage volunteers to extend their roles within the limits of their knowledge, skills and competence
13. confirm volunteers understand what they need to do if they wish to change their role and contribution to your organisation
14. invite volunteers to discuss their contribution to your organisation,
whenever there are indications that their current role is no longer appropriate
15. check volunteers return all your organisation's property on conclusion of their agreement
16. inform relevant people about the reasons why volunteers conclude their agreements and how the experience of volunteering with your organisation could be improved
17. record information accurately in line with legal requirements and your organisation's policies

1. legal, organisational and policy requirements relevant to your role, the role of others in your organisation and the activities being carried out
2. the relevant national and local guidelines, policies and procedures available and how and when they should be accessed.
3. how to identify the types of people who may wish to volunteer their services
4. methods of identifying people's motivations and how to select and use appropriate methods
5. the principles of effective communication and how to apply them
6. styles and forms of communication and how to adapt them to meet the need of individuals
7. the value of diversity of abilities, styles and motivations amongst volunteers and how to foster such diversity
8. the importance of keeping clear and accurate records and how to do so
9. the principle of confidentiality and what information may be provided to whom
10. the basic principles of motivation and how they apply to your work
11. how to help people articulate their motivations and understand how volunteering can meet their evolving needs and expectations
12. the importance of encouraging volunteers to extend their volunteer roles and how to do so
13. the importance of getting informed feedback from people and how to do so
14. your organisation's wider activities in which volunteers could be involved
15. the types of relationship volunteers may have with your organisation after their agreement is concluded
16. members of your organisation who need to be informed about the reasons why volunteers wish to conclude their agreements and how the experience of volunteering could be improved
17. the importance of ensuring communication methods are cost and time effective and how to do so
18. the different levels of support and supervision volunteers need, how to assess these levels and provide appropriate support
19. the support that volunteers can provide to other volunteers and staff and how to encourage them to give this support
20. the importance of regularly reviewing volunteers' contribution with volunteers and how to do so
21. the range of indications that a volunteer's current role is no longer appropriate and how to identify these
22. the importance of volunteering to meet your organisation's goals
23. the variety of different roles volunteers can fulfil and ways they can contribute to organisational goals
24. the range of abilities, styles and motivations volunteers have and how these affect the types of roles and activities they carry out
25. the volunteering opportunities available in your organisation
26. the benefits volunteers derive from volunteering
27. the type of commitment volunteers need to make
28. opportunities for people to make a commitment to becoming a volunteer
29. other volunteering organisations to which it may be appropriate to refer volunteers
30. details about particular volunteer roles that volunteers need to know
31. the importance of concluding agreements with volunteers in ways that leave the opportunity for future opportunities