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Volunteering WA News

Save the date: Volunteering recognition events

2023

• 5 November, International Volunteer Managers Day
• 14 & 15 November, 2023 Volunteering WA State Conference
• 5 December, International Volunteer Day (celebrated worldwide)
• Tickets on sale soon | 7 December, annual Volunteer Day Garden Party

2024

• January, nominations open for the 2024 WA Volunteer of the Year Awards
• 20 - 26 May, National Volunteer Week
• 23 May, WA Volunteer of the Year Awards Gala Dinner, The Westin

Submission for Inquiry into Philanthropy - Consultation with Members

Following Volunteering WA’s submission to the Productivity Commission’s Review of Philanthropy in May 2023, we are pleased to announce the Commission's Inquiry team are coming to WA to consult directly with our members.

Volunteering WA submitted five recommendations to support the growth of volunteering (as a form of charitable giving). The recommendations included the development and adoption of a volunteering impact measurement tool and the urgent development of a standardised, streamlined, free and portable volunteer screening system in Australia. The full submission is available on Volunteering WA’s website.

Volunteering WA Members will have received an invitation in the August Member Newsletter to attend a special round table with the Productivity Commission. 

View the Submission | Contact Member Services Manager, Jane Mason, if your member organisation would like to attend the consultation.

Round 2 Open: Funding for Volunteering Projects

Round 2 of Volunteering WA's volunteer management project-based grants program is now open. Volunteering WA will be seeking expressions of interest to fund projects (up to $20,000), including those that may be in the development stage. This provides an opportunity to submit innovative projects and shape them to best service specified groups. 

The focus of the volunteer management grants program is to:

• To build the capacity of volunteer involving organisations through online volunteer management information, training and resources.
• Provide services to build the capacity of volunteer involving organisations to break down barriers to volunteering for one or more identified priority groups, and if deemed the most effective approach, provide face-to-face services to support these groups to participate in volunteering. These priority groups include: First Nation People; People with Disability; Newly Arrived Migrants; Vulnerable Women; Youth; and the unemployed.

Please contact Desiree Walsh to discuss potential project ideas, and to register for upcoming online information sessions. View the 2022-23 Recipients | View the 2023-24 Round 1 Recipients. 

Great fun at our annual Student Volunteer Week Uni Challenge!

Volunteering WA was pleased to partner with PerthNRM to host over 50 students from CurtinVolunteers!, Notre Dame Volunteer Hub, ECU & UWA Guild Volunteering for the 2023 inter-university coastal challenge. The students joined forces to kick off National Student Volunteer Week at Fremantle’s Leighton Beach planting 2,700 coastal plants and removing over 5kgs of plastic waste from the beach. You can check out the photos on Facebook. 

“The event was super fun, I was able to meet fellow student volunteers from other universities, and of course doing something good in the community we lived in. As we were doing different activities on that day (planting as well as collecting rubbish while documenting the collection), I personally found it very interesting and engaging.” ~ UWA Student. 

National best-practice volunteer management resources are now in one place

Across Australia, Volunteering Peak Bodies have worked together. You can now find over 130 current documents, videos, e-learning modules, templates, research and reports on the national resource library. 

We are growing the resource library to support your programs and help you lead volunteers. Resources align with the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement, and will help you to grow your team. 

There are adaptable forms, checklists, procedures and policies to use with your team. The aim is to provide support towards a rewarding and inclusive volunteering experience. We welcome your feedback and will review, improve and grow the resources over time. 

You can find volunteer management resources on the Volunteering WA website, as well as the link to the national resource library under 'Tools'. 

Volunteer Manager Networking Session (online)

Join us for an online Networking Session - an opportunity for volunteer managers and coordinators to share ideas and opportunities. This is a chance to hear from your peers, ask questions, and share your successes and challenges. 

This Volunteer Managers Network Meeting is for Volunteering WA Members (non-members can attend for a fee). 

Volunteer Managers Network Meeting
Initial topic of discussion: Online Community Engagement
Date: Tuesday 19 September
Time: 10:00am - 12:30pm
Delivered online: access link will be emailed to participants upon registration

This interactive network will run for up to one and a half, with topics of discussion highlighted for each session, but not limited to anything else you would like to discuss. 

>> Registrations are essential

Thank you! Survey Gift Card Winners

Thank you to everyone who took part in the important volunteer manager survey for our 2023 State of Volunteering Report project. As an added bonus to helping shape the future of volunteering in WA, we offered a $100 gift card to five lucky prize draw winners who completed the survey. Thank you and congratulations to: 

Rosie Paul (Rottnest Island Channel Swim); Amy Withnell (VisAbility); Jamie McGleave (Propel Youth Arts WA); Tim Galloway (The Bethanie Group); and Catherine Hill (Dunsborough Primary School P&C Association). 

The State of Volunteering Report findings will be launched at the Volunteering WA State Conference in November, with the report published in early 2024. You can access the previous 2015 report. 

Upcoming Volunteer Manager Training

We have over 30 online and in-person workshops, webinars, events and learning sessions published on the Volunteering WA website open for registration. 

Whether you are an experienced or emerging volunteer manager or coordinator, our training and development team has a session for you. Many of our Workshops are free for Members, with a subsidised fee for Non-Members. 

NEW Foundation Workshop: Understanding Volunteer Management, Challenges and Opportunities
This online workshop is free for Members, or $30 for Non-Members. This session will cover: 

• What volunteer management entails and the best practices as a leader
• the changes and trends in volunteering
• innovative approaches to volunteer promotions
• share challenges and opportunities with each other
• continuous professional development

Multiple dates available:

>> REGISTER 9:30am - 11:00am, Wednesday 6 September (online) 
>> REGISTER 5:30pm - 6:30pm, Wednesday 6 September (online)

Attracting & Retaining Youth Volunteers
After an action packed National Student Volunteer Week, are you considering how to engage more students and young people to volunteer with your organisation? Join our upcoming training on Attracting & Retaining Youth Volunteers and find out:

• The many benefits of engaging youth volunteers
• Barriers young people face accessing volunteering
• Designing youth-appropriate roles
• Engagement strategies

This in-person session will be held at the Volunteering WA office (West Leederville), 9:30am - 11:00am on Thursday 14 September. Please register for this workshop, as places are limited. 

Volunteering WA says ‘YES’ in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and Voice to Parliament

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation for all Australians to “walk with our [First Nations] people in a movement of the Australian people for a better future1.” A referendum will be held on Saturday 14 October for all Australians to have the opportunity to vote to support recognising Indigenous people in our Constitution in the form of a Voice.

Volunteering WA fully supports the Voice as proposed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a practical measure that aligns with our purpose to “empower people and communities to enrich WA”. We know that communities are strengthened when people have a say in decisions that impact their lives.

This is an exciting time for all Australians, to look forward with hope, opportunity, and recognition in this pivotal time in our nation’s history. We urge all our members to use their voice in the campaign.

Please read Volunteering WA's statement at volunteeringwa.org.au

Welcoming our new team members

Our Corporate Volunteering team has grown (again)! Welcome to the team:

• Olivia Boyle – Corporate Events Coordinator (Perth Metro)
• Monika Takkel – Regional Community Engagement Coordinator (Pilbara)
• Karla Hitchcock – Regional Community Engagement Coordinator (Pilbara)

Olivia, Monika and Karla will join Cecily, Catherine, Amy, and Kelly in our Corporate Volunteering team. Volunteering WA’s Corporate Volunteering Program helps community organisations link with businesses by facilitating team-based and skills-based volunteering activities that meet the needs of your community organisation. Volunteering WA staff conduct all the pre and post volunteering planning and logistics, and attend on the day to support your organisation and help things run smoothly. 

Lear more about Volunteering WA's Corporate Volunteering program. 

Sector News

Studying what makes youth volunteers tick

Research released by Volunteering Australia to coincide with National Student Volunteer Week revealed one in four young Australians aged 18-24 (more than 572,000) volunteered formally through an organisation or group in 2022. 

Another recent study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) found that if a child is involved in volunteering before the age of 13, the odds of having poor mental health are reduced by around 28%.

View key volunteering statistics

National Student Volunteer Week Panel 

During National Student Volunteer Week (7-13 August), Volunteering Australia hosted a national panel discussion on the student volunteer experience.

You can view the Panel recording on Youtube, and hear from three student volunteers as they reflect on their insights as student volunteers, discuss how we can inspire and enable students to get involved and what organisations need to do to encourage participation.

Key takeaways included, using the EAST Framework (easy, attractive, social and timely) to attract volunteers (see the 25min mark of the video), promote volunteering opportunities on Instagram and TikTok (this is where young people find their information), and showcase how volunteering experiences will help build their resume and skills. 

The panel discussion is followed by a Q&A.

2023-2024 Volunteer Grants Open

The Federal Government has launched the 2023-24 Volunteer Grants, a program that provides small grants for organisations and community groups to use to support their volunteers. 

The 2023–24 Volunteer Grants Opportunity is open for Expressions of Interest (EOI) through Members of Parliament (MPs). Organisations interested in a grant must contact their local MP to submit an EOI and confirm when their EOI closes. Organisations that are nominated by their MP will be invited to apply for a grant in November 2023.

Grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 will be available to assist eligible not-for-profit community organisations support the efforts of their volunteers. Examples of what grant funding can assist with include small portable equipment purchases, contributions towards the cost of training volunteers, reimbursement of fuel costs for volunteers and undertaking background screening checks for volunteers.

If you have any queries, contact the dedicated Community Grants hotline on 1800 020 283 or email support@communitygrants.gov.au and visit the GrantConnect website. 

New Australian Sports Volunteer Resource Hub

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Sport Volunteer Coalition have launched a Sport Volunteer Resource Hub, an online one-stop-shop that will help sporting organisations support and attract more volunteers.

The new hub gives sporting clubs and Australia's nearly 3 million sport volunteers access to free resources and practical tools to get the most out of their volunteering experience.

See Sport Volunteering under Tools

Measuring What Matters - national scorecard for wellbeing

The Australian Government has released a dashboard called ‘Measuring What Matters’. 

It is our first national wellbeing framework to monitor progress towards a more healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive and prosperous Australia. Our health as a nation depends on more than just GDP and interest rates.

Volunteering WA, together with Volunteering Australia and other state and territory peaks, has advocated for the inclusion of volunteering as a key measure of well-being. This will continue to highlight the importance of the sector and should, over time, help to shape fiscal and policy priorities. 

Pleased to see that our representation has been successful. 

This excerpt from the Federal Department of Treasury website reports on formal and informal volunteering rates and see 'volunteering' tab on the interactive graph.

WA charity donors warned to be on scam alert

Western Australians who have made financial donations to charities in the past 10 years or more are being urged to beware of scams following reports of a major data breach of a telemarketing company holding donor information from Australian charity organisations.

• Personal information hacked and leaked to the dark web
• Major breach affects more than 70 Australian charities
• Public urged to be on high alert for uninvited calls, texts and emails

Consumer Protection has warned the public to be extra suspicious of uninvited or surprise calls, text message or emails in the coming weeks. Assume any uninvited communications you receive may be from a scammer. The warning follows reports of a data breach of a third-party telemarketing firm that has helped raise funds for more than 70 Australian based charities, including The Cancer Council, Fred Hollows Foundation and Canteen. The information of thousands of donors is believed to have been compromised.

You can read the statement at commerce.wa.gov.au/announcements

Membership now free: Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA)

The Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA), the best-practice governance network for community directors, is very excited to announce that membership is now free.

ICDA has made this decision to ensure that all of Australia’s 600,000-plus community organisations have the opportunity to be supported in their quest to improve their organisations, their communities and our country.

Members of ICDA get access to:

• an ICDA membership certificate.
• a range of online resources, including a free Policy Bank, a board vacancy advertisement board, and dozens of free help sheets.
• recognition as a “responsible person” under Australian Taxation Office rules, subject to agreeing to abide by the ICDA Code of Ethics.
• free and heavily discounted educational and networking opportunities.
• two regular newsletters:
  • Community Directors Intelligence, providing capacity building and learning support for directors and other not-for-profit leaders.
  • the Community Advocate, a news service from Our Community’s team of journalists, focused on vital not-for-profit sector news.

Learn more and join for free.

Spend less time on manual processes and more time on what matters

INVOLVE makes volunteer management easier by helping you streamline your workflow and reduce the time you spend on manual processes. 

• Customised checklists streamline your process of onboarding new volunteers.
• Easy tracking of volunteer hours means you can focus on important tasks instead of getting consumed by timesheets.

Volunteering WA not-for-profit financial members can receive a 25% discount on the first year of an annual subscription.Contact our INVOLVE team now to find out more about this introductory offer and how INVOLVE can help you manage your volunteers your way.

www.volunteeringwa.org.au  |  08 9482 4333  |  info@volunteeringwa.org.au

Volunteering WA empowers people and communities to enrich Western Australia.