Recruit and Retain Volunteers

Outcomes

Explore the current trends in volunteering and relate them to community sport

Examine strategies for volunteer recruitment in Sporting Clubs, which will include opportunities to include People with a Disability

Learn skills for volunteer management in Sporting Clubs

Broaden your knowledge base for recognising/rewarding volunteer contributions

Sports Volunteering in Australia

2.3 million people or 14% of the Adult population volunteers in Sport in Australia

Families with children under 15 years make up 25% of all sport volunteers

Sports volunteers are most likely to volunteer at least once a week

40% of Sports volunteers are employed full time, compared to people employed part-time/casually 30% and unemployed persons 30%

What can we gather from this?- Sport volunteering activities in Australia are vastly left to a minority of people who are already time-poor and prioritize sport behind work and family commitments.

CSIROMegatrends in sport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCScGpae3ik

Current Trends in Sports Volunteering

Volunteers want roles that are smaller and more flexible

Shorter term commitments- Volunteers are more likely to spend smaller periods of time volunteering.

Volunteers are more likely to take on roles that are broken down into smaller portions.

Potential solutions to combat these trends?

Conduct an assessment of roles within the club and determine which can be modified or broken down

Could be changed to project based roles or a splitting of duties

Activity

On the paper provided, brainstorm the volunteer roles that are undertaken at your club.

Concept Framework

Why do people volunteer in sport?

No-one else will do it - coercion

They want to learn new skills

They get asked to and some people just want to be asked

They want to give back to the community

They may already be a player or a past player, they have an existing connection to the club

They want to make new friends and establish social networks

Barriers to volunteering in sport

Lack of time

They have never been asked

Nothing to identify role or expectations

Lack of necessary skills

Cost of volunteering- What are the volunteers giving up in order to do their role

Is the club reimbursing their volunteers for expenses?

Cost to the club- red tape and insurance cover makes volunteering unaffordable

Inflexible volunteer roles

Lack of support procedures

Previous incumbent created silos and now the role is too big

Strategies to recruit

Targeted recruitment – People with a disability

Development of position descriptions or duty statements

Direct approach to suitably skilled individuals

Skills analysis of members matched to club roles

Offering roles reflective of current volunteering trends

Identifying and acknowledging the motives behind volunteering

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEWu-3xHHW8

Benefits of Targeted Recruitment….

Saves time

Helps clubs recruit new people

Breaks down one of the barriers to volunteering

Helps clubs recruit the right people to the right jobs – skill matching

Can help broaden membership base including extension of income stream

Engaging volunteers with a disability

1:5 people have a disability, yet volunteer less than the general population

40% less likely to be employed full time

Massive untapped market of people who want to contribute to society

75% of disabilities are invisible

The older our population becomes, the higher the rate of disability.

Engaging volunteers with a Disability- Benefits

Broaden the club’s volunteer recruiting base

Promotes the club as a welcoming and inclusive club

Volunteers with a disability are more likely to stay involved in the club for longer periods of time

Helps spread the workload within the club

Strategies for Working with Volunteers with a Disability

Get to know the person, not the disability

Research through family and friends the capacity for work of the individual

Provide the person with a position description that is clear and concise

Sets out the exact tasks that they are to complete

This may include verbally explaining the tasks and demonstrating them

Find out what support they need to do their role e.g. a mentor

Bottom Line- Treat all volunteers with respect and manage them accordingly

Position Description

Clearly sets out the roles and responsibilities of prospective and existing volunteers

Is simple and easy to understand

Is a support mechanism for volunteers to fall back on if they are unsure of their role.

May take time to initially design but will save the committee time in the long term

Example PD

Activity

Have a go at developing a position description for your own role at your club

Use the resource of the example position description and follow that guidelines to keep the PD clear, exact and easy to interpret

Rewarding/ Recognising volunteers

Internal

Acknowledge volunteer contributions at club events/ AGM

Certificate of thanks at the end of a season

Provide new volunteers with welcome letters when they begin their role

External

Fund or part fund training for volunteers

Organise a thank you function for volunteers

Provide them with cheap club gear

Reduction in fees

In summary

Explored the current trends in volunteering from the context of community sport

Explored volunteer recruitment methods in community sport, in particular how to become a inclusive club

Looked at how to manage volunteer roles in community sport

Provided examples of how to reward and acknowledge volunteers within a sporting club

Thank you!

For more information please contact me on

03 5442 3101 or jakobv@sportsfocus.com.au

Useful resources

http://www.clubhelp.org.au/

http://www.sportsfocus.com.au/