Volunteer Wellington

Resources for Community Organisations

This page contains links to information that is of use to Community Organisations.

Top Tips for Advertising a Volunteer Role

Writing an appealing volunteer advertisement is not as simple as it may seem at first.
The following tips may help you find the best volunteer for the role.

Top Tops for Involving Volunteers in your organisation

A resource compiled at the Volunteer Centre Network Aotearoa's 2018 Hui. Tips on developing role descriptions, involving youth and older volunteers, volunteer induction, appreciation and recognition and volunteer feedback.

Fact Sheet - Health and Safety

The primary piece of legislation that governs health and safety in New Zealand is the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). This fact sheet explains the health and safety duties of a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) that engages volunteers.

Membership Information Kit

Information on how your organisation can benefit from volunteers, appropriate training, resource and support

Guide For Managers Of Volunteers

Developing your Volunteer Programme - a guide for managers of volunteers. This highly recommended resource contains practical tips, tools and resources to help organisations develop their volunteer programmes.

Becoming Volunteer Ready

This fact sheet outlines what policies and processes your organisations will ideally have in place - to protect your organisation, and your team.

Matching Volunteers to Roles

The key to matching volunteers to roles is understanding the specific requirements of the role AND the volunteers motivation.

Finding the Right Volunteer

Finding the right volunteers for your organisation involves ensuring that you are getting an effective message, and the right message, to the right audience.

Fact Sheet - Volunteer Recruitment Pre-employment Checks

When recruiting volunteers, there are a range of checks you can undertake to ensure you are getting the right person for the role, the right person for your organisation, and the right person to work with your clients.

Reference Checking

When recruiting volunteers, reference checks are an important part of the process. These checks allow you to build a picture of the prospective volunteer and help to ensure that you are getting a good fit for your team.

Fact Sheet - Criminal Record Checks 2016

The purpose of vetting is to minimise the likelihood of the more vulnerable members of society (children, older people and those with special needs) being put at risk by individuals who may have displayed behaviour that could be detrimental to others' safety and wellbeing.

Engaging Volunteers with Disabilities

Volunteer teams benefit by being diverse and involving a wide range of volunteers, and this may include those with a disability or impairment. Whether you are considering involving a volunteer with an intellectual disability, sight or hearing impairment, someone recovering from an illness, or with a mobility issue etc, this resource contains some helpful considerations.

Volunteers Human Rights

The Human Rights Act uses an expanded definition of ‘employment’ that includes volunteers. This means that organisations that involve volunteers must make sure that their selection of volunteers is based on areas such as skills, experience and qualifications, rather than issues such as race, gender or disability.

Template - Writing a Position Description

This template is to assist you to in writing a volunteer role description. It contains a range of considerations, which may or may not be applicable in different situations.

Sample - Volunteer Agreement

A sample of a volunteer agreement that can be adapted for your organisation.

Fact Sheet - Reimbursement of Volunteer Expenses

Volunteer Wellington encourages community organisations to reimburse the actual expenses (e.g. travel expenses) of their volunteers - but be sure you have a policy in place and that you know the IRD rules regarding reimbursement.

Dealing with performance issues

Volunteer performance has an effect on the overall performance of your organisation. The longer issues are ignored the more ingrained they may become, and the greater the negative effect will be on your volunteers, organisation and clients. The sooner you deal with issues, the better for everyone.

Exiting a Volunteer

There are many reasons that your organisation may need to exit a volunteer. Perhaps they are no longer able to perform the role, cannot safely complete the required tasks, or are not aligned with the values or vision of the organisation. Exiting a volunteer is sometimes necessary, but not always an easy process.