Help for volunteer organisations
Volunteering WA's 16 page booklet Better Connections: Volunteering in the Wheatbelt: A Resource for Community Organisations contains positive case studies from the WA wheatbelt and talks about:
- ways to recruit volunteers
- how to design position descriptions
- ways to engage young people
- succession planning, and
- inclusive volunteering.
One of the suggestions for recruiting volunteers is that organisations be very clear about the
roles available. The booklet outlines the kind of
information to provide to potential volunteers including:
- volunteer job descriptions
- what training and orientation will be provided
- costs to the volunteer
- approximate timelines of training and orientation and beginning work
- location of job
- information about your organisation
- what support is available while they're learning the ropes
- time and effort the role will take
- how the community benefits
- stories about current and past volunteers, and
- information about what interested you in volunteering with your organisation, because chances are it'll interest others too.
The booklet also lists some benefits that individuals can get out of volunteering: these are reproduced with permission at www.goomalling.wa.gov.au/Lifestyle/volunteering/benefits. The Shire of Goomalling is offering local volunteer organisations the chance to provide information to potential volunteers through the Shire's website. You don't need any web or writing skills - the Web Coordinator can take care of that for you. Call the Shire on 9629 1101 or email web@goomalling.wa.gov.au for more information.
You can download Better Connections: Volunteering in the Wheatbelt: A Resource for Community Organisations or pick up a copy from Andrea Hardingham at the Shire. This booklet is just one part of the Wheatbelt Better Connections Project run by Volunteering WA and funded by the Wheatbelt Development Commission. The project also produced the documents Better Connections:Â Wheatbelt Volunteering report and Barriers to volunteering by newcomers in Wheatbelt towns in Western Australia.