Guidelines for Drafting Your Own Volunteer Policy

Why do you need a Volunteer Policy in your Agency?

Volunteers are often the life-blood of our agencies. However, it is usually only when problems occur that the rights of the volunteers themselves and the responsibilities of an agency towards them become an issue.

Rather than merely reacting to problems when they occur it is possible for organisations to become “pro-active” – ie Setting up safe guards now to protect the right of volunteers.

Too often the volunteers’ position within an agency depends on the “way it has always been done” or an ad hoc opportunism. It would be good practice for organisations working with volunteers to develop policy statements whose aim is to provide a more consistent approach to working with volunteers.

What should a Volunteer Policy include?

It is helpful to have a formal policy on the involvement of volunteers in any organisation, which outlines the aims of the agency, with regard to the use of volunteers.

It should include:

• Sample application forms
• An equal opportunities statement or set of clauses
• What sort of interviews are held
• What references are taken up – and sample letter
• Whether other checks are made (Disclosures)
• What initial training takes place
• What further training and support is offered
• Job description for all tasks
• What expenses are offered and how to claim them

Policy statements include clauses that state clearly;

• what value the agency places on volunteering
• what right do volunteers have and
• how equal opportunities fit in the volunteers

A policy statement for a community based agency could well include a brief statement which sums up the aim of the agency, i.e. “Through the effective and appropriate placement of volunteers to aid the work of Age…. to reasonably maintain the quality of life, of individuals and groups, of older people within the community, including all those ‘usually excluded’ groups!”

Other agencies could play around with the statement to reflect the focus of their work.

Some pointers as to the other parts of the statement could be:

The Organisation will ensure that:

• All people have equal opportunity to express their aspirations with regard to voluntary work.
• All volunteers have the right to accept/refuse tasks.
• All volunteers have equal access to support.
• All volunteers have equal access to the payment of expenses.
• All volunteers have equal access to training.
• All volunteers have the right to take part in the decision making process of the agency.
• All volunteers have the right to terminate their placements.
• All volunteers have access to a grievance procedure (possibly similar to that of the staff).

The Organisation will ensure that:

• All volunteers are given an introduction to equal opportunities and how it relates to service delivery.
• All service recipients are informed of the agency’s position on equal opportunities.
• It has strategies to deal with discriminatory behavior on the part of volunteers and service recipients.

The Organisation will ensure that:

• Volunteers are protected from falling into supplementary roles in relation to paid work.
• Volunteers are given placements that complement, but do not replace the work of paid workers and existing networks of service and support.
• Volunteers are made aware of the policy statement. Volunteers are encouraged to take part in discussions and regular reviews of the policy statement.

How can you achieve all this? – Get some help!

1. Contact similar agencies who have already drawn up a policy.
2. Contact your local volunteer centre for information and advice. To view Volunteer Centre Fife’s volunteer policy please click here.
3. Get everyone in the organisation committed to drawing up a policy.

How do you ensure that everyone in your organisation is committed to volunteers? – Check that everyone feels able to sign up to your agency’s declaration of commitment to volunteers.

• Volunteers
• Management
• Support groups
• Central office staff
• Administrative staff
• Secondees
• Students on placement
• Users
• Funders

Even if you have consulted all these parties in drawing up the statement, it is a good idea to circulate a version and ask for comments before proceeding to the details of your policy. You may decide to set up a group drawn from some or all of the interested parties listed, in order to develop these details.

The Volunteers Organiser/Manager/Coordinator can often be isolated within an agency with little hope of changing things overnight. What we have suggested is an ideal situation, perhaps best approached step by step. We suggest that the Organiser/Manager identifies the forum within the agency where a decision about implementing a policy statement can be made.

Secondly, we suggest that the Volunteers Organiser/Manager prepares a discussion paper on the rationale for a policy statement and what the statement might include.

It would be as well to elicit support for it from colleagues/supervision who might be important components in the decision making process.