Media release 4 November

Celebrate International Volunteer Managers Day, 5 November

 

Volunteer managers are getting more support for their role which is great news for International Volunteer Managers Day (5 November), says Volunteering New Zealand.

“In the last year we have had a focus on supporting volunteer managers, who can be unsupported in their roles. We have introduced new Volunteer Best Practice Guidelines, and had 80 people participate in our free peer support and mentoring programmes,” says Michelle Kitney, Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand.

In a recent 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 was previously done in 2022.

The 2024 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.”

Volunteering New Zealand is planning regional training for the Best Practice Guidelines, and is updating its online learning management tools.

ENDS

More information

See upcoming webinars for the Best Practice Guidelines.

See more about International Volunteer Managers Day.