1. Major increase in volunteering
There are widespread reports from volunteer-involving organisations (VIOs) of major increases in enquiries about volunteering and in numbers of volunteers taken on. The public awareness, press coverage (notably, advice columns) and political profile for volunteering are substantially raised.
- 30 percent (approx.) year-on-year increases in enquiries and placements reported by Volunteer Centres in 2008-09 (compared to 2007-08) in new Annual Return for Volunteer Centres (Institute for Volunteering Research/ Volunteering England); but only slight increase in incomes (see 2. below)
between March 2009 and August 2009, nearly nine out of ten Volunteer Centres saw an increase in number of enquiries, and seven out of ten placed a larger number of volunteers; reports from somecentres refer to increases of 50-100 percent in enquiries compared to a year ago 11 percent of charities have increased their drive for more volunteers, up from 7 per cent in survey six months previously (Charities and the economic downturn Charity Commission, September 2009) -in previous recession, 8 percent of charities observed decrease in volunteering and 21 percent an increase (Taylor-Gooby 1994)
2. Negative developments
The increased demand for services are producing major stresses in volunteering systems and, as funding has remained level or been reduced, a range of negative developments.
Problems are reported in finding enough placements to cope with all the enquiries and even in finding time to answer enquiries. Reductions and strains in volunteer management resources endanger the quality of the volunteering experience.Fears are expressed of alienating thousands of potential volunteers and leaving a long-term negative impact.
- some VIOs and Volunteer Centres report that they do not have the time and resources to offer appointments to the huge increases in enquiries or to manage training, vetting, supervising and placing volunteers
increased demand for volunteering placements are coming from corporate employers, but many charities have found difficulty in sourcing opportunities (Red Foundation,August 2009); difficulties in managing supply and demand for increased numbers of corporate volunteers were also identified by the Building Stronger Communities taskforce (2009) problems in identifying appropriate opportunities for particular categories of unemployed people: long-term and intergenerational habits of unemployment in communities, related to lack of confidence and skills and to problems in accessing volunteering opportunities (and see Volunteering and the recession: What role for volunteers? Mike Danson, Volunteer Development Scotland, 2009)
professional staff demanding - less available - higher level work
unemployed people who volunteer may be highly motivated to return to work, and VIOs are reported to be wary of taking them on in case they get re-employed and stop volunteering; one local study proposes that a more flexible approach is needed
some VIOs reported to be more selective in taking on volunteers
- Volunteer Centres’ work on core functions other than brokerage- local strategy, marketing, campaigning for volunteering - has slightly decreased in 2008-09 (compared to 2007-08), according to new Annual Return for Volunteer Centres (IVR/VE); anxiety that pressure to cope with increases in enquiries (as 1. above) without increases in resources may be diverting centres from other essential roles
cuts in local funding to Volunteer Centres and to councils for voluntary service are leading to cuts in staffing and projects, to closure of a small number of centres and to threats about their future for many centres; in some areas, CVSs continue to support their Volunteer Centres without adequate specific funding cuts in income and increases in demand for services (Charity Commission survey, September 2009) are likely to undermine resources to support volunteers; also, reports received of redundancies of volunteer managers 3. Positive moves
The focus on volunteering in relation to employment has produced a number of advances in policy, practice and institutional relationships.
3.1 DWP volunteering brokerage programme
- two year programme (April 2009-March 2011) funded by DWP to enable 34,000 people who have been unemployed for six months and more to take up volunteering opportunities as a means to stay in touch with the job market and improve their employment chances
consortium led by BTCV with CSV, v and Volunteering England, dividing responsibilities for local brokerage and contact with Job Centre Plus geographically; Volunteer Centres take the local lead in a quarter of the country, and have taken a larger role as the programme developed, working with vinvolved teams, BTCV and CSV locally rapid establishment of working arrangements (February-April 2009) current positive feedback from customers and Volunteers Centres 3.2 Volunteer Centres’ projects on employability
- surveys by the Institute for Volunteering Research found in August 2009 63 percent of Volunteer Centres were carrying out projects or activities around volunteering and employability; the percentage had increased from 37 per cent in March (IVR, September 2009); 55 percent of these Volunteer Centres said the work had been Very or Fairly Successful in helping people find employment (IVR, March 2009)
IVR explored case-studies of how eight Volunteer Centres have successfully run these programmes (A gateway to work, IVR, 2009) 3.3 Guidelines on volunteering and paid employment
- TUC and Volunteering England agreed a charter to address problems of job replacement/ substitution, setting out the role of volunteering and its relationship with paid employment
3.4 Memorandum of understanding with Job Centre Plus
- Volunteering England and the national management of Job Centre Plus are working on a memorandum of understanding, setting out how each party will promote understanding, information and working relationships between local JCPs and Volunteer Centres
3.5 Other approaches to volunteering
- Government through the Council on Social Action has initiated the National Talent Bank as a scheme for ‘wholesale’ volunteering so that employers temporarily laying off or reducing the hours of staff can refer them to volunteering organisations
volunteering is increasingly being regarded in terms of contributing to an alternative economy and lifestyles, notably as a valuable non-monetary exchange (eg From the ashes of the crash, New Economics Foundation, 2009) or as part of ‘core’ economy (eg, Boyle and Harris 2009). 4. Crisis points
We face crisis points in volunteering at the time when its value has become most apparent in assisting the national economy and contributing to social policy goals. A deep concern is identified of fitting the supply of volunteering opportunities to demand from would-be volunteers. Thousands of people may be turned off volunteering because when they seek to offer themselves no-one can make the time to talk or find them an opportunity. Others may be taken on to under-resourced programmes which leave them dissatisfied and less likely to volunteer again.
A survey from Minnesota illustrates different responses among volunteering organisations to these stresses; some organisations maintained investment and developed new ways to involve volunteers, and reported thriving programmes; but some cut resources to support volunteering and saw volunteers leave and programmes die (Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, November 2009).
The crisis points may be tackled from two directions.
4.1 Investment in volunteering
Investment in volunteering needs to be increased to support the increases in volunteering, to respond to enquiries, place, train and support volunteers, and develop new opportunities. Two focuses would be most important:
- at local level through local government and local partnerships, to establish methods of sustainable funding, and to build the capacity of local infrastructure organisations and community groups to engage with local partnerships. This requires an examination of different funding regimes and programmes and their feasibility. It requires short-term funding to resource the development of proposals and to protect volunteering organisations whilst new programmes are introduced
- by policy sectors and through Government departments, to promote the contributions of volunteering to meeting social policy goals and the potential returns on investment, and thus to defend volunteering against ‘salami-slicing’ across a range of policy areas
4.2 Creation and diversification of volunteering opportunities
The crisis in supply and demand calls for the volunteering movement to face up to the demand for more and more varied opportunities to volunteer. These opportunities would include flexible opportunities appropriate for unemployed people, with different commitments for time and location and for application of skills, and would seek to open up volunteering to new audiences.
There needs to be a national conversation on ways of helping each other and ourselves, through informal and formal volunteering. It would look to create a rainbow of opportunities out of the recession. It would seek to help volunteering organisations to make the best of out this crisis.
Volunteering England is proposing to organise a round table to initiate a brainstorm, to examine feasibilities and to see how to cut through the knot of problems in supply and demand.
Notes
The information in this outline is drawn from reports from Volunteering England staff and internal reports, and from press coverage.
Also consulted were regional and local reviews, notably:
Barnard, Hilary (2009) Community crunch in Brent: Impact of the recession on the voluntary & community sector in Brent BrAVA
Greer, Liz (2009) Real help for communities: Volunteers, charities and social enterprises – An action plan for the North East region ONE
NWIEP (2009) Tackling worklessness in the North West North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership
VSNW (2009) Third sector tackling worklessness in the North West Voluntary Sector North West
References
Boyle, Davis and Harris, Michael (2009) The challenge of co-production NESTA
Building Stronger Communities taskforce (2009) Business and the third sector: Innovation in tough times Cabinet Office
Charity Commission (2009) Charities and the economic downturn Charity Commission, September
Danson, Mike (2009) Volunteering and the recession: What role for volunteers? Volunteer Development Scotland
Hill, Matthew (2009) Volunteering and employment: What is the link for unemployed volunteers? Research Bulletin, Institute for Volunteering Research
IVR (2009) A gateway to work: The role of volunteer centres in supporting the link between volunteering and employability Institute for Volunteering Research
Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (2009) The status of Minnesota’s Volunteer Programs in a shifting environment Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration
NEF (2009) From the ashes of the crash New Economics Foundation
Taylor-Gooby, Peter (1994) ‘Charities in recession: Hard times for the weakest?’ in Saxon-Harrold, S and Kendall, J (eds) Researching the voluntary sector Charities Aid Foundation
