Volunteering -
Good Practise Guide

10 Top Tips for Supporting Volunteers

Volunteers, like most of us, need some form of support to help them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. As with most areas of volunteer management, there is no single ‘right’ way to offer support to volunteers. Different volunteer tasks will require different types of support and you will, of course, need to take into account the differing needs of individual volunteers. What is important is that an appropriate support system is in place from the beginning of each volunteer’s involvement with you.

Top tips for offering support to volunteers include:

Practical

1. All out-of-pocket expenses incurred while volunteering should be reimbursed – e.g. travel, childcare: (build these in to future funding applications!)
2. Give volunteers access to all the resources and equipment they need to carry out their tasks.
   
   Organisational
   
   
3. A written volunteer policy will underline the organisation’s commitment to volunteers.
   
4. Volunteer involvement should be included in all relevant organisational policies, e.g. Equal Opportunities, Health & Safety.
   
5. Think about the systems you have in place to enable your volunteers to voice their ideas and opinions about the work of the organisation.
   
   Information
   
   
6. All volunteers should be given information about the work of the organisation and its vision and values.
   
7. Tell your volunteers what is expected of them – through volunteer task descriptions, induction programme and information about all relevant organisational policies.
   
   Personal
   
   
8. All volunteers should have a named person who will offer on-going support that allows them to talk through any issues and problems that they have. This can be offered in a variety of ways, including: -
   • Regular, pre-arranged one-to-one support sessions
   • Informal day-to-day support, e.g. checking in with volunteer at the end of each session
   • Telephone support
   • Review/development/evaluation sessions at fixed points during the year.
   • Group support – getting volunteers together to share ideas and experiences
   • Peer support – using experienced, long-standing volunteers to support new volunteers.
   • Training – all volunteers should have the training necessary to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to carry out their tasks safely and effectively.
9. Of course, the way in which your organisation offers support to volunteers will be determined by a variety of factors, such as the type of organisation, the nature of the volunteer task, the needs of individual volunteers and the resources available. Remember that a volunteer’s support needs may change during their involvement with you, so it’s important to regularly review the way in which support is offered.
10. And finally – but perhaps most importantly however – do not ever lose sight of the fact that your volunteers are VOLUNTEERS! If you demonstrate that their work, input and development is important to you, then you’re somewhere on the right track!