Volunteer Management
A guide to good practice
The key to good practice in volunteer management in sport clubs and organisations is effective leadership. Without successful leadership, people tend to be uninspired, unsure of their role and may lack commitment. Furthermore, successful leadership requires positive attitudes about people. If the volunteers in the sport club are viewed and managed as creative, motivated people who seek responsibility, then they are likely to exhibit high levels of performance. On the other hand, if the volunteers are treated as if they dislike their work, are lazy and must be coerced to perform, then it should not be surprising that their behaviour may reflect the way they are supervised. The quality of leadership is the key to good practice in volunteer management. This module aims to:
- highlight the role of effective leadership in good volunteer management practice.
- emphasise the importance of a motivating environment for volunteers.
- clarify the relationship between leadership, motivation, performance and satisfaction.
- discuss the need to resolve conflict and stress as a part of good practice in volunteer management.
- highlight examples of good practice in volunteer management.
Managing event volunteers
Managing event volunteers is fundamentally different to managing volunteers in the sport club and organisation settings. The difference lies in the nature of the commitment of event volunteers compared to organisational volunteers. The commitment of event volunteers tends to be short term, whereas organisational volunteers at either the policy or operational level develop relationships with their sport and recreation organisations over longer time periods. Such differences may impact on the level of dependability of some volunteers, which may compromise the success of an event. Whatever the nature of their commitment, event volunteers are likely to perform better and be more satisfied when event organisers genuinely value them. This module aims to:
- provide an understanding of the importance of human resource management planning in the successful coordination and delivery of events
- position human resource (volunteer) management and planning within the context of event management
- provide an overview of the major processes involved in managing event volunteers.
Volunteer management policies
Every sport club and organisation requires overall guidance to ensure that its day-to-day activities are coordinated and conducted in ways that are fair, impartial and consistent. Policies assist in this process and clarify the values and beliefs that are considered important by the organisation. By developing and implementing policies, the organisation is indicating the rules, boundaries and expectations of behavioural standards to members and other stakeholders. Given the extensive reliance on volunteers by sport and recreation organisations, policies that address the interaction of volunteers and the organisation are especially important. Clearly stated and communicated policies allow volunteer management processes and priorities to become more transparent to stakeholders. This module aims to:
- define policies and outline a rationale for policies
- clarify the lines of responsibility for policy development
- outline the policy development, implementation and evaluation processes
- discuss a number of policy areas relevant to volunteer management.
- Managing Event Volunteers (
PDF - 131.2 kb) - Volunteer Management: A Guide to Good Practice ( PDF - 153.2 kb)
- Volunteer Management Policies ( PDF - 109.3 kb)
