One Week to go

Next week I am speaking at the the Centre for Volunteering's Ignite Conference in Sydney, Australia.

 I am very excited to be at this event. I am doing the Plenary and leading three workshops:

1. Help your Organisation to become a Volunteer Magnet
2. Teamwork in Volunteer Programs and Across Your Organisation
3. Social Networking

In addition, we will be launching my new DVD series. 

I look forward to meeting everyone there in seven days time!

Lessons from the "Loss" of Vol England

The Boards of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Volunteering England are considering merging the two organisations by early 2013. It has been stated that such a merger “will enhance the work of both agencies and help deliver on a new vision for volunteering and voluntary action”.

The merged organisation would be known as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations but with an additional "strapline".  It will retain the brands for Volunteering England and Institute for Volunteering Research.

I believe NCVO are a great organisation and a very, very logical merger choice. There will be some things that will go, I suspect.  Eventually, Institute for Volunteering Research will be integrated into the wider NCVO Research area.  Policy issues around Volunteering will need to compete for space amongst the many good issues NCVO tackle. The voice of managers of volunteers will be less heard. Advocacy for volunteers needs to be considered amongst the backdrop that NCVO focuses on organisational issues. Funding applications for NCVO will need to consider a number of issues including volunteerism. If there is not strong advocacy internally for volunteering, the issue may have less impact than it currently does in the UK.

On the other hand, it could mean that something survives in a bleak economic environment.

I have been predicting for three years now, we will see wholesale consolidation of the Volunteering infrastructure" sector.  We  have seen:

• the almost complete disappearance of Volunteering Australia this month.
• the 2007 merger with Hands On/Points of Light in the USA
• Volunteer Canada's major funding challenge following the change of government there
• the merger of Volunteering Ireland/Volunteer Centres Ireland. 

Who is left? Volunteering New Zealand, Civiq - Instituut Vrijwilligers Inzet in Holland, Volunteer 21 Taiwan, Japan Volunteer Center, Takatioff (UAE) and National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) all remain stand alone. Will they remain alone or will they merge to survive?

These mergers show us that volunteer infrastructure development is still not "sexy".  We have not sold it well at any level. I wonder if Reimagining Service will help over in the USA. Otherwise, we are going backwards globally and the loss of VE will be felt widely.

Canadian Volunteering and giving

From the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP).

In 2010, 84 per cent of the Canadian population aged 15 and over, made a financial donation to a charitable or non-profit organisation, for a total of $10.6 billion. Both the percentage of the population donating and the total amount of donations were relatively unchanged from 2007. The average annual donation in 2010 was $446 per donor, virtually unchanged from 2007. Those who gave the most were more likely to be older, to have a higher household income and a formal education, or to attend weekly religious services or meetings.

At the same time, more than 13.3 million people, or 47% of the population, volunteered nearly 2.1 billion hours in 2010 or the equivalent of nearly 1.1 million full-time jobs (assuming 40 hours per week for 48 weeks) through a group or organisation. Canadians who volunteered did so for an average of 156 hours in 2010, relatively unchanged from 2007.

Those who volunteered the most hours tended to be older, widowed and no longer in the workforce. They were also likely to not have any children at home and to attend weekly religious services or meetings.
However, the highest rates of volunteering were found among Canadians who were younger, were single, married or in a common-law relationship, or had young children at home.

The proportion of the population who made a financial donation to charitable and non-profit organizations was highest in the Atlantic provinces. However, the donors from the Western provinces donated higher average amounts. This pattern is, for the most part, unchanged from 2007.

Donor rates were the highest in Newfoundland and Labrador (92%) and in Prince Edward Island (91%). These were significantly above the national average of 84%. Rates for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut were the lowest in Canada.

Charitable donors from Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia donated about $550 on average to a charitable or non-profit organization in 2010, among the highest in the country. Average donations were lowest in Quebec.

Friday Facts: whos reimbursing Volunteers?

In the Global Volunteer Management Survey, agencies were asked what benefits they provided for their volunteers. The total number of volunteers covered by the survey was 1,103,163 from 23 countries.

The results are listed below.

A few interesting points:

• the biggest was  reimbursement of travel or phone expenses (55.5%)- this means almost half of volunteers do not get one of those benefits
• parking (54.3%) came next
• free meals or drinks were provided to almost half of all volunteers
• 3.5 per cent of agencies pay their volunteers a regular cash allowance
• clothing on the job is  important with  43 per cent of volunteers being allowed to wear casual clothes and 19% getting a uniform
• 27 per cent of the volunteers are funded to do training or development
• a small number get additional benefits like club memberships, childcare and massages

Over a fifth of respondents chose the other category and saw the following as benefits:

• Social Events (2 per cent). One repondent noted that the agency provided socila events as a benefit but volunteers were expecetd to pay for them!
• References (1 per cent)
• insurance coverage which 1 per cent of agencies saw as a benefit (not an essential!)
• one Uk agency said they were not allowed to give benefits
• one said "Just being a part of our organization!" 
• one per cent said things like:  "self fulfilment", "Personal growth opportunities while supporting a cause they believe in"

What do you offer your volunteers - and why?

What are we rewarding?

Attendees at my training know I make fun of some of the stereotypes that the sectors use ti celebrating their volunteers. I read one this week ....and please, please do not hear me belittling the amazing volunteers in the community.


One of the awards went to a woman who contributes many hours to volunteering: organising events, supervising and providing opportunities to disadvantaged, worked on challenges, broke a Guinness Book of Records record, supporting the community parade, does street fundraising, sells cookies/biscuits, organises and enables people to go on camps. 


Daunting isnt it? Who else can aspire to this?

Another  works ‘behind the scenes’ without supervision. Thats an interesting message. 

When we are rewarding volunteers for their efforts, the number one thing we want as volunteers is to be personally thanked. How are you doing that? How can we celebrate volunteering without sounding daunting?

Happy International Volunteer Managers Day

Happy IVMD and thank you to everyone who has responsibility for ensuring excellent volunteer engagement. Check out:

•  IVMD's website
• Twitter Hashtags: #ivmd #IVMDay
• IVMD Event Listing

Key Commentaries from around the world (more will be added as they come to hand)

• Hands On Blog (USA): 12 Tips for Recognizing Volunteer Managers- 
• I Volunteer Blog (UK): Shout from the Rooftops - good post by Rob Jackson
• Australia: Volunteering Australia does not support International Volunteer Manager's Day
• Australia: VolunteeringQldTV - great video supporting the day
• NZ: Celebrating those that lead and manage our volunteers - official announcement from Volunteering NZ
• Exploring Volunteering (Global): International Volunteer Managers Day great post from a slightly different angle

Thunderbirds and the Aussie Floods/Haiti earthquake etc

The flooding in Australia has now spread to five of our six states (we have bushfires in the sixth state). Its weird going from massive drought to massive floodwaters in such a short time.

We are talking astronomical amounts of water being poured out on us, a lot of flooded houses and much heartbreak and also many positive stories of courage, love and respect. There are 22 000 volunteers mobilised this weekend in Brisbane to clean up houses, streets, schools and community facilities.

Our hearts go out to the families of those who have died. We are also mindful that 560 people have died in Brazil this weekend in their worst ever flood disaster.

I always liked the show Thunderbirds. The characters worked for an agency called International Rescue- which has been created to help those in grave danger using technically advanced equipment and machinery. I am full of admiration for the amazing rescuers from across the globe who in the last year have rescued and rebuilt in Haiti, Pakistan,  Russia, Greece, indonesia, New Zealand and now Brazil and Australia.

I was wondering is it time we created an International Rescue agency for the globe's natural disasters? We all still seem to be taken by surprise by them, fundraising and infrastructure rebuilding is seemingly ad hoc. For example, I guarantee that the rebuilding in Brisbane, Australia will be swifter than that in Haiti. There are some in Australia who will have the right type of insurances and others who don't. There  were four million  Pakistanis made homeless in 2010. Many of them currently still love in tents. Is any of this right?

New Zealand has an amazing scheme the Earthquake Commission (EQC) set up in 1945 to provide New Zealand residential property owners payouts for damage caused by earthquake, natural landslip, volcanic eruption, hydrothermal activity, tsunami; in the case of residential land, a storm or flood; or fire caused by any of these.

For more than 60 years it has been collecting premiums for a fund called the Natural Disaster Fund backed up by reinsurance from overseas groups and a Government Guarantee.

EQC also researches about matters relevant to natural disaster damage and it has brilliant education and information programs to help people prevent and mitigate damage caused by natural disasters.

Surely, something similar on a global scale would help our world?



My prayers and concern to everyone around the world who face displacement, homelessness, fear and pain. And thanks to the amazing team of "International Rescuers"

Person of the Year?

Not sure how I feel about Time Magazine naming  Mark Zuckerberg, founder of The Facebook (now known as Facebook) as their 2010 person of the Year...

Other Possible Contenders:-

• Jessica Watson who sailed around the world solo, youngest person ever to do so
• Liu Xiaobo, hinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist one-party rule in China
• the volunteers who helped clean up after the Chilean, Indonesian, New Zealand and Turkish earthquakes, the  Italian, Colombian and Pakistan floods, and those affected by Super Typhoon Meg in the Philippines
• Ben Stiller for his charity work
• Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma
• Lady GaGa, singer
• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil who is overseeing the transformation of that nation
• Julian Assange - threat or liberator of information, awarded for exposing extrajudicial assassinations in Kenya amongst other things
• Oprah with her ultimate surprise- a trip to Australia for her audience, many of whom had never flown before
• Julia Gillard, first Female Prime Minister of Australia, inducted by the country's first female governor general under the distant watchful ceremonial gaze of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 
• The Qantas pilots who kept the 400 passengers safe when a A380 engine exploded crippling the massive jet
• the New Zealand Miners who lost their lives and the Chilean ones who kept theirs as well as the many Chinese miners who lost their lives to keep the world moving 

Who would you vote for?

Personally, my nieces and nephews who make life inspiring and worth living. Thanks guys