Reimagining Volunteering
By Chris Atkinson, Regional Advisor, Volunteering Waikato
NZ Riding for the Disabled Te Awamutu – Rosalie Rea and her Tuesday Volunteers.
National Volunteer Week is upon us and once again all around Aotearoa New Zealand organisations will be celebrating their volunteers and volunteering. Volunteers are absolutely crucial to the fabric of our communities – if you doubt that, just imagine what your community would be like if all volunteers decided to strike for a couple of days. A lot wouldn’t happen! In every corner of our towns and cities we can find volunteers – from sports fields and gullies to foodbanks and hospitals. Volunteers are leading the way on equity, sustainability, cultural, health, climate and social justice issues – much of it flying under the radar as they quietly get on and make an impact. The richness, generosity, diversity and cultural contribution of volunteers is massive, but often unacknowledged and sometimes taken for granted - so giving Volunteers their time to shine during National Volunteer Week is vital.
Volunteering Waikato, Te Ohu Tuuao O Waikato, believes that volunteers enrich lives and transform communities. A large part of the work we do is to support volunteeringinvolving organisations with best practise processes.
Increasingly we know that a positive customer experience for your volunteers is essential for retention. We also work hard to ensure the concept of volunteering is clearly understood and is future proofed.
A big part of the work we do is to challenge preconceived ideas about who volunteers and why. Ask anyone to describe a typical volunteer and they’ll probably think of an older person, possibly a woman and likely someone retired. The reality of volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand is quite different from this preconception.
Volunteering does not have any gender dominance. When it comes to age, Te Ohu Tuuao O Waikato statistics show that in 2022 the 20-29, 30-39 and the 60+ age groups were placed in volunteer roles in equal numbers – busting that “older person” stereotype. “Full-time employed” people were placed the most – outstripping the next labour status of “student” by twenty percent, with the “retired” group coming in third. When people find something they want to do, and love to do, they find the time to do it!
In its simplest form volunteering is about freely choosing to do something for someone else without expectation of reward or benefit. In many cultural contexts the word “volunteering” is not used to describe what many see as simply “helping out”. Being of service, contributing, working for the common good, or an act of love, are all terms you’ll come across when people describe what they do for others. Statistics show that all ethnicities in Aotearoa have a strong volunteering ethic – with some reflecting quite staggering levels of volunteering.
A 2021 study by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples found that 97% of Pacific peoples spend an average of 33 hours per week on unpaid work and volunteering. The concept of whakawhanaungatanga – relationships and connection- is strong across the volunteering landscape.
National Volunteer Week -Te Wiki Tuuao aa-Motu is an opportunity to challenge commonly held notions of who is volunteering and profile the many faces and facets of volunteers in Aotearoa. Like any other sector, volunteering is affected by external influences including the Covid-19 pandemic which has been hugely disruptive. Disconnection and social anxiety have discouraged involvement resulting in a tough recruitment market. Cost of living increases have also created huge barriers in people’s ability to volunteer.
Ideally volunteering is equitable – but the reality is that volunteering requires resources. Health, time, and money are all needed, along with skills, confidence, and competencies. Low unemployment and low immigration have also impacted on volunteer recruitment, as has the move of our baby boomers into retirement villages where their social and recreational needs can be met on their immediate doorstep. Organisations must pivot, adapt, and evolve in response to these new threats in order for volunteering to thrive.
There is no doubt that the future of volunteering is strongly linked to technology. Digital platforms that enable people to view, connect to and track volunteer involvement will become essential to organisations looking to recruit volunteers. Organisations need to remove barriers to involvement where possible so that volunteering remains a truly equitable, attractive, and less bureaucratic process. Gateway roles, project and micro roles, are just some ways to offer volunteers the opportunity to “try before you buy”, with people generally shying away from long term commitments. SEEK Volunteer statistics found that roles requiring less than a six-month commitment averaged 4 applicants per role – roles requiring more than six months had 0.8 applicants per role. The success story within this statistic is that three out of four volunteers in short term roles had an ongoing relationship with the organisation after six months. Give a volunteer a great customer experience and they will stay!
The need for organisations to pivot to meet the needs of volunteers is huge and the time to do this is now. We know that many people want to volunteer but up to four out of five never find the role they would like to do – we need to change that dynamic.
Volunteering Waikato, Te Ohu Tuuao O Waikato, encourages organisations to be creative about how they involve volunteers – continuing with roles that haven’t changed for ten or twenty years won’t help volunteering survive. If we take a bottom-up approach to how people get involved, we might find we get more traction. Start with the problem or issue – invite people to be involved in solution storming – ask them how they would like to help, design a role, and give them a mandate to be involved. This way we get to onboard the entrepreneurial, serendipitous, social change and traditional volunteer. The sense of ownership and inclusion that we accomplish through this approach will bring dividends to the work we all do – let’s face it, we need to be creative to change the status quo!
Volunteering Waikato, Te Ohu Tuuao O Waikato, is often asked if people still want to volunteer - and the answer is a resounding “Yes”. A recent LinkedIn survey found that 75% of those surveyed were interested in starting to volunteer or to volunteer more. Of those surveyed 42% were interested in serving on a not-for-profit board – but only 1 in 5 were currently on a board. There are plenty of potential volunteers in our communities – we just need to connect with them in the right way with the right opportunity.
Volunteering Waikato, Te Ohu Tuuao O Waikato, offers a platform for organisations to find the volunteers they need and a vehicle for people to find the volunteer role they have been looking for. Our advisors are available to help organisations reshape and invigorate the opportunities they have – with an eye on achieving the mission and objectives of the organisation through volunteer contribution.
We see volunteers as game changers. Volunteers contribute to social cohesion, help build resilience and contribute to the vibrant strength of our communities. If we can harness their gifts of time, we can absolutely bring about the change we need to see. Let’s reimagine volunteering – let’s challenge those stereotypes, let’s help existing volunteers to shine and let’s ensure we position volunteering to be the future we all want to see.