Volunteering Victoria is the key referral and recruitment centre in the Greater Victoria region. Since 1974, the organisation has worked to improve the value of volunteering by providing leadership training for volunteers and not-for-profit groups.

The group connects over 16,500 volunteers to 350 non-profit agencies in Greater Victoria.

Volunteering Victoria has released their first annual Volunteering Manifesto.  Whether or not you live and work in Victoria, the manifesto flags issues that concern volunteers and NFPs around the country.

Their manifesto identifies eight key areas that need attention and improvement in order to maximize the beneficial effects that volunteering can have on the individual volunteers and community as a whole.  The Manifesto identifies these gaps in volunteer coverage and also contains a detailed plan to address these concerns with better management of volunteer resources.

One of the key areas that have been identified for improvement is the need to encourage and make better use of “spontaneous emergency volunteers.”  This is an especially timely recommendation since the parts of the country are prone to disasters caused by bushfires and floods.

As part of improving this key area, the group advocates the development of “a state wide system to register, communicate with and deploy volunteers in recovery and rebuilding efforts after disasters.”  Other key areas covered in the document include volunteer management, and youth and employee volunteering.

Volunteering has the power to transform communities and make them stronger, as well as offers several beneficial effects to the actual volunteers. By working to ensure that volunteering is encouraged across all segments of society, as well as volunteer resources properly managed and deployed, community needs can be met while encouraging personal, social and fiscal growth in the community.

To learn more about the eight critical areas that Volunteering Victoria has identified as needing improvement so that volunteering can thrive and grow in Greater Victoria, download the 2014 Volunteering Manifesto.