Vapaaehtoistoiminnan

tukirakenteet Euroopassa/

Volunteer infrastructure in

Europe

Vapaaehtoistoiminnan juhlaseminaari

Helsinki, 4.12.2009

Peter Hilger, Dipl. Social Scientist http://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/hilger/

peter.hilger@helsinki.fi

Contents

1. Civil society and volunteering

2. Volunteering infrastructure

3. What about politics?

4. Challenges

1. Civil society and volunteering

• Civil society sector

• Volunteering and reflexive volunteering

• "1/3 plus X-rule"

• Motives: pleasure, socialising, doing good,

promoting own views, qualifications,

recognition

• Membership and engagement

Discourses of engagement

• Democracy frame

• Welfare frame

• Economy frame

• Community frame

Why?

• Civic and political skills

• Service delivery

• Choice and specialisation

• Flexibility and innovation

• Advocacy and participation

• Public deliberation and representation

• Legitimacy

The organisation of engagement

• Legal definition, employment regulation,

insurance, taxation etc.

• Professionalisation

• Bureaucratisation

• Corporate citizenship

• Volunteer centres

• Engagement policy

2. Volunteering infrastructure

• Social networks

• Traditional associations

• Volunteer development agencies

• National database

Embeddedness

• Municipality

• Faith organisations/churches

• Associations in general

• Umbrella organisations

Volunteering England’s

6 core functions

• Brokerage

• Marketing volunteering

• Good practice development

• Develop volunteering opportunities

• Policy response and campaigning

• Strategic development of volunteering

Volunteer management

Need: Planning

> Tasks: Activity profiles

> Advertising & Recruitment

> Matching & Agreements

> Introduction to Task

> Support & Training

> Recognition & Appreciation

>Analysis

> End or a new start …

BAGFA members were asked about

effects of their work …

1. Raise image of engagement

2. Increase the number of volunteers

3. Quality of life in community

4. Create network structures

5. Promote culture of acknowledgement

6. Open organisations for volunteers

7. And all the rest …

Advertising/recognition

Matching

Quality control/accountability

Organisation of volunteering

• CEE: formerly an obligation,

foreign donor dependence

• England: nationally organised, embedded in

labour market and community policy

• Germany: heterogeneous

• Estonia: grass roots agency

• Finland: embedded in old age/health care

3. What about politics?

• Commonweal & tax law, subsidiarity, licensing &

accreditation, work time legislation, insurance

• Grants, contracts, payments, tax deductions

• Speeches, acknowledgement (medals, certificates),

information, benchmarking, pressure

• Commissions, reorganisation of public

administration, networks, space

“Tools of activation ”

Legal

(allow/forbid)

Financial

(finance)

Symbolic

(communicate)

Organisational

(create/link)

Soc. & ec. regulation Funding Certificates, awards,

celebration, feast

Public sector

portfolio reform

Taxation Contracting Appeals Create networks

Insurance rules Loan Codex of behaviour Volunteering centres

Reimbursement

scheme

Fees, charges Web portals Commissions

Licensing Job subsidy Pressure Allow use of facility

Work time Benchmarking Technical assistance

EU engagement policy

• Generating an internal consensus

• Spill-over from other policies (e.g.

employment, environment, welfare)

• Civil dialogue as input

• Tangible support measures since turn of

millennium

• White paper on governance and OMC

• European volunteer service, hearings,

speeches

4. Challenges: external

1. Understanding of volunteering (“for free”)

2. Project funding – no basic funding

3. Dependence on other policies

4. Administrative portfolios

5. Branding

6. Open up professional organisations

7. Word of mouth

Challenges: Internal

1. Contracting: bureaucratisation, regulations,

dependence, insecurity, challenging targets

2. Volunteers for reasons of legitimacy

3. Negative aspects, e.g. desire for power,

rejection of volunteers

4. Internal cohesion but cultural lock-in

5. Unspecific character: Citizen or helper role