Volunteering is good, right? Well, yes! But are some forms of volunteering better than others? Is there such thing as bad volunteering? And who does things better, staff or volunteers? Whether it’s fundraising, human resources or operations, we make tactical decisions all the time. But making tactical volunteering choices feels more alien to us. Join us to consider why that is, if you’ve got the right people doing the right stuff, and whether your operating model is working for you

1. VOLUNTEERING AND
YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY
TIGER DE SOUZA
ROB JACKSON
ALAN MURRAY
KATE ADAMS
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2. VOLUNTEERING AND
YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY
ROB JACKSON
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3. Who am I?
• Volunteer since 1988 and
worked in volunteering since
1994
• Train, consult and speak on
volunteerism internationally
• Co-Author of From The Top
Down UK (Energize Inc. 2015)
and The Complete Volunteer
Management Handbook
(DSC, 2012)
• Editorial board for e-
volunteerism.com

4. Why do you involve
volunteers at all?

5. Many people’s
first thought…
• …is to save money
• If the only reason to involve
volunteers is the lack of money
(to hire paid staff) then
volunteers are a second choice
• We should be able to identify
ways that volunteers are
important in their own right

6. First choice reasons
for involving
volunteers
• Unsalaried credibility
• Sphere of influence
• Objectivity
• Luxury of focus
• Free to criticise
• Experiment
• Extend the budget

7. Second choice
reasons for involving
volunteers
• We’re supposed to have them
• We’ve always had them
• We don’t have sufficient
resources to do our work
without them

8. Example - RSPB
• Involving volunteers in our work is a way of delivering public benefit,
which is our core purpose. Even if we had all the money in the world for
all the paid staff we need, we would still actively seek volunteer
participation. Why? Because volunteers:
- Connect us to our local communities
- Help us to reach new audiences
- Challenge us, guide us and make sure we’re relevant.
- Allow us and the sector to showcase the best of itself to the public.
- Can be more powerful advocates for our cause than staff.

9. Example - RSPB

10. Getting in touch
rob@robjacksonconsulting.com
+44 (0)7557 419 074
www.robjacksonconsulting.com
@robjconsulting and
facebook.com/robjacksonconsult
ing
robjacksonconsulting.wordpress.
com
medium.com/@RobJConsulting

11. VOLUNTEERING AND
YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY
ALAN MURRAY
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12. Alan Murray
Head of Volunteering and
Employee Engagement

14. Why RSPB has volunteers?
Increases and enhances our capacity and
enables us to deliver public benefit.
Volunteers are fundamental to achieving
our mission – to deliver a world richer in
nature - and a fantastic way to enthuse and
inspire people to give nature a home.

15. Volunteering is . . . . .
• A donation of time and talent.
• A two-way relationship.
• Personal – it’s about people, not just
tasks.
• A way to share and transfer skills and
knowledge. And develop skills and
knowledge.

16. Volunteering: A two-way
relationship

20. Getting ready for
involvement – this is about
putting in place the
infrastructure, setting direction,
creating energy around
involving volunteers,
highlighting the possibilities,
agreeing priorities
Building relationships - from
interest to induction - this is
about finding the right
volunteer for the right role and
inspiring people to get
involved
Growing support for Saving
Nature and realising individuals
potential – taking an holistic view
of the volunteer as a supporter of
the RSPB, increasing their
engagement, growing our capability
to engage and manage volunteers,
developing their skills and
managing their exit where needed
From communication to
claiming expenses, rotas
to recognition - this is
about making sure the day
to day is well organised and
volunteers feel involved,
valued and part of the team
Plan
Inspire
Grow
Enable

24. Volunteers are . . . . .
STAFF
MEMBERS
SUPPORTERS

31. ‘A civilisation
flourishes when
people plant trees
under which they
will never sit’
Greek Proverb

32. VOLUNTEERING AND
YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY
KATE ADAMS
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33. Over to you…

34. VOLUNTEERING AND
YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY
THANKS FOR
COMING
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