Volunteer Managers -Get Organised

A new volunteer managers association based in South Australia believes this area of the Not for Profit sector is the currently the biggest growth area.

Australasian Association of Volunteer Administrators (AAVA) is a professional association for people across all sections of the community who are involved with managing volunteer programs in Australia and New Zealand.

The momentum for the professional association came from the volunteer management sector primarily in South Australia. Now it is a nationally-based organisation with members in all states, including NT, ACT &
NZ.

Volunteer managers are known by a wide variety of names including coordinators, managers and support officers and according to President of AAVA, Peter Heyworth from the Royal Society for the Blind, it’s time to get organised.

Heyworth says there is an incredible variety of jobs that make up the field of volunteer management.

He says as a professional association, AAVA is interested in the:
– Professional recognition of volunteer managers – paid and unpaid;
– Professional development of people involved in managing volunteer programs;
– Ongoing development of the field of volunteer management.

He says AAVA is concerned with ‘building the sector’ through the support, encouragement and recognition of people involved in leading volunteer programs.

AAVA does not discriminate between paid or unpaid, part time or full time managers, and acknowledges that people in this position have many titles such as coordinator, manager, executive officer, team leader etc.

The Association offers a number of free resources and information to adapt or just see how others run their programs. These include forms, covering letters, hints for managing volunteer programs, and examples of policies.

Ideas for newsletters are also included such as sample newsletter formats and discussion outlines for local manager networks to download and use in meetings.

AAVA is in the process of developing an accreditation program for individual volunteer program managers to be launched next year.

It is based on three areas – competency and experience; commitment to the sector; and commitment to professional development. The aim is to build capacity and give recognition to volunteer program managers in the sector.

AAVA is also negotiating ‘cross credit’ with formal volunteer management qualifications (Diploma level) so individuals can complete AAVA accreditation and receive recognition at a tertiary level.

For more information go to www.aava.asn.au.