Mapping supply of and
demand for volunteers in
Scotland: what next for
volunteering policy,
practice and research?
Presentation to the Voluntary Sector and
Volunteering Research Conference
Helen Harper & Kathleen Doyle
11 September 2013
Policy Context
• Localism
• Community empowerment, ‘communityled’
• Public Service Reform
Policy Context
Public service reform
“resources from the public, private and third sectors,
individuals, groups and communities” delivering services “in
partnership, involving local communities, their democratic
representatives, and the third sector”....
“active participation of service users and communities, will
contribute significantly to making the best possible use of
money and other assets. They will help to eradicate
duplication and waste and, critically, take demand out of the
system over the longer term.”
Formal volunteering infrastructure
National Level:
Volunteer Development Scotland
www.volunteerscotland.org.uk
Local level: Volunteer Centres or
‘Third Sector Interfaces’
‘linking
services’
Description of Research
• Volunteering in Scottish Charities 2012
– ‘local’ charities (up to 2 local authority areas)
– ‘delivering activities or services’
– Stratified random sample 1000, 59%
response rate
• Volunteering in Scotland 2011
– Omnibus survey
– Representative sample 1000
Volunteering in Scottish Charities
2012
•
•
•
•
Levels of volunteer involvement
Future demand for volunteers
Activities volunteers undertake
Challenges in relation to involving
volunteers
• Awareness, use and effectiveness of
linking services
Volunteering in Scotland 2011
• Identified current, former and nonvolunteers
• Included questions around:
– Likelihood of increasing involvement, or
getting involved
– Activities potential volunteers would like to
undertake
– Awareness and use of linking services
Charities: demand for volunteers
• Majority involved volunteers other than board
members
• 55% were ‘volunteer-led’ (no paid staff)
• Most commonly cited challenges:
– Keeping suitable volunteers (51%)
– Finding suitable volunteers (48%)
– Providing adequate support to volunteers (20%)
– Lack of time affecting support for volunteers
(20%)
Charities: demand for volunteers
• 61% wanted to increase numbers of
volunteers
• Just over half of those thought this was
unlikely
• Larger charities, urban charities more
likely to report decline in volunteers
Supply of volunteers
• 7% of current volunteers intended to
increase frequency or breadth of
involvement
• 19% of former and non-volunteers
intended to start volunteering
Activities
22% of charities
reported ‘recruiting
board members’
as a top three
challenge
Linking together
Most used, and most effective
Directly asking/
being asked for
help
Word of mouth
Linking together
• Linking services: Charities
• 19% of charities use Volunteer Centres
• Rural charities, small charities, those with no paid
staff less likely to use Volunteer Centres
• Fraction using websites, tiny fraction using social
media
• Neither Volunteer Centres or online methods
reported as being effective
Linking together
• Linking services: individuals
– Awareness generally low,
– higher amongst current volunteers (58%)
– Younger respondents more likely to use online
methods
Policy implications
• Assumptions regards level of engagement
in formal volunteering
• Motivations aligning with public service
changes
• Recognising different types of participation
• Place-based issue
Practice implications
• Identifying barriers: time commitment,
flexibility, location?
• Rapid feedback to Charities and VCs
• Widening the pool, effectively (e.g. Linking
local charities together)
• Re-evaluate approach of larger charities
away from traditional, formal approach?
Research Implications
• Mapping: voluntary activities, changes in service
delivery and relationship between the two
• Relationship between ‘needs’ in a community,
voluntary activity and service provision
• Understanding nature of participation (developing
new indicators)
• Alignment of individual motivations and ‘need’
• Looking specifically at urban areas
Questions / comments
[email protected]
[email protected]
11 September 2013