Author Archives: VAH Co-op

The Top 18 #TrusteesWeek Tweets

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the GOOD, the BAD, & the UGLY

Supporting strategic management in volunteers

When volunteering really works, there’s not much of a limit to what can be achieved. You’re a team, you’re capable, you’re motivated and you’re essential. But none of this happens without proper co-ordination and behind every great team of volunteers is a manager working extremely hard to keep it all together.

Unfortunately, not every team is successful, and not every experience is positive. Have you ever volunteered and thought to yourself “I’m in the wrong place”? Ever found yourself with next to nothing to do and nobody to answer to? How badly can volunteering go? What happens when it goes sour? How does this happen? How can you prevent it?

Whether you’re the one in charge, or the one giving up your time, everybody has their horror story to tell. Voluntary Action Harrow (VAH) wants to help you avoid the worst mistakes and learn from the best practices, so please share your tales of volunteer management done right and wrong.

We want to hear it all, the GOOD the BAD & the UGLY, click here to get involved and share your experiences.

[wptabs] [wptabtitle] the GOOD [/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

When a volunteer experience is good, it can pave the way for a lifelong passion and loyalty to your organisation, and perhaps influence career choices. They may choose to become a trustee (#trustee2b) and help with the running of the organisation,or become an advocate, campaigning for your cause.

Seeing the personal development of a volunteer is a good reflection on the volunteer manger, showing the organisation is committed to the principles of good volunteer management practice.

For example: “My focus was on developing volunteers skills so I could better provide appropriate support. This was done by introducing feedback, evaluating and recording the achievements of volunteers. I could then efficiently measure their impact.”

#GOODvm

[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] the BAD [/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

When a volunteer experience is not so good, it can be unrewarding and de-motivating, generating thoughts that the time would be better spent elsewhere. This may come from a lack of understanding or support from fellow non-profit staff for volunteer managers, or, might be evidence of a bad volunteer program.

There is often enormous pressure from higher management to simply recruit volunteers who will blindly put in 20 or 40 hours a week to help reduce the workload, leaving the volunteer feeling unappreciated and overworked. When effective management is seen as the last priority, the volunteering experience suffers, and can turn bad.

For example: “I was under so much pressure to reach my key performance indicators (KPIs) for the funder, I didn’t have time to actually manage them.”

#BADvm

[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] the UGLY [/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

Lack of support, the feeling of being overwhelmed, burnt-out or bogged down, unrealistic targets, difficult volunteers, and general negativity – can develop bad experiences into ugly experiences.

Whilst voluntary and community sectors have faced ongoing challenges with funding cuts, closures, mergers and competition – when volunteering goes horribly wrong, it can have disastrous effects on the organisation
involved. It can be really upsetting either to the volunteer, manager or worse the service work.

For example: “I was so stressed I used to just cry in the office.”

#UGLYvm

[/wptabcontent][/wptabs]

Our volunteer manager’s consultancy package is designed to cover a full range of volunteer issues from developing the GOOD, preventing the BAD & avoiding the UGLY. For more details, please click here.

How To Get Involved:

  • Comment below
  • E-mail Alex ([email protected])
  • Tweet us or join-in the conversation using hashtags: #GOODvm, #BADvm, #UGLYvm

*Please do not reference any organisation by name

Choosing the Right Chairperson

The trustee board of a charity or voluntary organisation is, in most cases, going to be made up of uniquely passionate individuals, fully invested in the operations and success of their cause and deeply concerned with the quality of their organisation’s decision making. Concentrated passion and enthusiasm like this is a priceless asset to anybody, what is risked when a group like this comes together is creating a mess of ideas or even an atmosphere of unnecessary competition, stifling the input of those less willing to shout over others to be heard. This is when having a truly effective chairperson at board and trustee meetings starts to come into play.

It’s pretty easy to view a chair as the most important person in the room. Not that this is untrue, it just depends on what you feel a chair is most responsible for. Should they be creative? Should they have answers for questions, solutions to problems? Are they a green or red light for ideas that are brought forward? Well no, not really, but this is how they are often seen, making the average chair something of a work horse. Two of the most important skills a chair can have is the ability to communicate and delegate, with authority and sensitivity. More important than their ability to solve problems is their emotional intelligence, their ability to adapt to who they are working with. It is their job to tactfully prevent any one individual from dominating a discussion and to draw more out those who appear a little reluctant. If board members are coming up with great ideas it is the responsibility of the chair to make sure these are followed through with. It’s not their job to take all of this new work on, but to make sure initiatives aren’t discarded and to match the right tasks to the right people.

If you do feel that a chair person is not effective it is not necessarily their own fault. Though a lot of this can come down to the chair’s inability or unwillingness to communicate, a lot of the time the problem lies in recruitment and a board or organisation not taking responsibility for feeding back what is working and what is not. Really take the time to evaluate who would be best for the role. Just because somebody is willing to put himself forward does not mean that they will give you what you need. Understand that this person doesn’t have the easiest job in the world; be willing to offer support and even training if possible.

The best thing you can do is to pay close attention to those individuals who have endeavored to give up their time and offer their skills to support your cause. In your next board meeting, look out for those who make others feel at ease, those who always bring a discussion back to its point and the one who everybody seems to address what they say to, because in that person you have the makings of a great chair and a better board.

James Wright

[email protected]

Trustee Photo Competition

The theme for our first ever photo competition is ‘Harrow‘ and we’re accepting entries from Trustees and #Trustee2B’s.

Not sure what a trustee is? Anyone responsible for the general control and management of the administration of a charity. (For more details, click here)

Not sure what a #trustee2B is? Anyone who wants to be placed, or is in the process of being placed, into a trustee role.  (For more details, click here)

Competition details: 

  • Entries must be in by 16th July 2013 @12pm 
  • You must be a Trustee or #Trustee2B of a charity to enter
  • The competition will be judged by VAH members.

Winner will be announced, and rewarded, at our Harrow Trustee Network Event (16/07/13 @7:30pm).

REWARD – POWERHOUSE STUDIOS PRO SHOOT

Your local photographic, video and advertising studio will be running a half day professional shoot for the winner. This will include sessions on studio layout, lighting set up, understanding SLR cameras and a photo session with a model.

or e-mail Alex ([email protected])

How accessible is YOUR website?

Though an undoubtedly dubious honour to receive, to the winner of this year’s ‘Canada’s Worst Charity Website’ went an invaluable prize: a full website makeover courtesy of the competition’s organisers, Rtraction. And a fierce competition this most certainly was as the charity sector is home to some of the clunkiest, most unsightly and out-dated websites in existence, something that urgently needs to change.

Of course, for smaller, local charities, this problem is understandable; with much of the incredible work going on and the strain on time and resources that this can result in, website accessibility can be easily overlooked. However, not only does a sloppy website not do justice to the quality of an organisation’s work, it can create barriers between a charity and those who might wish to engage with it.

No matter what high standards of quality your services or web content might set, if the people you are trying to support are unable to make use of them due to inaccessibility they are ultimately rendered useless. Perhaps the most pressing question you should be asking yourself when considering your design is: ‘Who is likely to be visiting my website?’ Always consider the fact that many users could have impaired vision, learning difficulties or mental health issues, and a poorly constructed site could potentially be denying them access to important information and support. Definitely do not assume that they are sat behind a desk scrolling their mouse across the screen of a desktop PC because the means by which people view your website are likely to change frequently and radically, and you must be ready to adapt accordingly.

The advent of mobile computing and ubiquitous internet means that even the most lovingly and painstakingly composed websites are being stretched and squeezed into unsightly shapes and sizes as, in all likelihood, they will be viewed through a tablet device or Smartphone. Displayed through a large monitor your site might look great, but much of its impact can get lost when shrunk down to the size of a credit card on someone’s mobile phone. Navigation, visibility and responsiveness can all heavily suffer if you don’t look ahead to anticipate the new and constantly changing ways that people are going to engage with you. Google’s hyper-futuristic, hands free, head mounted Google Glass monitor is now in development and, while it might seem like elite technology now, in the future it, or something like it, could be commonplace. Websites will need to be as pliable as putty to keep up.

James Wright

[email protected]

Can you volunteer as an Independent Visitor?

Supporting volunteering opportunities 

The project’s aims are to identify, train and then support the ONE4U Independent Visitor to champion  and befriend an individual child or young person. Helping them to aim higher and achieve goals that all children and young people should achieve with the right encouragement.

Full training will be given and you will be supported and monitored.

‘Volunteering doesn’t get better than this!’

‘Just think you can make a big difference to someone’s life’

Contact HOPE (Harrow) now:

Sue Bush: Independent Visitors, Partnership Co-ordinator for HOPE

On 0208-863-7319

[email protected]

Independent Visitors Volunteering Role Description(document)

This post is on behalf of HOPE: Independent Visitor Partnership Project(One4u), Supporting Children and Young People in the ‘CARE’ of Harrow.

Becoming a Trustee

Written by a non-trustee

I have never felt the urge to become a trustee because I felt I lacked the skills and experience. But I have realised people at my age, 27, can become a trustee as long as they have an interest in the organisations work and the relevant skills. It’s so important for charities to believe in younger people like me to become trustees, then so many more charities can benefit from the investment they put into new recruits as they are more likely to stay longer and make a real difference for their charity.

Trustees are passionate people who volunteer their time because they believe in their charities’ cause. They are usually people who have a passion for what the charity does and they are keen to develop a more cohesive society. The volunteers play a behind the scenes role effectively, designing strategic plans to take their charities forward and deal with a number of matters, including finances, marketing and project development.

During Trustee Week 2012 we, Voluntary Action Harrow, were really busy putting on events and increasing awareness of trusteeship. At our quarterly trustee networking event, there was a lively discussion on how and why charities should recruit more young trustees. Next, we had a ‘tea and cakes / celebration of our new office event which was thoroughly enjoyable. That wasn’t surprising as one of our members mother baked a range of delicious cakes, which was consumed by various trustees, volunteers and colleagues from Harrow’s voluntary community sector organisations.

I am not a trustee, I am still waiting to find that right charity, but, after being heavily involved in Trustees’  and Trustees development I have been actively searching for appropriate trustee vacancies that match my interests and skills. I have a number of interests so please, charities: post your board roles far and wide you’ll never know who you might recruit.

Robert Range

[email protected]

Trustees have many different names

Different names, same roles and responsibilities

Charity Trustees have many names:

  • Management Committee Member
  • Executive Committee Member
  • Governing Board Member
  • Non-Executive Director
  • Board Member
  • Governor 
  • Director
  • Chair/Chairman
  • Treasurer
  • Trustee

Anyone responsible for the general control and management of the administration of a charity is a trustee.

Recruiting New Volunteers

The first few weeks after volunteers have been recruited are the most crucial; this is when an organisation makes a lasting impression on the volunteer.

I’ve had good and bad experiences myself when I’ve been recruited as a volunteer that reflected on the amount of time I have spent with them as a volunteer. Luckily, when I was first recruited it was a good experience that meant I didn’t get put off volunteering. In fact it was very much the opposite I became enthralled by it and couldn’t believe I had found something I was so interested in, as I didn’t know what career path to take. I ended up staying with that organisation until this very day and have nothing but positive words to say. On the other hand, something I don’t like talking about that much is the negative experience I had in volunteering. In my opinion this was down to the lack of interest in my skills and more interested in just getting any volunteer in. I also had no support, which was surprising giving the amount of support they give to service user, I could feel myself becoming less and less motivated and, yep, left.

Work ethic of new volunteers starts high and this energy and enthusiasm needs to be maintained if volunteers are going to have any real impact. When anybody starts a new job they feel they are going to change the world, after a few weeks or months this flame soon dies down, but what is interesting is how some people keep this flame burning high and do it for free. I believe it’s a mixture of things that keep volunteers with that energy they had when they first came in, from good management and allowing them to express themselves on a daily basis. making sure you recruit the right person is of course very important, if volunteers have some skills that they can teach the rest of team and the team are genuinely interested, then who wouldn’t love that feeling and want to stay – everybody loves teaching other people about what they are passionate about and good at.

We have just recruited a new volunteer in our marketing department who has injected some energy and creativity in that side of our work.  Alex, our new marketing volunteer has fantastic marketing skills, coupled with a bright personality and who is someone eager to learn, the Voluntary and community sector is lucky to have someone like him. The most important thing in the relationship we have with our volunteers is that it is beneficial to both of us so , for example, Alex can gain skills and experience in an environment where he can develop, whilst VAH can benefit from his skills he has and the work he is producing – and its also good for team morale – gives everyone a bit of a kick up the backside when someone new comes in to show off their skills to the volunteer, which also says to them: you can learn here; and we can learn from you.

Recruiting volunteers is different from recruiting employees because employees get paid and will continue to show up even if they are not motivated by the work. I have had paid jobs in the past where even though I have been working with volunteers, I just didn’t like the system, I felt volunteers are being used rather than being a mutual partnership. In this case, the organisation will want them to stay, of course they do, work is getting done, but how does the  volunteer feel when they come in and are giving roles that doesn’t match their skills and ambition along with know one talks to them, which is a great way to give indirect support. They are soon going to get de-motivated, and come in less and less that leaves more work to do in recruiting and training again for the organisation. A paid employee will stay because they are getting paid. Volunteers need to be treated with respect and recruiters need to think about how they can motivate them to stick around as their potential will soon be seen by another organisation.

There are many different ways to recruit volunteers now due to the ever increasing use of social media in the workplace. We recruited our volunteer through Gumtree, a new, popular source of recruiting volunteers, which we have had a huge amount of success from. Harrow doesn’t have a full-time volunteer centre at this moment, but one day per week which has been managed by Volunteer Centre Hillingdon. People are now turning to online resources to find placements; organisations are now using Facebook and Twitter to advertise, a free simple way to recruit volunteers. There are also still more traditional places to recruit volunteers like Do-it but we need to be more original when advertising these days. One idea for organisations is to speak to local estate agents and ask them to put an advertisement in newsletters they give to people who are just moving into the borough and who may want to do get involved in the community and meet some new people.

Everyone is different, we all have different skills and interests and it doesn’t matter what age we recruit volunteers we all have expertise, its just hard for organisations trying to target and utilise them effectively. It doesn’t matter what age someone is, if they have some skills we need to let them show it off. As social media is becoming so popular in the workplace these days we need to exploit this and learn from the people who know about this, such as the younger generation. Life’s hard for young people aged between 16-24 when there are no jobs out there, but they have skills that can be put to good use that they can also benefit from. If someone has skills, let them express themselves and listen to their ideas, it also adds a great motivating factor to the rest of the team that also gives the volunteer a great impression that they are volunteering for a vibrant, committed organisation.

Robert Range

[email protected]