Volunteer Inclusion Guideline
February 2, 2021, by AFAC Volunteer Management Technical Group | v 1.0 This guideline supports the efforts of AFAC members and the AFAC Office to create an inclusive ‘way of doing things’, where volunteers are engaged in decision making and their diverse opinions are valued and leveraged to derive mutually beneficial outcomes. By adopting an inclusive approach, there are positive flow‐effects to the engagement and retention of volunteers and creation of a more diverse and sustainable volunteer workforce.
Our guideline
(See full document attached below)
This guideline:
- details the benefits of volunteer inclusion in the advancement of organisational outcomes
- highlights the important interplay between diversity and inclusion and provides a framework for understanding an organisation’s maturity in this regard
- outlines key considerations for volunteer inclusion in organisational planning and decision making
- guides AFAC members and the AFAC Office in developing strategies and actions to improve consideration and involvement of volunteers earlier in planning and decision making.
This guideline draws on, and should be read in conjunction with, Australia’s National Standards for Volunteer Involvement (the National Standards) and New Zealand’s Best Practice Guidelines for Volunteer‐Involving Organisations.
This guideline is not prescriptive in its intent, but rather serves as guidance for AFAC members to build their own volunteer inclusion framework that reflects the context of their operating environment and the needs of their
volunteers.