Volunteers are free, but not cheap

Press Briefing: Volunteer Awareness Week 2006

From 12 – 18 March New Zealand will be observing Volunteer Awareness Week in recognition of the invaluable contribution of ordinary Kiwis who give up their time for the benefit of the community. This briefing aims to highlight that in addition to recognition of and celebration of this contribution, there are major challenges facing community and voluntary organisations.

Tina Reid, Executive Director of the New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations (NZFVWO) [1] will be available for comment throughout the week.

Contact: Tina Reid 04 385 0981 (w) 02768 46640 (m)

§ There are an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 voluntary organisations in New Zealand. Volunteer Awareness Week should not only be a celebration of the contribution of volunteers, but also a recognition of the historic and continuing tradition of volunteering in New Zealand. ‘Self-help’ groups have been rallying to meet the needs of their communities since the time of early settlers.

§ A study of ten national voluntary agencies [2] found that volunteers gave a staggering 7.5 million hours of their time to good causes a year – the national figure is considerably higher.

§ The work of volunteers, and the organisations they work for, touches nearly every aspect of daily New Zealand life: childcare, health, education, welfare, human rights, sports, arts and culture etc.

§ In the current high employment economy the face of volunteering is changing. Despite many people still willing to volunteer, they can’t be taken for granted. Agencies need to increasingly focus on recruitment and support to retain active long term volunteer programmes..

§ Voluntary organisations are of enormous value to taxpayer – for every dollar they receive in funding, they return between 3 – 5 dollars worth of services to the community.

§ Without the contribution of voluntary organisations to the economy, government would simply be unable to fund many of the services many Kiwis take for granted.

§ Despite this, voluntary organisations are chronically underfunded. Increasing regulation, compliance costs, demands to adopt ‘business’ models for operations and pressure to ‘professionalise’ detract from their core business – serving the community.

Tina Reid of NZFVWO commented:

“All this week, events would be held around the country to celebrate volunteers and it is really important that we do so. But we ask people to also spare a thought for the huge job voluntary organisations do in the face of increasing demands.

“Volunteering takes a lot of commitment and resources. It is vital that the public, government and the business community support and encourage community organisations to keep our wonderful tradition of volunteering vibrant and alive.”

Notes:

[1] NZFVWO has 147 welfare and social service organisations as members

www.nzfvwo.org.nz

[2] Counting for something, Value Added by Voluntary Agencies (Sep, 2004)

http://www.nzfvwo.org.nz/files/projects.htm#section2