Charities struggle to meet demand for staff volunteering, survey finds few companies are willing to pay for placements

In our last E-Newsletter we told you all about our recent awards night and I am pleased to say it has ignited a huge response on the blog site.

I want to start by saying a big thank you to everyone who took the time to write a response, THAT’S WHAT THE NEWSLETTER IS ALL ABOUT. It’s your opportunity to let people know what you think. We have been reading with interest and it has led to a number of discussions between the staff at HVA.

Have you seen the advert on TV for Orange? You know the one with all the “volunteers who did work to get concert tickets. Yeah that’s the one, so Volunteering to get concert tickets, agreeing to do something to receive something back, isn’t that a payment not a reward?

And so the debate in the office goes, is it right to reward volunteers?

At what point does it become a payment and so what if it does, is that wrong anyway?

It seems different people have different views on this, for instance, Seventy five per cent of charities say more companies are looking for volunteering opportunities for their staff, according to a survey by research and consultancy firm RedCCI.

But the survey shows that charities are struggling to offer such opportunities and only 18 per cent of companies pay them to match volunteers with placements.

The survey, carried out in July, covered 200 charities and companies. According to the results, only 24 per cent of companies reported interest in volunteering came from their staff - interest in employee volunteering was more likely to come from senior management, it says

Jamie Thomas, chief executive of Red Foundation, the parent body of RedCCI, said: "Many companies feel volunteering is a useful way of boosting staff morale during the recession. But many are unwilling to pay for sourcing opportunities, and charities are struggling to find the capacity to accommodate employee volunteering. Firms often demand ‘team challenge' projects, but these are very difficult for charities to set up, particularly if companies are unwilling to pay for them."

From our experience what charities need are good trustees, people with transferable skills who can give that longer term commitment. There is little cost to this, it’s a few hours a month and can lead to mutual growth. The charity has the experience and skills of the person at hand and the individual can also learn new skills and gain a different insight into the world. So why isn’t there more of this going on?

Why do our friends in the private sector want to don wellies and paint fences when with a little creative thought we could all do things that could make a real long term difference?

Well I think it’s probably about the payment not the reward. Companies want people to see they are doing there bit, they want staff to instantly feel they have done something, they want a “reward” for doing what they are doing, now in my book there is nothing wrong with this, doing work with charities should be a win win, free publicity is a good thing and I would always encourage companies to do what ever they can, we are always grateful, but sometimes in doing the quick fix, easy piece of high profile work, they miss the opportunity to make a real long term impact.

So come on the private sector, let’s be creative, show us your entrepreneurial skills, take up the challenge and give us a call.

So what about our sector, is rewarding or paying volunteers a good thing?

The recession we are told is leading to more and more new volunteers coming on board.

But why? Because they want to get new skills and work experience, they want some thing in return, is that a payment?

And what about saying thank you? Is it wrong to thank volunteers for their work, do you think awards nights are divisive?

I can understand people feeling it’s wrong to recognise a few above the many. I hope those of you who came to our awards night found we kept it light hearted enough not to be seen as a competition, more of a recognition of the sector as a whole, highlighting a few examples of exemplorary practice. Well that was the plan any way.

So now over to you, let the debate begin, rewards, payments, thank you's, we want to know your thoughts, what do you think is right, what do you do for your volunteers and if you work in the private sector how can we work more closely together so we both get what we really want?

We look forward to hearing from you

Andy Guile

Thanks to Kaye Wiggins, Third Sector Online, 13 August 2009 for your input