Articles

Fourth issue of Voluntary Action
Winter 1999 (Volume 2 Number 1)

 

Voluntary action in a campaigning context:
An exploratory study of Greenpeace

Malcolm Carroll, freelance consultant in voluntary sector organisation
Margaret Harris, Professor of Voluntary Sector Organisation, Aston Business School

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This article discusses the organisation of volunteers in campaigning, as seen from the perspective of the volunteers themselves. In order to make the context clear, a model is proposed that illuminates the concept of campaigning. This model is then used to interpret the findings of a study of Greenpeace volunteers. The study highlights the enduring challenge for the voluntary sector of how to manage volunteers motivated by expressive and solidarity incentives without destroying their commitment.

Consultation but not consensus:
Government consultative processes with the voluntary sector in developing Millennium Volunteers

Michael Locke, Centre for Institutional Studies, University of East London
Justin Davis Smith, Institute for Volunteering Research

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This is a report on the evaluation of the consultation exercise for the Millennium Volunteers programme launched in England in 1999 by the Labour government. The researchers looked at how government engaged with the voluntary sector during the consultative process, and at how the voluntary sector met the demands of the process. The general view was that the consultation was successful: the voluntary sector was able to make its views known, and the government listened to them. The main criticisms were that the consultation failed to obtain the views of small organisations and minority communities, and that too much time was allowed to elapse between the consultation exercise and the eventual implementation of Millennium Volunteers.

Valuing volunteers in Europe:
A comparative study of the Volunteer Investment and Value Audit

Katharine Gaskin, independent researcher and consultant

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In recent years we have seen increasing interest in the whole issue of the economics of voluntary work. The research described in this article explored this aspect of volunteering in eight large voluntary organisations in the Netherlands, Denmark and England, using the Volunteer Investment and Value Audit. VIVA is an innovative technique that has been developed in the UK over the past five years through research in small voluntary organisations and consultation with national charities. This research aims both to explore the methodological viability of VIVA in large organisations and to produce data on the economics of volunteering in different European countries.

Action and togetherness:
Volunteers at associations of unemployed people

Marianne Nylund, Department of Social Policy, University of Helsinki

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This article looks at how people can learn not only to cope with unemployment, but also to make themselves employable again, through joining the associations for unemployed people (AUPs) set up in Finland in the early 1990s. These associations offer a range of practical activities, some (eg, training, seminars) that can enhance employability, and others (eg, recreation, volunteering, self-help groups) that can help participants maintain their morale. AUPs also offer mutual support and the chance to feel part of the community. It is important for decision makers and volunteer managers to distinguish between volunteering as a means to improve employability, and the underlying personal motives people may have for volunteering.

Older and bolder in Hackney

Romayne Hutchison, freelance researcher and consultant

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This article describes research funded by NIACE that looked at the reasons why so few older (50 plus) people want to find out about formal volunteering opportunities in the London Borough of Hackney. It outlines the factors that older people felt might encourage them to volunteer and those that act as barriers to involvement. Ideas for promoting volunteering and for producing effective publicity are discussed. The article concludes with a series of recommendations for agencies wishing to involve more older people as volunteers.