Roger Parry, Director of Agenda Consulting

1. Volunteers Count
Benchmarks for Volunteers and
Volunteer Management
Wednesday 23 October 2013
Roger Parry, Director

2. Introduction

Partnership between Agenda Consulting and Association of
Volunteer Managers (AVM)

Shaped by a Steering Group

34 organisations completed questionnaires. In aggregate:
– respondents had 431,346 volunteers over the year
– respondents’ volunteers delivered a total of 54 million
volunteer hours in the last year, an increase of 20 million
from 2011.
 All statistics are based on 2012-2013 data.

3. Participants by number of volunteers
21%
Under 200
41%
200-1000
1001-5000
18%
21%
Over 5000

4. Profile of volunteers
At median:

Participants had an average of 3,394 volunteers

Volunteers contributed a total of 120,558 hours

68% of volunteers were female

5% of volunteers were from an ethnic minority

6% of volunteers considered themselves to be disabled

The average age of volunteers was 53

5. Annual change in volunteer
numbers (Headcount)
20%
18%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
10%
9%
8%
6%
4%
2%
1%
0%
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)
Do you wish to increase your volunteer base?
Are there other sources of volunteers, or types of volunteers who
you could attract?

6. Average volunteer hours per month
16
14
14
12
10
10
8
8
6
5
4
2
0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)
Are there ways in which existing volunteers could be encouraged
to contribute more time?

7. Percentage of volunteers recruited
per annum
45%
39%
40%
35%
35%
31%
30%
25%
20%
17%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)
Are there ways in which your recruitment approaches could
be developed to ensure that your organisation is able to
attract sufficient good quality volunteers?

8. Cost of recruitment advertising per 1,000
volunteers
£4,000
£3,571
£3,500
£3,000
£2,500
£2,000
£1,500
£1,075
£1,000
£500
£0
£255
£0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
Is your volunteer recruitment cost efficient?
2011 Median (50%)

9. Turnover rate
35%
32%
30%
25%
25%
25%
23%
20%
16%
15%
13%
12%
10%
5%
4%
0%
Lower Quartile (25%)
Overall
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)
Volunteer decided to stop volunteering for the organisation
Are you content with your level of volunteer turnover? If not, have
you analysed your volunteer turnover in detail, and do you have a
view as to the underlying causes?

10. Average length of service (months)
70
61
60
50
40
39
35
30
20
20
10
0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)

11. Spend on learning and development
per 1,000 volunteers
£35,000
£29,385
£30,000
£25,000
£20,000
£15,000
£9,367
£10,000
£5,000
£7,336
£2,433
£Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)
Are you investing sufficiently in volunteer learning and
development, and is your L&D approach creating the skills and
competencies your organisation needs?

12. Support and Supervision - % of volunteers
who received an annual review/appraisal or at
least two 1 to 1s in the last year
45%
40%
40%
35%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
15%
10%
10%
3%
5%
0%
0%
Lower Quartile (25%)
2%
0%
Median (50%)
Annual Review/Appraisal
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)
At least two 1-1s
Are you happy with the level and type of support and
supervision you offer to volunteers?

13. Volunteer surveys
71% of participants have undertaken a formal volunteer survey in the last three
years.
23%
Yes
No
71%
Could your organisation benefit from a formal
volunteer survey?

14. What percentage of volunteers claim
expenses?
50%
45%
45%
39%
40%
35%
30%
25%
25%
20%
15%
12%
10%
5%
0%
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)

15. Ratio of volunteers (Headcount) per
Strategic Volunteering Development
Function employees and volunteers
(FTE) (whole sample)
1200
1,094
1000
800
600
488
450
400
200
108
0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)

16. Ratio of volunteers (Headcount) per
Strategic Volunteering Development
Function employees and volunteers
(FTE) (by size)
3000
2,594
2500
2000
Lower Quartile (25%)
1500
1,263
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
1000
638
718
458
500
36
102
140
86
95
544
122
0
Under 200
200-1000
1001-5000
Over 5000

17. Is the most senior Strategic
Volunteering Development Function
person a member of the Senior
Management Team?
35%
Yes
No, but attends regularly
No
53%
12%

18. Staff costs of the Strategic Volunteering
Development Function per 1,000
volunteer hours (£)
£2,500
2,219
£2,000
£1,500
£1,000
£500
£795
£439
£285
£0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)

19. Total cost of volunteering over the
year
£5,000
£4,498
£4,500
£4,000
£3,500
£3,000
£2,500
£2,164
£1,935
£2,000
£1,500
£1,000
£640
£500
£0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
2011 Median (50%)

20. Ratio of volunteer contribution (based
on national minimum wage) to total cost
of volunteers
14
13.2
12
10.4
10
8
6
5.4
4
2
3.2
2.9
1.4
0
Lower Quartile (25%)
Median (50%)
Upper Quartile (75%)
1001-5000
Over 5000
2011 Median (50%)
Are you getting a good financial return on investment from
volunteer involvement?

21. How you can get involved
Participate

Complete the questionnaire online

Organisational scorecard highlights your performance v peers and whole sector

Attributed good practice and direct contact with other participants

Online drill down reports

Sector wide and detailed statistic reports

Online access to database for 12 months

1-1 Telephone consultation with consultant

Invitation to results/product training session
Obtain a publication
 2.1 Profile of Volunteers
 2.2 Recruitment, Selection and Retention
 2.3 Learning and Development; Support and Supervision
 2.4 Communication and Recognition; Expenses
 2.5 The Strategic Volunteering Development Function; Return on Investment
Please see www.agendaconsulting.co.uk/publications/volunteer-benchmark-reports/

22. Do please get in touch…..
Roger Parry,
Director
Agenda Consulting
www.agendaconsulting.co.uk
roger.parry@agendaconsulting.co.uk
01865 263720