VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT Volunteers are the life-blood of amateur boxing and these volunteers dedicate hours of time and energy working in a variety of ways. People volunteer for all sorts of reasons and they all have different aspirations. However, for everyone people s time is becoming more valuable and it is important that boxing looks at how they can recruit, retain and recognise/reward their most valuable resource people. A club, divisional or regional committee could consider some of the suggestions in this document as methods to manage volunteers effectively. A suggestion would be to assign the role of volunteer management to a Volunteer Coordinator. The Volunteer Coordinator is a specific role which someone within a region, division or club can take on. The role of the Volunteer Coordinator concentrates on the volunteers within that organisation. RECRUITMENT OF VOLUNTEERS ABAE VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT Clubs level is the entry route for most volunteers and many clubs acknowledge that they can always do with more volunteers and an extra pair of hands. A club needs to establish a clear process for recruiting and retaining volunteers. Before recruitment clubs need to ascertain why volunteers are needed and for what roles, roles could include: Club administrator Help with fund raising events Writing a development plan for the club Coordinating a clubs ClubMark application Being a club match maker Updating the website Taking care of equipment Helping to coach or supervise juniors Washing kit Helping to run the Club Show or an event Also need to answer the questions: How many volunteers What they will do? When will they do it? For how long? What demands will be made of the volunteers What levels of responsibility will the volunteers have? To whom is the volunteer responsible? What support is there for new volunteers? What sort of skills do you want in the roles? What skills do they have? Local partners you could go to? By identifying what is needed the club committee or Volunteer Coordinator can then identify role outlines / descriptors and use these to advertise the positions. A template and examples can see been as follows:
TEMPLATE ROLE OUTLINE Introduction: INSERT INFORMATION REGARDING THE CLUB INSERT Responsible to: INSERT Role purpose: INSERT Commitment: INSERT hours per week / Interested in this role please contact INSERT on INSERT
Introduction: JAB ABC based in Sheffield is a voluntary run amateur boxing club affiliated to the Amateur Boxing Association of England. The club is keen to recruit new volunteers to help its aim of being a safe and effectively run boxing club for the whole community. Responsible to: Role purpose: Commitment: Clubmark / Club Development Co-ordinator Club Secretary To enable the club to meet the requirements for Club Mark and to submit the club s Club Mark application. 2 hours per week Auditing the club s current position against the Clubmark criteria. Leading the collation of evidence for the Clubmark Submission Folder. Identifying individuals within the club to help with gathering evidence. Raising the profile of Clubmark within the club. Liaising with the ABAE at each stage of the accreditation process. Ensuring that standards are maintained following successful accreditation and supplying annual health check information to the ABAE as required. Overseeing the club s development plan and its implementation. Enthusiastic individual who is keen to help a community club improve Good communication and organisation skills ICT skills Interested in this role please contact Dave on xxxxxxxxxxxx
Introduction: The X Counties Amateur Boxing Association aims to increase participation, affiliate and help clubs to be strong and sustainable and enable boxers to progress through the pathway. The regional association is looking for volunteers to help with the organisation of the sport. Marketing & Communications Co-ordinator Responsible to: Regional Volunteer Coordinator Role purpose: Commitment: To raise the profile of the region through the media and market boxing activities and events. Between 2 and 8 hours per week Raise the profile of boxing within the local community. Establishing links with local media. Establishing links with boxing press. Creating features and articles on affiliated club & regional events Communicating with members and parents, for example via newsletters and/or website. Submitting articles for the ABAE website. Enthusiastic individual who is keen to help a community club improve Good written and verbal communication. Ability to write media releases and articles Organisation skills ICT skills Interested in this role please contact Paul on xxxxxxxxxxxx
Introduction: Penrith Punch ABC is a fun and lively amateur boxing club affiliated to the Amateur Boxing Association of England with a membership of over 50 local boxers and a waiting list of over 50 people. The club is keen to create a bigger club and more opportunities per week to double the club s membership and needs new volunteers to help. Funding Co-ordinator Responsible to: Volunteer Coordinator Role purpose: Commitment: To help the club achieve its goal by obtaining funding. Max of 3 hours per week Identifying the club s funding needs. Ensuring that the club is maximising its income generating opportunities. Arranging club fund-raising opportunities. Identifying potential sources of external funding. Completing funding applications. Maintaining contact with the local authority s external funding team and sports development team, and with the County Sports Partnership (CSP) regarding potential funding opportunities. Enthusiastic individual who is keen to help a community club improve Experience of fundraising and or successfully obtaining funding from funding bodies Good written and verbal communication Organisation skills ICT skills Interested in this role please contact Lesley on xxxxxxxxxxxx
Introduction: Hampshire Hook ABC is an amateur boxing club with a strong history in developing elite boxers. The club is keen to start coaching women and girls and as such is seeking to recruit a volunteer for this role. Women s Boxing Support Officer Responsible to: Club Volunteer Coordinator Role purpose: Commitment: To help the club to start to coach women and girls to achieve at competitive level. 5 10 hours per week To establish women s boxing guidelines for the club in line with the ABAE guidelines To promote the club to recruit new women and girls interested in boxing To chaperone female boxers particularly those under 18 years of age during club sessions and competitions To ensure that the needs of female boxers are represented at the committee and any improvements undertaken To promote the success of the female boxers To support the club matchmaker in finding bouts for female boxers Enthusiastic female who is keen to help a women and girls progress in sport Completed or keen to do the safeguarding and protecting children course Approachable and friendly Organisation skills Interested in this role please contact Fred on xxxxxxxxxxxx
Recruitment Process: ABAE VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT Role outline advertised with a point of contact e.g. Volunteer Coordinator Interested volunteers have an informal discussion with the point of contact (not an interview just a chat in order to find out: o Why the volunteer wants to be involved o What skills the volunteer has and if they meet the needs of the role o Their experience of working within a sports club and as part of a team o The available to fulfil the role o Additional skills o Benefits and opportunities of volunteering in the club and the needs of the club Suitable volunteers would then be CRB checked before actively working in the club environment. Once the volunteer has a satisfactory CRB check they should be invited down to the club to meet everyone, get a feel for the club and have an induction into the club and role. Ideally set up a regular point of contact or Volunteer Coordinator to support the new volunteer. REWARD PROCESS Recognition and reward should be embedded in every aspect of the clubs, division or regional function to thank individual volunteers, all of whom might prefer a public or private thank you. Some suggestions: A thank you from a senior member, either publicly or privately. Say thank you both during and after the performance of their role. Give or send a thank you certificate A short news article about a club volunteers in the club newsletter or on the website. The ABAE will happily post these on the Volunteer Section of the Website. A nomination for a club award or an external award from a body that recognises sports volunteers A mention of their work and contribution at a meeting, which is then recorded in the minutes. Provide meals if volunteering for more than half a day Pay for them to attend relevant training events Award them free or discounted membership fees, tickets to events or merchandise Have a party/award to celebrate the work of the volunteers. Ensure you listen to your volunteers and act on areas that are important Smile and call them by name Introduce long service awards Appoint a Volunteer Coordinator to write a volunteer action plan to show how important your volunteers are to your club
RETAINING VOLUNTEERS Once you have attracted new volunteers or even the long term volunteers it is important to retain them by: Making sure volunteers feel: Needed Useful Part of the team Welcome Thanked Motivation ABAE VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT You need to be able to ensure they are motivated, which will be different for each individual volunteer and their needs different. Motivating volunteers is not the same as motivating paid people who get paid, perks, job security. People volunteer for roles in sport for a variety of reasons such as: Family involvement They want to meet new people Wanting to provide a service to their sport (give something back) A love of the amateur boxing It s not just about being nice and rallying them it also about identifying what is important to the volunteer, listen, engage them in things of interest and matching the need of the volunteer to the role. A Volunteer Coordinator can play an important role here. Delegating tasks Not always easy with volunteers, it requires patience, trust and skill, but one of the most important parts of the Volunteer Coordinator s or Secretary s role Delegation is matching responsibility with right person with authority. That person then has the trust and support to use that authority, appropriately. Training Training is an essential part of a volunteer s development of any organisation whether large or small. This is where a Volunteer Coordinator can play a role in working individually with volunteers to assess training needs / interest and look at potential courses. Communication Communicate regularly with all volunteers. Update them on the objectives of the work and your progress to date. Encourage ideas and responsibly where possible