13
Skilled Volunteering An Overview Patsian Low Director National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, Singapore 1

Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

Skilled Volunteering - An OverviewBy Patsian Low, NVPC

Citation preview

Page 1: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Skilled Volunteering

An Overview

Patsian LowDirector

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, Singapore

1

Page 2: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Social Organisations

Skilled Volunteering Stakeholder Map

2

Community

Companies

CustomersBoard

ManagementEmployees

BoardManagement

Employees

Beneficiaries

SuppliersDistributorsValue-Chain Marketing

CommunicationBranding

Social/BusinessIntegration

< Volunteering >

Source: National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center, Singapore

Government International

Page 3: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Companies

• Fit with business goals, operating models, culture, internal policies• Consider if additional

resources are needed

3

• Careful and deliberate programme execution (design, costs, experience)

• Internal and external impact of skilled volunteerism• Consider possibility of involving the “value chain”

Page 4: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Social Organisations• Social organisation due diligence,

prepare volunteer to learn about issue• Invest the time to build relationships

between corp and social orgs• Conduct needs and skills fit diagnosis• Readiness to work with volunteers –

resources, time, project scope, etc.

4

Page 5: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Volunteers• Volunteers are people too – values, styles, preferences• Certain social issues will mean more than others• Balance work priorities and personal beliefs/passion –

must be practical to be sustainable• Generation dynamics between senior/middle-

management and younger employees• Does volunteering have impact on career development?• Job scope is not always the same as skills available

5

Page 6: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Engagement Structure• Diagnosis must be done before

designing the engagement• Engagement timeframe, scope, breadth, depth• Careful adjustments when adapting overseas

models into local context• Budget and source for cost/resources• Ground-up models (from employees/community)• Top-down models (from management/government)

6

Page 7: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Some engagement models• Marathon Model: short burst, extensive SPO reach• Open-ended Model: ongoing service, smaller number of SPOs• Micro-volunteering: each employee has own opportunity• Coaching and mentoring: 1-1 or 1-few close and long-term

engagement• Standardized Team Projects: Set project team with set

deliverables• Loaned Employee Model: secondment/attachment to SPO• General Contracting/intermediary: through coordinating

entity for cross-sector/cross-company resources

Source: www.abillionpluschange.org

7

Page 8: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Assessing Impact of Volunteerism• Impact assessment based on desired objectives

… should be designed at the beginning

• Consider internal and external assessment• Conduct assessment with the help of partners

• Stories and experiences can also be helpful• Invest the time and resources to properly conduct

impact assessment – results will be valuable

8

Impact-driven Skills Based Volunteerism

Page 9: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Other Resources

• Taproot Foundation (US based)• www.taprootfoundation.org

• Points of Light (US based)• Great resource for case studies• http://www.pointsoflight.org/skills-based-volunteering

• Readiness Roadmap (US based)• Help the nonprofit sector be ready to engage in and benefit

from pro bono professional services. • Taproot Foundation, Points Of Light, Common Impact, funded

by Capital One.• http://www.readinessroadmap.org/

9

Page 10: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

• Corporate:• Important for senior executives to “take the lead” for

company-wide buy in and demonstrate commitment • Time/reputation balance, learn about social org better• Need to build internal competencies to manage

• Social Organisations:• Improve needs diagnosis capability• Benefit greatly from intermediaries’ help• Communication of where help is needed• Readiness to work with skilled volunteers

10

Regional Insights on Skilled Volunteering

Page 11: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

• Volunteers:• Cultural acceptance and celebration of volunteering• Reward, recognition and impact of volunteering• Power of community/word-of-mouth• Oriented and prepared on social org and issue area• Important to match skills with needs correctly

• Engagement Structures:• Intermediaries are critical as play many roles• Unclear on how intermediaries can sustain themselves

• Incubation/operational funding critical• Unclear on how much to outsource to intermediaries• Assess impact to corp, SO and volunteer

11

Regional Insights on Skilled Volunteering

Page 12: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

You are the greatest resource• Many companies learn by experience• Please share your stories with each other• A network of socially-conscious businesses is very

impactful • Singapore’s Corporate Giving Council

• Encourage cross-sector leadership and collaboration to benefit social ecosystem • Engage Hong Kong “Mind The Gap” report

12

Civic-minded workforce engaged in social change through skills and competence

Page 13: Skilled Volunteering - An Overview

Thank You!

Patsian LowDirector

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, [email protected]

13