It was refreshing to see the spotlight turned on volunteering during the election when the Conservatives pledged to make employee volunteering mandatory. I just wish the ensuing spat between the political parties and business leaders had highlighted how other new approaches to volunteering are already starting to make a difference.
We all know about the business benefits of corporate volunteering, how it can help companies build stronger roots in their local communities and employees learn new skills and give something back. And we’ve probably all got at least an inkling of the personal boost to self-esteem, emotional wellbeing and resilience that research confirms volunteers experience. So why, if we’re going to worry less and feel happier as a result, are more of us not doing more of it?
According to the Government’s Community Life survey, volunteering averages have remained at broadly the same level over the past 10 years. And this despite the fact that, as a recent CIPD report tells us, 39% of large organisations are now offering paid employee volunteering time and another 23% allow unpaid time. Here at Novacroft, where we offer four paid volunteering days a year, we are very conscious that not all of these are taken.
If overall rates of volunteering are remaining static, is it time to look at how we can do things differently? A report published just before Cameron’s election pledge by nfpSynergy* on the trends impacting 21st century volunteering culture certainly thinks so. It argues that, ‘The economic crisis, political trends and technological change have combined with broader socio-economic trends to make a compelling case for transforming the volunteering sector.’
According to the report, what lies at the heart of the future of volunteering is the ‘selfish volunteer’ – and that to help people be altruistic we need to help them be selfish. We can no longer rely on dutiful older volunteers, it says, we must instead encourage and enable younger generations to embrace volunteering through more creative recruitment and management and a greater focus on what’s in it for them.
A few organisations are showing the way in tapping into the motivation of these ‘selfish volunteers’ by offering incentives for donating their time and skills to good causes. Music festivals and community cinemas are offering volunteering opportunities with ‘free entry’, for example. One university is enabling students to boost their degree marks by implementing and reporting on community-based voluntary projects. Even local councils are suggesting they might offer Council Tax discounts in return for local volunteering.
We’ve already put this approach to work in our Ucando-it social action programmes, which encourage and enable participants to earn rewards from their favourite brands by volunteering. Once we realised what this model could do not just for the individual volunteers but also for the strength of their communities and profitability of partner companies it just seemed too good a win:win:win opportunity to pass up!
* The New Alchemy: How volunteering turns donations of time and talent into human gold’