Complete Beginners Guide for Voluntary Organisations Wishing to Set up a Scheme for Their

Introduction

Introduction

This guide has been written to help voluntary sector organisations looking to set up an employer supported volunteering scheme for their own staff.

Successful employer supported volunteering (ESV) always closely matches the culture, size and nature of an organisation. Therefore please note that this guide should be read with a view to adapting its contents to suit your organisation’s needs and requirements.

It is important that time is allocated to plan your volunteering strategy as with any other new project. The following 10 steps are recommended to ensure success:

1. Do your research

2. Secure support across the business

3. Decide on the structure of your programme

4. Write a policy

5. Set objectives

6. Allocate resources

7. Find suitable partners

8. Recruit volunteers

9. Monitor and evaluate

10. Secure positive publicity

NB. This guide has been written for the web, and has many embedded links to further useful documents to keep this guide at a reasonable length. Please note if you print this document, you will need to print the links separately.

1. Do your research

Although most voluntary organisations have limited time and resources, there are a number of very successful ESV schemes up and running. Voluntary organisations find that such programmes can be a very effective way to understand community issues better and support wider outreach. They can also offer alternative training and development opportunities and demonstrate that your organisation is a great place to work.

Having an employer supported volunteering scheme for your staff can:

help capacity build the local voluntary and community sector

enable office staff to get closer to your core service users and clients

develop your employees’ skills and motivation

improve team working and communication across departments

enhance the local public perception of your organisation.

Deciding on the most important factors for your organisation will help define your strategy. For more information on the business case, visit The business case for employer supported volunteering

For further information readEmployer Supported Volunteering – the guide. This publication by Volunteering England will tell you everything you need to know about employer supported volunteering.

Assess the current situation

It is useful to assess what volunteering is already taking place. Some departments may already be quietly supporting employer supported volunteering. This information will help you decide whether to build on existing activity or to develop completely new programmes. It will also allow you to monitor the success of your programme at a later date.

Questions to ask include:

What community activity is already taking place?

What issues and causes are our staff interested in supporting?

What skills would our staff like to offer to the community?

What internal structures can be used (e.g. house magazines, retiree networks, social clubs, unions)?

What help is available to establish links with community organisations? (e.g. brokers).

Surveys that ask for information about employees’ private voluntary activities rarely go down well. Try alternative ways of gathering information, such as:

talking to key people such as team managers

adding a few questions to a more general survey

asking staff to nominate causes they would like to support.

2. Secure support across the organisation

The employer supported volunteering programme will need the support of the whole organisation if it is to succeed.

Senior Management

Senior level support will be needed to agree:

which organisations to support

limits for financial contributions and management costs

how activity will be initiated or managed

the availability of other resources to help the community such as facilities, services, furniture and equipment

how to evaluate the programme against objectives

the policy for volunteering in work time.

If senior managers can get involved in employee volunteering activities, this sets an excellent example. Make the business case live with some real examples of successful employer supported volunteering projects by other charities.

NB A statement of commitment to employer supported volunteering from your Chief Executive or Chair will be a powerful endorsement.

Human Resources

Enlist the help of HR to set up proper policies and procedures.

Set up a cross-departmental support group within your organisation.

Develop volunteer projects that utilise the distinctive competencies and skills of organisation and your staff.

Middle Management

Middle management support is crucial to the success of an employer supported volunteering programme. Some managers may query the employer supported volunteering policy.

To overcome this, explain:

what the programme is and how it will function

how they can support the programme

that there are clear guidelines on such areas as use of facilities and paid time off.

All other employees

For an employer supported volunteering programme to succeed you will have to create ways to involve all your staff and enable them to feel ownership of the programme. They will want to be involved in generating ideas and organising activities.

Base all your communications on messages that convey ideas of sharing, support and partnership. Listen to what your staff say. Which causes do they want to help? What kind of support do they want? What kind of recognition would they like? You could think about setting up a steering group where these ideas and activities can be discussed. If so, you will need to arrange for training and support, provide a meeting-place, and ensure the group is encouraged by colleagues. You could also organise a community visit so staff can see first hand how they can help.

When consulting staff, questions you might want to ask include:

What sorts of social issues and needs will they be interested in supporting?

Are there any issues that staff would prefer not to be associated with?

What sort of skills could staff contribute?

Is it possible for staff to take time away from work on a regular basis?

Would staff be more interested in continuing involvement or a one- off event?

Would staff prefer to volunteer at a place near to home or to work and do they have access to transport if there is a distance factor?

Would staff prefer to be involved in team or individual activities?

Unions

Unions are generally in favour of volunteering. However, it is wise to consult your union representatives when shaping your policy, to get their full backing and support.

The aim is to show that the programme is employee-led and employer-supported.

3. Decide on the structure of your programme

From your enquiries on what volunteering is already taking place you will be best able to decide how to proceed.

Ways to support existing activities are:

Recruit and support volunteer co-ordinators. Volunteer co-ordinators often are part of a larger committee and can link up volunteering activity across the company to provide maximum benefit to the employer and the community organisation which is receiving the volunteers. This role also provides development opportunities in managing resources, organisation, and leadership and communication.

Set up a Time Bank to allow employees to take work time for employer supported volunteering that can only take place during working hours. The fact that the employer is prepared to donate work time for this is a strong indicator of its commitment to volunteering.

For additional information go toKey issues/paid time off

Alternatively, your organisation may wish to not organise any employer supported volunteering activities, but allow staff to choose what they would like to volunteer for under the scheme.

4. Write a policy

However you choose to organise and support your staff via employer supported volunteering, you will need to write a policy.

A written employer supported volunteering policy has several benefits, including:

demonstrating that the employee volunteering programme has the support of the Board/management committee and senior management and that the programme is taken seriously

ensuring everyone knows the procedures involved

promoting the programme.

A good employer supported volunteering policy will aim to meet the needs of both your organisation and organisations you are working with.

It may include:

a brief statement of commitment on employer supported volunteering and the reasons for that commitment -

guidelines on paid time off for community involvement -
For more information visit:
Key issues/Paid time off

a statement on how projects are to be chosen and the level of employee involvement in this -
For more information visit:

Key issuesHow projects are chosen

guidelines on insurance and health & safety -
For more information visit:
Health & safety

a short statement recognising the value of the voluntary activity undertaken by employees as private individuals, which may be in addition to or instead of participation in the structured programme.
For more information visit:
Support for employees who already volunteer

5. Set objectives

Consider how the programme will help to meet your organisation’s strategic/business goals/objectives. You may also need to consider the objectives of any community partner you will be working with.

It is useful to set objectives that relate to the impact you want the employer supported volunteering programme to have, such as:

helping staff development
improving employee morale
increasing staff retention

For more information visit:

The human resource benefits of employer supported volunteering

You may also want to talk to other similar organisations that have already set up an employer supported volunteering programme.

6. Allocate resources

Employer supported volunteering programmes bring a lot of benefits, but they’re not free. For your programme to succeed, there will need to be a member of staff responsible for making it happen. Or you might want to set up a committee to run the programme.

Using financial resources for volunteering may at first seem problematic. By using budgets creatively - training budgets, for example - funds should be able to be found to cover costs.

7. Find suitable partners

Existing relationships in the community

Think about your existing relationship with the local voluntary sector. Other voluntary organisations may be willing to build a closer relationship with you and share ideas for employer supported volunteering activities.

Questions to think about when looking for suitable partners are:

Are we aware of what's going on in our local communities?

Are we looking for a unique relationship with a community organisation?

Does the organisation have the potential and capacity to involve us?

Can the organisation identify areas where our staff can bring benefits such as skills, practical help, financial advice, project management, strategic management, research and development, personnel consultancy?

Are there organisations that can help us find a match, such as a local broker?

Does the organisation already involve volunteers successfully and is it experienced in risk assessment? For more information visit:
Health & safety

Using brokers

You may know of a local broker, such as a Volunteer Centre or Council for Voluntary Service. Volunteer Centres are increasing their knowledge and capacity to broker employer supported volunteering as the demand from companies is increasing rapidly.

For more information go to our Brokers section
8. Recruit volunteers

By far the best way of recruiting volunteers is by word of mouth. Recruit ‘employee volunteering champions’ to spread the message to their peers. Include profiles of employee volunteers in the staff magazine.

Recruitment tips

Ensure that potential volunteers know what support is offered and whom they can contact to find out more, or to suggest ideas

Ensure that the person responsible for the programme is receptive to what people are saying and that they easy to reach

Try and ensure the volunteering opportunities are attractive and varied

Explain exactly how the volunteers will make a difference

Spell out what your organisation is contributing

Make it sound fun!

For more information visit:
External and internal communication/Internal communication

Remember: if you have involved staff all the way through the conception of the scheme, recruitment will be much easier.

Recognise your volunteers

Recognising and publicising the contribution that employee volunteers make will demonstrate to your staff that their efforts are appreciated - and will also help to recruit more volunteers.

Ways of recognising employee volunteers include:

internal award schemes -
For more information visit:Recognition/Internal awards schemes

parties

articles in newsletters and magazines

a personal thank you letter from the chair or chief executive

presentation of certificates by your community partner.

Volunteers Week, run by Volunteering England provides an excellent vehicle for recognising your volunteers through certificates, parties and other events. For more information go to

9. Monitor and evaluate

Evaluation of the programme is vital and should be used both to inform your current programme and to stimulate feedback about its future direction. And, perhaps most importantly, you may have the go-ahead for now, but in future there may be changes at the top of your organisation that may reduce backing for the programme. So you must continually monitor and evaluate its impact to ensure long-term success.

Questions to ask

Most of the benefits of employer supported volunteering programmes are qualitative, so you will need to ask a variety of questions to help you evaluate its success. Consider the results for everyone involved: your organisation, the employee volunteers, your partner organisation and the wider community.

The effect on your organisation:

Was the volunteering enjoyable, and did it raise morale?

Did it improve internal communications and teamwork?

Did it enhance your employees’ skills?

The effect on the employee volunteers

Have they volunteered before?

Did they think this volunteering was well-organised?

Will they continue to volunteer? If not, why not?

Did they feel their volunteering activity provided them with new challenges or developed new skills?

Did they find it worthwhile?

Did they enjoy it?

The effect on your partner organisation

You will of course need to liaise over this with your partner organisation, but your questions could include:

Did the end result match the original aim of the project?

How well-received was it?

How well did your partnership work on a practical level?

Were there any problems, and how were they dealt with?

How can you build on what has been achieved so far?

What were the measurable impacts on society, either to the end-users of the service, or to the wider community?

Methods to use

Some of your aims may have been quantitative - e.g., you might have wanted to involve a minimum of 10 per cent of all staff - and these are easy to evaluate if you have kept good records. Qualitative benefits are more difficult to assess. You could try using one or more of the following methods:

questionnaires or surveys

asking for reports

telephone conversations with participants

interviews

focus groups

written records.

The key factors in evaluation

State clearly in advance what all the groups involved expect to gain from the project or programme.

Stay in touch with, and seek information from, all the stakeholders in the programme.

Set up record-keeping procedures to gather and store the information you need as you go along.

Plan the evaluation, and the data you will need to collect, before the programme begins or as soon as possible after it starts.

For more information visit: Resources/Evaluation

10. Securing positive publicity

You will need to decide whether you wish to publicise your employer supported volunteering activities. This can take several forms:

Part of your annual report -
For more information go to:PR

Press releases -
Radio and television coverage

Publicising employer supported volunteering externally needs to be handled carefully as if there is a suspicion by staff and community groups that the main focus of your programme is to generate positive publicity, this could backfire. Furthermore, you will need to take into account any wider issues within your organisation when seeking to publicise your employer supported volunteering, which could damage your programme, such as redundancies, poor financial performance, poor environmental performance and so on.

Finally, volunteering should be rewarding for all those who take part. Ensure that fun, worthwhile activity, appreciation and recognition are at the core of your programme.

Appendix

Eight approaches to employer supported volunteering

• ‘Charity of the Year’ programmes.

Your companycommits to supporting a range of volunteering activities, focusing on a specific organisation. This enables you to build long-term relationships with a charity. Care needs to be taken to ensure that this is not seen as top-down choice, contrary to the employee-led principle. Some flexibility and resource should be kept to one side to allow for requests from smaller charities with immediate and one-off requests for assistance.