Volunteering in the new Millennium

I've been reading how volunteering is changing. The figures seem to say that the days when charities could pick out the jobs that needed to be done and hand them to unpaid but willing recruits are over. According to Cabinet Office national survey on volunteering and giving from 2007 volunteers do give less time than they used to, volunteers spent an average of 4.05 hours per week in their role in 1997, but only 2.75 hours a decade later.

It seems that in the past, people volunteered in fundraising because they were committed to a cause. Now they want to have an idea of what the money they raise is spent on. They're businesslike and they expect tangible outcomes. They want a bigger role. They're not content with being given tasks. They want to innovate and come up with ideas for new fundraising strategies.

The increase of employer-supported volunteering has also encouraged this trend. The survey found that only 16 per cent of respondents in 1997 said their employers ran volunteering schemes, but 36 per cent said this was the case in 2007. It found that employees have specific demands: 43 per cent want "personal achievement" and 41 per cent to enjoy volunteering.

It is intereting to look at why people dont volunteer;

• Not enough spare time- 42%.
• Put off by bureaucracy- 42%.
• Worried about risk and liability – 39%.
• Not got the right skills/ experiences- 35%.
• Would not be able to stop once I got involved- 31%.
• Worried about threat to safety- 31%.

A lot of charities have changed the way they work in response to these developments. In 1997, 71 per cent of volunteers said their work could be better organised, but only 31 per cent said the same in 2007.

I'm delighted to say that charities themselves are becoming increasingly professional in their work. All of this means the task of attracting volunteers has now become as much a marketing challenge as anything else.

Having reported on the figures I find that my charity, Wessex Heartbeat, seems to be bucking the trend. Our volunteers, although small in number at the moment, are willing to do what ever they can to help. It is true that they need to see how their work makes a difference and they need to be appreciated. However, this applies to us all, doesn't it?