There are numerous inaccurate ways of assessing the value of that contribution – we don’t even know how many people volunteer in total. Looking at the best guesses, whether from an economic contribution to ‘work’ or from improved wellbeing perspective, nearly every approximation has the figure around or above £100 billion a year. If we look at the ‘good’ of the awesome community response to the pandemic, there is no price we can put on the value of volunteering in the UK. It is genuinely priceless. Back in the early noughties I was working in East Cornwall on a Home Office volunteering project. Results from that project indicated that 70% of volunteers are unhappy, dissatisfied with the way their volunteering is organised. Why? Mainly it’s because they simply haven't been asked to do what they wanted to do, or what they can do. Worse, many feel that their help is not really wanted.

 

So, if 70% of priceless is unhappy, what are we collectively losing, and couldn't we be doing so much better? It's National Volunteers Week this week. The very fact that it is necessary demonstrates the depth of the problem.

There is little doubt about the importance of celebrating volunteers and their contribution. How do you celebrate your volunteers? Now is the perfect time to be celebrating contribution with stories; thanking people; writing them handwritten notes; taking an interest and acknowledging what they're actually doing (unfortunately not yet common practice) and having something relevant to say about their contribution. Nothing complicated, just basic humanity and leadership qualities. But why wait until the first week in June? Why do we need a National Volunteers Week? Retention begins as soon as someone joins, and honouring contribution shouldn’t just happen with the cake and flowers at the leaving do. How can we look to ways to make gratitude a greater, and more normal, part of our organisations’ culture? 

Beyond the obvious ways of celebrating volunteers we need to look at the cultural structure of organisations. Key questions:

• Does volunteer quality of experience feature in the organisation’s impact report?

• Have volunteers got a voice?

• What's the culture? 

• What profile do the volunteers have within your organisation? 

• What levels of the organisation are they working in?

In a healthy organisation, everyone can contribute to reflexion about the collective work and activities. Stories about experiences are shared and enjoyed – often it is the littlest thing that can make people feel the most, and sharing these experiences builds social glue and organisational resilience. Many grant funders now value projects that are informed and developed by the grass roots of the organisation, recognising that this is the most effective route to sustainability. In short, volunteers enrich. 

How will you be celebrating next week and beyond?