V4V Good Practice Case Studies: Youth volunteering best practice award

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: Volunteer recognition and reward

The regional awards for “Good practices in Youth Volunteering” are competitions promoted by the Regional Directorates of the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth in conjunction with regional partners. The competitions are held annually.

The awards aim to recognise the organisation and promotion of voluntary activities recognising these as practices which impact positively on communities and civic participation, and the volunteers themselves via improving their education, skills and attributes, and their personal and social skills.

Three prizes are be awarded at a regional level to the three applications with the highest scores.

The prize values are;

• 1st prize = 1000 euros
• 2nd prize = 750 euros
• 3rd prize = 500 euros

Three honourable mentions of the ‘Best Public Entity Promoting Youth Volunteering’ are attributed at regional level to the three applications with the highest scores. The winning entities have the right to disseminate their practices in a specific space on the IPDJ website, called Good Practices in Youth Volunteering.

A public ceremony is held to celebrate International Volunteer Day to publicise at national level the winning entities of these competitions and the work carried out by them.

Each IPDJ Regional Directorate organises an annual competition for eligible entities that have developed volunteering activities in their geographical area of operation, establishing the model for the competition. The aim is to recognise the organisation and promote the dissemination of organisation models for future youth volunteering activities.