Corporate Volunteering Training Kit for NFPs
11 February 2008 at 2:40 pm
Volunteering Australia has launched the Corporate Volunteering Training Kit: A comprehensive kit to help volunteer centres deliver training on corporate volunteering.
Volunteering Australia CEO Cary Pedicini says corporate volunteering is a significant new trend emerging in Australia which presents challenges as well as opportunities to the Not for Profit sector.
Corporate or employer supported volunteering describes any effort by an employer to encourage and assist employees to volunteer in the community.
Pedicini says this broad definition allows the sector to think of corporate volunteering beyond being a ‘bi-end-of-town’ corporate activity and to consider the myriad of opportunities available to NFPs when businesses large and small facilitate and support the volunteering activities of their staff.
He says the aim of the training kit is to help plan workshop sessions aimed at Not for Profits, which help them clarify needs and encourage them to be proactive about the way they work with corporate volunteers.
Pedicini says Not for Profits can feel that the value of their contribution is diminished in comparison to the well-resourced business partner and businesses can sometimes believe that the Not for Profit is waiting to be ‘saved’ by them and that they have the answers to their problems.
However, he says the most effective partnerships are based on equality and recognition of what each party contributes to the arrangement.
The training is divided into four modules which follow the logical sequence of the steps an organisation would take to engage more corporate volunteers.
Each module begins with an overview of the objectives or purpose. The key messages for participants listed within each module help to give consistency to the training. The modules also contain modifiable PowerPoint slides which are supported by presenter’s notes, suggested activities and research articles which can be used for further reading. The modules conclude with some recommended actions for participants.
The Training Kit can be downloaded at: http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=3019&nav_cat_id=313&nav_top_id=57
