Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
The authors
This report has been prepared and written by the team at Red Foundation.
Red Foundation is a social enterprise supporting and promoting volunteering and
community action through the provision of development and capacity building services
to the third and public sectors, and though pioneering new projects, partnerships and
ways of working. Red Foundation‟s trading activities support their charitable objectives of
building a better place for us all to live and work in.
For more information about Red Foundation visit www.redfoundation.org
Acknowledgements
Red Foundation would like to thank everyone who completed our survey, participated in
a focus group, provided a case study, sent us information or was interviewed as we
prepared this document. There are too many of you to individually name, but thank you
all for your contributions which were much appreciated.
Foreword 1
Introduction 2
Executive summary 4
Conclusions 52
Appendices 71
1 Data report 72
2 Young people and social network services; managing risk – lessons from 100
Devon County Council
3 Case study: The Scout Association, integrating use of social network 102
services in communication messages
4 Facebook 104
5 My Space 108
6 10 Twitter tips for non profit organisations 111
7 YouTube 113
8 Flickr 115
9 Online guides to using social network services 117
Fresh thinking
Foreword
By Baroness Hanham of Kensington CBE
Joan Hanham
Chair
England Volunteering Development Council
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Introduction
By Red Foundation
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Fabia Bates, Colette Harrison, Gudrun Limbrick, Chris Penberthy, Emma Sparrow, Will
Sparrow, Jamie Thomas and Georgina Watts
The Modernising Volunteering Team
Red Foundation
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Executive summary
Introduction
It is through adapting to our changing environment that we will not only survive, but work
together to ensure that volunteering becomes part of the DNA of our society.
Communication, relationships, giving time to meet needs, ensuring that volunteering is
acknowledged - Fresh thinking looks at how we communicate with others in the
volunteering movement, whether volunteers, Volunteer Managers or volunteering support
services; it returns to the heart of volunteering – volunteers who lead their activity; and
looks at how to support raising the status and value placed on volunteering at a local
level.
The role of social network services in supporting volunteering
The introduction and subsequent growth of online social networking has represented one
of the biggest social developments of the past five years, affecting the way the way that
people in the UK and across the globe communicate and interact with each other. In
April 2008, OfCom reported that of the 61% of the UK population that regularly use the
internet, 71% have a social network profile which they access at least every other day.
With a million new households gaining internet access each year, this figure looks set to
continue to rise.
Social network services have been described as „friends of friends‟ networks and have, for
several years, been the toast of new media with their principal strength seen as being the
ability to involve tens of millions of users. In this section we explore the role of social
network services as online peer to peer networks in which people with similar interests or
connections are able to interact with each other via the internet.
With Wikipedia providing a list of 148 major active social networks it describes as notable
and well-known and acknowledging that this list is not exhaustive we have not explored
each one. Rather this section of the report focuses on the two most frequently identified in
our research and which appear to be the most well known within the volunteering
movement - FaceBook and MySpace – each of which has over 200 million active users
worldwide, together with Twitter, which is currently seeing a rapid increase in general
usage and is beginning to be more widely used by voluntary and community sector
organisations.
It would appear that the general slow adoption of new technology within the voluntary
and community sector is mirrored in the use of social network services, with the vast
majority of organisations not using them. The report explores some of the reasons for the
slow adoption of social network services and provides case studies of voluntary and
community sector organisations which are successfully using them.
From our survey sample we discovered that while less than 25% of volunteer involving
organisations are using social network services, the vast majority of these have found them
to be successful. Our research demonstrates an untapped potential for the use of social
network services to support volunteering. Fresh thinking explores the benefits and barriers
to using social network services to support volunteering and, through case studies, shows
how they can be used as an additional communication and support tool.
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The report includes tips on the use of social network services, together with appendices
giving more detailed information about the use of specific social networks and providing
links to further information and advice.
Improving the support for volunteer led volunteering
The report explores what volunteer led volunteering is. It identifies that, with the majority of
organisations within the voluntary and community sector having no paid staff or very
limited staff time and being dependent on volunteers for all of their activity, volunteer led
volunteering is the most common form of organisational structure within the voluntary and
community sector.
In acknowledging the volume of volunteer led activity, the report explores current thinking
and the ways in which this form of volunteering is supported. Fresh thinking identifies that,
in communities across England, there are small volunteer led organisations doing a wide
variety of things. These will have a range of structures and understanding. They will
frequently be unaware of voluntary and community sector support services available to
them, and will fly beneath the radar of the very services that are there to support them. It
can be argued that volunteering in these organisations is the least supported within the
voluntary and community sector. As one leader of volunteering activity said, “I had not
appreciated that there were places to find volunteers and support.”
The report touches on the matter of co-production and the potential for volunteers to
have a greater role in shaping their activity and the organisations in which they volunteer.
Using the results of survey, focus groups, research and anecdotal evidence the report
examines the support available to volunteer led groups. Whilst these groups are finding
some support, there are concerns that it is not always appropriate because of the
different basis on which volunteer led activity happens. As we were told “the people I
work with do not see themselves as volunteers and do not recognise that they are being
managed. As a small community group we are not a very formal organisation in structure
or operations.” The report also explores the information, advice and support needs that
these groups have, where and how successfully they are met.
The subject of volunteering and faith communities is explored in depth in a separate
report; Fresh thinking highlights some important points relating to volunteer led activity
from this. It also seeks to identify some key points of transferable learning from the
experience of Youth Action Network and its approach to supporting youth led
volunteering.
Fresh thinking offers guidance to volunteering support services wishing to improve the
support they offer to volunteer involving organisations.
Developing the role of Volunteering Champions
The report explores the Champion concept with examples of some schemes currently in
operation. It identifies that there are a number of different ways in which the term
Volunteering Champion is used: peer led recruitment and support for organisations;
championing volunteering at senior and governance levels within organisations; and
championing volunteering at a strategic level. Examples of each of these in action are
given; however, there is little evidence of widespread adoption of any of these; rather the
confusion about what a Volunteering Champion is causes confusion. The report explores
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the perceptions that volunteers, Volunteer Managers and Volunteering Champions have
of the role; and identify reasons why it has not developed further.
Fresh thinking concentrates on the role of Volunteering Champions at a strategic level –
the concept proposed by the Commission on the Future of Volunteering. It looks at what
the volunteering movement would want from Volunteering Champion schemes and raises
areas that need further consideration as the development of these is piloted over coming
years.
Whilst there is little experience of Volunteering Champions to draw on, key areas for
consideration have been prepared for those considering developing a scheme. Further
work is to be done in this area, and additional guidance issued as this is undertaken.
Summary of conclusions
The role of social network services in supporting volunteering:
The voluntary and community sector and volunteering movement are not currently
capitalising on the potential of the interactive communication opportunities that are
available through social network services
There is a lack of knowledge about the use of social network services within the
volunteering movement
There is an identified desire amongst the volunteering movement for online services
in three areas: access to information; the ability to interact with information, be
involved in its development and identify sources of support; and the ability to
interact with others
The utilisation of social network services to support volunteering is happening
sporadically; each organisation taking their initial steps in social networking faces a
steep learning curve - encouraging the sharing of learning about this could prevent
each organisation reinventing the wheel and also help each organisation to utilise
existing social networking sites, not specifically designed for this purpose, effectively
and without compromising issues such as privacy
We have found some appetite for a bespoke online social network service for our
country‟s volunteering movement
Improving the support for volunteer led volunteering
Volunteer led volunteering is not well understood by many volunteering support
services and is consequently not as well supported as it could be
Volunteering support services should pay special attention to the specific needs of
small informal groups and how to support them; including through the use of a
community development approach and by making services more accessible to
volunteer leaders, including outside of office hours
Lessons should be learnt from well supported forms of volunteer led activity
There is an identified need to support governance in small organisations and within
groups that undertake volunteer led activity
National volunteering support services should work with national organisations
supporting volunteer led activity in order for both to support the development of
successful relationships between their local partners/groups
Volunteering support services should work with volunteer involving organisations in
order to develop support for the emerging concept of co-production
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involved in its development and identify sources of support; and the ability to
interact with others
The utilisation of social network services to support volunteering is happening
sporadically; each organisation taking their initial steps in social networking faces a
steep learning curve - encouraging the sharing of learning about this could prevent
each organisation reinventing the wheel and also help each organisation to utilise
existing social networking sites, not specifically designed for this purpose, effectively
and without compromising issues such as privacy
We have found some appetite for a bespoke online social network service for our
country‟s volunteering movement
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The introduction and subsequent growth of online social networking has represented one
of the biggest social developments of the past five years, affecting the way the way that
people in the UK and across the globe communicate and interact with each other. From
MySpace to Facebook and Twitter the chances are that either you or someone you know
has a profile on one of these networks. More recently we have begun to see the
introduction of bespoke networks as businesses begin to exploit the potential of social
networking models to engage with their customers.
But what does this have to do with volunteering? Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are
increasingly being used by charities and other not for profits to recruit, engage and
regularly communicate with donors and other supporters. In addition there are many
groups and campaigns that are being driven by individuals with a common interest to
address a community issue, often without any organisational infrastructure. The sheer mass
of people regularly using social networks to express their interests and passions represents
an enormous potential to get them involved in a range of volunteering activities.
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2008, when it was overtaken by Facebook; its focus on audio and visual content
means that it attracts a younger user group profile than Facebook. Like Facebook
users are increasingly able to access their profile via a mobile phone as well as the
internet.
Twitter – www.twitter.com
Twitter is a social network that provides a micro-blogging service, enabling its users to
communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent
updates, known as „tweets‟, by answering the question „what are you doing?‟
Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on
the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them as
„followers‟. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default,
allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter
website, text message or external applications such as those found on some mobile
phones. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using texts may incur phone
service provider fees.
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Case study:
RSPB on Facebook, MySpace, Gumtree, Flickr and Junction49
The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) is the largest wildlife conservation
charity in the UK. Established in 1889, RSPB works throughout the UK and around the
world, saving species from extinction, protecting special places for wildlife, and
motivating people to add their voice to theirs.
RSPB engages 13,500 regular volunteers and over half a million people who take part in
a number of citizen science projects such - as the Big Garden Birdwatch.
The organisation started using social network services in 2007, in an attempt to reach out
to a new audience that might not have traditionally got involved with them. They were
also keen to see if social networks could be used to recruit new volunteers as well as
keep in touch with existing supporters, many of whom were already actively using these
networks.
Before setting up their site profiles they researched the different networks to see which
ones would work best for them. Starting with MySpace and Facebook, they soon
expanded their presence onto others, including Flickr – a network that enables users to
showcase photographs and other images - which they use to communicate with and
support a group of volunteer photographers.
So far results have been positive. Their presence across all social network services has
enabled them to promote their core messages and have provided an easy way to
keep in direct contact with their growing team of volunteers. However recruitment of
new volunteers has not been so successful with the exception of Gumtree, which
promotes user generated listings for a wide variety of products and services.
But it is early days. Having a presence across so many social network service sites means
that someone has to keep the content current and this requires substantial staff time.
RSPB is constantly reviewing the effectiveness of their social network service profiles
against the amount of time it takes to maintain them and a key challenge is to target
the networks that are most likely to yield the best results as well as utilising the interest
and capacity of their volunteers.
As Alan Murray, Head of Volunteering Development at RSPB says, “Volunteer managers
must look at the opportunities that social networks present for both engaging new
audiences and keeping existing volunteers and supporters informed of your work. The
question for all of us will be how much time and resource can we dedicate to this and
what role is there for our volunteers themselves managing our presence on these
networks for us.”
www.rspb.org.uk
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Practicalities
o „Social network services „blocked by IT department‟
o „Too much spam generated‟
o „Privacy concerns‟ – „personal vs. professional use, concerns that personal
information would be available to clients and co-workers‟
o „Can be discriminatory for older people‟ – „older people see it as scary and
only for younger people‟
o „Being unsure which is best site for the organisation and audience‟
o „Management – they are hard to control‟
o „Knowledge of how to use them, from creating a profile to setting up a group‟
o „Risk factors (although uncertain what these would be)‟
Although the majority of voluntary and community sector organisations are not engaging
with social network services, some are actively engaged with varying degrees of success.
Many of these would say that they are still in the early stages and it is difficult to give
empirical evidence about the benefits they receive from their activity.
Most people and organisations value the opportunity to network with likeminded
individuals and agencies. In a work/volunteering context, we are all familiar with the
constant demand for more opportunities to network with others. In recent years people
have begun to use the internet not only as a source of information and entertainment, but
also as a place to interact with others. Social network services have moved networking
into the virtual realm. Although the mass use of social network services is relatively new,
they are seen as having the potential to help the voluntary and community sector
through:
Raising awareness about your organisation and your work
Disseminating information like news, photos and video
Fostering a sense of community around your organisation and the causes you work
for
Recruiting volunteers by empowering and mobilising supporters
Raising money
The Media Trust1 supports the use of social network services by voluntary and community
sector organisations as „they can greatly empower charities through the range of
powerful communication and organisational tools they offer... (they) represent a ready-
made and extremely easy way for charities to engage with much bigger audiences.
Many smaller charities lack the financial and technical support necessary to develop their
own websites to their full potential... social network sites offer sets of web communication
tools that they could not develop themselves.‟ Effectively using social network services
gives voluntary and community sector organisations opportunities to „communicate,
educate, debate, find others working in similar fields and increase their potential to
mobilise users through engagement‟.
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Case Study:
Make a Difference (MaD) on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube
Established in 2005 in Milton Keynes, Make a Difference (MaD) is a social enterprise that
encourages, supports and recognises 13-25 year olds who want to take action and
volunteer their time for the benefit of the community.
Volunteers are involved in a wide variety of projects and roles including sports, urban art,
music, mentoring, media, health, environment and more.
MaD are active users of social networks which they‟ve been using to engage with their
volunteers since 2007, initially starting with MySpace (www.myspace.com/musik4umk) a
network for predominately young people, where they successfully linked volunteering
roles with young people‟s passion for music. Since then they have developed a
presence on Facebook and also use YouTube to showcase their work through videos
posted by volunteers (www.youtube.com/madmiltonkeynes).
MaD started using social network services when they realised that increasingly their
volunteers were using these networks to communicate with each other; in addition their
staff also had personal profiles and so were used to using these networks for
communicating outside of work, and so MaD decided to establish an organisation
profile to enable them to easily keep in touch with their growing team of volunteers.
MaD see their social network service profiles as an essential tool for regularly keeping in
touch with their young volunteers, organisations, partners and funders with news about
their work. They also use them to recruit more volunteers, as the platforms enable them
to easily put out calls for help and to promote opportunities more effectively than
emailing as they know that the majority of members check their profiles on a daily basis
and are likely to pass on information of interest to their social network service friends who
can then easily join the MaD group.
As with all organisations, MaD recognise the need to keep their profiles current,
updating information and producing new content to keep people interested. This
requires an investment of time and MaD have managed to utilise the skills and
motivation of their young volunteers who play a lead role in keeping their profiles
updated on a daily basis.
MaD had no particular expectations when they started to engage with social network
services other than seeing a potential to enhance their ability to regularly communicate
with their volunteers and keep them engaged with their work and to promote their
volunteering opportunities, in an easy and cost effective way. As MaD‟s Danny Quinn
says, „Social networks are perfect for this kind of engagement with the community.‟
www.mad-uk.org
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For example, MySpace provides a portal, „Impact UK‟, into charitable and community
causes on its site. This is supported by the Media Trust and it is possible to search the
national volunteering database, www.do-it.org.uk, from the front page. The Media Trust
identifies that amongst its core features MySpace offers charities the ability to:
Create a personalised profile
Create a blog
Publish video quickly and easily
Organise a gallery of photos
Publish details of events and contact other users to inform them of this activity
Create groups
Create member forums
Stream sound files
Offer further contact mechanisms through email and instant messaging.
Encourage subscription to details of your charity‟s activity.
In Utilising online social networks, the Media Trust identifies several UK charities using
MySpace successfully:
Cancer Research UK - www.myspace.com/cancerresearchuk
Cancer Research UK uses MySpace as an extension of their communications strategy
and have modified their page so it resembles their print and online materials. They
use the space well, clearly outlining their mission statement and linking to multimedia
content like podcasts via their own external website. They have also made their
ribbon logo available to others to feature on their own online profiles and have
successfully attracted a large number of friends and comments.
Samaritans - www.myspace.com/samaritanscharity
Samaritans are a UK charity offering 24 hour emotional support to people
experiencing distress and despair. They have chosen to use MySpace as a basic
extension of their online activity, clearly outlining their mission statement and ways to
contact them as well as linking back to their main website. They have used the
photo gallery feature to add pictures of their events and have attracted positive
comments from their friends as a result.
Oxfam - www.myspace.com/oxjam
Oxfam use MySpace extremely well, targeting its readymade community of music
lovers with Oxjam, a campaign that encourages musicians and promoters to stage
fundraising concerts. Their aims are clearly outlined on their profile and they use
embedded videos and photos as eye-catching records of their events. Oxfam also
utilise the blog feature to offer up to date details of their activity, offer links to music
downloads via external sites and provide clear links to the regional branches of the
campaign. This ties in well with user posts to their profile where they are encouraged
to advertise their own activity to the large user group.
Breast Cancer Care UK - www.myspace.com/breastcancercare
Another strong example of strategic use of social networking is UK charity Breast
Cancer Care. This charity use MySpace to offer video and blogs and communicate
their message highly effectively. They link back to their own website when
appropriate and also display the range of groups that they subscribe to within this
community. As a result they have successfully attracted a number of high-profile
celebrity supporters as friends as well as positive comments from users.
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Case study:
The National Trust on Facebook
The National Trust was founded in 1895 to respond to growing concerns about the
impact of uncontrolled development and industrialisation; it serves as a guardian for the
nation in the acquisition and protection of threatened coastline, countryside and
buildings. The Trust relies on the support of over 50,000 volunteers who are engaged
throughout their work.
In 2008 the head office volunteering team established a presence on Facebook. As a
huge organisation they had previously struggled to establish an effective two way
dialogue with their volunteers, particularly from the head office. The charity wanted to
explore the potential of social networks to open up a dialogue with existing volunteers
and to encourage volunteers from around the country to communicate with one
another. This was supported by a survey in which volunteers expressed an interest in
more web based communications and more information on strategic issues affecting
the Trust. They chose Facebook as some volunteers already had a presence on the
network.
The Trust currently has one „official‟ Facebook group along with others set up by
members and volunteers to meet local needs and to support special interests, e.g. „I‟m
a proud member of the National Trust and I don‟t yet draw a pension‟. The main aim of
the group is to provide a new channel for two way communications between staff and
volunteers as well as enabling volunteers to talk to one another. The latter is considered
particularly important as volunteers don‟t get many opportunities to talk to others
outside of „their‟ allotted property thereby missing out on the opportunity to learn from
and support each other. An additional although secondary aim is to promote the Trust‟s
work to potential new volunteers.
Content development and promotion of the Trust‟s Facebook group is managed by the
central volunteering team, supported with frequent posts and comments from
volunteers. Although not a major time resource for staff, the Trust realises that more
needs to be done to promote their Facebook activity in order to get more of their 50,000
plus volunteers involved – as the majority are known to have internet access but are not
yet engaged via the network. The intention is to encourage volunteers to lead on this
activity as much as possible to encourage more active engagement and participation
in the Trust‟s work – for example some discussions on Facebook have led to main
features in the Trust‟s magazine.
The Trust intends to develop the presence it has on Facebook, although at this stage
there are no plans to expand to other networks, with a particular emphasis on
encouraging volunteers to take an active role in developing content and
communications with other existing and potential volunteers. This approach is linked to a
wider „e-engagement‟ strategy that is in development, looking to utilise the Trust‟s
organisational website which may include a bespoke social networking tool.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
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These results demonstrate an untapped opportunity for use of social network services to
support volunteering. We asked our Volunteer Manager‟s focus groups what would make
it easier for them to use social network sites; they told us:
„The opportunities need to be explained and the benefits need to be sold to
organisations and volunteers in order to generate interest in using them;
organisations need to be supportive and some currently block sites‟
„Good if it was easier to understand – it all changes so quickly – it takes a long time to
work out‟
„If they were more user friendly‟
„Training or explanation of how it works‟
„Case studies – personal practical experience‟
„A way to sign up professionally, not as „me‟‟
„More awareness of what is there already – stops reinventing the wheel‟
„There was time to do it – it would be an add on‟
„Cost – at the moment it‟s minimal but...‟
„Addressing security issues, especially for young people‟
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Bebo, but Bebo is not the place for carrying out that youth work. Do it somewhere else -
create a Ning network. Then allow young people to publish the results of their project
wherever they want. As we all know, some young people don't want to publicise their
volunteering with their peers.
There's no doubt of the benefits of all this, it just needs to be thought out and delivered
sensitively.
Participant in an online focus group
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From this we can see that the majority of volunteering support services is already involved
in some form of online support; this indicates that a further move to use of social network
services should be possible.
We are aware that volunteering support services are stretched, when we asked what the
internal barriers to offering on-line support are, we discovered:
82% lack funding for it
47% lack in-house skills
35% lack appropriate equipment and technology
16% lack time or staff resources
Other internal barriers to offering online support mentioned included:
„Insufficient evidence at this time to devote specific action to establish online
support‟
„Lack of knowledge‟
„Access to social networking sites banned by managers‟
„Cultural and social – a lack of trust‟
„Not something that has been highlighted by our members‟
„Not necessary‟
Only 2 of the 158 respondents felt that there were no internal barriers to offering online
support.
When considering the external barriers to offering online support, volunteering support
services told us:
69% of service users lack appropriate equipment/technology
61% of service users lack appropriate skills
14% felt that there was no demand
Other external barriers to offering online support for volunteering mentioned by
volunteering support services responding to the survey included:
„Service users do not make time and understand the value of online support‟
„Service users lack motivation‟
„Knowledge that it is available – marketing‟
„Low use of information and communications technology‟
„Some organisations reject offers of help‟
„Groups and organisations want personal support by phone or in person/ the value
service users put on receiving support on-line rather than face-to-face or by phone‟
„Identifying what resources should be put online‟
„Balancing the needs to those who can access online support and those who can‟t –
most frequently – finding an alternative method of getting the same information and
support out to all‟
„Attitudes‟
„Lack of funding/resources/time‟
„Lack of knowledge about where to find online resources‟
„Organisations like to have both online and face-to-face support‟
„Not enough demand to justify the costs‟
„Knowing that help is there‟
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Case Study:
Duke of Edinburgh Society, University of Durham
A personal account by Andrew Steer
I have utilised the social networking site Facebook to organise an expedition to Iceland
and assist with the running of a university Duke of Edinburgh Society, in my capacity as
Expedition Leader and Vice President respectively.
The former of these roles involved me coordinating and delegating tasks to a large
group of people, as such Facebook proved an invaluable tool to keep people up to
date with developments, contact people individually and broadcast common
messages to the group via the „Message‟ function. Furthermore, social events and
meetings pertaining to the expedition could easily be organised at the touch of a
button, saving both time and money in comparison with telephone calls and text
messages. The diary function of Facebook ensures people are kept up to date and
reminded of important expedition meetings and events. In terms of efficiency, it
transpired quite early on in the expedition that people tend to check Facebook at more
regular intervals than e-mails, thus replies are often more prompt.
In my role as Vice President of the Duke of Edinburgh society, I used Facebook for many
of the same functions. Crucially, Facebook proved a useful marketing tool for increasing
awareness of and participation in the society throughout the university. Several
specialised events were organised to raise funds for the society, one of which was a
Tyne Bridge Abseil. Again, the „Event‟ function proved useful as I, together with several
other executive members, used this function to invite several hundred people to the
event, via our Facebook accounts. As a result, interest in the Abseil soared, several
people signed up to take part and the event proved resoundingly successful.
Thus, the fact that several tools are incorporated into one website within Facebook, e.g.
e-mail, message board, calendar and event manager, greatly adds to its wide appeal
and usefulness amongst group leaders or those involved in university societies.
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Only 1 of the 147 respondents to this question felt that there were no external barriers to
offering online support. We also received a number of comments about a lack of ability to
answer the question, as service users had not been asked about whether they wanted
online support.
If respondents told us that there was no demand for online support for volunteering, we
asked how they knew this. We received 45 responses, including:
„Groups feel that too much information is downloaded, they prefer person to person
support‟
„Discussions at Volunteer Co-ordinators Forums; feedback at training sessions;
feedback based on e-group newsletter/info snippets; general feedback in one-to-
one support sessions with workers in volunteer involving organisations; member
surveys‟
„Very few groups take up suggestions of on-line support when suggested through
organisations like Volunteering England or our local learning and skills resource,
Ladder4Learning‟
„Voluntary and community sector survey carried out re. ChangeUp‟
„We do not get asked for this type of support - we have pages on the website
relating to volunteering but have no evidence as to its use and have not had
additional questions posted‟
„Of the groups on our database we know that only just over half have email
addresses and a proportion of those that do have email do not have broadband –
it‟s not about demand it‟s about capacity‟
„Not been asked‟
„We have tried various options and promoted to local networks, we are now just
providing a few facilities long-term and will see if they are taken up‟
„Majority of volunteers don't have a PC‟
„Little use of existing systems on offer via website‟
„Community likes to receive a magazine - with occasional community emails - web-
site is of little value‟
„The age demographic of the population means that a significant number of active
community volunteers are either not on-line or are not regular IT users, evidenced by
personal experience‟
„Of 250+ members, over 80 are still not on email‟
„No one mentions it during our events, no need for it from organisations‟
„People have responded well to the personal touch, i.e. face to face and
telephone; some smaller local groups do not have email, some have not given their
details, some admit to not reading stuff on email‟
„We put lots of guidance on the website point to it from e-newsletters and they still
can't find the simplest of forms and ask us to send them one in the post‟
This question revealed that some respondents did not know how they knew that there was
no demand:
„We've never had time or funds to offer this support so we haven't investigated the
need for it; none of our members has ever asked for it either‟
„We haven't asked the question so don't know the answer/demand‟
„We don't know‟
Given that this question was only asked of those respondents who felt that there was no
demand for online support, it was interesting to receive responses such as:
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„We have been asked about this by individual volunteers and groups‟
„We are asked to provide such support, however, without a lot of prompting and
'push' strategies, there is little engagement or interaction from users who could
benefit‟
„There is plenty of demand - we have an answer my question section which is well
used‟
„There is some demand for online support, however some organisations do not have
the skills or equipment to access online support and prefer to meet a worker‟
„There is a demand, we signpost people to Volunteer England‟s good practice bank
and some other links through our website but would like to do more‟
„I believe there is loads of demand‟
„I don't - online support is much appreciated!‟
„Regular requests for information technology guidance/support re equipment,
software, electronic systems‟
„We know there is a demand; we are presently putting both our training packs on a
CD so that trainers can make best use of our flexible training modules - we would like
to be able to update this online‟
„There is demand for online support - but only from certain larger voluntary
organisations that have the staff/capacity/skills to receive information in this way -
much of our work is with local, community groups, run solely by volunteers who are
not at the end of their email everyday and often sending information out to one
inbox contact for a group, it does not get disseminated effectively amongst all other
members - so loses its impact‟
„From requests, we do send info by email, but need to update our website‟
„I think there is a demand as young people and adults have more access to
computers today, so could get in touch in this way‟
„More clients now requesting advice through e-mail communication as opposed to
visiting the bureau in person‟
„I wouldn't say there was no demand, but there is not a high level of demand. For
example, we wrote to all our volunteer involving organisations (around 130) asking if
they would like to join a volunteer management forum, which could either function
online or meet in person. We only had one positive response! National online support
is very good, e.g. Volunteering England Good Practice Bank, and UKVPMs, and so
when organisations do have a need they can usually be satisfied with these sources,
plus a very good county wide support website we have developed. I would be
reluctant to see these efforts duplicated at a local level when a regional or national
approach seems more effective and efficient. I feel that volunteer involving
organisations find one to one, face to face support from Volunteer Centre staff the
most helpful form of support‟
We asked Volunteer Managers, both paid staff and volunteers, about their use of
interactive online volunteering support services based in England and received 271
responses:
16% used the wiki and forum on the Association of Volunteer Managers website
17% used UKVPMs
This demonstrates the potential for more Volunteer Managers to avail themselves of free
support and information available when they have the time or need to use it.
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Case study:
UnLtdWorld
UnLtdWorld is one the of the UK‟s first social networking sites established for the not for
profit sector. It is run by UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs. A registered
charity, they provide start up funding and business development support to individuals
that want to establish initiatives to help improve the communities in which they live and
work – these include social enterprises and businesses, charities and other not for profit
projects . Established in the 2000, UnLtd has helped thousands of individuals - Award
Winners - to express their passion for their community.
In 2006, a survey of 600 Award Winners identified an overwhelming need and desire to
have increased opportunities to network with each other, along with a need to get
information about funding and other capacity building opportunities.
Inspired by the successful use of Web 2.0 tools by the likes of Facebook, Twitter and
Yahoo! Answers, UnLtd decided to respond to their Award Winner‟s needs by setting up
UnLtdWorld. Its primary purpose is to connect and empower individuals and
organisations that operate in the social entrepreneurship market.
In just two years UnLtdWorld has built its community to 10,000 members, almost all of
whom are existing or aspiring social entrepreneurs, who use the site to connect with
each other for networking and peer support, trade, and promote their projects and
services and events, as well as get information on latest developments and funding
opportunities.
UnLtdWorld‟s members are active users of the network, with 1 in 5 logging in every day
and 3 in 4 every month. Many of them have profiles on other social networking sites and
the UnLtdWorld enables them to integrate their profiles if they choose to. There is
significant evidence of networking and peer support taking place, with regular „Shouts‟
to the community for help and advice, special interest groups, direct messaging and
wall posts. This aspect of the service is so key, that UnLtdWorld plans to introduce
„collaborative workspaces‟ to extend this functionality.
UnLtdWorld is a UK pioneer of utilising social media techniques to promote and support
community causes. Just two years on and the network already has big plans for its
future, including building its community to 500,000 members and becoming a viable
sustainable business that is not reliant on grant income.
Project manager Alberto Nardelli says, „Our goal is to be the indispensable online
starting point for all individuals and organisations involved in the social entrepreneurship
sector, providing the most essential and most relevant resources, insight and business
tools they need to achieve their social and business goals – so watch this space!‟
www.unltdworld.com
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2 That is services that don‟t require users to go to them. These are normally delivered through
email updates of changes to websites; new information added to profiles/groups on social
network services; or new postings to email groups
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Case study:
Junction49
www.junction49.co.uk
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Conclusions
Whilst social network services are being used by a large and growing number of people,
the voluntary and community sector and volunteering movement are not currently
capitalising on the potential of the interactive communication opportunities that are
available through these.
There is clearly a lack of knowledge about the use of social network services within the
volunteering movement. Both in the survey and focus groups people asked for basic
information and case studies to address this.
The utilisation of social networking sites to further volunteer work is happening sporadically
at the moment but many organisations seem to be planning forays into this area. As each
organisation takes their initial steps, they are facing a steep learning curve. Encouraging
the sharing of learning about this could prevent each organisation reinventing the wheel
and also help each organisation to utilise existing social networking sites, not specifically
designed for this purpose, effectively and without compromising issues such as privacy.
The responses we received indicated a desire amongst the volunteering movement for
online services in three areas:
Access to information
There is currently a reliance on internal sources of support, advice and information
which in some circumstances might create pressure on an organisation which could
be alleviated by greater use of other sources of support which are signposted
effectively and can be accessed quickly.
There is are already online sources of information about volunteering, the most
notable of which in England is www.volunteering.org.uk, which has links to a wide
variety of other volunteering focussed organisational and resource websites.
It would appear that these resources could be better marketed amongst the wider
volunteering movement in order that the information they contain is accessed by a
greater number of potential users.
Ability to be interact with information, be involved in its development and identify
sources of support
Our research has revealed the UKVPMs Yahoo Group and the Association of
Volunteer Managers‟ website as the two key online methods of interacting with
information and finding sources of support.
It would appear that these resources could be better marketed amongst the wider
volunteering movement in order that the information sharing and opportunities for
interaction they offer are accessed by a greater number of potential users.
During 2008/09 Modernising Volunteering has funded the Association of Volunteer
Managers to further develop its website and wiki to enable the offering in this area to
be enhanced. The new pilot website went live in March 2009, and can be found at
www.volunteermanagers.org.uk
Ability to interact with others
There is some interest in developing online opportunities for managers of volunteers
to contact each other, share good practice, ask questions of those „in the know‟
and have relevant information signposted in a way which is useful. Current online
opportunities are underused by this sample of respondents.
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In both the online survey and the focus group, there was some support for the idea
of an online way of enabling leader-to-leader contact and also leader-to-
volunteer/supporter contact.
We believe that we have found some appetite for an online social network service
for our country‟s volunteering movement. It would be important for any such service
to meet the expressed needs of its potential users:
o Be easy to use
o Link to other resources and platforms to offer a seamless service
o Not be resource intensive
Social network services are ultimately only as successful as the use they get, and the
only way to discover this is to pilot the idea. Red Foundation, a partner in
Modernising Volunteering, has agreed to explore this idea further, outside of the
Modernising Volunteering programme.
It is clear that all developments need to take into account the significant proportion of
people carrying out volunteer management in a voluntary capacity and those who are
conducting volunteer management alongside another role within the organisation.
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These networks can help you engage 'hard to reach' communities. For example, Shelter
has found that homeless people use social networking sites and email as their only
constant means of communication.
4 If your organisation is using one or more social network services to support volunteering and
wish to be involved in this activity, please contact jamie@redfoundation.org
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Improving the
support for
volunteer led
volunteering
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5 Reichardt, Oliver; Kane, David; Pratten, Belinda; Wilding, Carl, The UK Civil Society Almanac
2008, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, London, February 2008
6 Wilding, Karl; Clark, Jenny; Griffith, Megan; Jochum, Veronique; Wainwright, Susan, The UK
Voluntary Sector Almanac 2006: The state of the sector, National Council for Voluntary
Organisations, London, 2006
7 Institute for Volunteering Research Volunteering works: volunteering and social policy The
Commission on the Future of Volunteering, London, September 2007
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Some volunteer led activity will be in existence for decades without wanting to formalise
identity through registering as a charity, undertaking major fundraising or employing staff;
others will go down this route. In the responses to the consultation held by the Commission
on the Future of Volunteering8 the importance of volunteer led volunteering was
highlighted:
„Organisations that involve volunteers in their processes and decision-making can
benefit considerably. This disability organisation commented that it „began as a
volunteer-led organisation, and this is an ethos which is important to the organisation
over fifty years later. We feel that volunteers should be involved at all levels of the
organisation‟ (employee, national voluntary organisation, disability)‟
„The role of volunteers as agents of change who pioneered new ways of responding
to social problems which the state then adopted was recognised by this contributor:
„Historically, volunteering has precipitated change and it is this edge that perhaps is
its most important feature. Volunteer-led initiatives have paved the way for many of
the state-led arrangements in education, social care, housing and health that we
currently take for granted‟ (employee, national voluntary sector network
organisation, children and young people)‟
In recent years there has been a specific interest in youth led volunteering. A submission to
the Russell Commission highlighted the importance of this:
„Youth-led volunteering is a popular and powerful form of action for young people.
Many are keen to take an active role in leading and managing their own
volunteering experiences to respond to the needs of their peers and communities.
Consultation respondents argued for greater involvement of young people in the
design and delivery of volunteering activities: “More offers are needed that enable
young people to identify and take action on community issues – that identify a
„project‟ they can develop and own rather than rely on a „placement‟ model where
young people are matched to pre-existing opportunities designed by adults.”‟9
The Russell Commission10 report picked up this theme, saying:
„The interests and requirements of young people have been central to our thinking
as we have developed our recommendations. At each stage of the volunteering
journey, we have placed the individual young volunteer at the heart of our
proposals. This reflects our belief that each element of the framework should have a
youth-led focus, and should remain flexible and responsive to young people‟s
perspectives and aspirations.‟
A common trait within volunteer led volunteering activity is that volunteers do not attach
this label to themselves or call what they do volunteering; frequently their leaders do not
either. This can lead to difficulties in encouraging people to access volunteering support
services. As we have looked at support for volunteer led volunteering it has become clear
that the field is large and sources of support diverse; in many cases these are linked to the
nature of the volunteering being undertaken and/or relationships to larger organisations.
8 The Commission on the Future of Volunteering: Results of the public consultation, The
Commission on the Future of Volunteering, London, January 2008
9 Russell Commission consultation: National Youth Agency submission
10 Russell, Ian A national framework for youth action and engagement: Report of the Russell
Commission, March 2005
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This can be split in many ways, but for ease we have thought about it in the following
broad terms:
Sports volunteering
Sport is the sector involving the largest proportion of volunteers; in 2005 Sport
England11 estimated that there were nearly 6 million sports volunteers in England
contributing over 1.2 billion hours (the equivalent of 720,000 full time jobs and valued
at over £14 billion) to sport each year. The majority of volunteers in sport are
engaged in grass-roots and community sports clubs and activities; they sustain over
106,400 affiliated clubs and serve over 8 million members. Whilst the majority of
organisations are not staffed, organisational structures tend to be well developed
with policies and procedures in place due to the nature of the activities being
undertaken. There is a well established network of support available to volunteer led
sports organisations including their County Sports Partnership, local authority Sports
Development Team, and relevant National Governing Body.
Historically the sports based voluntary and community sector has operated fairly
much within a silo. Over the past 8 years, through the work of Sport England, the
Central Council of Physical Recreation, Volunteering England and the National
Association for Voluntary and Community Action this has begun to change, and
volunteer led sports organisations are now beginning to access additional local
support from their Volunteer Centre and/or Council for Voluntary Service and/or their
local Student Community Action group and/or vinvolved team.
Given the range of support available together with the structures and systems in
place we are not specifically addressing the needs of grass-roots and community
sports clubs and activities within this report.
Volunteering in faith communities
Volunteering in a faith context is the fourth largest sector of involvement in England.
Recent research12 has identified that
„Volunteering is important within faith communities; as the Northwest
development agency notes „virtually all activity undertaken by faith
communities is dependent on volunteers‟. The ratio of paid staff to volunteer
identified in another study of social action amongst faith groups in the North
East was 1:10‟
Support for volunteering in faith communities is an area that the Modernising
Volunteering Support Service is specifically exploring, and we do not seek to
replicate the work that is being done. The research report that has been produced is
a helpful starting point for people considering how to better support volunteering in
faith communities. We have, however, highlighted some key lessons and conclusions
from the research later in this section of this document.
Youth led volunteering
The concept of youth led volunteering has developed over recent decades;
beginning to become more recognised through the creation of, what is now, Youth
Action Network thirteen years ago. Millennium Volunteers promoted the benefits of
youth led volunteering and, as we have already shown, this was taken up by the
11 Sports volunteers are at the heart of our community, Sport England, 2005
12 Volunteering and faith communities in England, De Montfort University, April 2009
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Whilst many volunteer led activities will fit within this construct, many others will not. In
communities across England there are small volunteer led organisations doing a wide
variety of things. These will have a range of structures and understanding. They will
frequently be unaware of voluntary and community sector support services available to
them, and will fly beneath the radar of the very services that are there to support them. It
can be argued that volunteering in these organisations is the least supported within the
voluntary and community sector.
Building on success13 identified the need for volunteering infrastructure to develop ways of
supporting potential volunteers to associate together to develop activities that build on
their passions to meet local needs. Research14 undertaken in the North West in 2007
identified that
„Many organisations are volunteer-led, and therefore do not have the capacity to
engage with local infrastructure organisations and take up the services that are
available to them; the need for a more flexible approach to delivering infrastructure
services (for example outreach work and provision of training outside office hours as
part of a proactive and more visible approach) to these groups was a common
theme as volunteers need to be able to access services out of hours (and this is
especially true of black and minority ethic and lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender organisations)‟
Building on success in the North West15 identified that
„Support for volunteer-led activity, including responding to local needs, campaigning
and advocacy does not appear to be happening in the majority of the region‟s
volunteering infrastructure...
Volunteering infrastructure needs to broaden its understanding of volunteering to
encompass support for... volunteer-led volunteering and the concept of co-
production‟
Volunteer led activity is not only about small community groups. Recently there has been
an increasing amount said about the role of co-production and giving volunteers more
control over their volunteering and involvement in organisational development.
The Commission on the Future of Volunteering identified stagnation in the availability
of volunteering opportunities, which is dominated by the marketing of existing
predetermined opportunities. Research16 undertaken for the Commission revealed
that non-volunteers perceive opportunities currently on offer not to be good enough
to meet their expectations and motivations. The Commission suggested that there
should be a dynamic interchange of needs and skills including the ability of potential
volunteers to promote themselves, their abilities and their passions to volunteer
involving organisations.
13 Penberthy, Chris and Forster, Andy Building on success: strategy for volunteering infrastructure
in England 2004-2014, Volunteering England, June 2004
14 Hurley, Loretta Identification of voluntary and community sector sub-sector priorities for
infrastructure capacity building in the North West: Report of exploration, One North West and
Voluntary Sector North West, Manchester, December 2007
15 Penberthy, Chris and Watts, Georgina Building on success in the North West: strategy for
volunteering infrastructure 2008-11, England Volunteering Development Council North West
and Volunteering North West, July 2008
16 Understanding how to engage people in volunteering, The Commission on the Future of
Volunteering, January 2008
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“The people I work with do not see themselves as volunteers and do not recognise that
they are being managed. As a small community group we are not a very formal
organisation in structure or operations.”
Respondents were asked what sources of information, advice and support they had
accessed over the previous 12 months; sources were given as (in alphabetical order):
Business Links
Charity Commission
Community Matters
Corporate/business mentors
Federation of Tenants & Residents
Friends and family
Local authority
Local Council for Voluntary Service
Local Volunteer Centre
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Other project leaders
Third Sector magazine
Timebank
v
Volunteering England
One respondent said that they had not accessed any sources of information. Three
respondents said that they had information and support needs which were not being fully
met. Six said that they did not. The unmet needs were identified as:
„Leadership training for grassroots level community workers/volunteers‟
„Funding‟
„Recruitment of board members with specialist skills‟
„Networking opportunities‟
Respondents were asked where they had found other people to get involved in their
project; the sources/avenues cited were (in alphabetical order):
Do-it.org.uk
Facebook
Friends and family
Internet search engine
Jobcentre Plus
Local Rural Community Council
Local student volunteering group
Local Volunteer Centre
Media advertising
Other online social network (excluding Facebook or MySpace)
Parent organisation
Schools and colleges
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“I had not appreciated that there were places to find volunteers and support.”
Online survey respondent
17 This participant was given a booklet about the Volunteer Centre; it took them 3 attempts at
contact to get a response though once they did they were pleased with the service they
received
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18 As focus groups were held in different parts of the country and drew participants from wide
localities, the comments about Volunteer Centres relate to a number of local services
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“I think organisations often start with the best of intentions but generally leave you to go
on with it. The main thing that makes me leave is when staff and other volunteers are not
friendly or welcoming or expect you just to get on with things without taking the time to
show you around etc. I think organisations could do a lot more.”
Focus group participant on the support offered as a volunteer leading a project within a
larger organisation
Additional thoughts
During the course of our research we held a number of informal conversations with
volunteer leaders from unstaffed organisations. They identified that:
It can be difficult to access support services when you have a full time job and they
are only available during office hours
The formality and requirements imposed by support services can be inappropriate
for a more informal organisation
Support services can often not understand the passion, mutuality, trust and
relationships that define many small volunteer led groups
Good practice information and advice available on websites and promoted by
volunteering support services tends to be predicated on an organisational model
that can be too formal for volunteer led activity and are often not appropriate for
19 In one focus group this was cited as much needed by the majority of people present
although it no longer happened due to lack of funding
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„A lot of community groups and charities rely solely on volunteers who are-self starters. It
would be good to empower those people to improve capacity and capability of the
group/charity as a whole.‟
Online survey respondent
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courses were simply not relevant to the needs of the group, or that the delivery of
services by these groups was too impersonal and broad when in fact what was
needed was more tailored, face to face support.‟
„It seems that this (a feeling that they are being kept at arm‟s length) is especially the
case with smaller faith organisations - it is perhaps linked sometimes with relying on
volunteers who themselves come from more deprived backgrounds, not having the
knowledge and social capital necessary to tap into the workings of larger
infrastructure organisations. Time and availability of volunteers are also a key issue
within this, as highlighted by the following account: „....Sometimes I look at some of
the training that they have on offer and I just think well if we were a bigger
organisation and we had the time or we had a dedicated person to access that,
then that‟s fine, but nobody‟s going to take a day off work to go on training that
they may or may not use and not all of it‟s relevant.. It‟s far easier for us to do it
through someone in the group who‟s already got that knowledge base, already
done all those things. So for such a small organisation I don‟t see all of it as being
relevant.‟‟
One quote identifies the tension in professionalising volunteering whilst staying focused on
values, ethos and an individual‟s motivations to volunteer:
„It‟s getting the balance right, its professionalising charities. But it is also all these
things that are terrifying to volunteers as well because you are losing the original,
where we started an hour ago, which is the social networking, the reason why you
are doing it.‟
The report identifies the potential power yet vulnerability of volunteer led activity:
„By far the most common mode of organising voluntary action in faith communities
and groups is informally. This is perhaps why it can be difficult to gauge and classify
the true extent and nature of „volunteering‟. Members of faith groups and
communities are often motivated to organise a service in response to a need of a
fellow worshipper or a member of their community. A 2003 study found that much of
the organisation of volunteering in faith communities “was either informal or
associational where people supported each other or individual-centred where one
person moved around communities to get things done – in both cases without the
kind of organisation which typifies the voluntary and community sector”. Something
similar has been observed by others where volunteering occurs “outside of an
organisational context and on an individual basis”. One Imam when asked on what
basis voluntary activity was organised in his community commented: “normally
enthusiasm”... However, informal organisation is also a relatively unstable method of
organising voluntary activity with some groups folding due to lack of volunteers.
Once again, this mirrors similar issues for the wider voluntary sector; smaller, less well-
resourced and more informal organisations and initiatives are particularly vulnerable
to the impact of change. However, greater degrees of formality and acceptance of
resources from external bodies may necessitate compromise of one kind or another
which may not sit easily with faith-based operating principles.‟
It also highlights a danger in trying to over-formalise volunteer led activity:
„“There is a real concern that by encouraging organisations to take on more formal
roles, the spontaneity and benefits it can bring may be squeezed out. Attempts by
government to direct such activities, even with the best of intentions, could
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fundamentally change the way faith-based organisations work and their relationship
to their stakeholders. And it could reduce the space for independent voluntary
action and participation in community life.” (Jochum et al 2007)‟
Amongst its recommendations, the report specifically identifies one relating to volunteer
led activity:
„Infrastructure and other coordinating organisations need to recognise the
importance of strong „vertical‟ relationships as well as good „horizontal‟ networks. The
ability to engage and work effectively at a number of different levels is of key
importance... Special attention should be paid to the specific needs of small,
informal groups and how to support them.‟
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21 www.youthactionnetwork.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22
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„Might be good way to see if we can partner with other grass roots projects who
share the same objectives to my org, thus maximising volunteer contribution by
working collaboratively and sharing resources‟
„It might provide links to other local people or groups that can help our aim, provide
new volunteers, members of the group‟
„To exchange ideas on promoting the projects. To exchange ideas on fundraising. To
find better ways to run the project‟
„Talking about ideas, finding new sources of support‟
„To pass on info when a project is proven to work in one area and can be made to
work in others, to help find solutions to challenges, just to talk with like-minded
people, to pass on enthusiasm, to find new ways of combating apathy and
recruiting more volunteers, to help 'spur' others on who are perhaps going through a
difficult time‟
„Understanding of issues and experience feedback‟
„I think that social networking can be used well to promote a campaign and for
young people to contribute to it. However, I think it can be used best to showcase a
piece of work and start conversations off there. We‟ve used YouTube to promote a
series of videos on HIV awareness and also disabilities. Some of the videos have had
8,000 views with some comments left, some have had a lot less – it seems to depend
on the angle and context of the message. We also received recognition from
YouTube itself with a disability video where it was awarded in the month‟s top non
profit videos, bit of kudos!‟
Conclusions
Whilst volunteer led volunteering is a major part of the voluntary and community sector, it
is not well understood by many volunteering support services and is consequently not as
well supported as it could be.
Special attention should be paid to the specific needs of small informal groups and how
to support them. Volunteer led volunteering is often built on a small group of individuals‟
passion, trust, mutuality and relationships; to support this well a community development
rather than organisational development approach needs to be adopted. Volunteering
support services need to consider how to make their services more accessible to volunteer
leaders, including outside of office hours.
There is potential to learn from some well supported forms of volunteer led volunteering,
and apply the lessons to less structured groups. The possibility of involving successful
leaders of volunteer led activity to provide peer mentoring to others should be explored as
this is done.
The respondents to this survey demonstrated access to a wide range of local and national
resources for support and information. Because of the small number of respondents, it is
not possible to ascertain any bias towards particular sources. Some gaps, however, have
been highlighted in this small sample and this may also be in evidence in a larger sample.
There is an identified need to support governance in small organisations and within groups
that undertake volunteer led activity. Volunteering support services should seek to
signpost appropriate information, advice and support services and broker relationships
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between these and volunteer led groups, ensuring that the support that is offered is
appropriate for volunteer leaders and the less formal nature of many of their groups.
A range of local volunteer led groups are supported by national organisations to which
they relate. In order to maximise impact and reduce duplication of effort, national
volunteering support services should seek to develop strategic relationships with the
national organisations and cascade information, advice and support on how local
support for the related volunteer led groups should be delivered. This cascade should be
mirrored by action taken by the national organisations to communicate with their
volunteer led groups.
Volunteering support services, nationally and locally, should work together with volunteer
involving organisations in order to develop support for the emerging concept of co-
production.
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Ask them for suggestions about how you could support them more
effectively
See if they would be willing to act as guinea pigs for the ideas that you
come up with together (they might well appreciate seeing that they can
help you to learn and develop services at the same time as benefitting
themselves from your undivided attention)
o Talk to the them, checking out whether the good practice guidance and
support you give is appropriate
Are there things that should be changed? Can some things be lighter
touch? Are there some things that are not covered?
Prioritise which volunteer led activities you will seek to support first
o The volunteer led groups in your area will be involved in a wide range of work,
rather than using a scattergun approach to engaging with them, why not work
out where your intervention will have most impact and start there?
There could be groups in one area of activity that no-one else is
supporting
You could have a paucity of a certain type of volunteering opportunity or
volunteering opportunities in a certain filed and want to see if you can
help to develop some new ones
There could be a geographical area within your locality where there are
not many volunteering opportunities and/or there is a local strategic
interest in seeing development (if the latter your intervention could earn
you brownie points with your local authority)
You might have identified a real need in your local area and can identify
some volunteer led groups which, through your support, can help to meet
Develop relationships
o Most volunteer led groups are founded on relationships and work with others on
a relationship basis – to win their trust and respect you need to do the same
with them
o Develop partnerships that will help you to support volunteer led activity with
others who are involved in this activity – you probably already meet to discuss
broader voluntary and community sector or volunteering issues, spend regular
time together thinking specifically about how to improve the support for
volunteer led volunteering
Think creatively and share your learning
o Do you have to do all of this? Could you involve some volunteers in doing some
research and developing some relationships? (In doing this they might well
discover others that share a passion to meet an identified local need and set
up more volunteer led activities)
o Are there practical things you can do? A spare cupboard, the use of a desk
when it is lying vacant, etc could make all the difference to some volunteers –
and if you‟ve built a relationship you will know that you can trust each other
o Don‟t forget to let others know what you are learning, it will help them, and
hopefully they will reciprocate – it will save everyone re-inventing the wheel...
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22 If your organisation is using innovative ways of supporting volunteer led volunteering and
wishes to contribute to this activity, please contact chris@redfoundation.org
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Developing the
role of
Volunteering
Champions
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of CO2 emissions per year, saving up to £250 per household visited. The scheme built
on previous work in communities in the region and focuses on equipping community
activists with the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver energy efficiency advice
to vulnerable members of the communities they serve.
Food Champion
The Food Standards Agency launched the Food Champion Awards in 2007 in
partnership with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Trading
Standards Institute, the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services and the
Improvement and Development Agency in order to acknowledge the important role
local authorities play in improving local food safety and standards and in enhancing
community diet and nutrition. The Food Champion Award is a prestigious
achievement. Winning local authorities will have demonstrated good practice and a
shown commitment to making the local community a better place to live. The
awards encourage sharing of good practice across local authorities and enhance
the reputation of winning authorities with residents and visitors alike.
Street Champions
The Street Champion scheme is a community-led project in Birmingham which
supports residents who are concerned about their environment and want to make
improvements. Over 700 Champions are improving Birmingham‟s environment
through reporting problems in their area, organising activities, and making their views
count through better contact with the City Council. Champions undertake activities
including tree planting, bulb planting, hanging baskets and recycling schemes. The
project is supported jointly by Birmingham City Council, CSV Environment,
Birmingham Association of Neighbourhood Forums and Groundwork Birmingham &
Solihull.
Compact Champions
The Compact is the agreement between government and the voluntary and
community sector to improve their relationship for mutual advantage and
community gain. All top tier local authorities have a Local Compact for their area.
Compact Champions are considered an important factor that contributes to the
success of Local Compacts23. There is no one single definition of a Compact
Champion, however, their role and function can be broadly described as having
„the responsibility for making the Compact known, understood and used within their
individual organisation, department or sector and through local partnerships, forums
and events. Champions are key in taking the Compact… forward‟24. The Commission
for the Compact estimates that there are around 1,000 Compact Champions25.
However, while there is anecdotal evidence of their success, there is a lack of
evidence on the different models and approaches to championing, their impact,
common themes and best practice. The Commission for the Compact, in partnership
with Compact Voice, has commissioned the Institute of Voluntary Action Research to
assess the role and impact of Compact Champions; the report of this activity will be
available late in 2009.
23 Institute of Voluntary Action Research What makes a successful Local Compact September
2008
24 www.wolverhamptoncompact.co.uk/champions.html
25 Compact Voice, October 2008
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26 Results of the public consultation, Commission on the Future of Volunteering, January 2008
27 „My vision for volunteering is... I would like the Commission to consider...‟ report on
consultation responses, Commission on the Future of Volunteering, June 2006
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lack of recognition and status of volunteering in many organisations, with current key
challenges facing Volunteer Managers including:
„Buy-in in organisation‟
„Organisation‟s understanding of value of managing volunteers properly‟
„Wider understanding of volunteer management‟
„Internal recognition and valuing of Volunteer Manager role‟
„Attitude of paid staff‟
„How to help staff realise impact and amount volunteers give‟
„More understanding within organisation about role volunteers currently play and
could play‟
„Policy/practice not used, not updated‟
„Influencing senior staff and trustees‟
„Back up‟
„Seeing things through‟
„Ensuring volunteer input feeds into central strategy‟
Every focus group identified issues of lack of resources and overstretched volunteering
programmes:
„No budget for doing it‟
„No funding to advertise‟
„Justifying how much time I need to do the job properly‟
„The area I work has expanded but with no extra resources for voluntary services – so
I need more staff‟
„One person responsible for everything – support and recruitment – not enough for
whole charity‟
„More resources from organisation or awareness that it is needed to support
volunteer structure and development in organisation‟
Every focus group also identified the need for training for Volunteer Managers, and the
lack of resources to undertake this.
Volunteer Managers in these focus groups also identified that key support and
development needs include:
„Understanding‟
„Respect‟
„Supervision management‟
„Senior Management support‟
„Central Office and Board support and engagement‟
The experience of these Volunteer Managers was varied, but many felt undervalued and
unable to effectively influence the agenda for volunteering within their organisations.
These focus groups also reflected on the role of a Trustee Board Champion for
Volunteering. This was a concept many did not recognise as happening within their
organisations. The participants suggested:
„Have them on the Board! But can be tokenistic‟
„They represent volunteers and see things from a volunteer‟s perspective‟
„Addresses the Board to keep the profile of volunteering high‟
In order to increase the number and effectiveness of Trustee Board Champion for
Volunteering, members of the Association of Volunteer Managers identified that there is a
need for:
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28 Our vision for volunteering and issues that we believe the Commission should consider,
England Volunteering Development Councils, June 2006
29 Report of the Commission on the Future of Volunteering and manifesto for change,
Commission on the Future of Volunteering, January 2008
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The Commission linked this recommendation to further proposals that these Volunteering
Champions should play a part in its recommendation that there should be „a sustained,
high-level approach to raising the profile of volunteering. As part of that, we recommend
that existing events to promote volunteering be enhanced and made more effective‟.
The Commission also recommended that „funds be made available to assist with the
modernisation of the volunteering infrastructure at local level‟. The recommendation was
supported with this statement:
„We propose the establishment of a Volunteering Matched Fund totalling £5 million a
year for three years, to which partnerships of local infrastructure organisations and
local authorities could bid to support the strategic development of volunteering.
Central government funding would be contingent upon a similar matched funding
amount being provided by the local authority or partnership and upon well thought-
out strategies for long-term financial sustainability. The fund would also support the
establishment of teams of local Volunteering Champions.‟
In its response30 to the first two recommendations the Government said:
„As Manifesto for Change demonstrates national campaigns are just one part of
raising the profile of volunteering and they are most effective when supported by
local campaigns and initiatives. The Commission therefore proposes the introduction
of local volunteering champions in each local authority area.
Government has considered this recommendation and is pleased that Manifesto for
Change recognises the approach that v are taking at a local level.
v is creating a network of local vinvolved and Youth Action Teams. The Youth Action
Teams are a network of youth ambassadors to champion volunteering at a local
level and inspire their peers to volunteer. vinvolved teams are a network of youth
experts on the ground who will encourage more community organisations to open
their doors to young volunteers. v‟s investment will support volunteering by and for
young people and will be an important step in developing future volunteering
champions at a local level.
In response to this recommendation the Government will follow the developments of
v‟s local work to learn from their approach.
In addition to our financial investment through v the Government has included a
performance indicator on volunteering in the new set of 198 indicators for local
authorities. Each local authority will be assessed on performance against these
indicators and the indicator provides a real incentive for local authorities to support
volunteering at a local level.‟
In response to the recommendation about funding to support Volunteering Champions,
the Government said:
„The role of local volunteering infrastructure organisations is crucial, but as Manifesto
for Change reports, it is often under resourced and its contribution under recognised.
Manifesto for Change recommends a specific fund to support local volunteering
infrastructure. We have considered this, but we will not be implementing this
recommendation in the way that Manifesto for Change recommends. Instead
Government will be investing in local infrastructure in three ways:
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Information:
Youth Action Teams
The Russell Commission identified the importance of positive peer influence in engaging
more young people in volunteering. Youth Action Teams can act as a catalyst for youth
action by:
Promoting the benefits of youth volunteering to their peers and recruiting young
people to get involved
Developing consultation surveys to seek young people‟s views about what matters
to them and what difference they‟d like to make in their communities
Identifying community issues and developing projects to address them
Inspiring organisations to involve more young volunteers, and providing training
and top tips to help them shape their projects
Getting feedback from young people on their volunteering experiences and
contributing to content and discussion forums on www.vinspired.com
Raising awareness of the difference young people are making through their
volunteering and organising celebration events to recognise their contributions
There is a Youth Action Team covering every local authority area in England. Each team
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33 www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/volunteering/Volunteering_champion.aspx
34 www.justice.gov.uk/newsrelease030309a.htm
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Delivering the Volunteering Strategy enables the Team to champion volunteering and
ensure the links are made where appropriate to promote volunteering opportunities.
The Team is working towards promoting volunteering as a means to support small and
medium enterprises, third sector organisations and people entering or re-entering the job
market. It is anticipated that these projects will deliver some tangible results over the
coming months.
Within Westminster City Council, the concept is likely to be developed to refer to a team
of „Champions‟ who will promote volunteering amongst colleagues. The emerging
Volunteering Champions in Westminster believe that a virtual „Volunteering Champion
Network‟ could be useful to share ideas and information about volunteering and best
practice in promoting volunteering and engaging volunteers.
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Conclusions
While the conclusions to be drawn from this section are limited because of the limited
response from the online survey and the disparate meaning given to the term
„Volunteering Champion‟, one conclusion is arguably very clear – there needs to be a
consensus on what a Volunteering Champion is and what a Volunteering Champion aims
to do.
The focus groups raised a significant number of concerns, about Volunteering Champion
schemes. Many of these could be resolved with greater clarity about what a Volunteer
Champion scheme is and who is involved.
Interestingly, given the small number of people responding to this part of our survey, the
potential for an online network of Volunteer Champions was raised both in a survey
response and by Westminster City Council.
Communication
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This is important especially if there are multiple Volunteering Champions working across
a local authority area or organisation. Networking with other Volunteering Champions
will also have the benefit of reducing isolation
Publicity
In order to have maximum impact the Champion scheme should be widely publicised
and regularly evaluated for its impact on policy and service delivery
Training and Support
Ensure that there is a designated source of ongoing support for the Volunteering
Champion(s) as well as induction and ongoing training
Information
If signposting is part of their role, the Volunteering Champion(s) will need access to all
the relevant information and data. This will need to be regularly reviewed and
updated.
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Appendices
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Appendix 1:
Data report
36 Importantly, we were not only seeking those whose role is entitled „Volunteer Manager‟ as it
was felt that gleaning information from those who took on the role of managing volunteers
(or whose role encompassed managing volunteers) would be a broader, and thus more
useful, exercise.
37 573 represents the total after those who had failed to answer questions, those who were
working outside England, and those who did not fall into any of the categories required had
been discounted.
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Interviews were conducted with a number of individuals, some of which led to the
formulation of case studies. Illustrative quotations are included in the followed text
from these.
This appendix looks at all data in the following order:
Section 2. Individuals managing volunteers
Section 3. Volunteering Champions
Section 4. Volunteer leaders
Section 5. Infrastructure organisations
All quotes are given verbatim, unless otherwise stated and all percentages are given
as a proportion of those who answered the question.
While respondents were given the opportunity to give their contact details for the
purpose of participating in the prize draw, all answers have been anonymised. Any
identifying features in quotations have been removed.
Region % of respondents
Eastern England 10.2
East Midlands 8.0
London 14.9
North East England 6.9
North West England 10.0
South East England (excluding London) 16.7
South West England 8.6
West Midlands 10.2
Yorkshire & Humberside 7.6
Other38 6.9
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Similarly, there is also a significant difference between paid and voluntary managers
of volunteers in terms of the numbers of paid staff in the team in which the
respondent is working. The paid respondents cited a mean of 15.6 full-time staff and
10.6 part-time staff members in the team. The voluntary respondents cited a mean of
1.1 full-time staff and 1.6 part-time staff members. The very different team size is likely
to impact on later questions about access to support.
39 These figures do not add to 100% because of the proportion not answering the question or
giving unquantifiable answers such as „hundreds‟.
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“It‟s not so much the support and advice available, of which there is plenty – it is
the time and staff capacity to do this that is the problem.”
Online survey respondent
Each respondent was then asked to given a score of their general satisfaction when
using the source cited as a number between 1 and 10, where 1 is least satisfied and
10 is most satisfied. These answers are given in Table 3 over the next 3 pages.
Of key significance from Table 3 is the reliance on internal sources of support, advice
and information. Internal sources were cited as line managers, colleagues,
established support systems, fellow volunteers. Internal sources are, with the
exception of information, the most commonly cited sources and are cited far in
excess of the next most commonly cited source.
For example, looking at where paid managers of volunteers access support, 42.8%
cited internal sources. The next most commonly cited source was the local Volunteer
Centre with 15.4% of respondents citing it as their primary source. Both were rated
similarly with a mean score of 7.7 and 7.5 out of 10 respectively.
More than half of all respondents did not see internal sources as their primary source
of support:
“I am sure I am not alone in not receiving more regular and structured support –
this is fairly common in small organisations.”
Online survey respondent
It is in terms of the access of information that the gap between internal sources and
other sources lessens. For voluntary managers of volunteers, 35.1% cited an internal
route as their primary source, whereas 16.2% cited a Council for Voluntary Service.
For paid managers, 27.4% cited Volunteering England, with 24.2% citing an internal
source.
In the majority of cases, the mean rating was above 6 / 10 thus suggesting a high
level of satisfaction if we take the mid-point (5/10) as being a non-committal not
pleased / not displeased level.
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Some respondents felt that the general volunteer agencies were not sufficiently
tailored to their particular needs as an organisation as evidenced by the following
quotation.
“Haven't used any of the above that much, easier to work with other cultural
heritage organisations for help and advice as not much sector related information
available from national volunteer organisations.”
Online respondent
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“UKVPMs serves all my needs. Please don‟t duplicate this existing effort – it will just
dilute the networking by volunteer managers.”
“I find UKVPMs a bit of a pain, usually only around 1 in 10 of the messages has any
useful information, adding strain on my already bulging inbox.”
“I registered with UKVPMs but found I never really had time to take part.”
Three views from online respondents
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themselves as active users. 9.8% and 10.7% respectively had used the service but
were not active users, leaving 83.0% and 85.1% who did not use it.
Interestingly, taking only those respondents working in primarily or exclusively rural
areas 87.5% did not use UKVPMS. None described themselves as active users.
2.2.3 Facebook and other social network services
Between a fifth and a quarter of respondents had tried to use a social network
service successfully to communicate with existing volunteers. While this was the most
cited use by respondents, two-thirds of respondents had not used a social
networking site for this purpose and were not planning to.
“It has been a great arena to enable students to get to know each other
informally prior to volunteering projects. It also means that the students can put a
„face‟ to a name immediately and thereby recognise their fellow volunteers when
meeting up in person for the first time.”
Interviewee talking about a Facebook group developed for their volunteers
15% of paid managers and 12.8% of voluntary managers had successfully used a
social network service as a means of recruiting volunteers. A further 3.3% and 5.1%
respectively had tried it without success.
Table 4a: Experiences of using Facebook and other social network services in
different elements of work with volunteers. Clear cells are answers from
paid managers of volunteers; shaded areas are the answers of voluntary
managers of volunteers.
Planning to
Tried it Tried it with
Not tried it try it in the
successfully42 no success
future
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The following example is given to illustrate how recruitment might take place.
Figure 1: An example of volunteer recruitment on an Eastbourne „appreciation‟
site:
Case Study:
Duke of Edinburgh Society, University of Durham
A personal account by Andrew Steer
I have utilised the social networking site Facebook to organise an expedition to
Iceland and assist with the running of a university Duke of Edinburgh Society, in my
capacity as Expedition Leader and Vice President respectively.
The former of these roles involved me coordinating and delegating tasks to a large
group of people, as such Facebook proved an invaluable tool to keep people up
to date with developments, contact people individually and broadcast common
messages to the group via the „Message‟ function. Furthermore, social events and
meetings pertaining to the expedition could easily be organised at the touch of a
button, saving both time and money in comparison with telephone calls and text
messages. The diary function of Facebook ensures people are kept up to date and
reminded of important expedition meetings and events. In terms of efficiency, it
transpired quite early on in the expedition that people tend to check Facebook at
more regular intervals than e-mails, thus replies are often more prompt.
In my role as Vice President of the Duke of Edinburgh society, I used Facebook for
many of the same functions. Crucially, Facebook proved a useful marketing tool
for increasing awareness of and participation in the society throughout the
university. Several specialised events were organised to raise funds for the society,
one of which was a Tyne Bridge Abseil. Again, the „Event‟ function proved useful as
I, together with several other executive members, used this function to invite
several hundred people to the event, via our Facebook accounts. As a result,
interest in the Abseil soared, several people signed up to take part and the event
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Thus, the fact that several tools are incorporated into one website within
Facebook, e.g. e-mail, message board, calendar and event manager, greatly
adds to its wide appeal and usefulness amongst group leaders or those involved in
university societies.
„I think where social networking falls a little is that social networking is assumed to
mean FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and Bebo. Young people, workers and
everyone else use these sites to publish information about themselves and their
lives. They share this information with friends that form their network. There's a
work/life balance issue here. If a worker, for example, creates a group of young
volunteers to create something, and then that worker has pictures or video that
are fine to share with friends but not necessarily a group of young people, what
does that tell the group? Youth workers are often role models for young people
and perhaps a video of them dancing around a club with three bottles balanced
on their head, might cause a problem with keeping order! As a youth worker, we
are all aware of boundaries when working with young people, should there not be
boundaries therefore for online youth work?
It's the same with young people, they use MySpace etc for expressing their lives,
their hobbies, their friends etc. Do they want to expose this to their worker?‟
Focus group participant
„For future Volunteering projects, I would certainly use both Facebook and
MySpace to promote and recruit volunteers because the young people at
present spend a lot of time on these social networking sites. It is evident that these
sites put volunteering in a 'cool' light to young people today.‟
Focus group participant
The table below suggests a lower level of use of social network services in
volunteering in rural areas. 90.9% had not used social network services in the
recruitment of volunteers, for example. And the 4.5% that had tried it had done so
without success.
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Table 4b: Experiences of using Facebook and other social network services in
different elements of work with volunteers – respondents working in
primarily or exclusively rural areas
Planning to
Tried it Tried it with
Not tried it try it in the
successfully no success
future
To recruit
0 4.5% 90.9% 4.5%
volunteers
To
communicate
4.5% 4.5% 86.4% 4.5%
with existing
volunteers
To promote
volunteering 0% 0 100% 0
good practice
To promote
volunteering 4.8% 4.8% 85.7% 4.8%
events
Focus groups held under the auspices of workshops at the Association of Volunteer
Managers annual conference were asked what they felt were the challenges of
using social network services to communicate with volunteers. The issues they raised
are as follows:
„Teenage volunteers want to be my friend! – No! How do I keep my home life
separate? – then my friends will see their friends‟
„Can be discriminatory for older people‟
„Could be a fad‟
„Some Volunteer Managers don‟t like it‟
„Unrestricted forums – poor advice could be harmful – safeguards re libel, etc‟
„Unknown return for investment‟
„Research who‟s tried what, what worked? How to translate to others/
organisations‟
„Security‟
„Facebook/sites blocked by IT at work‟ (3)
„Too much spam generated‟
„Would potential volunteers go to organisation‟s website first rather than a
social networking website?‟
„Time to set up/manage‟ (2)
„Volunteer Manager‟s lack of knowledge/expertise‟
„Social element vs recruitment ask‟
„Privacy concerns‟
„Best site for my organisation or audience? – Facebook? Bebo?‟
„It‟s another thing to do‟
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„I am the only one in this organisation in this role [volunteer manager] and it can be
a lonely, unsupported role.‟
Online survey respondent
26.9% of paid managers and 37.0% of voluntary managers stated that they did not
have the opportunity to meet with other volunteer managers, or did so only rarely.
This compares with 16.6% of respondents working in rural areas.
43.0% of paid managers are able to meet with other volunteer managers
occasionally, and 30.0% do so frequently. For voluntary managers the proportions are
41.3% and 21.7% respectively. For rural managers, it is 58.3% and 25%.
For 71.8% of paid managers (and 76.2% of rural managers) these meetings take
place at formal external events such as conferences and training courses. The
corresponding proportion for voluntary managers is 52.8%.
For voluntary managers the most common means of contact taking place with other
managers of volunteers is informal social contact outside work (55.6%). 23.6% of paid
managers and 33.3% of rural managers meet other volunteer managers in this way.
42.9% of rural managers meet other volunteer managers through a Volunteer
Managers Forum organised by a Volunteer Centre, in comparison with 22.2% of
voluntary managers and 35.4% of paid managers.
63.9% of respondents felt that contact with other volunteer managers was very
useful. The remainder thought it was a little useful.
2.4.1 Online networking
47.2% of respondents who were paid managers of volunteers thought an on-line
opportunity to communicate with other volunteer managers in the workplace would
be of interest to them, along with 37% of voluntary managers and 33.3% of rural
managers.
11.6% of paid managers were not interested, along with 6.5% of voluntary managers
and 8.3% of rural managers. The remainder stated that they may be interested.
14.1% of all respondents who were not interested said that it was because their IT
network would not allow access to a social network service. 7.8% said it was a matter
of a lack of funding. The most common reason given for not being interested was a
lack of time – cited by 35.9% of respondents.
Under the auspices of workshops at the Association of Volunteer Managers
conference, focus groups were held with volunteer managers. Participants were
asked what they would like to see in an online networking facility for volunteer
managers. Issues they raised are listed here:
„Talk to colleagues‟
„Ask questions‟ / „ask about problems‟
„Groupings – e.g. animal care, working with young people‟
„Promote expertise‟
„Gather interest for events‟
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3 Volunteering Champions
3.1 Survey background
Each volunteer and each volunteer manager completing the on-line survey was
asked to complete a number of questions specifically relating to Volunteering
Champions.
Of the 357 respondents who said that they managed volunteers, 20 (5.6%) answered
the questions on having a Volunteering Champion scheme. Of the 141 volunteers
who completed the survey, eight (5.7%) said that they were Volunteering
Champions.
The small numbers involved mean that few conclusions can be drawn from the data.
However, the paucity of responses about Volunteering Champions from this large-
scale national survey does suggest that Volunteering Champions schemes are not as
commonplace as might have been thought.
3.2 What is a Volunteering Champion scheme?
„Clarify what championing is! And how it is different from my role as a Volunteer
Manager.‟
A plea from a focus group attendee
Volunteer managers were asked what the primary purpose of their Volunteering
Champion scheme is. 75.0% said their scheme was to encourage volunteer
recruitment and support. However, this is not the only purpose stated. 45.0% said that
the primary purpose (or one of the primary purposes)43 was to champion
volunteering at senior and governance levels within their own organisation. 35.0% felt
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„We don‟t have a Volunteering Champion scheme. We‟re not children who need
gimmicks, we are all here because we want to be and to help others is reward
enough.‟
Online survey respondent
Volunteering Champions were asked what they saw as being their role as a
Volunteering Champion. 62.5% said their role was to support other volunteers; the
same proportion said that it was to raise the profile of volunteering within their
organisation; 50.0% said it was to raise the profile outside their organisation. 37.5%
said their role was to recruit other volunteers. Additional roles were given as
„supporting the charity on developing ways to make best use of volunteers' offer of
time and skills‟ and training volunteers.
Interviewees included Baroness Neuberger who is arguably the most prominent
Volunteering Champion. She described her role as to “support, encourage, nag,
thank, argue, explain to volunteers and about volunteering” on behalf of the Prime
Minister.
Thus, respondents have given a picture of a scheme under a single name
„Volunteering Champions‟ which works in a number of different areas, some internal
to the organisation, some external, some working directly with volunteers, others
working at strategic level. This does not mean that all Volunteering Champion
schemes are not effective in what they do. Take the following quote of a scheme
which is being rolled out to a wider geographical area.
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„Clarify what championing is! And how it is different from my role as a Volunteer
Manager‟
„Volunteering Champions to recruit volunteers – not really effective – informal
word of mouth – yes‟
„Volunteers don‟t care about volunteering itself – care about cause/
organisation‟
„Appoint people who understand volunteering and current climate of
volunteering – correct skills set/knowledge and good practice‟
„Do not assume a volunteer is better than a Volunteer Manager doing this‟
4 Volunteer-led activity
Respondents to the online survey were asked if they were volunteers who were
leading projects. Of the 141 volunteers who responded to the online survey, 14 (9.9%)
said that they, as volunteers, were leading projects. Given the small numbers
involved, it is not possible to derive statistical conclusion from the data but the
respondents‟ answers are given in this section to illustrate the issues raised.
„I enjoyed taking part in this survey and I enjoy my work as a volunteer too. I firmly
believe that volunteers have an extremely important role to play in umpteen
aspects of the government's guidelines on sustainable communities for the future.‟
Online survey respondent
„The people I work with do not see themselves as volunteers and do not recognise
that they are being managed. As a small community group we are not a very
formal organisation in structure or operations.‟
Online survey respondent
Respondents were asked what sources of advice and support they had accessed
over the previous 12 months. Sources were listed as followed (in alphabetical order):
Business Links
Charity Commission
Corporate/business mentors
Federation of Tenants & Residents
Friends and family
Local authority
Local Council for Voluntary Service
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„I had not appreciated that there were places to find volunteers and support.‟
Online survey respondent
Two respondents said that they had support needs which were not being fully met.
Seven said that they did not.
The unmet needs were given as follows:
Leadership training for grassroots level community workers/volunteers
Funding
Recruitment of board members with specialist skills
„I think organisations often start with the best of intentions but generally leave you
to go on with it. The main thing that makes me leave is when staff and other
volunteers are not friendly or welcoming or expect you just to get on with things
without taking the time to show you around etc. I think organisations could do a lot
more.‟
Focus group participant on the support offered as a volunteer leading a project
within a larger organisation
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Parent organisation
Schools and colleges
Two of the respondents had used Facebook successfully to recruit volunteers and the
same numbers had used Facebook to communicate with existing volunteers. None
of the respondents reported having tried Facebook for either task without success.
45 One respondent termed itself a Volunteer Bureau, the former name of Volunteer Centres. For
ease of comprehension, this organisation has been classified in the data as a Volunteer
Centre.
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Region % of respondents
Eastern England 9.3
East Midlands 8.2
London 7.7
North East England 9.3
North West England 21.1
South East England (excluding London) 17.5
South West England 12.4
West Midlands 13.4
Yorkshire & Humberside 11.3
Other46 3.1
„We work with everything from tiny community groups to international charities.
We also work with public sector and social enterprise, but only where genuine
volunteering opportunities exist.‟
Online survey respondent
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„Our funding for this work is for supporting voluntary and community sector
organisations but we spend a lot of time supporting public sector organisations
too without any funding for this work. We can't find a suitable source of funding for
supporting public sector but they do use a lot of volunteers‟
Online survey respondent
47 It is useful to note that these proportions are given as percentages of those who answered
the question. Thus, it is possible to surmise that if 58.3% of respondents said that they offered
support to informal groups, 41.7% do not.
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Barrier % of respondents
Funding 76.7
Lack of time 70.9
Hard to reach some organisations 57.0
Lack of interest from organisations 40.1
Cultural barriers 15.7
Language barriers 11.6
The above table of barriers presents a picture of support agencies struggling with
internal issues such as funding (76.7%) and a lack of time (70.9%) but also barriers
coming from the volunteer involving organisations they are endeavouring to support.
40.1% of respondents felt that the volunteer involving organisations simply were not
interested. 15.7% felt that they existed cultural barriers to working together.
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Additionally, 10.5% said that they experienced barriers not given in the list of options
(table 8). The majority of these were based on „capacity‟ such as „capacity within
our own organisation‟, and „lack of paid hours in the Volunteer Centre‟. They also
included the following quotation relating to an issue of whether all groups see their
unpaid workers/helpers as „volunteers‟ raised by managers of volunteers (section 2 of
this Appendix):
„Some local groups (e.g. sports) don't see the relevance or even recognise their
volunteers as 'volunteers'.‟
Online survey respondent
49 It is important to note that this was an online survey. Should there be support agencies
without access to email, they will not have been able to participate in this survey. It is also
likely that this group will not be offering online support services to their users.
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„We are looking to start a forum for offenders to discuss with voluntary
organisations what their needs are.‟
Online survey respondent
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The following quotations from online survey respondents illustrate some of the
additional internal barriers cited by respondents:
„Have to use our funder‟s website which is VERY basic!‟
„De-motivated staff who are burnt out by the struggle to keep the Volunteer
Centre going‟
„Access to social networking sites denied by management‟
„Cultural and social - a lack of trust‟
The following quotations from online survey respondents illustrate some of the
additional external barriers cited by respondents which question volunteer involving
organisations‟ motivation and ability to use online support services:
„Service-users do not make time and understand the value of on-line support‟
„Some organisations reject offers of help‟
„Service users lack motivation‟
„Groups and organisations want personal support by phone or in person‟
„They would rather use the telephone, or drop by for a chat than send an
email‟
„Service-users lack time‟
„Of the groups on our database we know that only just over half have email
addresses and a proportion of those that do have email do not have
broadband‟
„We are asked to provide such support, however, without a lot of prompting
and 'push' strategies, there is little engagement or interaction from users who
could benefit‟
„Online networking has great potential to support those volunteer involving
organisations who are unable to engage due to time constraints as it is
accessible 24/7. This is an area we are focussing on developing although the
skills of the volunteer managers to use the technology can be prohibitive to it
being successful‟
Online survey respondents were asked how they know that there is no demand for
on-line support. The following answers typify the responses:
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„I wouldn't say there was no demand, but there is not a high level of demand.
For example, we wrote to all our volunteer involving organisations (around 130)
asking if they would like to join a volunteer management forum, which could
either function online or meet in person. We only had one positive response!
National online support is very good, e.g. Volunteering England Good Practice
Bank, and UKVPMs, and so when organisations do have a need they can
usually be satisfied with these sources, plus a very good county wide support
website we have developed. I would be reluctant to see these efforts
duplicated at a local level when a regional or national approach seems more
effective and efficient. I feel that volunteer involving organisations find one to
one, face to face support from Volunteer Centre staff the most helpful form of
support.‟
„Very few groups take up suggestions of on-line support when suggested
through organisations like Volunteering England or our local learning and skills
resource‟
„We do not get asked for this type of support - we have pages on the website
relating to volunteering but have no evidence as to its use and have not had
additional questions posted‟
„Little use of existing systems on offer via website‟
„We've never had time or funds to offer this support so we haven't investigated
the need for it. None of our members has ever asked for it either‟
„There is demand for on-line support - but only from certain larger voluntary
organisations who have the staff/capacity/ skills to receive information in this
way. Much of our work is with local, community groups, run solely by volunteers
who are not at the end of their email everyday and often sending information
out to one inbox contact for a group, it does not get disseminated effectively
amongst all other members - so loses its impact‟
5.3 Support development aspirations
Respondents were asked if there were any areas of support they would like to
develop. This was as an open question and generated 111 responses. These have
been grouped and labelled as follows50:
Increased support to specific groups
o Sports organisations (2)
o Rural groups / areas (2)
o Organisations which do not employ staff
o Very small organisations (2)
o Volunteers with extra support needs (5)
o Vulnerable volunteers (2)
o Young people (2)
o Volunteers with mental health problems (4)
o People with disabilities (2)
o Vulnerable neighbours
Online support
o Web-based/online support (6)
50 Where the specific topic was raised by more than one respondent, the number of
respondents involved is recorded in parenthesis.
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o Online learning/meetings
o Online newsletter/e-newsletter (2)
o Online discussion forum (11)
o Facebook group for volunteers
o Social networking (2)
Information on specific topics
o Legal issues around staffing and volunteers (2)
o Monitoring and evaluation of volunteers
o Employee-supported volunteering
o Software development for volunteer involving organisations
o Self-service so volunteer involving organisations can upload volunteer
opportunities
o Improvements to v-base
Support for managers of volunteers
o Networking support for volunteer managers
o Training for volunteer managers
o Training in management of volunteers for volunteer involving organisations
(3)
o Volunteer managers‟ forum
o Online support for volunteer co-ordinators
o Peer support for volunteer managers
Miscellaneous
o Training (8)
o Good practice development (4)
o IT (2)
o Funding advice
o Development of social enterprises
Of course, not all online survey respondents felt that it was appropriate to think about
new developments:
„No, we are already operating beyond capacity‟
As a final word on the role of support agencies, the following quotation is offered
which describes the dilemma experienced by many of the respondents:
„It seems that either volunteer-involving organisations have the resources (staff and
funds) to support their own volunteers, and hence do not need additional support
from us. Or, organisations (such as community groups) do not have the time or
internal resources to see through the implementation of policy and standards that
can increase volunteers or the support given to them. Either they need more help,
but can't follow through on all recommendations; or don't need support as they
can already successfully support their volunteers.‟
Online survey respondent
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Appendix 2:
Young people and social network services; managing
risk – lessons from Devon County Council 51
The youth participation team at Devon County Council has been exploring how it can use
social network sites to involve young people in decision making. After an early planning
meeting they realised:
They needed to know more from young people about how this should work
They needed a clear policy that would make sure the safety of young people was
put first when using social network sites
In order to address these issues, the team held a consultation with over 60 young people in
order to discover what young people thought about:
Local authorities using social network services for participation
The important safety messages for using social network services
How local authorities should display and verify their identity on social network
services
Any rules for discussions in social network services discussion groups
Different ways of the local authority communicating with young people on social
network services
The team also wanted to ask young people’s advice, guidance and insights in general.
As a result of the contribution made by young people Devon County Council has
produced a Social Network Consultation Strategy. The aim of the strategy is to provide
opportunities on Social Network Sites for young people to influence decisions in Devon
(alongside many other in person and online opportunities to get involved). The strategy
recognises that:
Not all young people in Devon can access regular opportunities for face-to-face
participation in local decision making. Providing participation opportunities online
makes them accessible to more young people.
Rather than ask young people to come to a new website, and to sign up to a new
discussion, we are going to places where young people are already spending time
online, and where the environment and discussion tools are familiar – Social Network
Sites like MySpace and Bebo.
Using Social Network Sites also lets us find new consultation and discussion methods
(e.g. comments around videos and photos), and provides new ways to get the
message out about opportunities to get involved.
In outline, the strategy says:
51 Source documents:
Social network sites in youth participation: Report of a consultation day at Kongomana
2008, Devon The National Youth Agency, 2008
www.geturvvoiceheard.co.uk
Social Network Consultation Strategy, Devon County Council, 2008
Participation & Democracy Development Team SNS 2009 Objectives (unpublished
presentation)
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We will create a participation ʻhubʼ using a Bebo group. We will invite young people
to join this group - and members of this group will get updates about participation
opportunities. We will also create a ʻhubʼ on Facebook and on MySpace.
For each participation opportunity that arises we will create a new group on each of
the sites where discussion can take place. Members of the hub group will be invited
to join the discussions in these issue-based groups.
That way, individual discussions are self-contained, but young people have the
option of getting involved in a wide range of participation opportunities -and the
Bebo hub becomes a single easy-to-find and easy-to-update location that gives an
overview of all current and recent participation in Devon.
The strategy contains:
A social network pathway of participation
Details about social network service accounts and groups, including rules for staff
involvement
Guidance on facilitating discussions, and the potential for young people‟s
involvement in this
A Participation Group checklist
Agreed next steps, which have been taken forward
The Participation & Democracy Development Team has developed a diagram describing
the interface between itself, its website and its social network profile (in practical terms,
the website and social network profiles have been set up with active links between them
to make it easy for them to be used together)
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Appendix 3:
Case study: The Scout Association, integrating use of
social network services in communication messages 52
Campaign message
"Inspire! Become a leader"
Aim
To raise the profile of the Scouts and recruit more members and more volunteers
Number of people involved
4
Launched
On-going
Working with celebrities
The Scout Association chose to approach ex-Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan 3 years
ago to work with them to help raise their profile and membership. Peter Duncan became
Chief Scout in 2004.
„Peter really reflects the sorts of people we want to attract to the Scouts. He has
experience in youth work; he has an adventurous streak and enjoys helping people.
He is also very eloquent in front of the camera (so great to do media work with) and
crucially our target audience will remember him presenting Blue Peter-and be
parents themselves now.‟
Simon Carter, Head of Media
PR work
The Scouts have had great success in getting media coverage with Peter Duncan. He has
appeared on behalf of the Scout Association across the media. He has featured on prime
time television such as the BBC 6 O'clock News, CNN, Radio 4 and Radio FiveLive. In
August 2007 he appeared on BBC News 24 in celebration of the Scouts Centenary- the
Scout‟s „I want to join‟ enquiries shot up by 100% after this broadcast. You can watch this
broadcast on the Scout‟s website. He also wrote an article for The Express on Sunday.
The Scout Association has also created a partnership with Sainsbury's and v. One of the
aims of the partnership is to encourage more 16-25 year olds to become volunteers for the
Scouts. They have run adverts about volunteering in the Sainsbury's in-store magazine,
Fresh Ideas.
Online activity
Scouts have also started using new media to create awareness and raise membership.
„You have to catch volunteers where they are at to make sure the Scouts are on their
radar‟. The Scouts are currently using Facebook, MySpace and YouTube to encourage
people to get involved.
52 Source: www.volunteergenie.org.uk/the-scout-association
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The Scout Association has a section of their site called Scouts' Campfire Circle to
encourage past scouts to become volunteers and use their online network:
www.scouts.org.uk/campfirecircle
They also provide information for people interested in volunteering for the Scouts:
www.scouts.org.uk/join/volunteer.html. This section focuses on case studies and profiles
some of their current volunteers and the work they do for the organisation.
Outside agencies involved
None
Results
The Scouts membership went up by 0.4% in 2005 and 1.6% in 2006.
www.scouts.org.uk
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Appendix 4:
Facebook 53
Facebook is a general friend of a friend social network service. Individuals join Facebook
and make personal profiles, which include their picture, information about their interests
and links to their friends. Organisations, however, do not make profiles but instead make
pages and their „friends‟ are called fans.
Pages are tailored for organisations, not individuals. Thus there are no unnecessary
sections like birthday, gender, etc. Also, pages are public, meaning that someone does
not need to be signed into Facebook to view your page. However, someone does need
to be signed into Facebook to become a fan and use the features on the page. Thus, you
can send people who are not Facebook users to your Facebook page, something you
cannot do with an individual profile.
To create your organisation‟s Facebook page, create a profile of someone in your
organisation. It could be the person managing the Facebook page or you can create a
pseudo profile of your Director. Do this by going to www.facebook.com and sign up for
an account. Note that you will need to sign into this account to administer your Facebook
page, so try to avoid using the personal account (and personal password) of someone in
your organisation because once that person leaves the organisation, so does your
Facebook login.
Once you have an account, login and scroll to the bottom of any Facebook page and
click on Businesses. Then click on Facebook Pages and click the button at the upper right
that says Create a Facebook page. On the next screen, click Brand or Product as the
category and then click Nonprofit in the pull down box. Follow the rest of the instructions
to create your page. Consult The Proper Way for Your Organization to be on Facebook54
for step-by-step instructions on how to create a Facebook page.
Note that while the personal profile was used to create the page, that person‟s profile will
not be seen by your eventual fans. Everything that person does in relation to the page will
be marked as an action by the organisation, not the individual.
While you can add friends and send messages to people as an individual on Facebook,
you cannot do so as your organisation. For instance, if you used Sue‟s account to create
your organisation‟s Facebook page and you want to send a message to Bob, the
message Bob receives will be from Sue, not your organisation. Therefore, people have to
find your page and become your fan by themselves. This actually happens a lot easier
than you might expect due to the viral nature of Facebook.
For instance, Facebook has a feature called a news feed. When every Facebook user
signs into Facebook the first page they see is their news feed, which provides updates on
what their friends have done recently on Facebook. For instance, if you are friends with
Bob and Bob joins a group or becomes a fan of an organisation, then your news feed will
tell you so. This is what makes Facebook so powerful. If one person becomes a fan of your
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organisation, all of that person‟s friends will see that they did that. Some of them will
become your fan as a result and it will snowball from there.
Features of Facebook Pages
Fans
Instead of having friends of your organisation like on MySpace, on Facebook you
have fans of your organisation. When someone becomes a fan of your organisation,
it alerts all of their friends through the news feed. Once someone becomes your fan,
he or she can contribute to your page by starting a discussion topic, adding photos
and videos, and writing on your wall. Also, only fans receive Updates, which is
described below. Whenever a fan does anything on your page, like write on your
wall, all of that fan‟s friends will be notified via the news feed. Therefore, it is
important to get a lot of fans and to engage them to spread the word about your
page.
Updates
Facebook Pages allow you to send an update to all of your fans about anything you
want to inform them of. You may want to disseminate some breaking news, a new
addition to your page, or anything else. Updates are sent to all fans.
Notes
In addition to updates, which are sent to all of your fans, you can write notes, which
are displayed on your page for everyone to see. People can leave comments on
them and you can attach photos to a note, both things you cannot do with an
update.
Discussion Boards
Your Facebook page comes with a feature that allows you to start interactive
discussion topics. The page administrator (you) and all of your fans can create a
topic and all Facebook users can reply to a topic. This is great for encouraging
people to come back to your page and actively participate in the issues relevant to
your organisation.
Wall
Like Facebook profiles, your Facebook page comes with a Wall. The Wall is the part
of your page where fans can leave comments for everyone to see.
Photos
You can upload photos to your organisation‟s page on Facebook. Also, your fans
can add their own pictures to the page, but you have the right to delete any photos
fans add. This can help make your page more interesting and also foster involvement
with your fans.
Videos
You can upload videos to enhance the appeal of your page. Your fans can also
upload their videos to the page, but you have the right to delete any that you find
inappropriate. Like photos, adding video can make your page more interesting and
also foster involvement with your fans.
Events
You can post information about upcoming events on your Facebook page and
update all of your fans about them. These events are posted on your page so in
addition to your fans, all visitors to your page will be able to view them. This feature
can help you publicise an outreach event, a presentation, and more.
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Other Applications
You can expand your Facebook page by adding features called applications. There
are a variety of applications that you can add to your page, such as ones to show
your YouTube videos, show where you have been around the world, and more. By
going to your page manager and scrolling down to the More Applications section,
you can browse hundreds of these Facebook applications. Some useful ones are
below:
o Facebook Causes – There is a Causes application that allows people with
Facebook profiles or pages to create a cause page such as “Help Educate
Girls” in order to raise money for that cause. The cause creator chooses an
organisation that the cause benefits such as UNICEF and all money will go to
that organisation. The creator can then invite his or her friends to join the cause
and donate money. Each cause page has a wall people can write on, the top
recruiters and donors listed and can also have links, photos, and videos.
Currently, only US and Canadian based nonprofits can be listed as
beneficiaries, however AP partners can contact AP and they can discuss
hosting a cause on your behalf. Then you can add the cause to your
organisation‟s page to promote it.
o Profile HTML – This application allows you to copy and paste HTML on your
Facebook page. This lets you post YouTube videos, widgets (charity badges),
and any other HTML you want on your page including your newsletter
subscription box if you have one.
o Simply RSS – This application allows you to run updates from your RSS feed on
your Facebook page.
o YouTube Box – Allows you to post your YouTube videos easily on your Facebook
page without having to upload them individually to Facebook.
In addition to your Facebook Page, you should use your individual profile to take
advantage of Facebook Groups. You can make a group on Facebook by logging in and
clicking on Groups on the left hand side of the screen. It is a good idea to make a group
for your organisation, or even a cause you work on, in addition to your page in order to
reach out to more Facebook users.
Organisations with pages cannot make groups, only individuals with profiles can. Unlike a
page, the creator of a group is listed for all Facebook users to see. Therefore, it will not
show your organisation as the creator of the group but rather the individual who created
your organisation‟s page.
Groups are different from pages because groups can be closed, meaning that it is
restricted to people who are invited (however, this is not recommended). Another
difference is that groups cannot be expanded with applications like pages can. Also,
while you can send a message to all group members, this only applies to groups with
fewer than 1,200 members. If you have any more than that, this feature is disabled.
Therefore, while it is a good idea to have a Facebook group for your organisation and/or
cause, this should not replace your Facebook page, which should be viewed as your
primary and official Facebook presence.
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Facebook Tips
Do not add inappropriate applications to your page. There are many applications
on Facebook that you can add to your page. Some are useful for an organisation‟s
page, like the ones mentioned above, while some are inappropriate and
unprofessional.
Only send updates about important things. If you send too many updates, your fans
may disable updates from you. Therefore, send updates about the things that matter
most, leaving the less important ones for people to view on your page.
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Appendix 5:
MySpace 55
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you work on so that other members of the group can find you. To facilitate this, be
an active member of the groups you join to increase your visibility. Also, groups pull
together people with similar interests, so if the group allows you, you can invite
members of the group to be friends of your organisation (some groups explicitly ban
sending friend requests to members).
Events section and Calendar function
You can post information under the MySpace Event section to publicise an event
you are hosting. In addition, you have a calendar that allows you to add events
directly on your profile for everyone, or only your friends, to see.
Photos
Follow the Instructions to upload images relevant to your organisation. You can
upload logos, photos, artwork or anything that you feel represents your organisation.
The images appear on your profile and can highlight your work, your staff, your
beneficiaries, etc; they give a face to your organisation and personalize your work.
One of the images will be your default image, i.e. the image that will be displayed as
your profile picture – it is sensible to use your organisation‟s logo or branding to
increase recognition.
Videos
You can upload your videos using the MySpace TV section. It works similarly to how
YouTube works and allows other MySpace users to put the video on their profile. This
can help you disseminate your videos but should probably not be the only place you
post your video.
Blog
MySpace has a blog feature that allows you to post blogs on your profile and send
updates to those who subscribe to your blog on MySpace. It is not suggested that
you use a MySpace blog as your primary blog since it has limited features and
capabilities, but using the MySpace blog to repost other, important blog entries or
update your MySpace friends with information is useful. However, the bulletin feature
is more effective in reaching all of your MySpace friends who may not view your
profile often or subscribe to your blogs.
Bulletins
MySpace has a feature that allows you to send a bulletin to all your MySpace friends
at once. You can allow people to comment on your bulletin if you want to
encourage a discussion. This is a great dissemination tool and can be used for
sending out your press releases, news from your organisation, or anything else you
want to communicate to all of your MySpace friends.
Forums
MySpace has a forum section that encourages people to post questions or topics in
order to start a discussion with other MySpace users. Forums allow you to increase
your visibility and start a discussion about an issue relevant to your organisation.
Unfortunately, there is no voluntary and community sector focused forum, but there
are topics that could be relevant to the sector such as „News & Politics‟.
Customisable profile, HTML friendly
You can change the look of your profile to match your organisation‟s „brand‟. You
can do this by inserting HTML code into parts of your page, which allows you to be
creative and insert objects like slideshows. There are many websites that provide you
with HTML code to insert in your profile to customize your page. Note that adding
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images and graphics will make your page load very slowly, especially on a slow
Internet connection.
MySpace Tips
Do not add music
MySpace has a feature that allows you to add a song to your profile. While this is a
nice feature for your personal page, it is not professional and thus should not be on
your organisation‟s page. It distracts visitors and lessens your message.
Don‟t overdo your page‟s customisation
It is good to customise your page to look more professional and exciting, but do not
go to the extreme. Avoid animations and distracting colours that steal attention
away from your organisation. Think of designing your MySpace page as if it is your
website – be professional.
Keep an eye on the comments you receive
Make sure you pay attention to the comments you receive on your profile and on
your pictures. The comment feature is fun but there is a lot of spamming and
inappropriate material that can end up on your page. You have the ability to delete
such comments if they appear. If this turns into a large problem, you can adjust your
account settings to require that you approve all comments before they are posted.
Use your logo as your profile picture
It will help make you immediately recognisable to your volunteers and supporters as
well as the wider public.
For more MySpace advice, see
www.diosacommunications.com/myspacebestpractices.htm
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Appendix 6:
10 Twitter tips for non profit organisations 56
Newsweek said it best, „suddenly, all the world is a-Twitter‟. Simple and powerful, Twitter is
a must for non profit organisations. I created and manage a portal to non profits on
Twitter @nonprofitorgs and based on my experience using the site, I have crafted ten of
my favourite Twitter tips for beginners:
56 By Heather Mansfield: Mar 18, 2009 Source: Change.org's Guide to Nonprofit 2.0,
www.nonprofits.change.org
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Don‟t Tweet about your coffee (unless it is fair trade), the weather, or how tired you
are - provide value to your followers, not chit-chat!
It‟s one thing to chit-chat about the weather, your headache, or how you need
coffee to wake up in the morning on your personal profile on Twitter, but it‟s quite
another if you are active on the Twitterverse via your organisational profile. The
messages you send reflect upon your organisation. Example of what not to Tweet:
„Such-and-such non profit got stuck in traffic this morning. Ugh! I need coffee and a
vacation… and I think I am getting a headache!‟ No one likes a whiner and this just
makes it sound like such-and-such non profit is not a fun place to work. People follow
you because they want good content from your organisation on subjects relevant to
your mission. Make sure your Tweets provide value and are Re-Tweetable.
Don‟t only Tweet your own content
Twitter is a news source. Participate in news. Tweet articles or blog posts by your
favourite newspapers, bloggers, or other nonprofits (yes... other nonprofits! Find allies,
build relationships). If it is a good read or a good resource, it reflects well upon your
organisation that you Tweeted it. There is also a good chance you might get
ReTweeted if the article is deemed timely and worthy by the Twitterverse.
Send messages, but not via auto-responders
There are tools out there that will automatically message your new followers. Don‟t
use them. It‟s Spam. It‟s not authentic. It‟s not human. It's lazy marketing.
Don‟t worry about those that „unfollow‟ you
It‟s easy to feel slighted when someone stops following you. What did I say? Did I do
something wrong? Let it go. Who knows why they followed you in the first place. Give
it no more than 3 seconds thought and then move on.
Limit your Tweets to 5 per day, and no more than 6!
I have been polling on Twitter and the Twitterverse has revealed that less is more
when it comes to Tweeting.
Twitter is what you make of it - you get out of Twitter what you put into it - this is the
same of all Web 2.0 social network services
Twitter is a fun, valuable tool that can drive significant traffic to your website (start
watching your website referral logs!) and help build and strengthen your brand in the
online world of Web 2.0, but just like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter requires time
and energy to produce results. You get out of it what you put into it. If you do one
Tweet a week, you will get the results of one Tweet. But if you Tweet 4 times daily
Monday through Friday… you will get the results of 20 Tweets weekly.
Again, it‟s about community building around your mission and programmes. Just having a
profile on Twitter (or MySpace, or Facebook) does not magically produce any results. You
have to work these profiles. Find the person on your staff who loves Web 2.0 and enjoys
working the sites and/or find a marketing/pr intern from your local university that needs to
do a senior project! If they are getting college credit, then you know they have to stay
around for at least a semester.
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Appendix 7:
YouTube 57
YouTube is the most popular video sharing site, and one of the most popular websites in
general. There, you can upload videos that you have created and share them with the
entire world.
To view videos on YouTube, you do not need an account, but to upload videos and
interact with the YouTube community, you need to sign up. To sign up go to
www.youtube.com and click Sign Up at the top of the page. Choose your username
wisely as it will appear as your channel‟s URL like www.youtube.com/user/username. Your
channel is the page that hosts your profile as well as lists all your videos, your friends and
subscriptions. It is the page that you will direct people to go to in order to see a list of all
your YouTube videos. Therefore, it is a good idea to have your username be the name of
your organisation.
While your channel indexes all your videos, each video “lives” on an individual page,
which hosts the one video, its comments, ratings and video responses.
While using YouTube as a place to host your video is a good enough reason to create an
account, there are several other features of YouTube that make it a social networking
community:
Comments and video comments
Every YouTube member can write a comment on videos posted on YouTube. Also,
users can post video responses to a video that you post. At the bottom of their video,
there will be a note saying that the video is a response to yours. On the page where
your video is, there will be a box underneath the video with all the video responses to
that video. This can help your organization start a discussion around a particular issue
with your video acting as the catalyst. The more comments you get, the more likely
you will appear under the Most Discussed YouTube section. The more video
responses you get, the more likely you will appear under the Most Responded
YouTube section. Being featured in either of these sections will raise awareness about
your work and your video.
Rate videos
YouTube allows all users to rate the videos they watch, from one to five stars. One of
the YouTube browse options is to view the highest rated videos. Therefore, the higher
your video is rated, the more likely it will appear under the Top Rated section of
YouTube.
Friends
You can add other YouTube users as friends in order to send them bulletins and easily
share videos with them by clicking the Share Video link under a video you want to
share. If someone adds you as a friend, you appear in their friend section of their
channel so all people viewing their page will see that they are friends with you. Also,
it acts like a bookmark so they can easily refer to your channel if they want to see
your new videos.
Subscriptions
YouTube users can subscribe to your channel to receive email updates when you
post a new video. These email updates are sent out once a week. In addition to
emails, when the user visits YouTube, the home page will list new videos from
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channels the user is subscribed to. Try to build up your subscriber list so that your
video gets disseminated widely when it is posted.
Favourites
When YouTube users view a video they like, they can add it as one of their favourites.
This essentially bookmarks it so they can refer to it later. Marking a video as a
favourite also allows everyone who visits that user‟s channel to view that user‟s
favourites. Therefore, you want people to mark your video as a favourite so that it is
more visible. Also, the more people that add your video as a favourite, the more
likely you will appear under the „Top Favourites‟ YouTube section.
Bulletins
You can send bulletins out to all of your YouTube friends with the click of a button.
Go to your channel, scroll down and click „Broadcast a message‟. You will be able to
send a message to all of your friend‟s YouTube inboxes. You can use this to
announce a new video you posted (if your friends are not also subscribers), draw
attention to a discussion forming around a video, tell people about a group you
made, or more.
Groups
Users can join groups on YouTube to post videos related to a topic and have
discussions about them. If you have a lot of staff in your organisation shooting video,
you can create a YouTube group for your organisation where all the videos can
come together and be discussed. Also, you can search for or create a group about
an issue you support in order to bring together your and other‟s videos about the
topic. Additionally, you can use a group to host a video contest for your
organisation. For instance you can ask YouTube users to compete to create a video
about a certain issue. Note that while there is a specific Contest section on YouTube,
that it is only for paid advertisers. People or groups that are not paid advertisers are
allowed to create a contest for free using YouTube groups. This makes you a more
active in the YouTube community and will drive more traffic to your videos.
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Appendix 8:
Flickr 58
Flickr is a photo-sharing site with a social networking component. Thus it is a purpose driven
social network service, forming around the goal of posting and sharing photography. If
you have a great deal of photos that you want to share, this is a great site for your
organisation to be part of.
Flickr is a site with users from all over the world and is available in eight languages.
Flickr works by having its members upload their photos to the site, tagging them with
keywords and allowing other users to search those keywords to find photos. The social
networking aspect comes in by the multitude of Flickr features, allowing people to
comment on photos, add notes to photos, join groups, choose favourite photos and
more.
To join Flickr, you will need to make an account for your organisation. Note that it has to
be clear that the account you make is an individual account, not an account that is
shared by everyone in the organisation. It is acceptable to create an account, name it
your organisation and upload your logo as the icon picture. Flickr just wants to make sure it
is an individual account to prevent accidents occurring from an account with multiple
users. If you have many people wanting to add photos to your organisation‟s account,
create a group for your organisation, have the others create their own account and then
have them add their photos to the group. For more on the topic of creating a Flickr
account and group for your organization, read How Nonprofits Can Get the Most out of
Flickr59.
Below is a description of the social networking features of Flickr:
Contacts
Like friends on other social network services, Flickr has a feature that allows you to
add contacts so that you can stay up-to-date with other Flickr users. When you add
someone as a contact, you can see on your Flickr homepage when they post new
photos. In reverse, if someone adds you as a contact, then they are updated
whenever you post new photos. All users can see who has added them as a
contact. Also, a user can view the contacts of his or her contacts, which allows
people to create a network and become contacts with their friend‟s contacts.
Therefore, you should try to encourage people to add you as a contact so that your
photos reach a large number of people. A good way to do this is to join groups and
to search for photos similar to your own, comment or leave notes on them and hope
that those users add you as a contact. There is more on comments and notes below.
Favourites
You can browse other people‟s photos on Flickr and add them as your favourites.
Then all people who view your profile on Flickr can view your favourites. Therefore,
you should try to get a lot of people to favourite your photos so that their contacts
see your pictures and potentially add you as a contact if they like what they see.
Comments
Other Flickr users can view your photos and leave comments about them. You can
do the same. To build a relationship with your contacts, consider commenting on the
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photos that you like. Also, consider commenting on photos that do not belong to
your contacts to encourage people to add you as a contact.
Notes
Flickr allows users to post notes on other user‟s photos. A note is different from a
comment because a note shows up directly on the photo. For instance, if you think a
part of the photo is particularly interesting you post a note on that part of the photo.
When other users scroll over the picture with a note on it, they will see a transparent
square where the note was placed. When they scroll over the square, they will be
able to read the note. Posting notes has a similar effect as posting comments
(building a relationship and increasing your visibility so that others add you as a
contact).
FlickrMail
You can send messages to other Flickr users using the FlickrMail feature. To send mail
to a user, hover over a user‟s icon, click on the arrow and click Send FlickrMail. Use
this to network with other users and foster a relationship with them. Do not use this
feature to spam users with „Add me as a contact‟ mail.
Groups
The most exciting feature of Flickr is its groups. Users can create and join groups to
share their photos with other members of that group. For instance, if your
organisation takes a lot of photos of women‟s rights activists, then you might want to
create or join a group about women‟s rights. In the group, you can post some of
your photos and start a discussion with other group members. Creating and joining
groups is a good way to increase the number of people who add you as a contact.
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Appendix 9:
Online guides to using social network services
We have discovered little UK based information on this subject, with most resources being
American. Whilst this is generally transferable, care should be taken about use of specific
applications within mainstream social network services, as these might only be relevant in
America due to different legal and financial frameworks.
General information and advice
TimeBank‟s „Volunteer Genie‟
An online guide about volunteer recruitment and marketing, Volunteer Genie is an
excellent source of user friendly content containing tips and advice on how to reach
and attract potential volunteers. These links contain information about new media
and social networking
www.volunteergenie.org.uk/new-media-adventures
www.volunteergenie.org.uk/social-networking-and-online-communities
Media Trust
The country‟s premier charity bringing the third sector and the media together to
build effective communications for the third sector; they have a range of online
guides to help with marketing and communications, including social networking
www.mediatrust.org/training-events/training-resources/online-guides-
1/social_networking
www.mediatrust.org/training-events/training-resources/online-guides-
1/Sharing%20photos%20online/
www.mediatrust.org/youth-media/interactive-guide/
Technicavita
A really useful UK website offering tips, case studies and interviews about third sector
use of social network services
www.technicavita.org
Network for Good
American guide that provides easy and affordable online fundraising activities;
includes a section on using social networks for fundraising which translates well for UK
use (Note: we have found this site slow to load)
www.fundraising123.org/social-networking
Idealware
American website that reviews software and online services for non profits, useful
guide on whether social networking is appropriate for your needs
www.idealware.org/articles/should_you_social_network.php
TechSoup
American site covering a wide range of technical related guides and reviews for non
profits and charities, this feature includes useful tips and advice on getting the most
out of social networks, including overcoming some of the challenges and advice on
how to get noticed in a crowded marketplace
www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page5504.cfm
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www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page8075.cfm
Christine.net
American venture capitalist with special interest in new technologies; this is a useful
list of tips on how to effectively use social networks to campaign
www.christine.net/2007/04/7_tips_for_succ.html
Wild Apricot
American website providing advice and information on a wide range of information
and communications technology issues for both non profits and commercial
organisations; blogs have some very useful guides and insights on using all the main
social networks
www.wildapricot.com/blogs/
Coyote Communications
American website with a range of articles and resources on technology issues,
communications and volunteering; it not only contains useful tips, it also carries the
personal thoughts of its creator (Jayne Cravens, a regular contributor on UKVPMs) on
this range of topics – so it‟s not only practical it‟s also relevant and thought provoking
www.coyotecommunications.com
Network Specific Features/Advice/Tips
MySpace
o How to Use MySpace to Raise Awareness
Interviews with three American organisations that provide insights into how they
are using MySpace
www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page6016.cfm
o Do‟s for MySpace Success
Tips for using MySpace to raise awareness and promote advocacy
www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2006/12/nonprofit_dos_f.html
o Humane Society case study on MySpace
A profile of how this charity has used MySpace to promote its cause
www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2007/5/7/sunny-the-seal-melts-hearts-on-
myspace.html
Facebook
o Using Facebook in your non profit
A useful blog entry on the basics of Facebook, as well as how to use it like an
expert
http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/2007/04/some_res
ources_.html
Flickr
o How Nonprofits Can Get the Most out of Flickr
A very useful feature about Flickr and what it can do for your organisation;
includes information and tips on how to use Flickr in compliance with its
community rules and how to take advantage of its many features
www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page8291.cfm
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