Attracting Time and Talent Volunteer Engagement and Recognition 1 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Attracting Time and Talent Volunteer Engagement and Recognition

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What is volunteering?

• In 2015, Volunteering Australia developed a definition that reflects the

contemporary nature of the sector and volunteering

• It defines volunteering as:
• “… time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain.”

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Snapshot of Volunteering in Sport in Australia

• In Australia 6.4 million volunteers support 700,000 NFPs
• 2.3 million (37.5%) volunteer in sport and recreation (S&R) providing 180 million

hours

• 37.5% of all volunteers & 14% of the adult population
• 1.2 million (55%) are male,
• 1 million (45%) are female
• 23% of people in couple families with children U15 are more likely to volunteer

in S&R than other family types

• People who volunteer in S&R have higher rates of participation
• Volunteers power all aspects and levels of management and delivery
• Imagine the cost if we had to pay for services volunteers deliver
• Imagine sport without volunteers
• Vibrant, active volunteer workforce is critical to Australian sport

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Why is volunteering important?

• Research shows that volunteering delivers important intrinsic and measurable

benefits to society and the community, individuals and organisations.

• Volunteering:
• grows community strength, resilience and inclusiveness through active social

and civic participation

• generates innovative responses to community issues and challenges
• harnesses the collective strengths and assets of the community and its

members

• enhances and extends organisational capacity through the acquisition of new

skills, experiences and perspectives

• provides pathways to participation, inclusion, skills development and

employment

• enables and drives economic growth
• can generate a personal sense of purpose, meaning, achievement and

wellbeing.

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Why do people volunteer in cricket?

• Love of the game
• For their kids
• For themselves
• For experience
• To help others
• For social interaction
• Why are you here today?
• Why do you do what you do?

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Margie’s Story

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What are the challenges facing clubs with volunteers?

• When asked clubs say “we can’t get volunteers”
• Is it getting harder?
• More requirements from government and regulatory bodies
• Greater demand from parents in junior clubs
• People consider themselves to be too busy to be involved
• People think you need to know about cricket to be involved
• Does the word volunteering have a negative connotation to people today?

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Volunteer Challenges

• Volunteering is personal & motivations differ
• Perceived and real barriers to volunteering
• Volunteering is evolving
• Volunteers are different
• Life-cycle and life-style changes
• More life-experiences
• More mobile, tech-savvy
• Seeking options, opportunities to develop or use skills
• Seeking reciprocal, collaborative, inclusive relationships
• Diverse social, cultural, linguistic, religious backgrounds
• Different generations, characteristics, motivations
• Desire social networks and connectedness
• For organisations and causes, in places, at times that suit them

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What can we do?

• In Cricket clubs we need to be flexible, creative, innovative to:
• Balance organisations’ and volunteers’ needs
• Accommodate different motivations & expectations
• Remove or minimise barriers to volunteering
• Support intergenerational and socially inclusive volunteering
• Leverage diversity and new technologies
• Engage not merely manage volunteers
• Build a resilient volunteer involving organisation

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What are our volunteers doing?

• Many and varied
• Recent workshop at the WACA identified nearly 90 roles or at least key tasks

that people do at our clubs

• Formal roles
• President, Secretary, Treasurer, Coach etc
• Other roles
• Match day, Club Events, Website, BBQ, Bar/Canteen etc

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What do clubs want and need from volunteers?

• When you are looking for a volunteer, what does that mean at your club?
• Do you know what you want?
• Do you know how much time is involved?

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Volunteers – where are they and how can we get them?

• From within our club
• Members
• Families
• From within our community
• Retirees
• Past members
• Sponsors or local businesses
• From outside our local area
• Volunteering organisations
• University students
• Companies offering Corporate Volunteering Programs

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Volunteers – where are they and how can we get them?

• From within our club
• Understand your membership
• Identify roles
• Ask!
• From within our community
• Create relationships with other community organisations and groups
• Local government connections
• Retirement or Lifestyle communities
• From outside our local area
• Volunteering Victoria
• Companies offering Corporate Volunteering Programs

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Volunteers – how do we make the most of them?

• Keep our volunteers interested and engaged
• Don’t overload them
• Make them accountable – nobody is “just a volunteer”
• Know where to go for help
• Better club experiences

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Volunteers – developing their skills and knowledge

• There is help available
• Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria
• Sport and Recreation (State Govt)
• Local government
• Volunteering Australia and State subsidiaries
• Private organisations with pay for service offerings
• Other Volunteers – huge network of support in cricket – how can we connect it up?

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Volunteers – developing their skills and knowledge

• Workshops
• Training sessions
• Webinars
• Resources via websites
• Australian Cricket Staff

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Volunteers – keeping them involved and interested

• Make their contribution meaningful and valued
• Recognise effort and outcomes
• Reward effort and outcomes

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Case Study

• Quinns Rocks Junior Cricket Club
• WA Junior Cricket Club of the Year
• Club was not in good shape about 5 years ago
• Using Volunteer Management Framework and other Club Development

Resources have gone on to be a benchmark club

• President said to me recently “I’ve now got too many volunteers”

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How can we create a club culture of volunteering?

• Know your clubs purpose and what your members want
• Get the right people
• Have a Volunteers Coordinator
• Recognise and reward your people
• Small roles – more people – more willingness to be involved
• Lead by example and set an expectation that this is how our club grows and

develops

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What makes a good volunteer?

• Passion for sport , passion for kids, passion for community,
• What is your passion? Linked to earlier when we talked about why?
• Know why you want to and why you actually volunteer
• Skills and alignment of this to the role
• Maximising available time
• Contributing to club and community
• Gets their job done

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Volunteer Recognition

• Not just “Volunteer of the Year Awards”
• Not just recognising length of service
• Small and immediate recognition means a lot
• Doesn’t need to be a “prize”
• Shirts, name badges, call out at meetings, presentations, events
• Don’t underestimate a simple “Thank You”

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Recap Key Points

• Know what roles you need volunteer for
• Identify the skills/talent required
• Identify the time commitment required
• Know your members and align skills/talent and time commitment/availability to

the role

• Ask directly with purpose
• Share the load – more “bite sized volunteering” opportunities
• Create a club culture of volunteering – it’s really just being a good club member
• As a club, know your purpose, know your values and have a plan
• Volunteers need to feel valued and empowered
• Challenge yourself to think differently about volunteering and volunteers

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Resources available

• Volunteer Management Framework
• Cricket Victoria website
• Community.cricket.com.au
• Volunteering Australia and Volunteering Victoria
• Cricket Victoria Staff
• Play by the Rules
• Sport Australia