The ethics of volunteering

 

Volunteers are the lifeblood of many charities. They look after charity stalls, support fundraising efforts, and help make connections in the local community.

 

With so much riding on them, charities need to ensure that volunteers are treated kindly and fairly. In doing so, charities can expect to attract and retain talent.

 

For both virtual and in-person volunteer forces, we go over how charities can be the best managers possible.

 

 

Put it in writing

 

As part of the volunteering process, both individuals and charities should agree upon common values and to-dos.

 

Upon confirming roles, most people are asked to sign onto a Volunteer Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics. This document governs who’s responsible for what, and what the expectations are for the role.

 

A Volunteer Agreement with Codes of Conduct and Ethics typically includes sections outlining what is expected. There are also descriptions of what the charity must provide, including safeguards, training, and support.

 

At a minimum, charities need to ensure a safe working environment. For more sensitive jobs, charity managers may promise training courses, especially for volunteers interacting with vulnerable people. The other key aspect of the agreement is detailing the charity’s guiding principles.

 

As a start, Scope UK provides a basic template. The three sections include what’s asked of each volunteer, what the charity will provide, and a signature section. Beyond what’s in writing, there’s more that charities can do to make volunteers feel valued. 

 

 

Understand that volunteer time is valuable

 

Treating volunteers fairly comes with the understanding that time is valuable. Your volunteers could be doing so many other things, but they are choosing to help at no cost.

 

To treat volunteers fairly, it’s helpful to put a number on their return on investment. Power to Change estimates that in 2019, around 208,000 volunteers put in 15.5 to 18.0 million hours of volunteering time across community businesses.

 

Their roles varied from trusteeships to clerical jobs. Power to Change gauges that the market equivalent in wages is £13.70 per hour, which is significantly more than the National Minimum Wage of £8.21 for the same year.

 

Put in another way, the average volunteer contributed between £24,000 to £27,000 per organisation in time worked.

 

Given the approximate value that each volunteer brings, don’t take them for granted. Donorbox says that a good exercise is to treat volunteers the same as staff. Listing volunteer jobs, hours, and training costs normally builds a powerful case for giving them the same benefits as paid staff.  

 

 

Volunteers don’t replace paid staff

 

To ensure volunteers are treated well, they should not be placed in operations that wouldn’t exist without them. As a matter of best practice, the Mayor of London’s Team London volunteering guide has some advice. They say: “Volunteers should only ever be involved because they add value and should not be used to replace paid staff or to reduce costs.”

 

In other words, while volunteers do contribute to charity operations, they shouldn’t be doing key-man roles.