Volunteering England (VE) is today launching a comprehensive series of resources to help the voluntary and community sector and small businesses maximise their impact in their communities.
SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises) now have access to a wealth of online resources at www.do-it.org.uk, including enhanced editorial content of the employee volunteering section, a new search mechanism on the site to enable SME’s to find partner organisations that offer Employer-Supported Volunteering (ESV) services, and links to Volunteering England’s ESV tools.
The resources, funded by the Volunteering Hub, are inspired by research from Ashridge Business School which identified a number of challenges for the volunteering sector in engaging with SME’s. It found that an overwhelming majority of SME owners wanted to give something back to the community but lacked time and found it difficult to sift through the quantity of information available. One priority issue was the lack of easily digestible online information, a need met by the new resources on do-it.org.uk.
Today also sees the launch of the ESV module of the Excellence in Volunteer Management training, VE’s blended learning programme for managers of volunteers who want to improve their skills. This has been developed to enable volunteer managers to engage employers effectively in their work, and will include information on how to set up an ESV programme, designing appropriate volunteering opportunities and evaluating the impact of their work.
Cathy McBain, head of Employer-Supported Volunteering at VE, said:
“It’s a myth that small businesses aren’t interested in volunteering - they just face very different challenges from larger companies and this new set of resources meets many of their requirements. do-it.org.uk’s new web content will help small businesses find suitable volunteering opportunities–- and once they have decided to engage with the volunteering sector, their experience will be enhanced thanks to the new EVM training!”
Fiona Dawe, Chief Executive of online youth charity, YouthNet, which runs do-it.org.uk, said:
“do-it.org.uk has been making volunteering easy for individuals for over seven years, but until now there’s been nothing similar for businesses.
“Our new search function and improved support information is an exciting step in the development of our service, which will make a real difference to businesses and voluntary organisations alike.”
EVM training provider Victoria Dickinson said:
“I have been an advocate for ESV for several years and I feel that the new EVM unit will offer the resources to help the voluntary sector understand how to work with the private sector in a more mutually rewarding way. Improving the skills and understanding of organisations working with ESV will help widen the diverse range of volunteer opportunities and build better understanding of each others needs.”
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Notes to editors
- For more information or interviews please contact Cat Dean on 020 7520 8932 or email cat.dean@volunteeringengland.org.
- For more information on Excellence in Volunteer Management visit www.volunteeringengland.org/EVM
- The online resources are funded by Capacity Builders as part of the ChangeUp programme delivered by the Volunteering Hub
- Volunteering England aims to improve the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. For more information please visit www.volunteering.org.uk
- The Volunteering England Convention Transforming Passion into Power: Volunteering at the heart of social change is being held on 23-25 April 2008. Make sure the dates are in your diary. For regular updates, www.volunteering.org.uk/convention
- do-it.org.uk is volunteering made easy. We connect people, communities and organisations to inspire positive change, providing a central place on the internet for finding out about volunteering. As the electronic backbone of volunteering, do-it.org.uk is underpinned by the National Volunteering Database (NVD), which holds hundreds of thousands of opportunities to volunteer, searchable by postcode provided by partners - Volunteer Centres in England and hundreds of national charities. We developed V-Base, volunteering management software, with which partners upload opportunities into the NVD. An innovative and effective tool for volunteer involving organisations, VBase is now recognised as the industry standard.
- For more information on YouthNet, visit www.YouthNet.org
