Increasing Demand for Services Reveals NFP Volunteer Shortages

Three out of four community organisations in Australia need more volunteers, a problem which is beginning to impact on many organisations’ ability to provide essential services, according to a new report.

The Volunteering Australia and National Australia Bank (NAB) jointly commissioned survey of community organisations also found that 81% of organisations surveyed believe the demand for their services is greater now than at any time in the past.

The report also shows how critically important volunteers are to the work done by community organisations, with nearly one third (32%) of respondents indicating more than 75% of their organisation’s work is done by volunteers.

Volunteering Australia CEO Cary Pedicini says that while 5.4 million people in Australia volunteer each year, this report shows the services provided by Australia’s community organisations are in greater demand than ever before and this requires more volunteers.

Pedicini says that 66% of community organisations reported that a shortage of volunteers had a big or very big impact on their ability to deliver services.

NAB Deputy CEO Michael Ullmer says there is a need to remove the barriers that prevent people from volunteering.

Mr Ullmer says community organisations believe a lack of time is one of the main barriers preventing people from volunteering.

Other survey results include:

• 35% said a lack of resources made it difficult to manage volunteers
• 91% of community organisations currently have volunteers working with them
• Nearly half (47%) of organisations engage over 60 volunteers in a year
• 91% of respondents said volunteers were very or extremely important to their organisation.
• 420 people completed the online survey, which ran from April 22 to May 5, 2010.