Assessing the Impact of Volunteering: A toolkit for practitioners. Joanna Stuart, Institute for Volunteering Research

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1 Assessing the Impact of Volunteering: A toolkit for practitioners Joanna Stuart, Institute for Volunteering Research An initiative of in association with

2 Why assess impacts and why a toolkit? Increasing pressure for organisations to monitor, measure and demonstrate the impact and benefits of volunteering programmes Demand from funders increasingly want to know what difference their funding makes Demand from organisations want to know what works and what could work better Demand from volunteers no one wants to give their time to something that has no impact

3 The Volunteering Impact Assessment toolkit Developed by IVR to help organisations assess the impact of volunteering Provides a useful framework for assessing a broad range of impacts Includes a series of adaptable research tools Provides guidelines for data collection and analysis Used by a number of organisations in the UK and overseas

4 What do we mean by impacts? All the changes resulting from a project, activity or organisation. Includes intended and unintended changes, positive and negative, long and short term changes Source: Wainwright, S. Measuring Impact: A guide to resources, NCVO

5 The toolkit framework: Who benefits? A whole range of stakeholders exactly who will be different for each organisation, but can be broadly grouped into: - Volunteers - Organisations - Service users/beneficiaries - Wider community

6 The toolkit framework: How do they benefit? Endless list of impacts need to be categorised: - Economic capital - Physical capital - Human capital - Social capital - Cultural capital

7 What are the impacts? Economic capital The economic benefits and costs of volunteering Increased earning power Financial costs through being out of pocket Physical capital Tangible benefits for volunteers Human capital Personal development and skills gained Social capital Social relationships, networks and trusts developed Cultural capital Development of cultural identity and understanding Training courses Social events Confidence and self esteem Vocational skills Increased contacts and networks Increased involvement in local activities Increased sense of community Increased understanding of other cultures

8 The tools Core and supplementary questionnaires for each stakeholder group with questions for the five types of capital

9 The tools Core and supplementary questionnaires for each stakeholder group with questions for the five types of capital

10 The tools Core and supplementary questionnaires for each stakeholder group with questions for the five types of capital Focus group topic guides Volunteer manager audit form Volunteer diary

11 How have organisations used the results? To inform the development of volunteering programmes To help develop volunteering strategies To provide evidence of impact to existing funders To attract funding To raise the profile of the volunteering programme internally and externally To raise the profile of the organisation To recruit volunteers

12 What are the challenges and issues? Can be time consuming - need to take a piecemeal approach and don t try and do it all at the same time Need to integrate impact assessment into volunteering programmes not just an adhoc add on exercise but an ongoing process Need to take on board negative findings as well as the positives Findings draw heavily on people s perceptions There are other sector specific tools which might be useful, particularly for assessing the impacts on service users and beneficiaries

13 Children s Hospice Association Scotland Methods: Volunteers trained to undertake assessment on staff, volunteers, beneficiaries Findings: - Volunteers: positive experience: 84% said they had built friendships and networks through volunteering But, 18% felt their skills weren t being utilised - Staff: valued the role of volunteers: 83% felt volunteers helped create open & diverse culture But, 18% felt they were over reliant on volunteers, and some did not recognise board members as volunteers

14 Children s Hospice Association Scotland - Families: significant impact of volunteers on families 73% said volunteers led to new friendships & social networks But, some were concerned about how volunteers were vetted and whether they should be undertaking care roles Using the findings: - A number of recommendations arose from the research which are being built into a new strategy: Review how volunteer skills are utilised to full effect Raise awareness within the organisation of the role and volunteer status of the board Explore the possibility of extending volunteer roles to home care support Develop a leaflet for families about volunteers, their role, and how they are recruited

15 Further information Further information about the impact assessment toolkit is available from: ment+toolkit.htm Specific tools are also available for sports volunteering and health volunteering Joanna Stuart Institute for Volunteering Research