Professional Volunteering – Training and Implementation Programme
Professionalism. Responsibility. Empowerment.
For years, volunteering has been a leading problematic area for Polish non-governmental organisations (alongside fundraising), and it is usually treated in an unprofessional manner. In Poland, over 6,000 non-governmental organisations involve themselves in volunteering, but only a small proportion of them use professional volunteer management programmes.
Is it enough that we're doing important and cool things?
A large proportion of organisations assume that volunteering is a natural activity, stemming from the heart, and doesn’t require much formalisation or a strategic approach. Often, this area is limited solely to providing volunteers with information about their tasks/responsibilities (on-boarding).
A survey conducted by the ‘Verum’ Foundation showed that 95% of respondents believe that having a well-thought-out strategy in the area of volunteering would significantly facilitate the work of their organisation and the achievement of its goals. At the same time, as many as 83.2% of respondents indicated that they do not know how to approach the topic, while 50% indicated that their organisation does not have the time to create a volunteer management system.
Strategic Volunteer Management
The answer to these problems is the Responsibility. Empowerment. Strategic Volunteer Management Programme, run by the ‘Verum’ Foundation and funded by the National Freedom Institute – Centre for the Development of Civil Society, as part of the government’s Civic Initiatives Fund NOWEFIO for 2021-2030. The programme will run from March 2025 to January 2026.
The aim of the Programme is to improve volunteer management in Polish NGOs by strengthening the skills of those responsible for this area in selected organisations. This will enable these individuals to implement professional, strategic volunteer management standards in their own organisations, with the support of experts. Activities will include the implementation of a training and development programme through a mix of two-day face-to-face workshops in Warsaw, webinars, coaching and mentoring.
“Volunteers are the heart of an NGO – manage them wisely to make it beat stronger!” 💙
The Programme received over three times more applications than there were places available, which confirms the relevance of the issue. Participants from the selected organisations will increase their skills in creating a volunteer development strategy, managing volunteers, retaining them within the organisation, and motivating them. They will receive the necessary knowledge and practice it, as well as receive assistance in developing and implementing a volunteer plan. This will help them effectively acquire and retain one of the most valuable resources in the organisation: their volunteer staff.
Results available for all
In turn, organisations that were unable to participate directly in the Programme for various reasons will also be able to create a volunteer management plan and implement it in their own organisation. Based on models and good practices developed during the Programme, with input from participants in the form of their experiences from implementation in their own organisations, a Guide on ‘How to implement a culture of collaboration with volunteers in your organisation‘ will be prepared for organisations not directly participating in the Programme.
You can also sign up on the project website to be notified about new editions of the Programme.
