Volunteer Managers receive more support
Volunteer Managers receive more support
See Volunteer Managers and Leaders Report
Volunteer managers are getting more support for their role, with Volunteering New Zealand playing an important part.
“In recent years we have had a focus on supporting volunteer managers, who can be unsupported in their roles," says Michelle Kitney, CE of Volunteering New Zealand.
"We introduced new Volunteer Best Practice Guidelines in 2023, and have had 130 people participate in our free mentoring programmes.”
In a 2024 survey of volunteer managers and leaders, they report receiving more support in the past year particularly from online tools, Volunteering New Zealand’s website, and their professional networks.
The survey, completed by 92 volunteer managers, asked where they got support from (multiple options were allowed). 45% said Volunteering NZ website (25% in 2022), 30% said online tools (22% in 2022), while getting support from professional networks was 39% (29% in 2022).
The amount of training they received in the previous year had increased, although 24% say they had no training at all (decreased from 37% in 2022).
“Managing volunteers is a very demanding role; some managers can be supporting hundreds of volunteers and dealing with everything from recruitment to onboarding, giving support and recognition. “We encourage volunteer managers to take advantage of the accessible, free training and resources provided by Volunteering New Zealand, regional volunteer centres and other organisations.
Well supported volunteer managers make a difference to the volunteer experience, and ultimately the efficacy of the volunteer organisation.