The Volunteer Policy
A volunteer policy covers your whole organisation. It is likely to be a collection of policies rather than a single statement, and will be supported by a number of procedures for people to follow.
Top tips for creating a volunteer policy:
- Design procedures to be simple and easy to follow
- First impressions matter - keep your language simple, clear, inclusive and friendly
- Try to keep it short – up to 4 sides of A4 should be plenty. If you have more than that – consider producing a volunteer handbook, which can be printed or digital
What it can cover:
- An introduction to your group and its mission, vision and/or objectives
- How you will involve volunteers in creating and reviewing the policy and in running the group as a whole
- How you will value and respect volunteers and the contribution they make to your group’s purpose
- A statement of your group's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
- How your employees (if any) and volunteers will work together
- How you will support your volunteers by providing recognition, personal development and satisfying work, alongside meeting any specific training needs
- How you will handle complaints or concerns raised by volunteers or by the organisation about a volunteer
- How you will manage the work of volunteers, for example, designing job roles and arranging rotas
- How you will manage health and safety (including risk assessments)
- How you will manage data protection and privacy/confidentiality
- How you will manage safeguarding vulnerable people
- How you will manage travel and other expenses
- What insurance cover is provided (and what is not included, for example, if volunteers are using their own car.)
There is likely to be additional information to support much of this (for example, more detail on how to claim expenses) which you can collate and publish in a volunteer handbook. Whether you plan to store this information online or send electronically, make sure that everyone can easily access the information.
If you need further support please contact our volunteer team.