Benchmarking volunteering

VOLUNTEER AND VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT BENCHMARKING: A CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (July 2011 )

• Are volunteers important to your organisation?
• Would you find it useful to be able to understand how your volunteers and volunteer management compare with other similar organisations?
• Could this information help demonstrate your value added to your Senior Management Team/Board?

Agenda Consulting in partnership with the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) are launching a new benchmarking study covering volunteers and volunteer management. The study has already received considerable interest.

To express interest in participating or to find out more please contact Shabnam Tamim at shabnam.tamim@agendaconsulting.co.uk or Tracy Jarvis tracy.jarvis@agendaconsulting.co.uk or contact them on 01865 263720.

The study will only go ahead if there is interest from 50 organisations or more. The cost of participating will be payable upon registration and will be £590 plus VAT discounted to £490 plus VAT for members of VE and AVM if booked by 21 September 2011.

The overall aim of the study is to create a benchmarking study on volunteers and volunteer management which would enable participants to shape their strategies and inform operational details.

Key features:

• The focus is on UK volunteer involving organisations
• Each organisation can choose 7 or more other organisations as their peers for comparison purposes

Benefits for participating organisations:

• Provides early warning signs of potential issues
• Gives reassurance for what is already working well
• Helps determine priorities for action
• Learn about good practice through case studies of high performers
• Measure and demonstrate the added value of your volunteer management function

Topics covered in the study include:

• Profile of volunteers including diversity
• Recruitment and selection
• Posting/deployment
• Retention
• Learning and development
• Performance management
• Communications
• Value of volunteering including social return on investment
• Volunteer management function.

Participants receive:

• A tailored report which highlights their performance in comparison with their chosen peers and the sector as a whole.
• A published report comprising a commentary together with detailed information about the range of performance on each measure, and case studies of good practice
• A detailed report setting out the statistical distribution for each indicator analysed by size and sub-sector.

Some 30 organisations have already expressed interest in the study. They are:

This study is being led by a steering group, comprising of the following:

Steering group Chair: Brett Terry, Human Resources Director, Alzheimer's Society

• Rachael Bayley, Head of Volunteering, Alzheimer's Society
• Karen Allsop, Volunteer Development Manager, The Blue Cross
• Debbie Hill, Volunteer Manager, CLIC Sargent Care for Children
• Kate James, Volunteer Manager, Crohns & Colitis UK
• Helen Timbrell, Head of Volunteering, National Trust
• Laura Read, Head of Volunteering, The Prince's Trust
• Alan Murray, Head of Volunteering, RSPB
• Nikki Squelch, Head of Volunteer Strategy, Scope
• Joanna Stuart, Head of Research, Volunteering England

To express interest in participating or to find out more please contact Shabnam Tamim at shabnam.tamim@agendaconsulting.co.uk or Tracy Jarvis tracy.jarvis@agendaconsulting.co.uk or contact them on 01865 263720.