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Staffing and Volunteers

1. Recruitment and Management

Why Work with Volunteers?

Many organisations, from large national charities to small community groups, rely on volunteers from all walks of life. Volunteers give their time, skills, and experience to help achieve an organisation's purpose. For many community organisations, the availability of volunteers is crucial, often making the difference between survival and closing since employing paid staff for all necessary skills can be financially prohibitive.

Volunteers are a valuable asset, not a source of cheap labour or a replacement for paid staff. They frequently bring a wide range of professional skills and life skills from previous volunteering roles and paid employment. Local volunteers often bring a wealth of local knowledge, insight, and an enormous level of commitment to their neighbourhood.

Before Recruiting

Before seeking volunteers, an organisation must:

      • Decide exactly why volunteers are needed.
      • Ensure it has sufficient resources to recruit, manage (including staff training), and retain volunteers.
      • Develop and implement a volunteer policy covering selection, induction, support, training, and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.
      • Ensure it can house volunteers and provide necessary equipment.

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The Modern Volunteer

Volunteers have many reasons for offering their time, such as socialising, developing skills, giving back, or a passion for the cause11. Above all, they want to feel their contribution is making a real difference and that they receive the right personal and professional support. Volunteering can sometimes lead to new careers.

The internet has revolutionized volunteering, making it a competitive market14. organisations must work harder to attract and retain people, as volunteers will easily move on if they are unhappy. There has been substantial growth in 'on-line volunteering', which is done remotely via computer or mobile (e.g., cyber mentoring, writing funding proposals).

Recruitment and Retention Strategies

Recruiting and retaining volunteers is a marketing challenge. Organisations must be innovative and creative in describing opportunities. Developing a successful volunteering brand identity can help capture volunteers.

When recruiting, remember that people tend to volunteer for things that tap into their talents or interests and often gravitate toward high-profile charities. Volunteering can be attractive to people looking to keep skills honed or demonstrate commitment to get back into work. Organisations need to ask key questions, such as: What do we need volunteers to do? What do they want from their experience? Why do they stay or leave?

Recruitment should be planned and proactive. organisations should:

    • Write a volunteering strategy that relates to the wider aims of the organisation and is achievable and measurable.
    • Consider good timing for recruitment drives (e.g., January, September, Volunteers Week in June).
    • Use a variety of methods: word of mouth, posters, local media, websites, e-bulletins, and registering with a Volunteer Centre.
    • Target specific types of volunteers where they might be found (e.g., approaching bus companies for volunteer drivers).
    • Look to the private/corporate sector for secondment opportunities, which can also help the organisation financially.

Supporting and Valuing Volunteers

Caring for volunteers leads to contented and well-motivated volunteers. Organisations must:

    • Give recognition and value to their contribution through support, encouragement, proper management, and opportunities for personal development and training.
    • Make them feel valued; some produce Recognition Certificates.
    • Offer new experiences they wouldn't get from work and ensure they remain fulfilled.
    • Interview volunteers, take up references, and where necessary, run CRB checks.
    • Ensure a good mix of experiences to keep them motivated, recognizing that a one-size-fits-all approach won't work due to differing individual needs.


Management processes should be appropriate to the volunteers' circumstances, including their level of responsibility, time commitment, skills, and any special support needs (e.g., mental health). Longer-term volunteers should generally have the same opportunities for supervision as paid staff. The volunteering strategy is a living document that needs regular reviewing and updating to keep pace with changing trends.

2. Legal and Practical Considerations

Payments to Volunteers

A volunteer is someone who gives time and services freely and receives no payment for their work other than expenses necessarily and actually incurred.

All allowed expenses must be: genuinely incurred, authorised by the organisation, wholly for the organisation's work, and necessary for the work.

Allowed Expenses vs. Remuneration

Type of Payment

Description

Tax/NI Status

Affects Benefits?

Allowed Expenses

Reimbursement for expenses necessarily and actually incurred

Not treated as income/earnings, no tax or NI

No

Remuneration

All other payments, including payment in kind

Treated as taxable income or earnings

May affect benefits

Tax Free Reimbursement

For all volunteers (paid or unpaid) 

For unpaid volunteers only 

Expenses for travel necessary for doing the work (not travel from home to usual place of work)

Travel expenses between home and the usual place of voluntary work

Actual expenditure necessarily incurred in the course of the work

Cost of special clothing necessary for the work

Reasonable cost of meals taken because of volunteering for more than four hours or at meal times

Reasonable cost of crèche or other costs for child minding or dependent care

Volunteers in Receipt of Benefits

Volunteers no longer face the former 16-hour maximum restriction on voluntary work. Volunteers on benefits should inform the Job Centre (if on Job Seekers Allowance), the Benefits Agency (if on social security benefits), and the Council Housing Department (if on Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit) of their intention to volunteer.

Organisations taking on volunteers on benefits should write to the appropriate agencies, stating clearly:


    • The volunteer is not replacing a paid worker.
    • The volunteer will be unpaid, receiving only allowed reimbursement of expenses.
    • Details of the volunteer's role, duties, and hours.
    • The organisation is a charity or non-profit-distributing organisation.


Any payment over and above 'allowed expenses' may affect the volunteer's right to benefits.