OSCR Charity Survey 2016 Summary of Volunteering Findings Background The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has regularly commissioned external stakeholder surveys since 2007. The surveys are designed to capture the attitudes of certain audiences, to draw attention to attitudinal changes and to flag any existing and developing issues and concerns regarding the charity sector. The most recent survey to be carried out was the Scottish Charity Survey in 2016. As in previous years, the survey was carried out in two parts: one section gathered the views of the general public on whether and how they supported charities; what levels of interest and support they had for charities; what issues of concern they had; and how aware they were of OSCR and its work. A second section asked charities (stakeholders) about the challenges they faced and how satisfied they were in dealing with the Regulator. The survey contains a number of results relating to volunteering. The key findings from which are presented below, including some interpretation and commentary on the results. Involvement of volunteers The survey asked charities whether they had any volunteers. Of the charities who participated in the survey (n=1,215), 8 of them said they did have volunteers. Chart 1 demonstrates that the level of volunteer involvement is relatively similar across the different sized charities (based on income). Chart 1: Involvement of volunteers by charity income, 2016 (n=1,215) % of charities with volunteers 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 8 77% 9 87% 8 8 Charity Income 1
The only slight exception is amongst those charities with an annual income of 0-2,000. The results indicate that fewer charities in this income band involved volunteers in 2016 (77%). This arguably sits at odds with what we might have expected to see for this income band. With negligible income, there is an assumption that charities in this income band would have the greatest reliance on volunteer involvement to fulfil their purpose. The reason(s) behind this finding is unclear. Could it be a definitional issue? Do people identify with being a volunteer (bearing in mind that this is an organisational survey and not an individual survey)? Recruitment of volunteers and trustees The recruitment of volunteers and the recruitment of trustees both feature in the top 5 issues facing charities in 2016 (Chart 2). Chart 2: Issues facing charities, 2016 (n=1,215) Running costs 34% Sustaining membership levels 28% Increased need to do fundraising Recruitment of volunteers Recruitment of trustees Don't know Local Authority cuts resulting in less funding Regulation/legislation 2 2 1 1 Methods of fundraising 1 General public/members donating less 7% Other sponsors donating less 4% 1 2 2 3 3 4 When these two issues are explored in more detail, it is clear that the recruitment of volunteers is more of an issue for smaller charities (those with an income of 25,000 and below) than it is for larger charities (those with an income over 25,000) 2 of smaller charities identified this as an issue compared to of larger charities (Chart 3). When volunteer recruitment is examined at a regional level (Chart 4), it appears to be more of a problem for those charities based in the rural areas of Scotland. Charities in North East Scotland (19%) and the Highlands & Islands () identified volunteer recruitment as more of an issue than charities based in Glasgow (). When it comes to the issue of recruiting trustees (Chart 3), there is little difference between those responses provided by smaller (18%) charities compared to larger charities (). Although the recruitment of trustees appears to be once again more of an overall problem for charities in rural areas (Chart 4), charities in Lothian reported having the highest issue of recruiting trustees (19% compared to in Glasgow and in West Scotland) an area that is arguably more urbanised than most other regions in Scotland. The reason behind this is unclear. Could it be that there are
more registered charities in Lothian and so the demand for trustees is greater? Chart 3: Issue of volunteer and trustee recruitment by charity income, 2016 (n=1,215) 4 Recruitment of Volunteers Recruitment of Trustees 3 34% 3 2 2 1 2 18% 24% 1 1 2 2 2 1 Chart 4: Issue of volunteer and trustee recruitment by region, 2016 (n=1,215) North East Scotland Highlands & Islands 18% 19% South Scotland Mid Scotland & Fife Lothians 1 19% Central Scotland 9% 9% Glasgow West Scotland Outwith Scotland Recruitment of Volunteers Recruitment of Trustees 1 2
Interpretation of findings So what do these findings tell us? It is widely believed that there is an untapped pool of volunteers out there who are just waiting for organisations to provide an opportunity for them to volunteer. Indeed, an often cited barrier to volunteering is a lack of available volunteer opportunities. However, the above results suggest that attracting volunteers and trustees (who are themselves mostly volunteers) is not that straightforward or easy, and is of particular concern for smaller scale organisations. Perhaps the problem comes down to organisations not offering the right type of volunteer opportunities. Chart 5 shows that the most frequently cited reason that would encourage people to volunteer in the future is if it fitted in with my other commitments followed by if it fitted in with my interests and skills. To attract volunteers, organisations often need to provide flexibility in their volunteering offer flexibility in roles, tasks, location, timing, etc. Organisations need to make it easy for people to volunteer, including considering how to make roles more inclusive and engaging. This may involve adopting different approaches such as home-based volunteering. Organisations need to acknowledge that people will have their own individual motivations for volunteering and want to know what s in it for me. One way of addressing this may be for organisations to develop roles together with potential volunteers to ensure a good fit for their skills and interests. All of these aspects of providing an attractive volunteer role are arguably more difficult for smaller organisations to offer and provide due to a lack of time and resources. Given that smaller organisations can be especially reliant on volunteers some being entirely volunteerrun this can pose a big challenge. It is also possible that smaller organisations struggle to compete for volunteers against the high-visibility, big name organisations who have the means to offer and promote a wider range of volunteer opportunities. Although more volunteering does take place in rural areas than urban areas in Scotland, problems attracting volunteers in rural areas can still be problematic. In 2016, the rate of volunteering in rural areas was higher than in urban areas, with 4 of adults in remote rural and 3 of adults in accessible rural areas saying they provided unpaid help to groups or organisations compared to around a quarter of adults in large and other urban areas (2 and 24% respectively) 1. However, studies have found that organisations can experience difficulties attracting volunteers in rural areas due to accessibility and transport issues. A study for Historic Environment Scotland in 2016 revealed that organisations found that the remoteness and lack of facilities (for example, toilet and kitchen facilities) at some historic environment sites could pose a challenge to attracting volunteers, particularly older people and those with limited mobility. The seasonal opening of some sites also made it difficult to keep volunteers interested in the off-season. There is also the added challenge that the smaller population sizes found in rural areas means that there is a smaller pool from which to attract volunteers, coupled with an increased demand for volunteers to help sustain services in rural areas that are often funded in urban areas. There can sometimes be a tendency for the same hard-core volunteers to be involved in multiple volunteering activities in rural areas which can lead to volunteer fatigue, burn-out and is not a sustainable position for the future. Without digging deeper into the survey findings, it is not possible to say with any definitive authority what are the true reasons behind these emerging findings. However, the results do raise some interesting points for consideration and provide a good basis and justification for carrying 1 Source: Scottish Household Survey (2016), Scottish Government
out further research in this area. Chart 5: Reasons why adults may undertake unpaid help in the future (Scottish Household Survey, 2016, n=7,020) If it fitted in with my other commitments If it fitted in with my interests and skills If someone asked me to do something If I thought I could help others If it was good fun If I knew more about the opportunities available If I could volunteer when I felt like it If I had more confidence If someone I knew volunteered with me If it would improve my skills If it helped me gain qualifications If it would improve my career/job prospects If there were more people like me volunteering If I was certain that it wouldn't effect my benefits If I was sure I wouldn't be out of pocket Other Don't know 3% 4% 1 1