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Anjasto)erg:Ro#erdamUniversityofAppliedSciences, SchoolofSocialWork,Netherlandsj.stofberg@hr.nl StevenHowle3:RoehamptonUniversity,UKs.howlett@roehampton.ac.uk SilviaCannonieri:CiesseviMilano,Italycannonieri@ciessevi.org OleMadsen:CFSA,Denmarkocm@frivllighed.dkAngelSola:CibervoluntariosFoundaGon,Spainangel.sola@cibervoluntarios.org

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CHAPTERS1.‐INTRODUCTION….………………………………………………………………………..….………….….62.‐ LinkingVolunteeringMoGvaGonandRecogniGon……………………….………………153.‐LearningthroughVolunteering…………………………………………………….………………194.‐AnalysingLearningNeeds………….…………………………………………………………………275.‐LearningOpportuniGes………….……………………………………………………………..…..…34

AppendixA TooldescripGonsheets………….……………………………….………46AppendixB Webresources………….……………………………………………….……61AppendixC Glossary………….………………………………………………………………64AppendixD AnInspiraGonalChecklist………….…………………………..………66

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IntroducingINVESTThe INVEST (INvesGng in yourVolunteersby creaGng EducaGonal opportuniGesSmall scale and Tailor made) project is aEuropeanproject fundedby theEuropeanCommission through the Lifelong LearningProgramme under the acGon GrundtvigLearningPartnership.The overall aim of this learningpartnershipwastopoolawidevarietyofresources and experiences within ourdifferent organisaGons to enhance thelearning opportuniGes of volunteers. Ourmain objecGve was to apply differentmethods and tools for facilitaGng theseeducaGonal opportuniGes and share theexperiments and experiences among thepartners.Byapplyinga"learningbydoing"approach we intend to encourage ourvolunteers into making more of thevoluntarywork theyperform, raising theirawareness of themany competences andskillstheyareobtainingduringtheprocessand insGl a sense of fun in working on

serious lifelong learning skills which theycanapplyinmanydifferentcontextsandintheir working life. In order to supportpersonal development, we wished tosGmulate (among others) volunteers towork on their (extended) CVs, morespecifically by developing a poraolio.Poraolios provide opportuniGes tosGmulatepeople to reflectonexperiencesand achievements and get to grips withassessing their own capabiliGes andconnecGng this to their ambiGons.Overallthe project is meant to encouragevolunteers to get the most out of theirvolunteeringexperienceandalso focusonthe learning possibiliGes and theiremployment prospects, besides drivingtheirlearningneedstowardsmorelearningopportuniGes and / or further / highereducaGon pathways. Poraolio work is,moreover, one stepaway from the recentdevelopmentstowardsane‐poraolio.

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Ro#erdam University (HR) is one of the major UniversiGes of Applied Sciences in theNetherlands with currently 30,000 students working on their professional future. Theuniversityhas11schools,offeringmorethan80graduateandundergraduateprogrammesin7fields: art, technology, media and informaGon technology, health, behaviour and society,engineering,educaGon,andbusiness.TheINVESTprojectisrunbytheSchoolofSocialWorkwhich offers four accredited course programmes and a professional master programme ofUrbanEducaGon.Within the school students are prepared for job roles in which they design and organiseprogrammesandprojectswhich invitepeople toparGcipate in cultural and social exchange.The purpose of the Cultural Social Work programme is to provide students with thefoundaGons of the cultural and socialwork professionwhich guides and supports people ingivingshapetotheirlivesinthecontextofcultureandourincreasinglycomplexsociety.ThemajorityofstudentsdevelopeducaGonalacGviGesofanykindfor(disadvantaged)groupsand those with specific needs and deliver those tailor‐made courses during their workplacementsintheRo#erdamorganisaGons,butalsoabroad.ManyofthesestudentsarereadytocoordinatevolunteeringprogrammesandacGviGesupongraduaGon.Website:www.hogeschoolro#erdam.nl

VolunteeringcontextintheNetherlandsIntheNetherlandsvoluntaryworkismainlytheresponsibilityoflocalgovernments.UndertheDutchSocial SupportActmunicipaliGeshave the taskofdecidingon theirownvolunteeringpolicybasedonthefivecorefuncGonsasdefinedbytheMinistryofHealth,WelfareandSport.The five core funcGons are the following: translaGng social developments, creaGngconnecGons,strengthening,expandingandanchoring.TheMinistryofHealth,WelfareandSportdefines“parGcipaGon”ofall ciGzensas themajorgoalofitspolicyonvolunteering.Assuch,itplaysanimportantroleina#ainingsocialinclusiongoals.ThecityofRo#erdamforexampledecidedtocreateapproximately4,000volunteeringjobsforpeoplewith poor chances on the labourmarket on an annual basis. Through this iniGaGvepeoplearetakenoutoftheirsociallyisolatedposiGonsandareofferedopportuniGestostartdeveloping new competences which can increase their self‐esteem, and subsequently theirchances on the labourmarket, as individual training and coaching is an integral part of theiniGaGve. In this way these volunteers are empowered by staff involved in volunteeringorganisaGonswhoinvestintheirpersonaldevelopment.

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Over5.6millionDutchpeopleareacGve in thevoluntarysector.Societyasawholebenefitsfrom their unpaid acGviGes, so in general the idea is that volunteers deserve professionala#enGonandsupportbyofferingthemlearningopportuniGestodevelopthemselves.AtthesameGmethetrendisthatincreasinglyhigherdemandsarebeingmadeonvolunteers,partlyasaresultoftheeconomiccrisis.CFSA is the naGonal knowledge centre of voluntary work in Denmark. The Centre wasestablished in 1992 as a self‐governing insGtuGon under the Ministry of Social Affairs, topromoteandsupportthedevelopmentofvolunteeringinDenmark.Thestatusofthecentreasan“independent”insGtuGonanditsprofessionalfocusandneutralityinrelaGontopoliGcalandorganisaGonal interestsallowsthecentretonetworkanddialogueacrossthestructural,organisaGonalandpoliGcalboundaries.The funding of the centre comes from government grants. The centre works for anindependent and diverse voluntary sector which contributes to the development of thewelfare society in interacGon with public authoriGes and private companies. Its aim is tosupport anddevelop the volunteering area and to gather knowledgebasedonpracGce andresearch.CFSA offers a range of services to support volunteers and voluntary organisaGons. Besidesoffering services to public authoriGes and others co‐operaGngwith volunteer organisaGons,CFSA provides informaGon on voluntary socialwork for the public and the press. Themainareas of acGvity are consultancy, learning and educaGon, networks and conferences,knowledge, development etc. The Volunteer Centre in Denmark has a range of educaGonalacGviGesandoffersthosetokeypersonsengagedinvoluntarywork.Thecoursestendtofocuson organisaGonal work, personal limits in voluntary social work, and challenges ofvolunteering.Moreover,CFSAoffersavarietyofcourseswhichprovideskillsandtoolsthatarerelevantinvoluntaryworkonalllevels.An example is the courses for volunteers funded by the Danish Training Grant Programme.These courses are designed for acGve volunteers and staff employees in voluntary socialorganisaGonsorsupportfuncGonsinrelaGonthereto.AnotherexampleisTheNGOFolkHighSchool,aneducaGonalprogrammeopentoall,offeringqualifiededucaGonalopportuniGesforall actors in the voluntary social fieldwhowish to strengthen their skills in different areas.Therearenoacademicrequirementsforadmi#anceandtherearenoexams,butthecourseparGcipantsgetadiplomaasproofofa#endance.Website:h#p://www.frivillighed.dk

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VolunteeringcontextinDenmarkIn Denmark approximately 1.8 million people (approx. 40 % of the entire population over the age of 16), have participated in voluntary work at some point through the last twelve months. Even though the majority are volunteering in areas such as sport and culture, lot´s of volunteers participate also in social voluntary work (approx. 32 % of all volunteers in Denmark). Most surveys which are conducted on the issue of volunteerism in Denmark conclude that the majority of the volunteers are men. A survey produced in 2012 by The National Knowledge and Development Centre of Volunteering in Denmark on behalf of The Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration concluded that 42 % of men who participated in the survey were volunteers as opposed to only 38 % of women. Collaboration between public and voluntary organisations has become stronger throughout the last 20 years. The collaboration is beneficial for the organisations as well as the administration in the way that the organisations get financial support for rent and other necessities, as well as educational support for volunteers. The municipalities get a helping hand in the production of welfare services.

Ciessevi is a non profit organisaGonwhosemembers are voluntary and social organizaGonsbasedinMilanandinitsprovince.CiessevihasmanagedtheVolunteeringSupporGngCentrefor theprovinceofMilanosince1998.VolunteeringSupporGngCentres (CSV)areaNaGonalNetwork.TheywereprovidedfortheItalianlawonvolunteeringwiththegoaltosupportandqualifyvolunteerorganizaGons’acGviGes.CiessevioffersthefollowingacGviGesandservices:consultancy, organisaGon of training courses, documentaGon, study and research,communicaGon,informaGon,logisGcalsupportandeventsorganizaGon.CiessevibelievesthatvolunteeringpromotesacGveciGzenship,solidarity,subsidiarity,humanrights, inclusion and social cohesion. Ciessevi aims to empower volunteers and voluntaryorganizaGons’ capacity in promoGng innovaGon and posiGve relaGonships in the localcommuniGes. This is done by supporGng civil society iniGaGves and by strengtheningpartnershipsbetweenvoluntary,privateandpublicsectorsata local,naGonalandEuropeanlevel.Ciessevi’smissionconsistsinthreethings:promoGngawidevolunteeringculture,supporGngandqualifyingvolunteersandvoluntaryorganisaGonsandinmakingvolunteersimprovetheircapaciGes and awareness about the role they play in the society as they represent animportantresourceforthewholecommunity.Ciesseviwantstosupportthevoluntarysectorto increase its visibility and its proacGve antude and also enhance management andorganisaGonalcompetences.

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Ciessevi’sacGviGesareaddressedto:

• Volunteer organisaGons for different acGviGes of consultancy, training, projectplanningandcommunicaGon;

• VolunteersandpeoplewhowouldliketovolunteerforacGviGesofinformaGonandtraining;

• Students,youth,andallciGzensforacGviGestopromotevolunteering(theseacGviGesareopenorganisedincollaboraGonwithotherlocalorganizaGons);

• PublicandprivateSectoronspecificprojects.Website:h#p://www.ciessevi.org/

VolunteeringcontextinItalyIn Italyvolunteering today isessenGallyanorganisedphenomenonwhichhasundergoneanenormousdevelopmentsincethemid1970s,followingthemodernizaGonanddecentralizaGonof the welfare system. Since then, the phenomenon has passed through a transiGon oftradiGonalassistanceservicestopursuepracGcesofprevenGonandsocialpromoGonwiththeintent of contribuGng to remove the causes that producemarginalisaGon, degradaGon andpoorqualityoflife.In1991theframeworkLawNo.266definedtherequisitesofvolunteeringandtheaspectsthatregulatetherelaGonshipbetweentheVOandthepublicadministraGon,togetherwith the juridical recogniGon of public enGty partners.More recently, an ulGmatelegiGmizaGoncameaboutwithamendmentstoTitleVoftheConsGtuGon(ConsGtuGonalLawno.3/2001AmendmentstoTitleVoftheConsGtution,Art.118lastparagraph).VolunteeringofsingleciGzensandorganisaGonshasbecometheobjectofnumerousnaGonalresearch projects and surveys. As regards to the extent of voluntary parGcipaGon, manyesGmateshavebeenprovidedandvariousstudieshavea#emptedtodefinethephenomenon.AlltheresearchandpublicopinionpollinsGtutesdealwiththisissue,thoughtheygenerallydonotshareacommonmethod,acommondelimitaGonof thesectororacommondefiniGon.Thisinturndoesnotallowdatafromthevariousresearchgroupstobecompared.Accordingto ABACUS and Eurisko‐IREF, there are 7 million ciGzens acGvely parGcipaGng in solidarity,while ISTATMulGscopo indicatesafigureof4million.SuchgreatvariaGonsareduemoretothe inhomogeneous layout of the research rather than the different periods in which thestudies were conducted. In any case, all the data highlight the evident upward trend ofvolunteeringand,recently,eventhedesiretowardsindividualvolunteering.Whenconsideringthe ISTAT MulGscopo data, which are of a considerable enGty considering the samplepopulaGontakenandtheterritorialdistribuGon,therateofvolunteerstodayis8.4%ofciGzensover13yearsofage;thismeans4.1millionpersons.In theprovinceofMilan there are40,983 volunteers acGve in formally recognized from theLocalAuthorityVoluntaryOrganisaGons.26,307ofthemvolunteerregularly,and14,676dosooccasionally.Thesenumbersdonot take intoaccountof cultural, civilprotecGonandsportsvolunteers.Thela#erinparGculararenotconsideredintheNaGonalandLocalStaGsGcsaboutvolunteering.

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TheUniversityofRoehamptonistheonlycampusuniversity inLondon, locatedinthesouth‐west of the city, it is about 30 minutes from the West End. The university offers a selfcontained site for learning, teaching and working and aims to give a wide range ofopportuniGes for students to get involved including volunteering but also through playingsport,orthemanystudentsocieGes.

TheUniversityhasa strong researchprofilewhichunderpins teaching. Some9,000 studentsa#endtheUniversity,25%ofwhomarepostgraduates.Thereisacosmopolitanatmosphere,withmore than130differentnaGonaliGesoncampus.ThehistoryofRoehampton stretchesback 170 years through four Colleges and the strong values come from this rich collegiatehistory,builtoncommunity,engagementandpartnership.

Communityengagement comes throughcourseplacement requirements,butalso throughastrong volunteering programme run by the student union. The University recognises thatengagementisakeystrandoftheUniversity’semphasisonenhancingemployability. Website:h#p://www.roehampton.ac.uk

VolunteeringcontextinUnitedKingdomVolunteering in the UK is mostly carried out in voluntary organisations, but volunteers can be found too in the public sector; in schools and hospitals for example. Volunteering England (which in 2013 became part of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations) define volunteering as any activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or someone (individuals or groups) other than, or in addition to, close relatives. From this definition comes the core idea that volunteering must be a choice freely made by each individual. Volunteering is identified with a number of benefits, from community cohesion, to skills development, to service delivery, to just enjoying yourself. It is little wonder then that there are alarm bells rung – not least by policy makers – if participation rates fall. That said, volunteering rates have remained reasonably constant over the past 20 years and In 2008/09 41% of adults volunteered formally (giving unpaid help through a group, club or organisation). Given that this has been calculated to contribute an estimated £22.7 billion to the UK economy it is little wonder policy makers are interested. Although the rate has remained constant, there is some evidence of less input with the average number of hours spent volunteering per volunteer declined by 30% between 1997 and 2007. Further evidence suggests that there is a trend towards more episodic volunteering, which may also

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dovetail into the idea that more people are volunteering for learning and skills and choosing shorter periods in a range of opportunities in order to maximise this. Fundación Cibervoluntarios (Cybervolunteers FoundaGon) is an atypical non‐profitorganizaGonmade up of social entrepreneurswhose vision is to use new technologies as ameansforsocialinnovaGonandciGzenempowerment,alleviaGnginthiswaysocialgaps.ThismeansthatthefoundaGonworkstoincreasetherights,opportuniGesandcapabiliGesofeachpersonwithintheirenvironment,throughthesocialuseoftechnologicaltoolsandapplicaGonswithintheirreach.To achieve this goal, the FoundaGon counts on around 1,500 cybervolunteers. Curious,proacGvepersonswillingtolearn,withapassionforsharingandenthusiasmaboutICTs,whooffer part of their Gme and knowledge to teachother people the possibiliGes of the use oftechnology tools and applicaGons to improve lives in a simple andusefulway. They do thisthroughbothonlineandonsitecourses,lectures,workshops,events…etc.TheydirecttheiracGontogroupsofpeoplethatmaybeexcludedfromtheinformaGonsocietybased on gender, age, professional and social environment, lack of Gme, knowledge, skills,moGvation and/ormaterial or economic resources... and theymanage to adapt the use oftechnological applicaGons to alleviate these social gaps at working, parGcipaGon or healthlevels,amongothers.Aper11yearsofwork the foundaGonreceived fromthehandsof thePrinceandPrincessofAsturiasa recogniGon for “thecreaGonofnew formsofparGcipaGonandsocial innovaGon insupportofgroupsatriskofexclusion”,aswellas theeconomicandsocialrecogniGonofGoogle.org,forbeingoneoftheentiGesthatarechangingtheworld,thefirstandcurrentlytheonlyorganizaGonrecognizedwithsuchmeritinSpain.During the last fouryears theFoundaGonhas focusedon spreadingacrossEurope,where ithas four ongoing projects, and into LaGnAmerica,where there is already representaGon inArgenGna,BrazilandEcuador,andshortlyinMexicoandColombia.Website:h#p://www.cibervoluntarios.org

VolunteeringcontextinSpainSpainhasatotalof873,171volunteers,only inthefieldofsocialacGon,ofwhich63.1%arewomen,accordingtoastudyconductedattheiniGaGveoftheMinistryofHealth,SocialPolicyandEquality released in 2011, on theoccasionof the inauguraGonof the EuropeanYear ofVolunteeringinMadrid.According a report, enGtled "Diagnosis of Volunteers in Spain", the profile of volunteers inrecentyearshasdiversified,althoughitmaintainsamajoritypresenceofyoungwomen.Thus,byage,thelargestgroupcorrespondstoarangebetween18and35,whichaccountsfor42.6%

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ofthevolunteersinSpain,followedbythosebetween36and55years,accounGngfor32.5%,andfinally the56andolder,with22.3%.Theyoungest (18‐35years)developtheiracGonasvolunteersinthefieldofleisure,socialacGonandintegraGon.Foritspart,theseniors(over56years)gangacGvityinthesocio‐healthandsocialacGon.Thereport,whichhasbeena#endedbytheVolunteerPlaaorminSpainandtheThirdSectorexpertsandvolunteers,alsoindicatesthat the average Gme devoted to voluntary acGons,within the field of social acGon, is fivehoursperweek.There are about 30,000 non‐profit organizaGons in Spain. Over 70% of them have gotvolunteers.However,Spain isamongtheEuropeanUnioncountrieswherethere isrelaGvelyspeakingli#levolunteering.Only15%oftheSpanishpopulaGonvolunteers,accordingtotheEurobarometer.InrecentyearsfiguresinSpainhaveincreasedwithpeoplewhovolunteerinseveralNGOs,butspendonlyashortGmeineachand"converged"volunteering,i.e.ciGzenswho, during an emergency situaGon, carry out voluntary acGviGes inNGOs that they had apreviousrelaGonshipwith.

Whoisthisbookletfor?We hope this booklet can be an inspiraGon by focusing on all the competences you aregaining as an engaged ciGzen. The booklet can be used by all people who are engaged involunteering and especially people who are volunteer coordinators, people who havevolunteered and now guide other volunteers, people who are employed within volunteer‐involvingorganisaGonsorpeoplewhohaveotherresponsibiliGesforvolunteersorwithinthevoluntary sector. Whether new to the role or experienced, all people working with or forvolunteers will hopefully find this an easy guide to use with such issues as volunteerrecogniGon, learningsupportoreducaGonalopportuniGes.HopefullyyouwillfindinspiraGonandacollecGonoftools,pracGcalsmall‐scaleideasandGpsonhowtoempowervolunteersinyourlocalcontext,whateversupportstructuresexistinyourarea.

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Whydopeoplevolunteer?People volunteer for a wide variety ofreasons.Oneofthemoreobviousreasonswhypeoplevolunteerisbecausetheyfindsomethingtheyarepassionateaboutandwant to do something good for others.Peoplewhovolunteerintheircommunityhave a personal a3achment to the areaand want to make it a be3er place forthemselves and for others. People who

have struggled with social issuesthemselves usually have a parGcularempathy for those in a similar situaGonand will o_en wish to help out. Otherswho volunteer think that they are veryfortunate to live the way they do andwanttogivesomethingbacktosociety,asawayofbalancingallthepossiblescales.

In fact, the reasonwhypeoplevolunteermayvaryaccording to theirneedsandaspiraGons.There are however a number of common moGves to engage in voluntary acGviGes andresearchhasbroadlyestablishedthebeneficialvaluethatvolunteeringbringstotheindividual(aswellastosocietyasawhole).Based on research done by Clary et al. (1998)1, sixmoGvaGonal categories for volunteeringhave been idenGfied, namely: Value, ProtecGon, Career, Social, Understanding andEnhancement.Thesecanbeinterpretedasfollows:

• The Value moGve is concerned with expressing or acGng on important values andfocuses on thewelfare of others; as such it can be regarded as themost altruisGcmoGve.

• TheProtecGonmoGvewantstodeflectfromnega%veaspectsofthepersonality,suchasguilt,boredomandisolaGon,inordertoreducenegaGvefeelings.

• TheCareermoGveisauGlitarianmoGveconcernedwithfurtheringone’sowncareerprospectsandgainingcareer‐relatedexperience.

• TheSocialmoGve reacts to the socialexpectaGonsofan individual’s circleof family,friendsandacquaintances,andisaboutstrengtheningsocialrelaGonships.

• TheUnderstandingmoGveisconcernedwithlearningnewinformaGonorskills.

• The Enhancement moGve is concerned with enhancing posi%ve aspects of one’spersonality, incontrasttotheProtecGonmoGve.Enhancementisunderstoodasself‐realisaGon,enhancingself‐esteemandsocialrelaGons.

1Clary,E.G.,Snyder,M.,Ridge,R.D.,Copeland,J.,Stukas,A.A.,Haugen,J.&Miene,P.(1998,June).UnderstandingandassessingthemoGvaGonsofvolunteers:AfuncGonalapproach.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology74(6):1516‐30.Theseauthorsdevelopedtheso‐calledVolunteerFuncGonsInventory(VFI).AcentralpremiseofthefuncGonalapproachisthatwhiledifferentpeoplecanperformthesameacGons,theseacGonsmayservedifferentpsychologicalfuncGonsfordifferentindividuals.

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These six moGvaGon pa#erns clearly demonstrate how much variety there is in doingvoluntarywork. Volunteer‐involving organisaGonswhich arewell aware of their volunteers’moGvaGons(bywayofawell‐foundedintakeproceduree.g.)canadapttheirmatchingprocesstothis.The idea is that having volunteers perform tasks with benefits that match their primarymoGveswill result inaposiGvevolunteerexperienceand inhigher saGsfacGon,anoutcomefavourabletoallinvolved.In order to establish volunteer moGves a standardised quesGonnaire was developed: theVolunteerFuncGonsInventory2,aninstrumentthatgeneratesaclearpictureofwhatmoGvesare prevalent for a potenGal volunteer. Subsequently, volunteering organisaGons can selectvolunteer acGviGes thatwould be a goodmatch, in orderwords find tailormade tasks andresponsibiliGes.In other words, a good intake process will help to ensure that volunteers are placed inposiGonsthatbestsuittheirabiliGesandinterests.TheinvestmentofarelaGvelysmallamountofGmeandeffortat thebeginningof thevolunteerprocesscould returnmanydividends intermsofsaGsfacGonandcommitmentofvolunteersaswellasGme‐savingfortheorganisaGoninthelongerrun.

TheimportanceofrecogniGonRecogniGonofthecontribuGontheyhavemadeisnotinitselfareasonwhypeoplechoosetovolunteer. SGll, expressing appreciaGon and recognising volunteer achievements areimportant factors in keeping volunteers moGvated and enthusiasGc. Generally speaking,overalltheneedforrecogniGonisveryimportanttothemajorityofpeople.SoifcontribuGonsarenotrecognised,volunteersmaylosemoGvaGonandintheendleave.Tothevolunteer,recogniGonsignifiesthatsomeonenoGcesandsomeonecares.RecogniGonhas mulGple funcGons beyond simple human courtesy, and successfully recognisingvolunteering efforts is one of the most important parts of any volunteering programme,especiallyinthisGmeandage,asvolunteercoordinatorsdealwithamoredemandingcohortofvolunteersonadailybasis.FocusingenergyonnurturingrelaGonshipswithvolunteerswillbe Gme and effort well spent. The paybackwill be quality volunteers who are loyal to theorganisaGonandajoytoworkwith.

RecogniGonopGonsThere are many (formal and informal) ways in which volunteer‐involving organisaGons canrecognise and reward volunteers for their contribuGons. Although quite a few volunteerswouldappreciaterecogniGoninanopenandpublicway,forexamplebybeinggivenatangiblerewardatapublicoccasionorastaffmeeGnginfrontoftheirfriends,notallvolunteerswouldlike that. Some volunteers would be thrilled by having their contribuGon acknowledged bybeing assigned to more challenging tasks and responsibiliGes, while others prefer to berewardedbysocial(group)ouGngssuchaslunches,specialevents,visitstofesGviGesetc.So when recognising volunteer contribuGons, tailor made recogniGon (and reward) to theuniqueneedsof thevolunteer involved iskey. Havingadiversityof recogniGonandrewardopGonswillenablevolunteercoordinatorstoacknowledgeaccomplishmentsinways

2SeeAppendixAforamoredetaileddescripGonofthisparGcularinstrument.

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appropriatetotheindividualvolunteeraswellastotheparGcularsofagivensituaGon.WhenvolunteercoordinatorspersonaliserecogniGon,itwillmeanmoretothevolunteerreceivingthe recogniGon and sGmulate the volunteer’s moGvaGon likewise. In other words, linkingrecogniGontoindividualmoGvaGonwillensurethatvolunteersarerecognisedinwaysthataremeaningfultothem.Obviously,animportantprecondiGonforapersonalisedrecogniGonsystemisthatavolunteer‐involvingorganisaGonmusthaveaccuratelyidenGfiedtheneedsoftheirvolunteersANDkepttrack of possible changes in this respect.3 Needless to say, knowing your volunteers asindividuals and knowing what drives them is imperaGve to making any volunteeringprogrammeasuccess.

ItisbeyondthescopeofthisbooklettomapalltherecogniGonsystemsavailable. However, a number of internet resources for volunteerrecogniGonhavebeenidenGfiedandcanbefoundintheappendix.Thefocus here is on one specific way to recognise volunteers and theircontribuGons,namelybyinvesGnginthembyofferingthemsmallscaleandtailormadelearningopportuniGes.

3Thiscanbedoneinavarietyofways,oneofwhichcanbeuGlisingtheVolunteerFuncGonsInventoryaspartoftheintakeprocess.

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The previous chapter outlined the many different moGves forvolunteering. A number of these have an explicit or implicit link tolearning.Manypeoplevolunteerbecausetheycareaboutissuesbiggerthanthemselves,buttheyenduplearningnewskills,improvingexisGngonesandusingexisGngskills innewways,aswellasfindingoutthingsaboutthemselvesthattheyneverknewbefore.Simplyput,volunteeringisapowerfulsourceoflearning. Nowlet’stakealookathowlearningcanbedefined.

Whatisformallearning?LearningthatistypicallyprovidedbyaneducaGonortraininginsGtuGon,structured(intermsof learningobjecGves, learningGmeor learningsupport)and leading tocerGficaGon.FormallearningisintenGonalfromthelearner’sperspecGve.

Whatisinformallearning?Learningthatisnotorganisedorstructuredintermsofgoals,GmeorinstrucGon.Thiscoversskillsacquiredthroughlifeandworkexperience,forexample.ItisneverintenGonalfromthelearner’s standpoint and is open referred to as learning by experience or learning throughdoing.

Whatisnon‐formallearning?Broadly, it is learningoutside the formal school/vocaGonal training/university system, takingplace throughplanned acGviGesthat are not explicitly designated as learning, but whichcontainanimportantlearningelement(somethingdescribedassemi‐structuredlearning).ItisintenGonalfromthelearner’sperspecGveandinvolvessomeformoflearningsupport.Forthemajorityofauthorsnon‐formallearningisratherorganisedandcanhavelearningobjecGves,whetheritoccursattheiniGaGveoftheindividualorwhetherthishappensasaby‐productofmoreorganisedacGviGes,whetherornottheacGviGesthemselveshavelearningobjecGves.

Whatislifelonglearning?All learningacGviGesundertakenthroughoutlife,withtheaimofimprovingknowledge,skillsand competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment‐related perspecGve.Having defined learning, we can establish that the kind of learning taking place throughvolunteeringwillbyand largefallunderthedefiniGonof informal learningandwhenturnedinto intenGonal learning with some degree of learning support, it is seen as non‐formallearning.Learning throughout life is a commonsensical principle nobody will argue about, butimplemenGng this in a volunteering organisaGon is sGll an innovaGve idea that has a lot ofpotenGalforfurtherdevelopment.Despiteanincreasinginterestinlifelonglearning,learningissGllnotgenerallyconsideredwithinunpaidorvoluntarywork,andespeciallyolderadultsarenotgenerallyviewedaslearners.Giventhewealthofinformallearningtakingplacethrough

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volunteer work, volunteering organizaGons can fulfil a crucial role in realizing a sGmulaGngalternaGvelearningenvironment.ThisspecificrolecanwellbeconsideredinlinewiththeEUCommission’sdrivetopromotestrategieswhichmakelearningmoreaccessible,strategiestobringlearningopportuniGesclosertolearners.Overall,atthesocietallevel,accesstolearning,thecapacitytoacquireknowledgeandcompetencies,andtheopportunityandmoGvaGontoconGnueupdaGngone’scogniGve,socialandcreaGveskillsthroughoutlifearethekeynotonlytoeconomicsuccess,butalsotoindividualfulfilment,andsocialcohesion.KnudIlleris(2004)4statesthatlearningisanessenGalpartofhumanlife.AccordingtoIlleris,learning isan innateskill,andthedesireto learn is inherent in individuals. It is importanttostatethatthisdesiretolearnisinherentinindividualsofallages,acrossthelifespan.Although informal learning and volunteering has received li#le a#enGon from researchers5,some posiGve evidence has been established. In a study, How Volunteerism ShapesProfessional Success, professional women in a leadership capacity stated they gainedmanyleadership skills through their volunteer acGviGes6. Eighty‐three percent of parGcipantsreported that they acquired, improvedor developed their leadership skills due to volunteerparGcipaGon,while78%reportedimprovementintheircommunicaGonsskills.7In another research study that drew on the experience of 546 employees in 16 businessesoperaGng in thecityof London, themajorityof respondents reported thatvolunteeringhaddevelopedtheirskillsandcompetencesacrossabroadrangeofbusinessrelevantareas.Thesecompetenceswerestronglyrelatedtoanindividual’spersonaleffecGvenessintheirworkroleandincludedcommunicaGonskills,coaching,adaptabilityandinfluencingandnegoGaGng.8

4Illeris,K.(2004).Thethreedimensionsoflearning.Malabar,FL:KriegerPublishingCompany.5Cook,S.L.(2011):RedirecGon:UsingCareerDevelopmentTheorytoInterprettheVolunteerAcGviGesofReGrees.Retrievedfrom:h#ps://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/29690/6/Cook_Suzanne_062011_PhD_Thesis.pdf6VoluntaryacGvityisheredefinedas:avoluntary‐offer‐basedacGvitydonewithoutremuneraGon,whichisalwayscarriedoutforthebenefitofathirdperson(notfamilymember)orgroupwithintheframeofanorganisaGon.7h#p://www.issuelab.org/resource/power_skills_how_volunteerism_shapes_professional_success8h#p://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3B227B67‐63F5‐4D18‐A406‐57BE8B04DD0F/0/Volunteering_The_business_case.pdf

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ACanadianresearcherfocusedonlearningamongolderadultsengagedinvolunteeracGviGesduring reGrement.9 By examining informal learning among these reGrees during theirvolunteer acGviGes a greaterunderstandingof their openness to learningand their learninggoals could be provided. Key finding was that cogniGve sGmulaGon, learning, and beingmentally acGve were important to them. They were interested in lifelong learning throughtheirvolunteeracGviGes.TheydescribedwaysinwhichtheyconGnuedtolearnnewthingsandbe mentally challenged. Learning that is focused on the social dimension is very powerful,providing many benefits and enabling learning through volunteering supports adults inmeeGng their developmental needs for feeling connectedwithin the self, feeling connectedwithothers,andfeelingconnectedwithsomethingorsomeonelargerthantheself(Sinno#&Berlanstein,2006).10Regardless of age, volunteering can serve as an introducGon to new professional paths orfurtherstudies.ItcanbeanexcellentwaytolearnmoreaboutaparGcularsector,workplace,officecultureorcause.VolunteeringcanalsoofferopportuniGesfornetworkingandmeeGngpeople fromacrossadiversityof communiGes,providinghands‐onopportuniGesof learningaboutnewissuesorundiscoveredmethods.Inshort,volunteeringcanbeanexcellentwaytohelpingyoudevelopawholerangeofaddiGonalskills,suchaspeopleskills(teamwork,goodcommunicaGon, networking and empathy),management skills (leadership, use of iniGaGve,delegaGon, planning and organising) and business skills (commercial awareness and anunderstandingofhoworganisaGonsoperate).

9h#ps://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/29690/6/Cook_Suzanne_062011_PhD_Thesis.pdf10Sinno#,J.D.,&Berlanstein,D.(2006).Theimportanceoffeelingwhole:Learningto“Feelconnected,”community,andadultdevelopment.InC.Hoare(Ed.),Thehandbookofadultdevelopmentandlearning(pp.381‐406).NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.

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Uncovering this learningrepertoire ishowevernotastraighaorwardprocess:a largepartofthis learning is “tacit”, “unconscious”, unplanned, so openunintenGonal. Volunteers donotopenrecognisethefactthattheyaredevelopingthemselvesthroughvolunteeringforallsortsof reasons.Naturally, the life trajectoriesofvolunteersarevariedandpeoplehavedifferentneedsintermsoflearning,recogniGonoflearningoutcomesandqualificaGons,dependingontheirsituaGonsandpaths.SGll,iftheytaketheGmetoreflectontheirexperience,learnhowtocaptureandidenGfytheskillsdevelopedandpresentthatinformaGontocurrentandfutureemployers, this surplus value of volunteering experience can become explicit, visible andvalued.ByreflecGononwhatwaslearnedasavolunteer,peoplecanaddtotheirCV,punngdownnew roles, skills and abiliGes alongside qualificaGons. And this is how a volunteeringorganisaGoncanofferlearningordevelopmentalopportuniGestoitsvolunteers.Althoughthekeyrolesofvolunteer involvingorganisaGonsare,byand large,sGll toprovideandcoordinatevolunteeringacGviGes,theseorganisaGonscantakeitastepfurther,namelytoprovide volunteer development iniGaGves and facilitate learning opportuniGes for theirvolunteers.In thatsenseavolunteeringorganisaGonprovidesanalternaGvesenng fornon‐formal (and informal) learning. The volunteer organisaGons that take learning throughvolunteeringseriouslyand invest in theirvolunteersbyproviding learningopportuniGesmaywellhaveanedgeovertheircounterpartswhodisregardthisimportantaspectandthereforemissoutonaninteresGnginstrumentforvolunteerengagementandretenGon.AswasmenGonedbefore,theconceptofandtheapproachtolearningthroughvolunteeringdiffers fromone European country to another. Let’s nowhave a closer look at the naGonalcontext within two of the five parGcipaGng countries in the INVEST project, namely theNetherlandsandDenmark.

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NaGonalcontext:thecaseoftheNetherlandsOver5.6millionDutchpeopleareacGve in thevoluntarysector.Societyasawholebenefitsfrom their unpaid acGviGes, so in general the idea is that volunteers deserve professionala#enGonandsupportbyofferingthemlearningopportuniGestodevelopthemselves.AtthesameGmethetrendisthatincreasinglyhigherdemandsarebeingmadeonvolunteers,partlyasaresultoftheeconomiccrisis.Overall,volunteersareopencoachedor(learning)opportuniGesareoffered toexchangeexperiences inan informalway, sGmulaGngreflecGonandlearningfromeachother.Tosupporttheirvolunteerssomevolunteer‐involvingorganisaGons award cerGficates, other organisaGons are experimenGng with portfolios,includingonlineporaolios.NaGonally,anumberofgoodpracGcesarebeingdevelopedindifferentpartsofthecountry.As an example, a 10 step plan was developed in order to make recogniGon of volunteercompetences more accessible and to sGmulate volunteering organisaGons to support theirvolunteersinthisdevelopment.AnotherisusingEuropassMobilityforvolunteers,anewideathatwasdevelopedbytheNaGonalEuropassCentreintheNetherlandsandismeanttorecordknowledge,skillsandcompetences.11InApril2012thenaGonalcentreforsocialdevelopment,MOVISIE, developed a toolkit for competence development in the volunteering sector, toprovide useful materials and methods to facilitate the start of volunteers’ competencedevelopmentandprovidesolidandpracGcalinformaGonaboutproceduresintheNetherlandsforinformalandformalrecogniGonofvolunteerexperiences.NaGonalcontext:thecaseofDenmarkDenmarkhasa strong tradiGonof volunteering.Around1.8millionpeoplearevolunteers inDenmarkwhichcorrespondsmoreexactlyto40%percentofthepopulaGon,witharound18%ofvolunteersinthesocialfield. OverthelastdecadetherehasnaGonallybeen–duetothegeneralcrisis–astrongfocusonvolunteeringandstrengtheningthesectorandastrongwishto professionalise the capacity of the NGOs. This resulted in a greater demand for formallearning inside the organisaGons, but also a greater wish to get formal recogniGon forcompetenciesgainedthroughvolunteering.Over the last two decades naGonal funding is offered to provide non‐formal learning tovolunteersinsocialwork,forinstanceTheEducaGonPool.Especiallystrengtheningvoluntarysocial work ranks high on the Danish government agenda and in October 2010 the Danishgovernmentpresentedanewstrategyforcivilsociety.Theaimistoinvolvecivilsocietyandvoluntary organisaGons more systemaGcally in the field of socially vulnerable people andfamilies,astrategythatisfinancedby100millionDanishkroner(15millionEuros)frompublicfunding annually. Someof this funding is beingearmarked fornon‐formal learning acGviGessuchasspecificcoursesforvolunteersfreeofcharge.

11TheexperiencesgainedinthisnewprojectcanbeseeninthelightofnewdevelopmentsattheEuropeanlevelaroundEuropass,leadingtoaEuropeanSkillsPassport,afolderassemblingtogetherEuropassandotherdocumentsa#esGngqualificaGonsandskills,andanothernewdocument:theEuropassExperience,atemplateenablingciGzenstodescribeandrecordskillsacquiredattheworkplaceorduringotherinformalandnon‐formallearningexperiencessuchastraineeshipsandvolunteering.ItisenvisagedthattheseEUdocumentswillbecomeavailableattheendof2013.

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DuetothisnaGonalfocusnotonlylargeorganizaGonsworkwithcompetencedevelopmentinamorestrategicway.Somedemandthattheirvolunteerstakeformalcourses,butmostoftheorganisaGons provide informal learning opportuniGes like coaching, supervision and non‐formal training in their specific field. Smaller organisaGons tend to arrange short seminars,non‐formalcoursesorawardtheirvolunteersbyreferringthemtonaGonallyfundedcourses.DenmarkhasaverystrongtradiGonininformalandlifelonglearning.MuchofthisisduetotheinfluenceofN.F.S.Grundtvig12who isconsideredthe fatherof theDanishFolkHighSchool‐movement.Hefundamentallychangedtheviewsonlearning,evenintheDanisheducaGonalsystem,andcreatedthe“Folkeoplysningsforbud”workingonlywithnon‐formallearningopentoallciGzens.ThissystemhasastrongpresenceineverycommunityinDenmarkandhasledto the creaGon of a recogniGon system and a naGonally recognized e‐poraolio aswell as arecogniGon system that permits recogniGon of non‐formal learning acGviGes (i.e.volunteering)intheformaleducaGonalsystem(Realkompetencer).ThisiniGaGvewastakenbythe Minister for Children and EducaGon in collaboraGon with DAEA (a naGonal umbrellaorganisaGonfornon‐formaladultlearninginDenmark)andawiderangeofNGOsinordertopavethewaytogetformalrecogniGonofcompetenciesgainedthroughvolunteering.

12Grundtvig’sthoughtsonschoolsandteachingprofoundlyalteredtheDanishschoolsystem.HeconsidereditofgreatimportancetoeducateyoungpeopleonnaGonalcultureandhistoryaswellasteachpeopletotakeacGvepartinsociety.

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Thegoalofthischapteristoofferinsightsand tools to idenGfy and analyse thedevelopmental needs of volunteers insuch a way that they provide volunteer‐involving organisaGons and volunteercoordinatorswithnewandvaluableideasto shape the support, recogniGon,appreciaGonandmostofall, the learningoftheirvolunteers.WiththeulGmategoalofempoweringthemintheircompetencedevelopmentwhiletheyarevolunteers.Over the years volunteer‐involvingorganisaGonshavebeenpunngintoplacetraining structures, intervenGons andcourses in order to effecGvely preparevolunteers for their volunteer experienceand for volunteer contribuGons thatrequire specific skills. And manyvolunteeringorganisaGonshavedevelopedexcellent trainingprogrammes (varying intypes and duraGon) to support theirvolunteersintheiracGviGes.Dependingonthe volunteering organisaGon’s mindsetand approach toward volunteer

involvement, increasingly the realisaGon istakingshapethatinvesGnginvolunteersbyoffering them (addiGonal) learningopportuniGes is an interesGng recogniGontool to meet the new realiGes in societyand people’s lives. Offering such learningopportuniGescangoa longwayinmakingvolunteers feel valued and important aswell as in retaining themas volunteers. Inthe past nobody considered the issue ofwhat volunteerswere genng out of theirvolunteer involvement, but recentdevelopments show that Gmes havedefinitelychangedinthatrespect.Anothershipthat istakingplaceatthismomentinGme is the transiGon from supply‐driventraining to demand‐driven training. AnylearningacGviGesoverallworkbest if theyare tailored to the learners’ needs. Soinstead of offering a “one size fits all”workshop or programme to yourvolunteers, organisaGons are well advisedto analyse their volunteers’ (someGmeshidden)learningneeds.

Wordofmouthhasalwaysbeenapowerfultoolandinthecaseofvolunteeringitisno less strongwhen it comes tomaking a raGonal decision to commit your Gme,skillsandenergyasavolunteerinaparGcularorganisaGon.GoodnewstravelsfastandwhilesomeorganisaGonsarestrugglingtofindvolunteers,othersneedtodrawupwaiGng lists! RecogniGon and the quality of supportmake all the difference, itappears.Eachvolunteer isunique.Thesuccessofanyvolunteerdevelopmentprogrammeisbasedonanunderstandingthatindividualscomeinallshapes,sizes,coloursandagesandhaveawiderangeofskillsandabiliGestocontribute.ThechallengeishowtodevelopappropriateandtailormadelearningopportuniGesbasedontheseindividualmoGvaGons,needsandpreferencesinordertobecomeatangiblebenefitforvolunteers.Thefirstissueisthelearningformat:howcanthismatchwithmoGvaGons?Whatwould best suit a volunteer’s needs? How to go about this and analyse the individualdevelopmentalneedsofyourvolunteers?Howcanvolunteer‐involvingorganisaGonsarrangetheselearningopportuniGes,forexampletoserveasasGmulaGngrecogniGontool?AnumberofopGonsareavailableandsomemaybepreferredtoothers,forexampleGmewise13. 13LearningopportuniGescanvaryfromhalfdayworkshopsduringweekdays(orintheevening)towholedayeventsatweekendstolongerrunningaccreditedcourses.

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Asan illustraGonof this, researchonvolunteers’ trainingneedscarriedout inMilan, Italy,among a sample of 357 volunteers and representaGves of associations, underlined someimportantaspectsthatshouldbeconsideredinorganisingworkshopsforvolunteers.Despitethe fact that 84% of volunteers think that training is important for associaGons, 68% ofvolunteers regard a lack of Gme as the first and foremost reason for not a3endingprogrammes,followedinsecondplacebyalackoffunds(33%)andthirdly,thedifficultytofinda learningopportunity that reallyfits their interests andneeds (26%).Hereare somemorespecificresultsfromthissurvey:

a) Timing

AccordingtotheStudyonVolunteeringintheEuropeanUnion:(h#p://ec.europa.eu/ciGzenship/pdf/doc1018_en.pdf), a large percentage of volunteers fallsintheagerangebetween30to50yearsold.Thismeansthatprogrammesshouldbeplannedinsuchawaythattheyfitwellintotheirregularworkinghours.Itwasfoundthatmostpeopleprefera#endingworkshopsaper6pm.(50.6%)orduringweekends(48.4%)combinedwithapreferenceforshort‐termlearningsessions(expressedby43.3%oftheItaliansample),lasGng10to20hoursayear.

b) Methodologies

67.4% of the Italian sample prefers workshops and group work, 58.2% plenary sessionsfollowed by a further 48.4% who likes interacGve methodologies (e.g. role playing). 22.8%prefers online training and29.1% thinks that personal experiencesof other people are veryuseful(peertopeereducaAon).

c) Contents

FromthepointofviewofvolunteeringassociaGons,workshopsshouldmainlybeaimedat:

Psychologicalandsocialaspects; Projectplanningandfundraising; TechnicalandadministraGveaspects.

d) Competences

Consideringsopcompetences,81.5%ofvolunteersareinterestedingaininginterpersonalandrelaGonship competences; 66.5% are interested in growing in interpersonal communicaGon;54.9inmanagementand53.5%inproblemsenngandproblemsolvingcompetences.There is no reason to believe that volunteers in other European countries would responddifferently.All thisconfirmsthe importanceofdesigning“tailormade” learningprogrammesordemand‐drivenworkshops.Becausevolunteer‐involvingorganisaGons, generally speaking,arenotpartof theadulteducaGonor lifelong learningsector, it isnotevidentthat theyarewellequippedforthetaskofeasilyidenGfyingoranalysinglearningneedsoftheirvolunteers.Nordoindividualvolunteersontheotherhand,expectoraskforanylearningopportuniGesinsidevolunteeringorganisaGonsasama#erofcourse.

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Toencouragevolunteer‐involvingorganisaGonstotakeabo3om‐upapproachandhavethemencouragetheirvolunteerstodeveloptheirfullpotenGal,hereisalistofpossiblemethodstoinspirethem.However,thereisnoeasyrecipe.NeitheristhereabestwaytoundertakeanylearningacGvityorworkshop,as thenatureandscopeofvolunteeringorganisaGonsvary. Inotherwords,thefollowingsuggesGonsandapproachesaremeanttoprovideinspiraGonandexamples and aremeant to be adapted as appropriate to your own realiGes, purposes andsituaGon.

1.ApproachyourvolunteersandaskThemostimportantresourceforany(learning)acGvitywithandforvolunteersistoapproachandinvolvethemintheplanningprocessfromthestart.Thisisthefirst,mostobvious,step:acGvelyandpurposefullyapproachyourvolunteersanddiscussideaswiththem,eventhoughthisisopenoverlooked.

2.Introduceavolunteerwishbox(orsuggesGondropbox)OpenvolunteerswalkinandoutatanyGmeofthedayandweek,openpeoplehavelooseorsca#ered appointments, open people are busy, open there is no formal (volunteer)consultaGon structure. These are all circumstances that prevent good ideas from spreadinginsidetheorganizaGon.Inordernottolosethisvaluableinput,aneasilyaccessiblesoluGonistoputintoplaceavolunteerwishboxoradropboxforsuggesGons.VolunteersmaygetgoodorbrilliantideasatanyGme,followinganacGvitytheywereinvolvedinorhavingreadorseensomething interesGng inanothercontext,andwish tomakesuggesGonsorpassonvaluableinsights in order to follow up on these ideas. Taking this unexpected input seriously, bydiscussing it with volunteers, may consGtute the basic idea for an effecGve workshop thatfulfilsvolunteerneedsfeltatthatprecisepointinGme.Awishboxhastheaddedadvantageofbeing an anonymous channel, if a volunteer chooses to stay in the background. In anyvolunteeringorganizaGontheGpistoprovideaccessiblewaystoidenGfydevelopmentalneedsin order to turn them into flexible development programmes,wish boxes could be an idealchannel.

3.EnhanceornurturerelaGonshipsviaongoingsupervision,supportandevaluaGonAn important linking pin between the volunteers and the organisaGon is the volunteercoordinator. Genng to know your volunteers as individuals is one of the most importantresponsibiliGesof sucha role. This is thepersonpar excellence to idenGfywhat (addiGonal)support and learning his / her volunteers need. Any volunteer coordinator should not onlycoordinatevoluntaryacGviGesandvolunteers,butalso (andmore importantly)establish theright connecGon and relaGonship with his volunteers. Knowing to what they will respondposiGvely, as ways of recognizing their contribuGons and efforts, but also knowing whatbarrierstherearetowardsa#endinglearningacGviGesorworkshopsisallpartofthat.Following the idea of volunteering moGvaGon and adopGng a tailor made support modetowardsvolunteers,itisthevolunteercoordinatorwhoisinthebestposiGontokeeptrackofchangesormodificaGonsinavolunteer’smoGvaGon.

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Aperall,moGvaGonisadynamicconcept:avolunteerwhostartedoutwithasocialmoGvemaygraduallyevolveintoonewithanenhancementorunderstandingmoGve,withinayearortwo.MonitoringthesechangesperiodicallyisessenGal.OnevaluableinstrumentforkeepingtabsonyourvolunteersistheannualevaluaGontalkorinterview. Key aspects of a good volunteer evaluaGon system include self‐assessment,feedbackfromstaffworkingwithvolunteers,andthevolunteer'ssaGsfacGoninrelaGontotheevaluaGonexperience,allowingforfeedbackfromthevolunteer, idenGfyingfuturerolesandresponsibiliGes as well as goals, and idenGfying where help (such as specific learningprogrammes)canbeobtainedtomeetthegoals.Mostvolunteersareinterestedinknowingtheextenttowhichtheyaredoingtheirjobswell,most volunteers want to do their best and regard evaluaGon talks as a posiGve form ofrecogniGonandawaytoopeningthepathtoopencommunicaGonaboutwhattheydo.Forthem this is anopportunity togrowcloser to staffand to receive recogniGon, coachingandcounselling.Jill Friedman Fixler, a well‐known leader recognised for her innovaGve approaches to re‐invenGng,re‐engineering,andre‐vitalizingnonprofitandpublicsectororganisaGons,sincerelywonders if performance evaluaGonswork for volunteers, and if they aremoGvatedby suchfeedback.Shewritesonherwebsite14thatinacollaboraGvevolunteerinvolvingorganisaGonwith an adequate supervision process, volunteer performance evaluaGons are not onlyredundant,butoutofplace.VolunteersarelookingforvalidaGonfortheworkthattheydo.Tocapitalize on this, why not eliminate evaluaGons and start a "valuaGon" process forvolunteers, she suggests. A valuaGon le#er reinforces the behaviours that supervisors orvolunteer coordinators want to culGvate, and captures the essence of the volunteer'smoGvaGon. She is convinced that volunteers will appreciate the effort and the posiGve,individualisedfeedback.

4.Debriefa_eranylearningacGvity/workshopAnyoftheworkshopsthatareorganisedaspartofavolunteerdevelopmentprogrammecanbeaspringboardforfurtherlearningsuggesGons,especiallyifadebriefingisdoneattheend.Notonlythecontentofanewworkshopideacanspringfromthis,alsotheidealformat(Gmewise),thestyle(serious/fun/ interacGve/passivelistening)andtone(formal/informal)canbediscussedandidenGfiedinordertotailorfuturelearningopportuniGestothevolunteers’needs. Besides, they can also encourage volunteers to seek further learning opportuniGesamongthemselves(peertopeer).AnexchangeofexperiencesandinformaGonormomentsofreflecGonamongeachothercanheighten(unsuspected)personalskillsandawareness.Thisinturn can lead to volunteers senng up learning acGviGes among themselves (or for othervolunteersoutsidetheirowncircle),allthisfacilitatedbythevolunteeringorganisaGon.

14h#p://www.jffixler.com/volunteer‐valuaGon‐not‐evaluaGon

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5.SeekinspiraGonwithothersOnanannualbasisconferencesareheldonthetopicofvolunteering.Itisatthoseconferencesthat plenty of networking opportuniGes are offered. Open, by connecGng your volunteer‐involvingorganizaGonwithothers,theoddsarethatyoucantakeawayvaluableinsightsandtools thatwillbenefityourorganizaGonaswell as yourvolunteers. Sharingandnetworking:trendyconcepts,yes,buttheycangoalongway,especiallyifyouinvolveyourvolunteersinthisprocess.Togetherwithyourvolunteers,meeGngsandinteracGvesessionsheldnaGonallyor internaGonally can be powerful ways of broadening perspecGves and finding surprisingsoluGons to (development) issues. As new formats for informal and non‐formal learningopportuniGesarebeingdevelopedonaregularbasis,thesewillbesharedanddemonstratedatseminarsandconferences.ItisuptothevolunteeringorganisaGontokeepabreastofthesenewdevelopmentsandkeepinvesGnginstayinguptodate.

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TheINVESTprojectidenGfiesthatthereareskillsandcompetenciesthateveryvolunteerwillgainfromtheirvolunteering.Skillscanbedifferentfromcompetencies–theformertendtobe an idenGfiable ability acquired where the la#er is more of a behaviour.15 Throughvolunteeringpeoplecandevelopcompetenciesthattheycanthenshowenablesthemtodotasks effecGvely – whether it be in their volunteering, through volunteering in anotherorganisaGon,inpaidworkorinciviclife.ThischapterlooksatsomeexamplesoftrainingthatorganisaGonsmaywishtoaddtowhattheyalreadydo.As theprevious chapternoted,manyorganisaGons (thoughbynomeansall) already have well developed and structured training programmes. O_en these aredetermined by the issues the organisaGon is acGve in,mixedwith somemore proceduraltraining.SoanorganisaGonthatfacilitatespeopletovisittheelderlymaytrainvolunteers inhow to develop a relaGonship with elderly housebound people, alongside training in moreproceduralma#ersthatthevolunteerneedstoknow–suchaswhoisinchargeofcompilingtheworkroster,payingexpensesandsoon.SomeorganisaGonsmaytakethetrainingfurther– for example the organisaGon menGoned which may give training in demenGa, so thatvolunteerscanspotearlysigns,actappropriatelywithpeoplewithdemenGaetc.Suchtrainingwillhelpvolunteersbothintheirwork,butalsomorebroadly.

15Seerelevantliteratureonthedifferencebetweenskillsandcompetences,forexamplehere:h#p://www.ecompetences.eu/2173,Competences,+skills,+jobs....html

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ButorganisaGonscangofurther,andtheINVESTprojectissuggesGngthatorganisaGonsthinkofother training forvolunteers,and that this trainingcanbe thoughtof twoways.Thefirstwayistrainingthathelpstobuildcompetences.This,forexample,couldbetrainingthatlooksnotjustatbuildingarelaGonshipwiththeorganisaGons‘clients’,butconsiderscommunicaGonmoregenerally‐communicaGoncanbeaskill,butcanalsobeacompetencywhenforexamplesomeoneisabletoshowhowthathecancommunicatewellwithverydifferentaudiences.Oranotherexamplemaybewhenvolunteersaretaughttheprinciplesofprojectmanagementinorder to help organise events; from this could spring wider organisaGonal skills and thecompetenciesof resourcefulness,flexibility andorganisaGon.The secondway, and linked tothefirstisthen,idenAfyingcompetences.VolunteerscanbehelpedtoidenGfyhowtheirworkdemonstrates that they are competent at communicaGon, planning, etc., idenGfying allcompetencesincludingthoserecognisedasknowledge,skillsandantudes,butalsofocusingonself‐image,valuesandtraits.VolunteerscanbeencouragedtoidenGfyhowtheycanshowthey have competencies and soon they will be able to show examples, through theirvolunteering,oftheabilitytomakedecisions,whatmoGvatesthem,howtheycommunicateindifferentsituaGons,howtheyreacttobeinggivenresponsibility,howtheyshowloyalty,cansolveproblemsandshoworganisaGonalleadership.ButwhymightorganisaGonswanttodothis?A_erall,won’tthisbeanaddedcostwhenallorganisaGons reallywant is to do is to ‘ get the job done’? There aremany reasonswhyorganisaGonsmightgetinvolved,forinstance:

• Because the tasks you want volunteers to accomplish are varied and not alwayspredictable.

• BecauseyourorganisaGonseestherolevolunteersplayinservicedeliveryasonlypartof the relaGonship– yourorganisaGonwants to invest in volunteers aspartof yourorganisaGonalethos.

• BecauseyouwantvolunteerstoidenGfynewcompetencies–forexampleifyouareauniversity which gets involved in volunteering, service learning or communityparGcipaGonatleastinparttodevelopvolunteers(likelytobeyourstudents).

• Because you see invesGng in volunteering as away to posiGon your organisaGon toa#ractthebestpeopletovolunteerwithyou.

ToolsforVolunteeringCompetenciesThisbooklettakesyouonajourneytoinspireyourvolunteerstoreapasmanyofthebenefitsof life‐long learningastheycangetfromvolunteering.Weassumethat ifyouhavereadtheintroducGon then you have an idea of the booklet is leading you along that path. But thebooklet canbeaccessed inparts, youmayhave come straight to this chapterbecauseyourspecific interest is to find out about tools and techniques developed for idenGfyingcompetences.

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But to re‐cap, it is the intenGon to help volunteer organisers andmanagers and volunteerinvolvingorganisaGonstohelptheirvolunteersaccess,exploreandusethelearningtheyhaveabsorbedwhile theyhavebeenworkingwithyourorganisaGon.ThechapteronmoGvaGons(see chapter 2) urged you to explorewith your volunteerswhy they parGcipated, to be#ermatchthemtotasks,butalsotohelpvolunteersaccesstheopportuniGesthatwillhelptheminfuture.WebeganfromtheassumpGonthatvolunteeringoffersa‘win‐win’scenario.Volunteersmayhave decided to parGcipate with learning high on their agenda. This may be, for example,someoneatthebeginningofacareerwhoviewsvolunteeringasawaytogainexperience.ItmaybesomeonechangingcareerswhoseesparGcipaGonthesameway.ItcouldbesomeonewhovolunteersinasubjectsimplybecausethatparGcipaGonoffersawaytoaccesslearningthat is a pleasure – for example volunteering in a museum. Or it may be that learning isincidental – a volunteer performs a task and is almost unaware that learning is also takingplace.So far (see Chapter 4 Analysing Learning Needs) we have suggested some simple ways toensurethatthesupportvolunteersreceiveandtheaccesstheyhavetolearningopportuniGescanhelpenhancetheimpact.Ittakestrainingtothenextlevel,notsimplylearning‘todothejob’, but learning as a part of parGcipaGon, and one that can integrate the experience oflearningandreflecGonwithotheraspectsofavolunteer’slife.ThequesGon for this chapter thenbecomes,howdowe capture that learning?What is therange of tools that are available to help organisaGons and volunteers uncover the types oflearning that havehappened?Wewould like to stress that themethods and toolswehavelooked at should not just been seen in terms of employability. At the Gme of wriGngemployment, especially for young people in Europe is one that presents too few jobs andopportuniGes. As a result volunteering is open talked of in terms of employability. But wewanttoenvelopethat in life‐long learning.Volunteeringhasaroletoplay inhelpingpeoplelearnskillsandcompetenciesforpaidemployment;butitalsohasaroleinbeingthevehicleforlearningjustforthepleasureoflearning.Broadly speaking, in our look atwhat is available,we see apa3ernof four typesof tool.Theseare:

• Thosethatworktovalueandrewardvolunteers

• ThosethatsGmulateanawarenessofvolunteers’personallearning

• Those that idenGfypersonal competences to support steps towards recogniGonofskillsand

• Thosethatseektotransfervolunteercompetencestofindingajobortraining.

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Thetoolsarelistedinthetableattheendofthischapter,andlinksareprovidedtothem.Wearenotgoingtodescribeeachtool,butratherwewillgivethereaderaflavourofwhatsetofresourcesmightbehelpfultoyouinlookingtosupportyourvolunteers.Clearly there is overlap between these categories.One of the key aspects is how formal orinformalyourorganisaGonandyourvolunteerswanttheprocesstobethattheyengagewith.Therearealsovariouswayswecanrepresentthetools.Wehavepresentedtheseasaformofprogression from valuing volunteering to the concrete idenGficaGon and validaGon of skills.Wehavealsocharacterisedthisasasteadyincreaseincommitmenttolearning.Weareawareof the inadequacyof this;avolunteerparGcipaGng inaknowledgeday,orvolunteeringatamuseum to saGsfy a personal desire for knowledgemay be as commi#ed to learning as avolunteerlookingtocompleteaporaoliotoshowcasetheirtransferableskills.Whatwemeanis that if you are supporGng a volunteer who is parGcipaGng in your organisaGon to gainsomething likeaEuropass therewillbeacommitmentneededtoseethatprocessthrough,whereasalearningdaycanbeamuchmoreinformalone‐offevent.Wefoundthatthetoolswelookedatare,byandlarge,suitableformostvolunteers.Somearemeantexplicitly forschoolagechildren (andtherefore in thecontextof thisexercisecanbeseenascapturingtheideaoflife‐longlearningandayoungage),butmanyareequallysuitablefor all volunteers. The caveat to this is that using some of these tools with for exampleimmigrantsmightneedextrasupportformorganisaGonstohelpwithlanguages.16

ValuingandrewardingvolunteersThese toolsare theones to lookat ifyouare incorporaGng the ideaof learningasawayofgiving volunteers a richer experience within the organisaGon. These include innovaGveschemeslikethe‘Andalusianvolunteeringcard’andthe‘SolidarityPassport’thatarefoundinSpain (see table and links). These act to recognise and reward volunteers and although theconnecGonwithlearningmayseemtenuous,itisonewayinwhichvolunteershave‘proof’oftheirparGcipaGon.ShouldyouoryourvolunteerswantmoreconcreteevidenceofparGculartasksorskillsthenoneoftheothertools(seebelow)maybemoreuseful.ButthiskindofcardisrelaGvelylowcostandlowinputbutservestoshowothersthatapersonisvolunteeringtochangetheircommunity.AlternaGvely thereareevents likemaster classes,or knowledgedayswhichdoanumberofthings.Theyshowvolunteersthattheyarevaluedand,againactasaformofreward.Theydonotneedtobeexpensive,buttheydodemonstrateawillingnessonthepartoforganisaGonstoplanandinvestinspecialeventsforvolunteers.AnexampleofaknowledgedayisgenngtogetherpeoplewhohaveaninterestintheworkofanorganisaGon–maybeonethatworksinaparGcularneighbourhoodthathasadiverseethnicbackground.Theknowledgedaycouldincludevolunteersand‘clients’oftheorganisaGonandmaybeaboutanaspectofwork.Butthe day could also include some form of cultural awareness andmaybe finishwith cookingfromthevariouscommuniGesrepresented.Thatwaythereisbothasocialaspectbutalso

16Plus,becausethisisaEuropeansearch,partnersfoundtoolsintheirownlanguages.WedescribethemhereassumingtheywillbeofmostusetonaGvespeakers,butthatanythingofparGcularinterestmightspurorganisaGonstotranslatetoolsthattheycanthenuse.

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learningaboutothercultures.Thisformofunplannedorgenerallearningmaynotbethesolereasonfora#endinganevent,butisawaytoencouragelearningthroughanorganisedevent.Aconcreteexampleisamuseumwhicheveryyearbeforethestartofthebusysummerperiodgathers its volunteers together to talk through new artefacts acquired for display and newprocedureswithinthemuseum.Theeventthoughisalsoachanceforthemuseumdirectortodeliveralectureonthenewartefacts.Theideaisthatvolunteersgettoknowaboutwhatisinthemuseum,butthelecturegoesbeyondwhatanyonevolunteerwouldneedtoknowaboutthemuseumscontents.Infact,thevolunteersgetafreelecturefromarespectedhistorianandtheyaddtotheirknowledge.

SGmulatingawarenessofvolunteers’personallearningNow we step up a gear and move from the idea that volunteer learn simply throughparGcipaGon but without always being conscious of that learning. The next stage is howorganisaGons can sGmulate volunteers to be aware of their learning and help develop theprocessof learning.Onceagainwehavenotedafewexamplesofhowthismayhappenandtoolsthatcanhelp–thelinkstowhichappearinthetablebelow.Infact,weconsiderthistoberelaGvelyeasyandlowcostbecausewhatwehaveidenGfiedisthat learning can be sGmulated just by examining the work organisaGons do alreadycrystallizing the learning aspect. Most organisaGons are keen to know what moGvatesvolunteers to join them. It may be the case that an organisaGon will take on board anyvolunteer,buteventhen,managingvolunteerswillbeenhancedifanorganisaGonknowswhysomeonewantstovolunteer.Sowhynotaskthem?QuesGonnairesareavailabletohelp(seebelow), and something like the Volunteers FuncGons Inventory (VFI) can give a broad ideawhether someone is volunteeringbecause theywant to learn skills,orbecause theywantanewsocialexperience.Soundssimple–and it is. ItmaybethattheobviousquesGonis ‘justaskthem’.SomeGmespeopledon’tknow,orcan’tarGculatewhytheywantto joinandsoatoollikeVFIcanhelp.Aperall,ifanorganisaGonplacesavolunteerwhowantssocialcontactinarolearchiving,ontheirown,inadustybasement,howlikelyisitthatthisvolunteerwillbesaGsfied and stay? Helping idenGfymoGvaGons can lead on to idenGfying a) how to saGsfythesemoGvaGonsandb)howavolunteermightwanttodevelophimselfbothinhisroleattheorganisaGon,butalsoasalearner.Followingonfromthisareasetofvolunteermanagementproceduresthatagaincanhavealearningaspect. It is increasinglycommonthatvolunteershavesupervision intheirrole,andhere is a chance to review tasks, accomplishments and look for where assistance fordevelopmentandlearningcouldbegiven.InourreviewofpracGceswenotethatsupervisioncanplayaroleinhelpingidenGfylearningandthatthiscanbemovedonastepintomentoringand coaching.We characterised the type of learning asmoving from the previous secGon’s(seeabove)unintenGonallearningtointenGonal,plannedandfocussedlearning.Butwealsonotedthatthis isnotadidacGcrelaGonship,suchanapproachtohelpingvolunteers learn isempowering forvolunteers.Of the toolswesuggest (and list in the tablebelow) for thiswelookedat examples suchas themaster class and knowledgedays (as abovewhere thiswasusedtointroduceunintenGonallearning,soitcanbefocussedonintenGonallearning);butwealsowant todrawa#enGon to tools suchas theon‐linee‐learningplaaormswhere training

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can take place via virtual educaGon and the Dutch example ofCity trainers which facilitateyoungvolunteersintosportsopportuniGesintheircommuniGes.Master classes and the knowledge day ideas noted above can also be used to sGmulatevolunteers’ awareness of their own learning. Indeed, rather than a day that results inunfocused,unplannedandunconsciouslearning,masterclassesandknowledgedayscouldbeorganisedwiththespecificintenGonofintroducingvolunteerstonewsubjectsornewwaysoflearning. FromDenmark comes a resource that is extremely useful to enable a funway toexplore personal development and learning for volunteers byway of success stories. At thesameGmeitallowswaysofaccessingfeedbackfromvolunteerstotheorganisaGons–ausefulwaytocombinedevelopingvolunteerswithcheckinghowtheorganisaGonsismeasuringuptovolunteers’expectaGons.These tools take support for volunteers beyond the first stage of unconscious learning,through the beginnings of reflecGon and help to empower volunteers to take control ofpersonal development and learning. The next rung of the ladder changes direcGon slightly.Althoughthenextsetoftoolssupportthevolunteers’learning,theyareparGcularlyusefultoidenGfycompetencesandbegintheprocessofhavingskillsandcompetencesrecognised.IdenGfyingvolunteerpersonalcompetencestosupportstepstowardsrecogniGon.Whileanyofthetoolswehavecategorizedunderthisheadingwouldbegenerallyuseful,theyareparGcularlygoodforusingwithvolunteerstohelpidenGfyskillsandcompetencesthatcanbedemonstratedtoemployers.VolunteeringaffordsparGcipantsthechancetolearnagreatmany skills and competences that are in demand in the paid labour market. SomeGmesvolunteersaremoGvatedtovolunteerknowingthatitwillhelptheirCV,butnotsurehow.Theprevious secGon has some tools that can help volunteer managers support volunteers toidenGfy development and learning needs. This secGon dealswithmore fine‐grain tools thathelp volunteer to think through what skills and competences they have developed in theirvolunteering.We have already noted that volunteersmay be unaware that the skills they developwhenvolunteering are transferable and could help them secure a paid post if usedwell on a CV.Quite simply,many volunteers are unaware that their parGcipaGon is imbuing themwith arangeoftransferableskillsandcompetencies.CH‐Q is a method for recogniGon of competences designed to be applied in a trainingsituaGon . It is therefore a tool whichmay bemore suitable for organisaGons that have astructure that can organise and deliver training. The developers of thismethod parGcularlydrawa#enGontoitsusewithstudentsandtheunemployed,butalsowithemployees,becausethis tool was developed to help people think about future steps in their career. Equallyhowever,thetoolhasbeenrecommendedforrefugees,helpingwomenwhohavebeenoutofthe paid (and unpaid) labour market to once again engage with thinking about careerdevelopment.Thetoolisalsomarketedasbeingsuitableforvolunteers.Thedevelopersarguethat, by going through training, parGcipants will be be#er moGvated, they will be moreconsciousoftheircareerpathandhavelearnedhowtoturntheidenGficaGonofcompetenciesintomaterialtheycanuseintheirCVs.

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ThetoolworksthroughbeingatrainerledeventwhereparGcipantsusearangeoftechniquessuchasusingphotosofgoodmemoriestopromptdiscussionofqualiGesandcompetencies,interviewswithfamily,friendsandcolleaguesaboutqualiGes.TheresultistheproducGonofaporaolio that gives an overview of competences acquired through formal and informallearning.Manytoolsuseasimilarideawithaporaoliobeingtheoutcome.WhatmaybeofinterestisthenthedegreetowhichtheprocessisguidedbyorganisaGonsforvolunteers.InthisinstanceacerGfiedCH‐Qtrainerisneededasisthepaymentofalicencefeetousethetool.The Assessing Voluntary Experiences (AVE) tool has some similariGes. It starts by askingvolunteerstoreflectonwhytheycametobevolunteers,whataretherewardstheyfeeltheygetandwhathavebeenthechallenges.Thenit looksattheireducaGonandtrainingtodateandasksthemtosumupwhatthoseexperiencesmeantothemintermsofskillsgainedandcompetenciesachieved.Itthenasksvolunteerstoreflectontheirvolunteering.Thetoolissetout to lead volunteers through a set of competencies. These have been mapped againstcompetenciesmostopenoutlinedbyemployersandforvocaGonalstyleawards.Thetaskforthe volunteer is to reflect onhow their volunteering rolematches these competencies. Thecompetences cover aspects of communicaGon, administraGon, markeGng, organisaGon,fundraising, negoGaGon, decision making, being proacGve among others. The tool offers asummarysheetforthevolunteertolisttheskillsandcompetenciesachievedandexamplesofworkdone to achieve them.The volunteer then invites their volunteermanager to sign thesheetasevidencethatthevolunteerhasperformedthesetasks.Theresultofworkingthroughthis exercise is an acGon plan (what acGviGes would you need to look for now in order toenhanceanddeveloptheseskills?),theyhaveskillslistedthattheycanincorporateintotheirCVandevidencethattheyperformedthesetasks.This tool has several strengths, it is in English, it would suit any volunteer – old, young,whateverbackgroundanditisfree.Workingthroughthebookletresultsinaporaolio.ItisalsolessformalwhichmaysuitorganisaGons–andvolunteers–thatdonotwishtogetdrawnintoa formal validaGon process. But that is also itsweakness.While providing a good reflecGvetool, the skills and competences are not validated. Volunteers and organisaGons that arelookingtolinkintoformalvalidaGonwillneedtolookfordifferenttools(seebelow).Thetoolis designed in suchaway that a volunteer canwork through it byhimself. However, somevolunteers, for example thosewith language difficulGes or those that lack some confidencemightneedsomesupportfromthevolunteercoordinator.OthertoolsthatdosimilarjobsexistacrossEurope,andweencourageyoutofollowthelinksinthetablebelowtoreviewtheminmoredetailtodecidewhichmaybeofmoreusetoyourvolunteers.TheToolkitCompetenceDevelopmentVolunteeringSectordevelopedbyMOVISIE,an organisaGon with specialist knowledge in moGvaGng, supporGng and development ofvolunteersprovidesarangeofresources.Theseincludechecklistsandguidelineswhichoutlineskills and competences gained though volunteering. Although it dealswith steps for formalrecogniGonintheNetherlands,thetoolscanbeusedtohelpvolunteersidenGfyskillswhetherornotasystemexistsforformalrecogniGon.SimilarlytheSTARformattooltakesvolunteersthroughapracGcal strategy thathighlights theability toaccomplish tasksandgoalsandcanthereforebeusedasevidenceforemployersofcompetencesgained.

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The RecogniAon 10 steps programme provides another variaGon on this. Developed by ascouGng organisaGon in the Netherlands it provides 10 steps to uncover skills andcompetencesreadyforeventualrecogniGon.ItshouldbeclearbynowthatthereisaplethoraoftoolsavailablewhichassistinreflecGngonand idenGfying skills.Webelieve thatalthough some toolswork towards formal recogniGonwhichmayonlyberelevantinthecountryoforiginofthetoolkit,thereisvalueinusingthesetools to help volunteers increase awareness of the learning and skills they have developedregardless of whether they get these formally recognised. As for which to use, a lot willdependonhowmuchsupportvolunteersneed.ManyofthetoolsreviewedsofarworkbestwhenorganisaGonsassistvolunteers.Wherevolunteerscanworkautonomously, theporaolio isagoodwaytokeepaconGnuousrecordofdevelopment.AgoodplancouldbetouseacombinaGonofresources;forexampleusing theAssessingVoluntary Experiences Toolkit to idenGfy skills thatmaybe added intoporaolios.Butthedevelopmentofe‐poraoliosissuchthatmosthelpvolunteersthroughthewhole process. Many organisaGons – from universiGes to government departments ‐ haveinvested inporaoliotemplates. It isworthcheckingwith localvolunteersupportagenciesormaybelocaluniversiGestoseeifaporaolioisavailablethatvolunteerscanuse.Butwewoulddraw your a#enGon to two examples which characterise how poraolios can help explore,captureanddocumentlearning.Thee‐poraoliocreatedbytheDanishMinistryofChildrenandEducaGonandthe‘InvestinVolunteers’poraoliocreatedintheNetherlands(seelinksoftablebelow)showtheworkinvolvedandthekindofcommitmentneeded.TheEuropeanPoraolioforYouthLeadersandYouthWorkersprovidesanotherexample.ThisoneisEuropewideandfocusedonnon‐formaleducaGon,learningandyouthwork,tohelpyouthworkersandleadersexpoundontheirskills.LikeallporaoliositprovidesalistofskillsandasksforreflecGonsandassessmentofwhat level theparGcipant feels theyareat. Itasks for reflecGonsof theskillsthat have been applied and what evidence is available to show that the skill has beendemonstrated. The European Youth Pass is another example again showing how to reflectuponnon‐formallearningbutspecificallysupporGngtheemployabilityofyoungerpeopleaged16‐30yearsold.TheEuropeanMobilitydocumentrecordsskillsobtainedinanothercountry.Therearemany,manyporaoliosavailable, toomany to reviewallof them.Butwewant tostress the usefulness to applying these to volunteers and argue that the exampleswehavelinkedcanbeseenastemplatestouseinfullorparttosupportvolunteerreflecGon.

TransferofvolunteercompetencestofindajobortrainingThisisourfinalstepandistheoneinwhichthecompetencesgainedarerecognised.Insomeways therefore this is very much a ‘local’ step. This depends on the different naGonalframeworksaboutcompetencesrecogniGon.ThedifferencesbetweenEuropeancountriesaresetoutintheEuropeanInventory2010reports,describingthesystemsforValidaGonofNon‐formal and Informal Learning (European Inventory17),which illustrates the present differentlevelsofdevelopmentinEurope.Ascanbeseeninthetablewereproducebelow,accordingtotheEuropeanInventory2010Report,thesystemsforvalidaGonofnon‐formalandinformal

17Canbeaccessedvia:hPp://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/about‐cedefop/projects/validaAon‐of‐non‐formal‐and‐informal‐learning/european‐inventory‐scope.aspx)

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learningpresentdifferent levels of development in Europe. So if youare in Finland, France,Netherlands,NorwayandPortugalyouwillrecognisetheyhaveahighlevelofdevelopmentofways to validate non‐formal and informal learning. Denmark, Germany, Romania, Spain,Sweden, UK are also well versed in the idea of validaGon, but do not have the range ofmethodsoftheaforemenGonedcountries.Austria,Belgium,CzechRepublic,Estonia,Iceland,Italy, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria, CroaGa,Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Hungary are not so familiar with the validaGon ofinformallearning.WhereasthetoolsabovecanbeusedtoreflectuponandarGculatecompetencesandlearning,if volunteerswant tohave these formally recognised, the chancesare that thisneeds tobedone in the country where the volunteer is. However, there are some Europe‐widepublicaGonsthatcanbeconsulted.ForexampletheEuropeanGuidelinesValidaGontool isacomprehensivedocumentoutlininghownaGonalandlocalsystemscanbedevelopedtobe#erreflectandsupportcompetencerecogniGon.PerhapsofmoreimmediateuseistheEuropass,this is adocumentwhere knowledgeand skills are recordedandwhich is recognisedacrossEurope–ausefulwaytotakecompetencesfromonecountrytoanother.

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http://www.leidsevrijwilligersacademie.nl/

paul@i-doe.nl http://www.uma.es/oficina-voluntariado/cms/menu/programas/pasaporte-solidario/

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http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/administracionlocalyrelacionesinstitucionales/cms/ocms/portal/Voluntariado/ContenidosEspecificos/carnevoluntarios.html http://www.rico.com.au/training/life_skills/supervision.htm http://www.frivillighed.dk/Webnodes/da/Web/Public/Publikationer/Frivilligfronten/Supervision+som+metode+i+frivilligt+socialt+arbejde

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http://gullestrup.dk/fakta-helhedsplanen/det-er-en-aftale/mentorprojekt/ http://www.vejledning.net/Sider/Projekter/Projekt%207.1/Undervisningshaefte_1_7.pdf http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.110468!/file/cipd_mentoring_factsheet.pdf http://www.une.edu.au/od/files/mentoringpresentation.pdf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY75MQte4RU

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http://www.csev.org/en_GB/home http://www.csev.org/ultimos-proyectos;jsessionid=50B3CD49439D276DC9DB47B2C66BCF13 http://www.serviceleader.org/virtual http://www.whatisorange.org/orangeleaders/blog/?p=4733

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http://www.lederweb.dk/Strategi/Organisationsudvikling/Artikel/79550/Om-Appreciative-Inquiry---succeshistorier-som-udviklingsressource http://www.pelerei.com/pdf/articles/Pelerei_Storytelling-at-the-Heart-of-Appreciative-Inquiry.pdf http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/ http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

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www.citytrainers.nl r.bieckmann@s-hertogenbosch.nl http://www.fetzer.org/sites/default/files/images/stories/pdf/selfmeasures/HELPING_OTHERS.pdf

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http://www.ivr.org.uk/images/stories/Institute-of-Volunteering-Research/MigratedResources/Documents/A/Assessing_Voluntary_Experiences_Sept_06.pdf

http://www.euroguidance.nl/uploads/CHQ%20loopbaanbegeleiders%20MKB%20v2_20120320114239.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/consult/vnfil/chq_en.pdf or via : info@ch-q.ch

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https://minkompetencemappe.dk/Default.aspx http://www.ug.dk/Programmes.aspx http://www.investereninvrijwilligers.nl/ Contact via e-mail: info@arcon.nl

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www.coe.int Weblink to the portfolio: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/Resources/Portfolio/Portfolio_en.pdf To order a paper copy: youthportfolio@coe.int http://www.ciessevi.org/servizi/promozione/scuola-volontariato/il-passaporto-del-volontariato

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http://www.movisie.nl/140525/def/home/publicaties/publicaties/toolkit_competentieontwikkeling_vrijwilligerswerk/ Contact the information desk at: Tel: +31(0)307892112 E-mail: kennislijn@movisie.nl http://careerweb.leeds.ac.uk/info/19/cvs/216/star_method http://www.drexel.edu/scdc/resources/STAR%20Method.pdf

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http://www.valuenetwork.org.uk/Documents%20for%20Website/Conference/Powerpoints/Recognition%20in%2010%20steps%20JoPeeters.pdf Contact via: J.Peeters@scoutinggelderland.nl https://www.youthpass.eu/en/youthpass/ https://www.youthpass.eu/en/youthpass/guide/

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http://prezi.com/a3h5jofugwyd/recognition-workshop-europass-mobility-for-volunteers/

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Weblink to document: http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/publications/5059.aspx Via CEDEFOP: http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/

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VolunteerMoGvaGonandRecogniGon

VolunteershavedifferentmoGvaGonalstyles.Tappingintovolunteer’sindividualmoGvaGonincreaseshisorherlevelofengagement,success,andimpactinvolunteering.ThistoolisdesignedtoassessmoGvaGonalstylesandidenGfytypesofvolunteerposiGonsmatchingthosestyles.

h#p://www.jffixler.com/files/MoGvaGonal_Analysis.pdf

ThistoolisdesignedtohelpdevelopeffecGveinterviewquesGonstousewhenmatchingcandidatestovolunteerposiGons.

h#p://www.jffixler.com/files/Interview_QuesGons.pdf

TheIndividualVolunteerPlan(IVP)isatooldesignedtocustomizeavolunteerengagementcareertomeetboththevolunteer'saspiraGonsandtheorganizaGon'sneeds.

h#p://www.jffixler.com/files/Individual_Volunteer_Plan_IVP.pdf

Waytogo:ideasforvolunteerrecogniGon.

h#p://www.lsuagcenter.com/mcms/relatedfiles/%7Bf20da153‐16f7‐45da‐a4f8‐1aac5cebfcc4%7D/way+to+go+recogniGon+guidemargin.pdf

DiscussingtwobasictypesofrecogniGon:extrinsicandintrinsic.

h#p://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/resources/how‐to‐guides/manage‐volunteers/doc/recognizing‐volunteers.html

VolunteeringresourcesfromCanada

h#p://www.nald.ca/literacybasics/volunt/profile/01.htm

LearningNeedsAnalysisinstruments

Australianexampleofonlinevolunteerlearningneedssurvey(foranature‐basedvisiGngprogramme).

h#p://www.jobssouthwest.com.au/welcome/index.php?opGon=com_content&view=arGcle&id=254&Itemid=237

AnevaluaGonformforthemonitoringofvolunteers,eithertobeusedforvolunteer‐involvingorganizaGonsorasaself‐assessmentformforvolunteersthemselves.

h#p://www.volunteertoday.com/PDF/VOLUNTEER%20PERFORMANCE%20EVALUATION.pdf

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VolunteerWorkshopIdeas

AselecGonoftoolsrangingfromicebreakersandgroupenergizerstoorientaGon,includingarGcles,videos,(electronic)booksandinternetresources,fromaroundtheworld

h#p://www.energizeinc.com/art/subj/train.html

FromVolunteeringAustralia:freeskills,trainingandeducaGonalresourcesforvolunteers,volunteercoordinators,trainersandnot‐for‐profitorganisaGons.h#p://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/Skills‐and‐Training/‐Training‐skills‐resources.aspAlsofromVolunteeringAustralia:whateveryvolunteerneeds:amixofinformaGon,trainingandeducaGon.

h#p://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/files/ID8VYL83PC/What%20every%20volunteer%20needs%20final_280208.pdf

Again,fromVolunteeringAustralia:fortrainers,volunteer‐involvingorganisaGonswanGngtodevelopconGnuousimprovementstrategiesinworkshops.h#p://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/Skills‐and‐Training/‐Training‐skills‐resources/EvaluaGng‐Volunteer‐Training‐Toolkit.aspMappingfuncGonsofvolunteertraining,inducGonandfurthertraining.

h#p://www.acGvelink.ie/node/803

AvaluableresourcefortrainingpackagesandassessmentistheAustraliansite:

www.cshisc.com.au

ExperiencesfromtheINVESTpartnershipHereisavisualrecordingandthefinalvideooftheINVESTpartners,staffandlearners,expressingwhattheyhavelearnedfromtheINVESTproject:h#p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw0bq44awTI

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WhataboutlearningopportuniGesinyourorganisaGon?

YES Partly NO 1. Our volunteer coordinators keep in touch with all volunteers so that

we know pretty well what their learning needs are. 2. We have a so-called wish box in which any volunteer can drop a(n)

(anonymous) suggestion for more learning opportunities and workshops.

3. We have good and transparent methods for announcing and publicizing our learning opportunities to all our volunteers.

4. We can offer workshops to interested volunteers on a regular basis.

5. We have a clear understanding of the motives for volunteering inside our organisation and act upon this by offering tailor made learning opportunites to those volunteers with learning motives.

6. We are always open to suggestions for workshops coming from volunteers.

7. Written descriptions of various types of learning events and workshops for volunteers are available in digital and hard-copy format.

8. We have a clear operational plan in our organisation for volunteers to apply for learning events and all volunteers are aware of that.

9. Each year new concepts for workshops and learning events for volunteers are prepared on the basis of a learning needs analysis.

10. We review existing workshops on a regular basis to check whether or not they still make sense.

11. We develop new workshops to keep up with new developments and trends, like social media.

12. Volunteers take an active part in the continuous improvement of the range of learning opportunities by providing feedback about the quality.

13. Many of our learning opportunities have been designed in such a way that they are available to professionals inside the organisation as well, in order to promote interaction between volunteers and professionals.

14. A specific budget is available for the volunteer development workshops.

15. We have appointed someone responsible for all matters relating to volunteer development, who is an excellent networker and easily accessible.

16. Offering learning opportunities is a matter of course in our organization and we promote lifelong learning as much as we can.

17. During the (annual) volunteer development talks / interviews we get valuable information about the learning needs of our volunteers.

18. We draw the attention of specific volunteers to specific learning events and opportunities, in case we feel they can benefit from them.

19. We are stimulating our own volunteers to design workshops for fellow volunteers on a “felt need” basis and offer these as a joint volunteer – professional co-production.

20. We are actively promoting the idea of “peer to peer learning ” among our volunteers.

21. We promote the idea of volunteer portfolios and offer support in creating and maintaining them, including e-portfolios.