FEATURE ARTICLE - Auditing Your Volunteer Management Program

As part of the resources developed for the International Year of Volunteers, Volunteer Canada developed and launched the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement. This Code is an important piece when attempting to audit your volunteer program since it outlines overarching values, guiding principles and organization standards. By using this Code as a standard against which to compare your program you will effectively determine the strengths and weaknesses of your program.

To help you through this process, Volunteer Canada issued the Volunteer Management Audit to be used as a tool to assess your Volunteer Program. This audit tool can be used by both organizations which have adopted the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement and those organizations which have not.

The Volunteer Management Audit is made up of seven sections which provides information about volunteer involvement and management practices within your organization. Of particular interest are the organization standards and the checklists that are provided for each standard. The standards are as follows:

1. The board of directors and senior management acknowledge and support the vital role of volunteers in achieving the organization's mission.
2. Policies and procedures provide a framework that defines and supports the involvement of volunteers within the organization. To learn more about Volunteer Program Risk Management...
3. A qualified person is designated to be responsible for the volunteer program.
4. A screening process is clearly communicated and consistently delivered.
5. Voluntary assignments address the purpose of the organization and involve volunteers in meaningful ways that reflect their various abilities, needs and backgrounds.
6. Volunteer recruitment and selection reaches out to diverse sources of volunteers.
7. Volunteers receive an orientation to the organization and its policies and procedures, and receive training for volunteer assignments.
8. Volunteers receive appropriate levels of supervision according to their task and are given regular opportunities to receive and give feedback.
9. Volunteers are welcomed and treated as valuable and integral members of the organization's human resources.
10. The contribution of volunteers are regularly acknowledged with formal and informal recognition methods. An invitation to Volunteer Manitoba's volunteer awards dinner...

The checklists provided within the Audit for each standard are excellent to help you evaluate whether your Volunteer Program has effective measures and practices in place.

Auditing your Volunteer Program is invaluable as it ensures consistency with the goals of the organization and minimum standards for volunteer involvement. Sharing national values and standards with other non-profit organizations will go far in highlighting the important role volunteerism and volunteer involvement play in ensuring citizen involvement and engagement in society.

To gain a copy of the Code or the Volunteer Managment Audit contact Volunteer Manitoba's Resource Centre:
(204) 477-5180 ext. 223, 1-888-922-4545, or vmresource@mts.net or visit Volunteer Canada's website: www.volunteer.ca