V4V Good Practice Case Studies: Blackbirds United

Pillar 1 – Volunteer strategy and planning

Pillar 2 – Volunteer recruitment and deployment

Pillar 3 – Volunteer management and retention

Pillar 4 – Volunteer development and training

Focus of volunteer intervention: Rewarding volunteers

The club are aware of the importance of volunteers and want to thank them for their input and commitment. Whilst they have not experienced issues with the recruitment of volunteers, they want to create a positive culture within the club and be proactive in rewarding and looking after their volunteers.

In order to recognise the contribution from volunteers, the organisation’s board decided to create an annual volunteer awards programme where club members and officials can nominate volunteers within the club for several awards. The board then read the nominations and decide which volunteer will receive each award. The awards are then given out during the end of year club celebration or during a floor ball match.

The awards programme has been a fantastic way of members giving recognition to volunteers who have made a special contribution during the year. Whilst it has been a successful programme, one of the challenges has been ensuring that volunteers who undertake more ‘invisible’ roles (for example, administrative activities) are also recognised for their contribution as they can sometimes be overlooked for more visible volunteering roles.

The awards programme has made the contribution of volunteers much more visible within the organisation and resulted in greater respect and awareness of the role volunteers play. The commitment of volunteers has noticeably improved due to the intervention.