Benchmarking report

BENCHMARKING REPORT PART I

VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS’ SKILLS NEEDS COMPILED AND EDITED BY UNIVERSITY OF HUMANITIES AND ECONOMICS IN LODZ UNDER THE PROJECT FUTUR3

Volunteer managers are in the vanguard of the new volunteering environment and potentially in piloting entirely new hybrids of how we deliver core social goods through a combination of private, public and third sector engagement.

They need a strategic framework, strong training and support and a secure mandate to work their magic and transform potential into gold1.

1

J. Saxton, T. Harrison, M. Guild, The New Alchemy How volunteering turns donations of time and talent into human gold, Synergy December 2014.

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO 1. Status quo scenario (constant change) 2. Loose communities scenario 3. Growing inequalities scenario 4. Technical scenario

3 5 5 6 8 10

CHAPTER 2. RESULT OF THE BENCHMARKING ANALYSIS 1. Benchmarking. Data analysis 1.1. Basic data. The scale of the sector and specific legal forms 1.2. People in organisations 1.3. The educational offer 1.4. Conclusions 2. The questionnaire result 3. Interviews with experts

12 13 14 19 24 31 31 44

CONCLUSIONS LIST OF TABLES REFERENCES

57 61 62

This report reflects the views only of the authors, and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2

Introduction This report is a result of a benchmarking analysis conducted in ten European countries (Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and the United Kingdom) between October 2015 and August 2016.

Benchmarking compares an organisation’s practices, processes and products against the world’s best2. Our analysis focuses on two issues: the structure of the third sector in the 10 countries, and volunteer coordinators’ perceptions of their skills needs.

Comparing current levels of performance to the highest standards, identifying who performs at spectacular levels helps set a standard towards which we can aspire3.

The process of benchmarking involves: - Finding best practice - Studying it in detail - Planning to exceed that performance Planned performance goes beyond the best practice, otherwise benchmarking is only mimicking.

Several different kinds of best practice standards are available for comparison: - Comparative standards, or comparing current performance to similar individuals or organisations (“Here is how we are going relative to our best competitors”) - - Goal standards, or comparing current performance to the publicly stated goals (“Here is how we are doing compared to the goals we have established”) - Improvement standards, or comparing current performance with improvements made in the past (“Here is how we are doing compared to our improvement trends of the past year”) 2

W. G. Nickles, J. M. McHugh, S. M. McHugh, Understanding Business, Tenth Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin, new York 2012, p. 221.

3 D. A. Whetten, K. S. Cameron, Developing Management Skills, Global Edition 2011. p. 574.

3

- Ideal standards, or comparing current performance with an idea or perfect standard (”Here is how we are doing relative to a zero defect standard”.)

- Stakeholder expectations, or comparing current performance with the expectations of customers, employees, or other stakeholders (“Here is how we are doing in meeting customer demands”) Which standard of comparison is most appropriate depends on what opportunities exist, which standard has the most legitimacy with organisation members and which standard is perceived to be reachable. The purpose or these comparisons is to highlight the opportunities available by finding a higher level of performance and showing the possibility of achieving it.

Identifying benchmark standard helps ensure that new information, new ideas and new perspectives will be improved, and that standards not considered possible before may become realistic.

The analysis has been prepared according to the following methodological assumptions: 1) Desk research type of analysis focused on several main points: organisational and human resources potential of the NGO sector, 2) An on-line questionnaire, 3) Interviews with experts, 4) A search for the best practices related to projects, activities supporting voluntary work and involvement of citizens in the work for social organisations.

In our study we wanted to answer two basic questions: 1) How will the development strategy of the NGO sector in Europe evolve?

2) What kind of competencies will be necessary for effective work with volunteers in future organisations?

The empirical reflections were based on theoretical assumptions about thirdsector development in contemporary Europe, which were contained in 4 development scenarios.

4

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS. In building a scenario model for this work, we consulted NGO employees and various global megatrend analyses. We ended up identifying four.4 1. Status quo scenario (adapting to constant change) Globalisation is considered the most important characteristic of our times5. It is understood as abstract and non-institutionalized political, social, economic, cultural and demographic processes independent from specific national territories, taking place in the supralocal zone. It can be analysed as the increasing density of international and global interactions in comparison with local or state relations6 (which are a result of trade liberalisation, internationalisation of production, capital and global consumption creating the world system), as a movement and the flow of people, technology, capital, entertainment and ideology (it includes the air, sea, rail and road, postal, telephone, television and IT transport systems), as the era of the cosmopolitan boundlessness in which the new "turbo capitalistic" 7 order is supposed to be based on the free market mechanisms and in the category of complexity or "the new physics", which aims to explain the relations in a world where everything has become fluent, changeable and unstable8, and state sovereignty has been replaced with a mobile power system.

Since the mid-1990s, we have been able to observe a real „flood” of NGOs. John Kean writes about the dynamic non-governmental system of related social-economic institutions, which covers the whole earth and whose effects are observed everywhere. These non-governmental institutions and actors 4

See e.g. http://www.sitra.fi/en/future/megatrends Guy Standing believes that the time of globalisation is over because of the financial crisis in 2008. Martin Albrow, who created the concept of Global Age proposes the thesis that the era of earth globalisation, „European millennium” or „European history of the world” is already finished and now entered a phase of epilogue. This means that there is no such place in the world where we could appear as the first, or you cannot comment on any topic without referring to the existing discourse. See: P. Sloterdijk, Kryształowy Pałac. O filozoficzną teorię globalizacji, Wyd. Krytyki Politycznej, Warszawa 2011, p. 194-195.

6 M. Castells, The Rise of Network Society, Blakwell, Oxford 2000, p. 440-453.

7 The term turbo-capitalism comes from Edward Luttwak. It is intensified form of capitalism, which aimed only at the economic profit. Turbo-Capitalism. Winners and Losers in the Global Economy, Harper Collins Publisher, New York1999, p. 141.

8 Z. Bauman, Liquid Modernity, Polity Press, Cambridge 2000.

5

5

have the tendency to the pluralization of power and the problematisation of violence, and as a consequence, the effects of their actions are peaceful and observed everywhere, far and near, in the local area and at the global level9.

They create a global civil society built from individuals, ventures and businesses, non-profit organisations, social movements, diverse communities, celebrities, intellectuals, think tanks, charities, lobby groups, protest movements, independent media, groups and websites, trade unions, employers' federations, international commissions, sports organisations, all creating a multi-level, closely related space.

2. Loose communities scenario Due to globalisation and the intensification of the processes of individualization, the situation for societies functioning in the framework of the nation state changed. In this case for Ulrich Beck, the author of The Risk Society10, collective identities no longer play such a great role, and institutions are directed towards the individual and not the group. Therefore, we are looking for new ways of active participation in society. Entities are constructed in an open, discursive process of interaction, and not as it was in the industrial society through work, which is also a condition of accessing democratic rights.

In the recent past in the western environment of institutionalised safety, there was a qualitative change in the perception of social order. Since the beginning every society has known the risk situations uniting them, but Beck divides the dangers into ones on which we do not have any influence and into controlled risks. In his opinion, premodern dangers were attributed to gods and demons, and the concept of risk is a contemporary thing because it is connected with human decisions. Since the 1970s we have moved towards a situation, which Beck describes as “the global risk society.”

According to Beck, the danger has “a power of destruction the same as war" and changes the shape of social inequalities because as far as poverty is hierarchical the democratic danger affects both poor and rich. We all have 9

J. Keane, Global Civil Society? Cambridge University Press, Cambrigde 2003, p. 8.

U. Beck, Społeczeństwo ryzyka. W drodze do innej nowoczesności, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, Warszawa 2002.

10

6

become members of "the global risk community” and our well-being is determined by fear. The value of security has displaced other values and has become a global consumer good that is publicly organised.

Anthony Giddens, the British sociologist, sees the global social sphere a little differently. According to him, we live in a time when the possibilities of changes have ended and we suffer because of their lack. Conservatism has become radical and radical socialism conservative. Social life has one thing in common, i.e. “the generated uncertainty.” And although life has always been risky, generated risk is the result of human intervention in the social life conditions and nature11.

Zygmunt Bauman has some concerns about the openness proposed by Giddens. Today society is associated with the negative effects of globalisation and whims of fate, a population weakened by the force which it is not able to understand, scared by its own vulnerability and falling into an obsession over sealing borders and the security of individuals living in it12. What is the most characteristic for the open society of our time is the fear caused by the uncertainty of the present and the future. This fear triggers a sense of helplessness. Its consequence is a growing “production of meaning and identity”: my community, my city, my neighbourhood, my street, my tenement, my environment, my room, my tree, etc. 13 Defenceless against the global storm, people want to be themselves, they become less able to make decisions. The only thing that local areas, more and more fragmentized, localised and more powerless against the versatility of global space of flows, can do is to block these flows, and thus lead to its marginalisation14. Richard Sennett15 sees in these processes the fall of the public man and the slow reduction of an urban public space. Unification and 11

A. Giddens, Poza lewica i prawicą. Przyszłość polityki radykalnej, Wyd. Zysk i S-ka, Poznań, brak roku wydania, p. 111- 113.

12 Z. Bauman, Płynne czasy. Życie w epoce niepewności, Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warszawa 2007., p. 15-16.

13 M. Castells, The power of Identity, Blackwell 1997, p. 61.

14 M. Castells, Grassrooting the space of flows w: J. O. Wheeler, Y. Aoyama, B. Warf (red). Cities in the Telecomunication Age. The Fracturing of geographies, Routledge 2000, p. 20.

15 R. Sennett, Something in the city: The spectre of uselessness and the search for a place in the world, „Times Literary Supplement”, 22 09. 1995, p. 13.

7

functionality of the city area make it more readable and logical but are also connected with the disintegration of social ties and local networks.

Societies deprived of diversity are characterised by distrust in relations with other people, intolerance, reluctance to "others" and an obsessive devotion to "law and order" which enhance class, ethnic and racial divisions. In this type of society, identity is based on the illusory sense of equality and being similar. In the past, cities were created to ensure the safety of citizens against an external enemy; today they are associated with the fear of an internal enemy. That is why there are strategies of avoidance and separation16, also within classes, manifested in building closed, guarded neighbourhoods, city structure drainage towards suburbs and shopping centres, or creating enclaves of poverty.

Now a nomad is a figure living in these areas. The idea of nomadism is taken from the experience of real nomadic people but it also refers to a critical consciousness that is opposed to closure within the socially coded ways of thinking and behaviour17. For Gilles Deleuze, being a nomad involves crossing the borders, which is why the nomadic consciousness is a kind of political resistance against hegemony. Ajrun Appadurai describes the phenomenon of deterritorialisation of cultures, which is manifested by the creation of new diasporas and ethno-landscapes18 - people living in the changing world around them: tourists, migrants, asylum seekers, deportees, seasonal workers and other moving groups and individuals forming an important dimension of the present and influencing international politics. Rooted territorial human communities are now less stable and increasingly filled with variables and diverse ethno-landscape of foreign populations.

3. Growing inequalities scenario In the nineteenth century, industrial capitalism began to develop at a truly dizzying pace and the dissimilarities and inequalities between the owners of 16

Z. Bauman, Globalizacja, PWN, Warszawa 2000, p. 57-59.

R. Braidotti, Podmioty nomadyczne. Ucieleśnienie i różnica seksualna w feminizmie współczesnym, Wyd. Akademickie i Profesjonalne, Warszawa 2009, p. 28.

18 A. Appadurai, Nowoczesność bez granic. Kulturowe wymiary globalizacji, Uniwersitas, Kraków 2005, p. 4966.

17

8

the capital and all the others grew as well. However, the revolutions of the twentieth century brought the introduction of social security systems and pensions, the legalisation of trade unions and the right to protest as well as the introduction of personal income tax19. Today we witness a situation similar to the one from a century ago. Pierre Rosnavallon suggests that it happened because institutions of social solidarity undergo a crisis: their efficiency has decreased and a stigmatisation of their recipients has appeared.

It is associated with the development of globalised capitalism and the individualization of society20.

Guy Standing, the British sociologist, believes that the era of globalisation (1975-2008) was a time in which the economy destroyed the ties with society as the financiers and neoliberal economists wanted to create a global market economy based on competitiveness and individualism. The submission to the rules of the market led to the creation of a global production system based on a network of businesses and flexible work practices. Economic growth was the aim. “Commodification" was its effect, i.e. to treat everything as a commodity for purchase and sale21.

The expectation that states should increase the flexibility of the labour market very quickly became a justification for the transfer of risk to workers and their families- that is the process of re-commodification of labour. Its outcome was the creation of a global precariat consisting of many millions of people around the globe, deprived of a stable point of reference, meaning permanent employment. Under the concept of the precariat, we understand the neologism that combines the adjective "uncertain" (precarious) with associated noun “proletariat� (proletariat). Certainly, the precariat is now a class in the process of making. It was created because a new division appeared in the place of former social classes. At the top of it, there is the "elite", which consists of a small number of global wealthy citizens.

19

In 1913 almost 53% of the national wealth of France belonged to the 1% of the population. In 1984 to up to 20%. In the USA in 1929 almost 10% of the wealthiest controlled 50% of the assets and in the 50s less than 35%. In Sweden, the level of the wealthiest controlling the national economic assets decreased from 46 to 23% from the beginning of the century to 80s.

20 Z. Bauman, Globalizacja, op. cit., p. 88- 91.

21 G. Standing, Precariat. The new dangerous class, Policy Network 2011.

9

Below them, there are „wage-earners” employed full-time and located in corporations, government agencies and public administration. At the same level, there is a group of "experts” (proficians). This concept combines the traditional idea of “a professional” and “a technician” that obtain high earnings on contracts as consultants and by working as self-employed. Below "experts" there is a shrinking group of manual workers, in the past called "working class". Under these groups, next to the unemployed and those living on the margins of society, there is a growing precariat.

The precariat is experiencing anger, anomie, anxiety and alienation. Their frustration appears not only because the representatives of a new class "are tempted" by the whole life in a flexible work (with all its dangers) but also because these positions do not allow you to build a relationship based on mutual trust, developed in a traditional and meaningful structures or networks. The precariat doesn't have also any possibilities of social mobility which results in the lack of commitment. Experiencing unemployment is also a part of living in the precariat.

4. Technical scenario Marshal McLuhan22, the Canadian communication theorist, was among the first to note that due to the new technology, the world has shrunk to the size of “the global village.” the spread of television has created “a new galaxy of communication”- the mass media system. In the 1980s, there was a further transformation of the media, and cultural products have become easy to move. With the development of the internet its consumers have become both content creators and builders of the network. This network (World Wide Web) enabled the grouping of the projects and interests and in this way created individualised interactive communication23.

The Internet is a message- that is how Manuel Castells titles one of the chapters of The Internet Galaxy. The rapid spread of the Internet took place around 1995 when the World Wide Web first became really accessible. There 22

M. McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (1962) and Understanding Media (1964).

23 B. Wellman, M. Gulia, Netsurfers don’t ride alone: virtual communities as communities w: B. Wellman red.Networks in Global Village, Boulder, CO Westiev Press 1999, p. 355

10

were approximately sixteen millions of computer network users in the world then. In 2001 there were more than four hundred millions, in 2005 a billion, in 2010 two billions24. Human actions are based on communication and the Internet changes our way of communication, so it has an impact on our lives, just as we affect it and its development by how we use it, creating a new kind of contacts - a socio-technical one.

24

M. Castels, Galaktyka Internetu. Refleksje nad Internetem, biznesem i społeczeństwem, Rebis, Poznań 2003, p. 13.

11

CHAPTER 2. RESULTS OF THE BENCHMARKING ANALYSIS Analyses were carried out according to the principles of scientific methodology; however, the results are not representative.

As it is with most international studies, data standardisation problems may occur, and thus there might be a problem with the generalisation of our conclusions. However, as this is a benchmarking report, this is understandable.

1) The legal inconsistency of NGO entities in different European countries, e.g.: churches and religious communities are in the same categories in Bulgaria, while in many other countries they are treated as separate legal entities, unless they have registered non-profit entities operating in accordance with the general rules; the same doubts appear in the global sectoral comparisons conducted in projects like The Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project (JHU CNP), 2) Different ways of defining the level of participation and formalization of NGO entities, which in some countries are recognized only by a formal membership, while in other countries occasional actions on a voluntary basis are taken into consideration as well; an example of this kind of phenomenon are entities called “unrecognized associations� in the Italian system which are entities engaging citizens in an occasional but at the same time the most common way (in Italy there are 141,000 of such entities in comparison with 68,000 of formalized entities), 3) It is extremely difficult to define standardised categories describing areas of NGOs activities; this is due to two reasons: 1) the flexible criteria for the delimitation of areas of NGOs activity are applied, 2) there are organisations which at the same time deal with several areas of activity in the public sphere,

12

4) You cannot forget about the problem connected with the correctness of data used in statistical comparisons (very often statistics are old or are not verified e.g., in Poland the KRS registry is a “registry of birth”, there is no legal obligation to close business activity of associations and foundations); statistical data are also extremely difficult to standardize because of the diversity of definition. International studies in this field are conducted relatively rarely, and because of that, the comparison in the project FUTUR3 is gaining importance.

Due to such dilemmas relating to the collected data, the report relies also on information collected in “The third sector in Poland and EU- sources of acquiring data and the methodology of comparing the NGO sector in Poland and the EU in the context of the implementation of the Cohesion Policy in the financial perspective 2007-2013” report25.

1. Benchmarking. Data analysis.

The first phase of the research was based on data collected by the partner countries in the project. In the process of desk research about local information, which was based on a very wide variety of sources as information is scattered, on the third sector we focus on: 1) General information about third sector in our countries: number of active organisations, number of active organisations sorted by their categories (associations, foundations, professional organisations, faith-based social organisations) 2) Information about the existing skill base in the third sector:, the area of mission-related activity: voluntary work (the number of volunteers) compared with paid work, forms of employment in the third sector (permanent employment or temporary employment)

25

Stowarzyszenie Klon-Jawor 2014, Ekspertyza powstała na zamówienie Departamentu Pożytku Publicznego MPiPS.

13

3) Information about skills needed in the third sector: skills required of an NGO26 - local contexts, local databases, existing educational proposals (courses, university degrees etc.)

1.1 Basic data. The scale of the sector and specific legal forms.

Making a comparison of basic data illustrating the strength of the third sector in the partner countries, we need to pay attention to the different legal approaches to non-governmental actors. In most of the partner countries, two main legal forms dominate: foundations and associations. However, in many countries non- profit sector includes organisations with special status.

In Hungary, the legal definition of non-profit organisations includes: foundations, public foundations, public benefit companies, non-profit enterprises, public law associations, voluntary mutual insurance funds and social organisations, the functioning of which is regulated by the law on associations.

The Italian Civil Code from 1942 distinguishes the following legal forms of non-governmental organisations: associations (associazioni), foundations (fondazioni), cooperatives (cooperative sociali). The other acts introduced non-governmental organisations (associations and foundations), voluntary organisations, social enterprises and cooperatives.

In Poland, Romania and Latvia the law distinguishes two basic legal forms: associations and foundations, which by meeting certain criteria may acquire the status of public benefit organisation. Church organisations and religious communities are excluded from the sectoral indexes unless they are registered according to a chosen legal form.

In Bulgaria the system is slightly different as religious organisations are a part of the non-government sector and more than a half of them have a large organisation charter (over 100 members).

26

Global Development Research Centre, Skills required of an NGO http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/ngo-skills.html

14

A special legal status can be found in the UK as well. The charity status entitles you to apply for a grant for the realisation of public tasks but obliges you to annual reporting. In studies connected with organisations such as charities it is rarely taken into account what type of legal form it represents (as the charity status applies to legal entities like trusts, Unincorporated Associations (unregistered association), Companies limited by guarantee (CLG) and Industrial and Provident Societies), or its origin- private or clerical. At the same time, a number of researchers try to reach another type of registered organisations, which do not have a charity status, as well as unregistered organisations, by as they admit it is a difficult task.

Because of the diverse nature of these entities for further analysis we focused only on two legal forms, however, it can happen that the real picture of social participation can be distorted by not taking into consideration the national specifics (e.g. Italy).

Figure 1. Foundations and associations in partner countries.

In the quantitative context, a decisive advantage can be found in the number of formal non-governmental bodies observed in Italy, the UK and Finland.

Such an order of ranking is not surprising in the case of the first two countries, because of the number of citizens in those countries (over 50 millions). At the 15

same time, Turkey came relatively low with around 75 million of inhabitants.

However, in the case of Turkey, we can expect different, more traditional forms of civic activities. It seems that a hypothesis about the influence of a country’s political system on the formation and development of civil society and its actors can be placed here. Undeniably, civil society organisations can function efficiently only within a democratic system, where as a part of an open public sphere they are a sign of civic freedoms and a sign of public opinion functioning autonomously of the current government. So, the older democracies are the more developed and efficient non-governmental organisations we can observe in them.

Italy's low position in this ranking is connected with omitting in the following table "unrecognised" associations and social cooperatives. These two forms of organising social activities have a huge impact on the state of Italian civil society and the economy. In Italy, there are 141,000 unrecognised associations and 4,500 of social cooperatives. Just to compare, in 2014 there were 61,000 recognised associations and 3,000 foundations. These two types of organisations, not included in the table above, represent one of the most important employers in the NGO sector in Italy. According to the report "Conditions for development of the social economy in Italy", employment in unrecognised associations is around 16,000, in cooperatives 5,000, and in associations and foundations, the employment level does not exceed 12,000.

As we can see, these special legal forms of the NGO sector in Italy are one of the most important actors activating citizens27.

The level of indicators in Finland is a definite phenomenon in the context of the level of formalisation of non-governmental entities. This was confirmed in an attempt to standardise the data. Using the conversion of the number of non-governmental entities for every 10,000 residents allows to identify the leaders among our partners which include: Finland (248 organisations for 10,000 inhabitants), Hungary (65,6 organisations for 10,000 citizens), Latvia with the index of 53 organisations for 10,000 residents and Romania (46 organisations for 10,000 citizens). This indicator of organising non-

27

Ch.Meneghetti, S.D’aulerio, Warunki rozwoju ekonomii społecznej we Włoszech, SEFEA 2008; p.17.

16

governmental sector in other countries received a value below 20, and the lowest formalised civic activity was recorded in Turkey (ratio value- 14.3).

Figure 2. Number of NGOs per 10,000 residents.

On the one hand, the high level of social commitment in Finland is not newthe Nordic countries belong to the group of countries with the highest indicators of almost all signs of civil society (e.g. the level of volunteerism, social trust, voter turnout, the importance of local governments etc.)

The development of non-governmental organisations is closely correlated with social, political, cultural and even religious determinants. Apart from the aforementioned context, it is also difficult to easily interpret presented data in a historical perspective. While preparing a comparative analysis of this phenomenon, it is important to remember about the whole range of sociopolitical situations and culture in which it is manifested, and not to forget the historical and traditional dimension. Consequently, these factors may contribute to the diversity of NGOs in the European Union and their functioning.

Finally, it can be said that the Nordic model of civic culture is an out of reach pattern of civil society for many countries in Europe. In countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway, social activity is seen as a pleasure that comes from working with people and from work for their community. On the other hand, 17

noticeable successes in the civic sphere intensify scientific investigations in the field of efficiency of such models of society. During the analysis of the role of the non-governmental sector in the public system, the remarkable performance of civic commitment is observed. According to research undertaken by the University of Helsinki for the Sivis Study Centre28, very high parameters of development of III sector are justified by economic factors: 1 euro spent on voluntary work generates an income of 6 euro in social returns.

It is extremely difficult to generalise in terms of the main areas of NGOs work in the partner countries. The traditionally understood concept of civil society indicates the concentration of activities in the field of self-help, social support and education. In the context of collected data, we can say that the main area of non-profit organisation activities is sport and hobbies, as was noted in the case of 5 countries. However, it can be related to the legal resolutions of sports activities, organised e.g. in public places (schools), as it is in Poland, where student sports clubs are almost a natural match to the public infrastructure.

The main areas of activities per country: • Bulgaria - social services 21%, education and research14% • Finland - culture 24 %, sport 19,4 % • Hungary – recreation 29 %, development 20%, advocacy 20% • Latvia - sport, recreation 20%, charity 20% • Poland - sport, recreation, hobby 34%, education 15% • Portugal: Social services and emergency and rescue services 20,9 %, local development, training and employment 14 % • UK- education, upbringing 51%, services to the general public 37% • Romania – education 21,7 % sport and recreation 14% • Italy – sport and recreation 59%, social services 11%, health 8%.

28

http://www.helsinki.fi/ruralia/julkaisut/pdf/Raportteja70.pdf

18

1.2 People in organisations.

During the desk research, we tried to get to the information, studies and characteristic of a specific group of employers: managers or coordinators of voluntary work. This aim resulted from the basic assumptions of the FUTUR3 project, which are oriented around the professionalisation of NGO sector activities in the field of working with volunteers. The empirical part of the project works to determine the training needs of professionals who work directly with volunteers in their organisations. Unfortunately, in terms of such research objectives, you cannot establish international conclusions. The nature of research is different in every country. The differences are connected with analysed topics and completeness of the research. Therefore, our observations are fragmentary, but sufficient for a benchmarking study.

In this report, we present data describing the level of volunteering in the various partner countries and selected problems of employers in organisations, including the motivation for social activity and their training preferences.

Volunteering is an important indicator of the vitality of civil society. Its level in the partner countries is presented in Figure 3.

19

Figure 3. The percentage of adult volunteers in the partner countries.

The highest level of volunteering was found in Finland and the UK, which confirms a particularly good condition of NGO sector in these countries.

However, the high level of this indicator in Bulgaria and Poland seems really interesting. In the case of Poland, it is worth to mention about the mass voluntary actions carried out under the WOĹšP Foundation, which involves in its activities over 200,000 volunteers every year. Annual money collection for this organisation has become a common custom. In Bulgaria, a high index of volunteering can be explained by the legal definition of the third sector organisation, which includes organisations with a religious profile.

As a result of a deeper analysis of volunteerism in this country, it can be also said that it is the domain of women, aged 30-50 (40% of volunteers in Bulgaria) and with a higher level of education (56% of volunteers). In the case of Bulgaria, we can also talk about the numerous groups of volunteers acting on behalf of a single organisation: 27% of organisations work with more than 20 volunteers, 17% use between 11 and 20 volunteers29.

29

Study on the practices in the governance of NPOs in Bulgaria (2005).

20

In the context of the profile and the level of volunteering in the partner countries, it is important to notice the regularity recorded in the study conducted in Portugal. Registered and formal volunteering dominates among young people, the unemployed, the well-educated and single individuals.

Older volunteers that have higher education, are unemployed, in separation or divorced tend to participate in informal volunteering. This conclusion seems natural. For young people, who gain experience in bigger cities, the work experience or formal membership in a NGO is a way of developing professional qualifications. Older people work for non-governmental organisations on a voluntary and informal basis. During their work for these organisations they share their experience and perhaps treat this activity as a form of spending their free time.

In Italy, there is also a specific situation. For typical non-governmental sector legal forms (associations and foundations), voluntary work is defined at the level of 52,000 individuals (about 12,000 employees). However, if you count all the citizens' involvement in all third-sector forms of activity, the level of participation will increase to 178,000 volunteers and 33,000 full-time employees. The unique concertation of these indicators was recorded in: - unacknowledged associations: 115 thousand volunteers (in recognized association around 50 thousands), - social cooperatives - 30 thousand volunteers and 210 thousand employees; increase of volunteering and women’s employment (in 2005 16 thousand women and 15 thousand men engage in voluntary work; employed women - 156 thousands and employed men - 55 thousands).

In most of the countries, we have observed the high educational attainment of people working in civil society organisations as employees or volunteers, as most of them hold a higher education degree. In Turkey, 43% of volunteers have at least a bachelor’s degree; 36,3% of them have a high-school diploma, and 20,7% have finished primary or secondary school. Based on this information and evidence from other countries, it can be said that people working in voluntary organisations mostly consists of educated people30. The 30

M. Yegen, E. F. Keyman, M. A. Caliskan, U. U. Tol, Türkiye’de Gönüllü Kuruluşlarda Sivil Toplum Kültürü

21

United Kingdom is one of the countries where the monitoring of employees and volunteers is relatively well developed. Reports collected each year from organisations such as charities, which work thanks to public funds, allow observations of human competence resources in the NGO sector. In the official data, you can find the following conclusions: the level of education of human resources in NGOs is higher than in the private sector.

According to the UK-based National Council of Voluntary organisations (NCVO), in 2015 36 % of the workforce in the private sector had a university or other higher education degree or qualification, whereas in the voluntary sector the proportion was 58 %, which was close to the 62-per cent share of employers with a higher education qualification in the public sector.31 The fundamental difference is in the form of involvement in work in the NGO sector. In most of the countries, there are similar dependencies: NGO organisations base their activity on unpaid work. In Turkey 57% of voluntary organisations do not have any paid staff, and only 32,8% paid for work. 85% of the voluntary organisations that have salaried employees acknowledge that their salaried employees find their capacities insufficient, and 71% of the volunteer organisations having employees working with volunteers find their capacity insufficient in this field. 61,7% of paid employees work in services; 14,4% of them work in administration; 6,9% of them work in accounting, and only 14,2% of them are specialists. In Poland, only 35% of organisations declare employment on the basis of a permanent contract, another 20% employ workers occasionally on the basis of civil contracts. Unique observations were noted in Hungary: full- time employment in 2010 declared 67% of organisations, part- time- 27%.

Finally, the following tendencies should be mentioned: -NGO staff holds a high level of education, -employment under a permanent contract is relatively rare, only in Hungary, a high percentage of paid involvement in work in the organisation was recorded- 67% of organisations, http://tr.yada.org.tr/pdf/d74fb3e0cab68964840d915cbb98432f.pdf https://data.ncvo.org.uk/a/almanac16/workforce-2/#Employee_profile

31

22

-a higher level of involvement of volunteers in the work of NGOs recorded in Finland and the UK is associated with relatively well-developed system of cooperation with the public sector, which manifests itself e.g. by subsidising the activities of the NGO sector from public funds, - motivations of involvement in the form of voluntary work depend on the age of the participant, as for young people it is associated with professional motivations, but for mature people motivation of co-participation in the community appears.

The last issue connected with the desk research referred to the initial assessment of the training needs of people working in the NGO sector, which appears in the national survey conclusions. The order of indications differed in some of the partner countries. In Bulgaria, employees in the NGO sector needed training in teamwork, relations with the public, media and other institutions, project work, local fundraising and campaigning and research on the needs of vulnerable groups. These needs can be described as necessary qualifications in terms of the traditional work of local organisation functioning on a project basis. The need for training looks slightly different among Finnish employees and activists who see their special need for education in the field of social media and electronic communications and as some organisations plan for mergers and due to growing complexity, there is a need for new kinds of management and financial specialists. Other training needs relate to networks and ”lobbying” skills and commitment for volunteering.

In the UK, the three basic areas that can strengthen the activity of NGOs are: 1) mobilising  Share the vision  Identify a range of roles  Make the “big ask” 2) managing  Induction and training  Team building  Supervision  Administration 3) maintaining 23

   

Realistic expectations Effective communication Celebration Relationships with stakeholders

In the UK the training needs are concentrated around the universal tasks, connected with the organisation and people management. In all countries, however, there are needs connected with communication skills and the effective involvement of volunteers. The needs to develop technological skills that appear in many studies seem to be an important conclusion, especially that NGO sector in the Nordic countries seems to be a model for other nations. At the same time, we must remember that young volunteers are particularly interested in the modern forms of communication and promotion.

Globalisation and social media do not have boundaries and are in the life of youth in all the partner countries.

In the context of such training needs of employees and members in many organisations, we wanted to look closely at the educational offers in the partner countries trying to determinate whether they are a part of the formal education or are they a part of market or non-governmental offer.

1.3 The educational offer In most of the partner countries, education addressed to the NGO sector is informal in character: it is non-governmental or private. It is not included in formal education, and if we find such educational offers, they usually relate to education at the postgraduate level. This type of education is voluntary and educational offers for specialists in non-governmental organisations are not so common. This is mainly due to the fact that the profile of education does not determine the employment in an association or foundation. It seems that the path to higher competencies among NGO sector workers in most of the partner countries looks as follows: decisions on the choice of further education connected with the development of the sector result from earlier employment in third sector, and gaining professional skills is connected with a wide range of informal training. The inclusion of education 24

of professional staff of NGOs in the formal educational system is recorded in our data only in Finland, the UK and Turkey. In all these countries alongside the public education system, the forms of non-formal education are developing. There may be other educational offers available in all the partner countries, also on the formal level, but these were not discovered through our desk research.

In Finland the education offer is mostly in non-formal education, but there is an interesting educational solution of outsourcing tasks by public institutions in the field of formal education to selected NGOs. In a few cases higher education and other institutions accept and accredit courses that have been taken at study centres (non-formal adult education providers focusing on the voluntary sector) or professional organisations or even NGOs. These courses are added into the ETCS system and have the same importance as other noncompulsory courses taken during the education process. Study centres, adult education centres and others also give courses on NGO/volunteering issues. In addition, there is no one educational path, but some institutions like Universities of Applied Science (former polytechnics) offer a degree programme (bachelor’s level EQF6) in Civic activity and youth work. The biggest provider in this area is the Humanities UAS HUMAK, which has 5 campuses. Many graduates work as volunteer managers etc. It is also possible to take a professionally oriented master’s degree in the field. UAS bachelor’s graduates from social work etc. programmes also often work in the third sector. There is also a vocational qualification on youth work and leisure activities, where one specialisation is civic activity (EQF4). There is a specialist vocational qualification (NQF5) on NGO management, often completed by people with HE degrees.

At university level in Finland, there is one master’s programme (EQF7) offered by the University of Jyväskylä. The Master’s degree in Civil Society is based on university education, mostly in research of civil society, but dissertations are often done in cooperation with NGOs. In the UK there are some institutions that offer courses on the postgraduate level and they are a channel for managers with three or more years of 25

management experience. For instance, The Cass Business School London offers courses directly for people working in charity organisations, for example in NGO Management. This course is focus on the specific needs of the staff, trustees and volunteers working in international NGOs - particularly those whose activities are focused on working with the poor and vulnerable in the developing world. It is aimed at those currently working in the sector, but also at people exploring a career shift into the international development sector and consultants looking to develop their expertise in the NGO sector.

The course focuses on the rapidly evolving context of international development. It explores the implication for NGOs of such trends as the changing role of civil society, altering aid flows, increased funding for humanitarian and security work, shifting North-South relations, the impact of new digital technologies, the moves to greater collaboration and the increasing influence of the private sector in the development process. Other training: Voluntary Sector Management provide an advanced route for management and leadership development within the voluntary and community sector to encourage career development and higher standards of effectiveness amongst senior managers in the sector. The programme was developed in partnership with nine leading charities. It is aimed at those currently working in the sector.32 We can find another example of an educational offer directed for NGO managers in the UK in the Institute of Leadership and Management. They offered training in the Management of Volunteers (Level 3 and 5). ILM works with more than 350 Further Education and Higher Education colleges across the UK. They work with a global network of 2,500 expert training providers, employers and academic institutions. This qualification prepares people who want work as a manager in the third sector, or are a practicing managers and want to improve their performance to gain a solid foundation in the specific set of skills they need to manage volunteers. This qualification includes units focusing on: management issues specific to volunteers, including promoting volunteering in organisations, working with people, building relationships and

32

https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/masters/charity-courses/voluntary-sector-management

26

managing performance, fundamental competencies and getting results, from problem – solving to planning and monitoring workloads.33 Spreading knowledge about the third sector in the UK is a task of National Council for Voluntary Organisations, which is a platform of the voluntary sector. The NCVO supports voluntary organisations by connecting and representing them. They represent the voluntary sector and volunteering towards the government through research used to demonstrate the value of civil society and to help influence policy-makers. Supporting voluntary organisations is done by generating and identifying knowledge and expertise.

NCVO has a diverse community of over 12,000 member organisations – a third of the voluntary sector workforce in England. They help them by providing expert support and advice and by keeping them up to date with the news that affects them. One of their activities is an online portal that publishes research publications and good practice banks.34 In Turkey we have found many examples of training and programmes directed for NGO managers.

While a number of recent training programmes in Turkey have been launched to provide training and support, demand still outweighs the supply. In addition, training tends to be focused on new or emerging organisations, leaving more experienced NGOs without support on how to advance their organisations to the next level. Finally, a lack of resources and organisational management skills limits NGOs’ ability to recruit and compensate professional staff, resulting in a conundrum of limitations with skills and capacity.

The trainings in Turkey can be divided into two main sections, which are General Capacity Building Training and Needs-Based Training. General Capacity Building Training courses consist of training and business visits held in thematic areas. Needs-Based Training is particularly designed for the needs and problems of professionals working at NGOs.

33

https://www.i-l-m.com/Learning-and-Development/management/volunteer-management/8309-level-3management-of-volunteers 34 https://www.ncvo.org.uk/about-us

27

1. Academic Training Programmes for NGOs  Fatih University, Non-Governmental Organisations, Master’s Degree Programme The Institute of Social Sciences at Fatih University includes a non-thesis program on Non-Governmental Organisations. Within this programme, NGOs are supposed to work effectively, efficiently and in the most appropriate way to be a national and international actor, to be successful in competition with Europe and the world, and to work professionally with an amateur spirit.  İstanbul University, NGOs and Social Responsibility, Master’s Degree Programme (STK vSosyal Sorumluluk Tezsiz Yüksek Lisans Programı) The aim of this programme is to meet the requirements of NGOs related to qualified staff/administrators, and to train professionals who will conduct corporate social responsibility projects.

In addition, the target group of this programme will be the employees who work in national or international NGOs or at public relations / customer relations/ corporate social responsibility projects departments at public and private institutions, the leaders of political parties and pressure groups, and the managers of project management units at public bodies (such as development agencies, ministries, governorships, municipalities).  İstanbul Bilgi University, Social Projects and Management of NonGovernmental Organisations, Master’s Degree Programme İstanbul Bilgi University has tried to address the needs of the civil society field since 2003 by publications, certificate programmes and field studies. Starting from 2014-2015 term, this graduate (MA) programme will set out to address the need for professionally trained staff in NGOs, as well as to conduct high quality academic studies in this field. Students can prefer to focus on 'Civil Society Studies' or 'NGO Management' for their thesis and elective courses.

28

 Marmara University, Social Projects Organisation, Master’s Degree Programme

Management

and

This program admitted its first students during the academic year 20102011. The essential aim of this programme is to train the experts that NGOs need; in addition, the programme also aims to equip these experts with the ability of conducting scientific research about NGOs. However, the target group is not limited with the NGOs but also governmental institutions and companies since they collaborate with NGOs.

Apart from some of these academic education provided by universities, there are also research units, and local and national projects about volunteer organisations, training programmes, and certification programmes. Some of them are as follows: 1.1.

Bilim Pharmaceuticals Community Volunteers On its website, Bilim Pharmaceuticals states that “The Bilim Pharmaceuticals Community Volunteers platform was established in 2005 in order to place our approach to social responsibility at the heart of our corporate culture. We know that social responsibility transforms into a corporate living value only if it becomes a part of the corporate culture. Such transformation is possible only if our employees improve their social sensitivity on a platform of volunteering and popularize volunteering among all of our stakeholders and the community.

1.2.

GSM - Youth Services Centre GSM - Youth Services Centre was established in 1985 in Ankara, in order to contribute to the personal, social and cultural development of the young and to support their active participation in social and economic life. They cooperate with public institutions, international organisations, NGOs and private sector organisations aiming at contributing to youth and youth policy development.

29

1.3. İlim Kültür Eğitim Derneği, STK Yöneticileri Eğitim Programı (Training Programme for NGO Managers) In order to bolster up the qualified human resources in NGOs, İlim Kültür Eğitim Derneği (İLKE) organizes a training programme for NGO managers. This training programme, provided by experts in this field, aims to improve the knowledge and skills of NGO managers related to management, organisational systems and management skills.

Employees who actively work in any NGO in management positions can attend this programme.

1.4. İstanbul Bilgi University, NGO Training and Research Unit In March 2003, in order to respond to problems and needs on institutional capacity of the volunteer organisations and to contribute their solutions, İstanbul Bilgi University constituted NGO Training and Research Unit by institutionalizing their supports towards civil society since its establishment. The Unit, which is established within a university in Turkey for the first time, aims to contribute to solving problems related to active working of NGOs strengthening the roles of NGOs in a pluralistic democracy.

1.5.

TÜSEV, Civil Society Monitoring Project TÜSEV (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey) was established in 1993 by Turkey's leading civil society organisations and has now grown to support network of over 100 associations and foundations that share a vision of strengthening the legal, fiscal and operations infrastructure of the third sector in Turkey. Among TUSEV's main objectives are nonprofit law reform, research on civil society and philanthropy, promoting social investment and social justice philanthropy, and facilitating partnerships across sectors, as well as across borders.35

35

http://www.tusev.org.tr/en/research-and-publications/civil-society-monitoring-project

30

1.4 Conclusions.

To sum up, results presented here, we can draw the following conclusions: • More of volunteers are women in Bulgaria, UK, Finland, Portugal and Hungary, • In Italy volunteers are mainly men between 30 and 54 years old, • Generally, volunteers are young people – under 26 years old, well educated, well-to-do, living in cities.

• Specific non-governmental entities engaging volunteers in Italy are social cooperatives; • The NGO staff are people with a high level of education, looking for new opportunities to strengthen their competencies, • The development of skills and education usually has an informal character: inclusion of the development of the NGO sector in the educational system was observed in our data only in Finland, the UK and Turkey, • The motivation to participate, most often mentioned in national surveys, focus on the acquisition of project management skills, psychological communication within community, group, • In national surveys, the most often mentioned training needs in NGOs are connected with team work, technical skills and fundraising and campaigning in local communities.

2. Questionnaire results The next part of the empirical analysis was carried out by an online questionnaire. The basis for the creation of questions was taken from the conclusions of our preliminary national analysis and from the theoretical assumptions of the FUTUR3 project (development scenarios). The survey was prepared for the final project beneficiaries of the FUTUR3 project coordinators working directly with volunteers. The basic aim of the survey was to determine the hierarchy of skills and abilities that seem important to 31

specialists in the context of the development of the NGO sector in the future.

The list of qualifications, subject to the evaluation of the respondents was established on the basis of a preliminary understanding of the subject and was systematised in terms of the four scenarios. The research conducted in 10 partner countries is not representative but shows the following characteristics: the nature of the profession of a coordinator who cooperates with volunteers, some expected developments in the NGO sector and the training needs of professionals.

During the research 485 statements were collected, and they meet two objectives: they present the tasks connected with working with volunteers and they help to identify training trends preferred by professionals.

In most of the partner countries, women were the main respondents. Only in the case of Turkey, the gender distribution was almost even. This can result from the specifics of the coordinator profession. It is a job that involves frequent contact with young people, requires empathy and sensitivity. In most of the cultures, these features are rather associated with women, so they usually take this type of task.

Figure 4. The gender of surveyed respondents.

Gender 80,00% 70,00% 60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00% female

male

32

Our data are insufficient for broader conclusions also in the case of analysis of the respondents’ age. The age range of respondents in all countries was wide.

Generally, it can be said that the youngest respondents were in Romania (25% of respondents were people under 20 years) and the oldest participants filled questionnaires in Finland where 40% of respondents were over 50 years old.

However, there is a pattern in answers for the question about the level of education. 78% of our respondents mentioned a higher level of education.

This confirms the previously reported trend demonstrating the enormous potential of human resources of the NGO sector. The educational profile of our respondents was extremely diverse, but you can point to the following regularities: among coordinators working with volunteers, we can find specialists in social sciences, economics and science, medical and legal fields.

Generally, we can say that people with training in humanities dominate and the prevailing courses of education are: psychology, economics and marketing. The other predominant field are social sciences: sociology, social communication, ethnology, cultural studies.

Figure 5. The level of education of the respondents.

Level of education % 90,00% 80,00% 70,00% 60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00%

primary education

secondary education

higher education

Another common feature of the professional experience of our respondents was more than three years of organisational experience. In our research, we stated the thesis about the fast rotation in non-governmental sector due to 33

the instability of employment (rare cases of full-time employment on contracts) and common belief about the weakness of the NGO sector.

Meanwhile, it seems that the period of professional engagement in the nonprofit organisation work should start from a 3-year period of cooperation.

Figure 6. Duration of work for the organisation.

How long have you been working with volunteers? % 70,00%

60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00% not longer than 1 year

1-2 years

2-3 years

longer than 3 years

In most of the studied organisations, the lead areas of activities connected with the NGO were as follows: education and research, social services, emergency and rescue services, culture and arts. The interesting thing is that sport and hobby related organisations, which are common in many of the partner countries, seem to have low representation. However, it should be analysed whether in this type of organisations there is a need to involve volunteers through professional management. In many hobby associations, members themselves fill the responsibilities of the organisation, because they represent their passions and interests and the organisations are small.

Meanwhile, respondents in our research activities were connected with fields that require more from human resources.

34

Figure 7. Organisation profile.

To determine the path of the professional development of volunteer managers and coordinators, we asked the question about reasons for entering the profession. We were interested to discover whether these specialists had the freedom of taking up such tasks in their respective organisations, or if this decision was based on the educational profile of the employees. The responses show clearly that the decision for working with volunteers resulted from the coordinators’ own decisions as well as their experience in such type of work. Many respondents (25% of the total) mentioned the connection with their educational profile, but nothing indicates that these positions were filled in advance, accidentally or administratively. This observation is similar to the general characteristic of the NGO sector, which creates a flexible space to develop passions, psychological predispositions and experiences. This thesis will contribute to the realisation of different training projects, because employees in the NGO sector are motivated to work and to progress, and that 35

comes from their decisions and desires and not from obligation, which may be the case in other types of organisations (such as public entities).

Figure 8. The reason to undertake the tasks of the volunteer coordination.

The need for the development of the training offer in Europe seems to be quite strong. When we asked our respondents about training undertaken at the time when they were working as a volunteer coordinator, the vast majority responded in a negative way. In most of the countries, more than 70% of respondents did not participate in any training courses that helped to develop skills useful for this job. Only in Finland, Poland and Italy, the percentage of people not undertaking any educational activity is lower than 40%. In these three countries, the majority of coordinators took training usually connected with leadership skills, motivating the volunteers and

36

teamwork. Therefore, those are specific skills needed for management of people’s work.

Figure 9. The training activity during the work in the organisation, negative response.

Did you take a part in trainigs which helped you to develop skills useful when working whit volunteers?

100,00% 80,00% 60,00%

40,00%

No

20,00% 0,00%

Such courses seem to look natural when we consider the nature of the position of a volunteer coordinator. In their organisations they focus their activity on the coordination of tasks, management of the schedules, planning the needs of an organisation in connection with the level of engagement, and mobilising the volunteers. Activities related to the promotion and administration of voluntary work are taken up less frequently, which does not mean that they are useless from the point of the coordinator’s work.

Trying to determine the ranking of tasks undertaken in organisations by the volunteer coordinators we asked the question about the skills necessary to work with volunteers. Almost all respondents indicated a very broad range of the competencies, but the most necessary ones include: planning the volunteers' work, solving and preventing conflicts, the organisation of working time of the volunteers in the context of the organisation's needs, as well as fulfilling the role of a leader.

37

Figure 10. The range of duties of the coordinator for volunteer cooperation.

What are your tasks regarding your work with volunteers? % 80,00% 70,00% 60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00%

Information Coordination texts to encourage (setting tasks and volunteering, providing responsibilities of information, promoting volunteers, voluntary work in the supporting volunteers network and outside at work, controling of the organization the task completion)

Administration volunteers, signing contracts, gathering opinions on the work of volunteers, other)

other (please specify)

Although all the qualities were considered important it seems that the best summarization of the professionals' work is the statement of one of the experts: “First of all the coordinator must coordinate, plan the work of people who want to devote their private time for work in the organisation. There is nothing worse than a volunteer who expresses the desire to work and who is not assigned with one. The one discouraged volunteer will be worse for (a volunteer offer) organisation than 10 satisfied volunteers. That is why you need to focus on the proper allocation of tasks, taking care of telling the volunteers about their responsibilities and keeping an eye on doing the work at an appropriate time."

The sequence of respondents’ indications shows that the competence associated with direct work with people and the skills of effective work management are considered the most important. Volunteer coordinators perceive their role as the leader of skilfully managing human resources, including volunteers’ personal preferences. Planning the work of the others, mitigation of conflicts, good time management and acting as a leader are the answers indicated as the most important and at the same time they have been considered the most rarely as less important in the coordinator’s tasks.

38

Figure 11. The skills needed to perform the tasks of a coordinator.

What skills should a volunteer coordinator have? % 80,00% 70,00% 60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00%

Very important %

Less important %

The last question was asked to determine the set of qualifications necessary to work in organisations in the perspective of our four scenarios for NGO development. We proposed the following sets of skills, corresponding to the potential scenarios for the development of the third sector.

Status quo scenario (adapting to constant change), skills diagnosis: communication, team work, project management, administration, knowledge of local and political advocacy, fundraising, tendering, public relations, 39

research of the needs of disadvantaged groups, Loose communities scenario, skills diagnosis: a flexible and non – judgemental approach to people from other culture backgrounds, network and “lobbying”, international cooperation, work in a multicultural environment Growing inequalities scenario, skills diagnosis: overcoming stereotypes, empathy, cooperation with local organisations, improving local participation, experience of working across different sectors, Technical scenario, skills diagnosis: campaigning on the Internet, positioning the organisation on the web, electronic communication, social media.

All skills attached to the Status quo scenario are considered so-called universal skills, which seem to be necessary for each of the scenarios, and that is why this set of skills is the biggest. In the case of Loose communities scenario, the intercultural cooperation competencies seem to be important, while the growing inequalities scenario involves work in the impoverished environments and as a result the need for the empathic attitude and ability to mobilise the partners supporting the sector (e.g. the private sector). The last scenario, i.e. the technical one, predicts an increase in the online activity of the NGO sector, which generates the acquisition of digital skills and competencies connected with dealing with social media. The order of respondents’ answers is presented in figure 13.

It seems that respondents pointed primarily on the skills that are associated with the development of the first scenario. These are the skills that are necessary for everyday work of an organisation. Clearly, the skills that are related to open attitudes towards people from other cultures also are revealed. This may be related to the inflow of migrants, which is taking place in most European countries. The changing political conditions create new intercultural relationships, which are not peaceful in some places.

40

Figure 12. The skills needed in the future perspective of the organisation’s work.

41

The last question of the questionnaire was open. Respondents were asked about what kind of training they would like to attend. We wanted to know the preferences of coordinators regardless the theoretical constructs, which have been proposed in the questionnaire. The respondents’ answers were arranged into nine categories:  Soft skills: strengthening the attitude of involvement among volunteers, effective volunteer recruitment, communication, research of volunteers’ needs, building up motivation, creating a volunteer network,  Management of the organisation: legal aspects of the voluntary service, international law, the principles of inter-sectoral cooperation,  Integration, intercultural education,  Leadership, attitudes of a leader,  Fundraising,  Internet activities: online campaigns,  Others e.g.: street pedagogy.

Very often respondents expressed a desire to take up training but they could not specify what area of training in which they are interested. The greatest interest among coordinators was connected with courses on how to motivate and manage the work of volunteers (24 indications). The needs connected with the burnout of volunteers, group/team management and promotion of voluntary work should also be mentioned here. Our respondents pointed to the differences in working with different age groups among volunteers and the need to strengthen social activity in general.

Another area of interest were issues related to the legal aspects and possibilities of the cooperation of their NGO with other organisations, public and private sectors and international volunteer work, as well as strengthening the cooperation between non-governmental sector on the national and international level (20 indications). Respondents mentioned projects that help with international volunteering and they expressed the willingness to participate in such ventures. At the same time, they talked about the lack of knowledge about the legal regulations of volunteering in other European countries. This knowledge is important in the context of the non42

governmental organisations' efforts to finance their activities. Employees want to be aware of the possibility of cooperation in the framework of the projects in which they could participate.

Leadership skills are the next area of interest for our respondents. They include skills that also related directly to the management of volunteers’ work (16 indications). Respondents pointed to the need of training for coaching that would have the character of professional training in the fields of time and human resources management. In the context of this training, the willingness to share the experience and gaining the specific skills were mentioned.

Training needs related to international education were the fourth training area in the popularity ranking (15 indications). Gaining knowledge about different cultures and forming attitudes of tolerance and understanding as well as openness towards others is probably resulting from the political conditions in Europe. The increasing scale of migration and growing cultural diversity in Europe create both possibilities and serious social problems. On the one hand, the need for international cooperation is increasing and on the other hand the need for shaping attitudes of tolerance and acceptance towards the new European citizens appears. The special group of the new European residents are migrants who face mainly resentment and fear. The NGO sector can become an entity that can work effectively for their integration in society.

It must be remembered that the non-governmental sector unites people with specific personality features, who engage in this work due to the ideals rather than own interest, guided by the values of empathy, faith in cooperation, and who are the main pillar of social capital in the nation states.

The other training options were indicated less frequently. Perhaps it is because of the fact that they include actions undertaken by other professionals working in the NGO organisations. It seems that the organisation of volunteer work entails a wide range of duties and the main area of the training preferences of our respondents.

43

3. Interviews with experts.

The last stage of the research project involved interviews with experts who expressed their opinions regarding the two main issues. First of all, they commented on the initial results of survey studies; secondly, they shared their opinions as regards the skills necessary and required in work with volunteers with reference to the sector development scenarios. In the study, we invited experts with professional experience in the scope of voluntary work coordination, who hold training sessions and courses addressed to nongovernmental organisations or deal with a scientific analysis of voluntary work, the NGO sector or related issues.

The experts were asked to indicate the skills and qualifications that are important for voluntary work coordinators. The order of the skills and qualifications was determined by the survey studies.

The most commonly indicated skills required from a volunteer manager included communication and conflict resolution skills. The communication competences were understood in two ways, i.e. traditionally – as interpersonal communication skills, and technologically – as remote communication competences.

The traditional communication competences, indicated as foundations in the work with volunteers, referred to the specific nature of a coordinator's work.

When working with people, a manager must take into account the necessity to face conflicts, but must also be able to delegate tasks accurately. Therefore, communication skills are becoming a feature of effective management.

"As I have mentioned above, the area of communication skills constitutes a foundation of work with people in general. Volunteers, as people acting voluntarily, need to be treated with respect and engagement, and ‘special’ attention has to be paid to proper communication with them. Good communication combines listening and an ability to provide feedback. This is based on organisation values such as for example trust, respect and truth, as well as on the needs for understanding and acceptance; and is reflected in team work considered another essential competence in contact with 44

volunteers. All of that affects and builds a good atmosphere of cooperation within an organisation, and serves as an important factor which has an impact on the development of the very organisation." (Hungary) “A manager/ coordinator informed with communications skills and emphasizes networking, easily captivates those around you is recognized by others and can involve a lot of people for a common goal.” (Portugal ) “Communication: Very important to be able to communicate clear and transparent with the volunteers. Using a diversity of channels is important.

Good informed volunteers gets to strong teams and independent volunteers that understand better how they can support the projects.”(Romania) “I think that communication is one of the most important skill that a manager of volunteers should have when working with volunteers. It is very important to have an efficient communication scheme and to make sure that the communication is not working badly because this can lead to frustration among volunteers.” (Romania).

The necessity to develop competences in the field of digital communication was indicated as an area where training addressed to NGO professionals was needed.

"In the meantime, voluntary work is connected with purposeful use of information and communication technologies for example to be able to provide help to the people seeking jobs or looking for varied forms of support in professional work organisation, or to the people who require adequate forms of education, including programmes of financial support for economic initiatives. Knowledge and skills in these areas combine with the processes of networking, socialisation and the so-called CMC communication, which means abilities of efficient searching and selecting information originating from the so-called government portals, cultural portals, or – taking into account other indicators – hyperlocal portals.” (Poland)

45

The second most often indicated group of skills required in the work of a coordinator refers to competences in the field of volunteers' work management. In other words, according to the experts, a coordinator must primarily develop his or her communication skills in order to be able to effectively manage the work of others.

"First of all, a coordinator must coordinate and manage the work of volunteers. There is nothing worse for an organisation than a person who is eager to work but has nothing to work on. Such a dissatisfied volunteer will do more harm to an organisation than 10 satisfied people. A bad impression may have a much greater force of impact. I am against declarations, documents and rules of procedure. Obviously, not everything can be eliminated, but less is better. Efficient work, good organisation and proper actions are most important." (Poland) “I think that the most important ones are the ability to effectively coordinate teamwork activity and time management. In some cases, subjects based upon volunteering activities are “affected” by a low-medium performance related to the ability of effectively manage a complex workflow, work under pressure, coordinate complex tasks. This tendency is evident even in presented data where respondents asks more “managing-group” skills (being a leadermitigations of conflicts - planning works of others) than “technical-practical” ones (creating texts to promote the work of volunteer – knowledge of laws regulating the work of volunteers). That’s why the relational skills will be crucial into the next future. This process is more and more evident taking into consideration that migration flows (even forced) translate the issue of diversity management directly into our daily life contexts.” (Italy)

“The training held before the volunteer experience is very comprehensive and focused on the themes such as motivation, self-knowledge, cultural context, cultural reality of the county of destination, the volunteer profile. (…) During the volunteers experience, there is a monitoring of voluntary, meetings are held by scope (usually these meetings are held weekly) in which a raport in of the field work is done.” (Portugal) 46

“Project management: A good organized project and a good description of tasks and jobs to be done in the project is important for the success. It will help the volunteers to get results fast and efficient.

Teamwork: Very important to be able to create teams from the groups of volunteers. Always a team is better and can work better. Also gives the feeling to belong to a group which is a very good motivation for the volunteers. They will get involved also because of the team not just for the cause of the project.”(Romania)

The experts assessed positively the skills of a person whose behaviour is dominated by factors that determine effective management of voluntary work (planning work of others, being a leader, good time management). The ability of cooperation with groups characterised by different social and demographic features was emphasised.

“Project management: A good organized project and a good description of tasks and jobs to be done in the project is important for the success. It will help the volunteers to get results fast and efficient. Teamwork: Very important to be able to create teams from the groups of volunteers. Always a team is better and can work better. Also gives the feeling to belong to a group wich is a very good motivation for the volunteers. They will get involved also because of the team not just for the cause of the project.”(Romania)

"When concentrating on the indications considered important, I would underscore the special role of work planning, as well as – taking into account national realities – I would pay attention to the exceptionally significant and slightly underappreciated ability of legal conditions awareness and conflict mitigation. These abilities are in my opinion somewhere in-between interpersonal communication processes and institutional communication."

(Poland) “I think that the most important ones are the ability to effectively coordinate teamwork activity and time management. In some cases, subjects based upon volunteering activities are “affected” by a low-medium performance related to 47

the ability of effectively manage a complex workflow, work under pressure, coordinate complex tasks.” (Italy) “The skills related to management such as: time, people and project, should also be present in everyday practice as a coordinator or volunteer manager, to go against the objectives of each activity , without compromising the operation of existing activities in the institution, they should be complementary.” (Portugal) While describing the skills considered essential in the work of a voluntary work coordinator, the experts indicated competences linked with broadly understood interpersonal skills.

“Being a leader is important always as it includes organizing things and motivating people. Mitigation of conflicts is also important always when people do things together. I would say the most important future skills are the same as the most important skills currently: ability to work with people, to motivate, to organize, and also to work in networks, overcome sector boundaries and have digital skills.” (Finland) “In my opinion as coordinator/ volunteer manager highlight the time management, conflict management and planning work. The volunteer area is a sensitive area, in our case, we welcome large groups of volunteers that teamwork is essential in the development of voluntary activities. The manager/ coordinator of volunteer work should bear in mind the leadership skills, with recognizes the work that is develop and becomes an example for others.(...) Another key issue is the definition of roles and/ or assigned tasks, they should be clear and meet both the needs: institutions needs and the motivations of volunteers.” (Portugal) One of the experts, specialising in the organisation of training for coordinators of voluntary work, indicated that the skills of volunteers' work management were the most demanded area of training for NGO professionals.

"From our point of view and experience in the cooperation with coordinators, the most important skills are good communication with volunteers, especially in difficult/crisis/conflict situations, and an ability to support volunteers in such 48

conditions, with simultaneous resolution of such problems in accordance with the interests of the organisation where a given volunteer operates. Another very important skill is planning of actions, accompanied by preparation and introduction of volunteers, delegation of tasks, monitoring and evaluation. It is obviously associated with the self-management competence and other skills, sometimes referred to as time/work organisation management. Next to recruitment and motivation, this is the area we dedicate a lot of time to during our training sessions and meetings with coordinators. Moreover, coordinators are really interested in this subject matter."(Poland) Three experts also indicated a necessity of having and developing competences linked with intersectoral cooperation.

"I am surprised at the low score of the ‘cooperation with local organisations’ competence in the entire set. According to RCW CENTERKO, the ability to establish local partnerships is inherently linked with credibility and increase of quality of organisation's activities. Joint actions may definitely enrich a single entity's offer. Openness to cooperation with others requires observance of ethical standards (included for example in the Charter of Principles of NonGovernmental Organisations), which is noticed by the very volunteers. Offers made in intersectoral partnerships are considered the future in the context of voluntary work development, financing and growth of the sector. Without funds, organisation will not be able to operate, because voluntary work alone provides limited possibilities. The condition of an organisation, its flexibility and openness to changes determine whether it will survive or not. Newly established organisations will carry out their activity based on social economy, e.g. commercial provision of care." (Poland) “I believe that the knowledge of local legislation and political support and fundraising is important. Local and national are also very important inv the performance do duties as coordinator/ volunteer manager. It is important to possess of the low – national and international level that regulates the voluntary activity in order to pay a more effectives and efficient service as regards the passage of information and guidance of volunteers.

49

Another aspect that I consider essential skills of manager / volunteers coordinator is the ability, in my particular case, fundraising and the new projects that allow to continue the work that has been developed in my association.” (Portugal)

“Cooperation with local organisations: To be able to have a better and visible impact in the local community it is important to collaborate with the local organisations. They know better the needs of the community and local volunteers. They can act as a very good partner for dissemination of results and activate local resources for the projects. They are the one that can be involved in the follow up of the projects and exploitation of results.” (Romania) Knowledge and an ability to shape the offer of an organisation for volunteers are the last guideline referring to the skills of a coordinator. During a discussion regarding the factors that motivate volunteers, an ability to acquire professional qualifications and experience is mentioned most often. However, organisations should think about their individual potential and offer to make it a greater factor for voluntary work promotion.

"A coordinator must know what his or her organisation can offer to volunteers. We provide volunteers with a number of services. First of all – medical examinations. Our organisation has extensive contacts in the medical environment and everyone, as part of voluntary work, can complete an entire set of medical tests and examinations. On the one hand, everyone who wants to work with us is obligated to undergo medical tests, but we can do much more for our volunteers, if needed. We hire doctors and we can include such additional awards and bonuses.

Another form of motivating volunteers is organisation of mutual services, e.g. one of our volunteers studies English and organises private lessons for the people who need it. In return, we issue all certificates which confirm her teaching work and practice. She came to us to work for sick children and with time began teaching English to other employees and volunteers. We all find it extremely beneficial.

50

Clinical supervision and support groups, which are held relatively often, serve as basis for our volunteers and employees. If you want to become our volunteer you need to undergo and finish a complex medical course, which takes about 1 month. But that’s not enough. Disease and death are very difficult topics, especially with regard to children. Therefore, our volunteers meet – usually once a week – in support groups, which help them to overcome stress, anxiety and fear of death. But that does not refer only to own fear; it is about supporting each other during work with very sick children, which can be extremely hard. Children sometimes do not want any contact; they often rebel and every volunteer must know how to handle such situations. Sometimes we cannot touch a child, give him or her food or drink. Every volunteer must have such knowledge. That is why support groups are so important." (Poland) “In my opinion as coordinator highlight the planning of activities and ability for information collection and on the needs and expectation of volunteers.

That is because we know the motivations of those who come to as, especially for the realization of international volunteer experience, in which volunteer activates have a long time frame and are developed in different cultural contexts.

Is the essential to know volunteer and know what is the expectations, hence the importance of training before the volunteer experience, monitoring and support that is given to all volunteers.” (Portugal)

The skills of recognising volunteers' needs are associated with soft interpersonal competences. According to one of our experts, such skills are indispensable in the work with people.

"Psychological skills are of significant importance for me. I'm personally able to recognise and identify a person who can be threat to us. Only the people who are mentally healthy and have no serious health problems can work for our organisation. We cannot afford to engage people who can be a threat to our patients. Sometimes, I have to identify such a person during the first meeting.

That is why I am constantly improving my skills in this area; I am developing my knowledge on psychology and behaviour disorders, because it is one of the most important skills in my work as a coordinator." (Poland) 51

“I believe that communication skills, teamwork and commitment to volunteer work are very important and are related to each other and also highlight to knowledge of local legislations and political support and cooperation's as fundamental in the precise of working with volunteers can positively influence our performance in as regards the forwarding of information and guidance of volunteers.” (Portugal) Finally, the work of a voluntary work coordinator includes a series of skills of cooperation with various types of groups.

“Another important skill needed is open-mindedness, as a manager of volunteers you should include everybody, be able to work with diverse groups, understand cultures and different backgrounds that the volunteers come from and manage to reach cohesion within the group.” (Romania)

In the second part of the interviews, the experts were asked for comments to the proposed scenarios of NGO sector development.

The technical scenario is indicated as the most probable scenario of development due to the generational change in this sector, which will be linked with changes in the patterns of operations of organisations, e.g. greater importance of remote communication within the activities of an organisation.

"The organisational structures will include volunteers who represent a modern network society, characterised by extended mobile communication competences, and understand voluntary work as an activity aimed at inclusion of units in their technosocial structures and offering support in the implementation of initiatives typical for a network society, associated with among others self-employment in the IT-related sector or computer-assisted education." (Poland).

“The naturalness of social transition and the expention of information technology in all areas also in the Third sector. Infırmation technologies could serve NGOs in different ways; it could improve productivity, increase the 52

overall effectiveness through better collaboration, and extend services to new communities is need.” (Turkey)

“Technological scenario may be the most appropriate scenario for the future of NGO, the others scenarios, in my point of view, have the „negative connotation” not falling in my perspective of the future of the third sector.”

(Portugal) “The naturalness of social transition and the expansion of information technology in all areas also affects the Third sector. Information technologies could serve NGOs in different ways; it could improve productivity, increase the overall effectiveness through better collaboration, and extend services to new communities in need.” (Turkey) Technological development and an increase in the importance of virtual activity may be connected with structural changes of the sector. These changes are projected in the scope of an altered structure of future organisations and rules of volunteer mobilisation.

"As far as sector development scenarios are concerned, the most important thing is to include new forms of social activity which are developing thanks to the Internet and social media. Nowadays, people do not need organisations, identity cards or membership fees to organise themselves. Cooperatives, informal groups of people characterised by similar opinions or message boards dedicated to specific actions are blooming in the Internet. Such forms of activity may turn out to be truly effective. People are able to organise support, a party, a protest or create a form of cooperation without real organisations.

Today, everyone is a member of a sort of informal virtual group and such affiliation is increasingly more often the beginning for actual operations. This form of social activity must not be omitted either in real life or in research studies over social activity, or in the operations of the very organisations.

Perhaps it is the end of organisations with formal rules of membership; perhaps it is the time for mass virtual organisations that will engage people based on online marketing. This is a vision of network associations which is already visible in many places in Europe." (Poland) 53

"I consider fundraising activity an incredibly important skill (omitted by the respondents taking part in the survey studies). Fundraising means pragmatic utilisation of online solutions to enable a new type of civil participation.

Aspirations for this type of participation refer to the implementation of the "Frontier Homestead" concept which originated in the 1990's. This metaphor paid attention to the fact that Internet technology, development of institutional websites and hyperlocal platforms would allow all the people, who for geographical or health-related reasons are far from regional or domestic institutional centres, to participate in social processes." (Poland) The second most popular scenario for sector development was the loose community scenario and the consequences that will shape new skills and competences of voluntary work coordinators.

“Loose communities scenario (going through social metamorphosis, mobility, variability of social relations) The NGOs need to create projects that have a visible and measurable impact in the local community. To be able to have a sustainable development it is important to be conected to the local needs and have support from the community.' (Hungary) “I consider that the scenario most probable is: Loose communities scenario (going through social metamorphosis, mobility, variability of social relations) I think that the tendency is to move to a more open society where barriers play no role and therefore the impact of the NGOs has to be in the same rhythm of the development of the society. One of the biggest challenges for NGOs is that they need to support their communities in becoming more open and inclusive and able to cope with the new changes.” (Romania)

According to the experts who considered the loose community scenario most probable, overcoming stereotypes and professional cooperation with partner organisations will be the most important skills in the future work with volunteers.

“Overcoming stereotypes empathy and Flexible and non-judgemental approach the mobility increasing means also a bigger diversity of the 54

volunteers. It is important to be able to understand and be able to adapt to the multicultural volunteering environment.'”(Hungary)

This scenario of development is increasingly more often linked with the clear process of migration on the global scale, which brings about a need for understanding between representatives of different cultures.

“Increasing migration may influence the answers. People working in voluntary organisations (also in general social sector) seek for justice and equality, and see the need for overcoming stereotypes / empathy and a flexible and nonjudgemental approach to people from other culture backgrounds in our current situation and the future. Many women and men share this viewpoint, but female more often than men. Females also dominate in the social sector and education. However, these skills are needed also in other fields of volunteering such as sports.” (Finland) “The relational skills will be crucial into the next future. This process is more and more evident taking into consideration that migration flows (even forced) translate the issue of diversity management directly into our daily life contexts.” (Italy)

In the experts' opinion, increasing cultural diversity needs to be taken into consideration in the context of an inflow of migrants. Together with greater cultural diversity caused by migration, we may also expect an increase in social inequalities and a necessity of including migrants in the economic system of the countries they migrate to.

“In taking into consideration the present situation, what is happening around seems to converge into the direction of the growing inequalities scenario. In this sense I think that this situation create a civil duty and a concrete opportunity for volunteering workers in the next “present” because of their specific skills of managing diversity with cooperation in daily life contexts.”

(Italy)

55

"Perhaps we need to start thinking about international voluntary work, especially in the context of an inflow of migrants and refugees, etc. Perhaps such voluntary work would be a good solution for both parties. Let us imagine a doctor from Syria who wants to come to Poland but does not know the country and has no language competences that would allow him to work in his profession. He comes to Poland and works below his skills level. If, on the other hand, he was allowed to work as a medical doctor based on voluntary work, perhaps he could have an opportunity to understand the country, while the inhabitants of local communities would have a chance to get to know the foreigner without any threat or feeling of insecurity. Professionals from other countries could assimilate in a new, underappreciated way through voluntary work." (Poland)

56

CONCLUSIONS Many of our conclusions, which must be taken into account while shaping the education model addressed to the non-governmental sector, are rooted in systematic and cultural issues. Generally, there are three main areas defining these differences: legal, economic and cultural.

1) There are definitely different legal definitions of the sector and the legal solutions which give the reason for securing the non-profit organisations in public and business activity. In Finland, the nongovernmental sector is an essential part of the educational system, at the higher level of education, as there is a possibility for students to attend courses offered by the third sector, courses which are based on similar principles as in the case of studies organised by the universities.

In Italy, there are relatively flexible non-governmental forms, which are seen as a significant employer in the economic system there. Those are social cooperatives, which in Poland, for example, are a form of an outdated legal structure (a law from 1982) and because of the formal and legal difficulties are relatively rare (there are no more than 1,300 social cooperatives in Poland now).

2) Individual countries have a different way how to approach the idea of the professionalisation of the NGO sector. We noted clear differences in the educational offer addressed directly to the people who want to be a professional human resource of the sector. Only in Finland and Turkey, this offer is comprehensive, holistic and professional. Studies for nongovernmental experts can be found in the public and private universities. In Poland, for example, this education is random, it is a small and non-obligatory part of universities’ offer and it is not attractive for students. On the other hand, private expensive offers appear which are seen as an area of personal development and not as an activity that gives opportunities for promotion or finding job. The lack of professionalisation of workers and members of the NGO sector education very often results in a weaker participation of non-

57

governmental sector in the shaping of local strategies and a little political importance.

3) Training needs and qualifications that seem to be necessary for volunteer coordinators focus on the universal skills directly related to the management of the volunteers’ work. As the main area of the preferred educational activities respondents specify strengthening of the volunteer commitment and professional management of teamwork. In the context of collected data, it can be said that professionals in the NGO sector work according to the status quo scenario and they expect the support for their work in organisations.

They want to develop their communication, cooperation and management skills (related to the role of the leader) through professional training and supervisions. Coordinators for volunteer cooperation want to be better at their job, and they need a support in finding effective ways of working with people.

4) It seems that the important needs in the context of future skills in the sector are the issues related to international cooperation and the shaping of attitudes of openness to other cultures. It can be assumed that these needs arise from the increasing cultural diversity in Europe, which has positive sides (student exchanges, economic migration) but also generates negative attitudes (fear of migrants, representatives of other religions). On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for training in international cooperation and volunteering. Therefore, it would be useful to address these issues in the training of NGOs workers. Perhaps the work of volunteers from other cultures in the national environments may be an effective way to intercultural education.

5) On the basis of our research, we can draw conclusions about the future direction of the development of the sector, in the context of the technological scenario. We can expect:  new types of participation in the sector e.g. through social networks and informal groups on the internet; this type of social 58

activity is becoming more and more popular and effective, virtual ways of recruiting or even engaging people, particularly young, definitely should be taken into account,  the growing importance of modern forms of communication, advertising and methods of managing the non-governmental organisation; effective mobilising of volunteers, active sharing of news on the Internet or the need for mobile reporting of the organisation’s actions suggest that IT skills will be more and more important in non-profit sector activity,  the development of communication through information technology enables on-line voluntary work, which can take a professional form - realisation of specific projects for the organisation or an occasional for - mobilisation of volunteers or friends of the organisation in emergency situations (fundraising, collecting signatures, meeting or event organisation),  the technological development scenario seems inevitable and requires from the employees and members an acquisition of competencies in dealing with and creating online communication; it also requires management of projects conducted by the organisations or the creation of modern marketing.

Considering the results of this study, we propose the following actions to help the European third sector manage future skills needs: 1. Advancing digitalisation: staff and trustees, as well as volunteers, will need ICT skills that especially allow them to communicate from remote locations and using mobile technologies. Along with skills, this requires making investments in infrastructure.

2. People come first. Both now and in the future, communication skills, team work and empowering individuals and groups are at the core of volunteer coordinators’ work. With digitalisation, the forms may change, but the skills need to be in place. As we have also identified a scenario of growing inequality, the ability to mobilise vulnerable groups is at the core here.

59

3. Migration is a chance for the third sector. Many of our respondents thought that intercultural skills and overcoming stereotypes are vital in their work, and will increasingly be so. The third sector plays an important role in integration, so this is a skills challenge.

4. Build on diversity. By diversity, we do not only refer to migration, but the ability to work with different age groups, religions, minorities and so on. This requires skills of overcoming stereotypes, sensitivity and communication.

5. Collaboration in training. In many countries, training opportunities for volunteer coordinators are scarce and sporadic. We recommend collaboration between civil society organisations, educational institutions, trade unions and professional organisations to establish concrete ways to improve the professional capacities of the third sector workforce.

60

LIST OF TABLES Figure 1. Foundations and associations in the partner countries.

15 Figure 2. Number of NGOs per 10 000 residents.

17 Figure 3. The percentage of adult volunteers in the partner countries.

20 Figure 4. The gender of surveyed respondents.

32 Figure 5. The level of education of the respondents.

33 Figure 6. The period of work for the organisation.

34 Figure 7. The organisation profile.

35 Figure 8. The reason to undertake the tasks of the volunteer coordination.

36 Figure 9. The training activity during the work in the organisation, negative response.

37 Figure 10. The range of duties of the coordinator for volunteer cooperation.

38 Figure 11. The skills needed to perform tasks of a coordinator.

39 Figure 12. The skills needed in the future perspective of the organisation’s work.

41

61

REFERENCES Appadurai A., Nowoczesność bez granic. Kulturowe wymiary globalizacji, Uniwersitas, Kraków 2005.

Bauman Z., Globalizacja, PWN, Warszawa 2000.

Bauman Z., Liquid Modernity, Polity Press, Cambridge 2000.

Bauman Z., Płynne czasy. Życie w epoce niepewności, Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warszawa 2007.

Beck U., Społeczeństwo ryzyka. W drodze do innej nowoczesności, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, Warszawa 2002.

Braidotti R., Podmioty nomadyczne. Ucieleśnienie i różnica seksualna w feminizmie współczesnym, Wyd. Akademickie i Profesjonalne, Warszawa 2009.

Castells M., Grassrooting the space of flows w: J. O. Wheeler, Y. Aoyama, B. Warf (red). Cities in the Telecomunication Age. The Fracturing of geographies, Routledge 2000.

Castells M., The power of Identity, Blackwell 1997.

Castells M., The Rise of Network Society, Blakwell, Oxford 2000.

Castels M., Galaktyka Interentu. Refleksje nad interentem, biznesem i społeczeństwem, Rebis, Poznań 2003.

Ch.Meneghetti, S.D’aulerio, Warunki rozwoju ekonomii społecznej we Włoszech, SEFEA 2008.

G. Standing, Precariat. The new dengerous class, Policy Network 2011.

Giddens A., Poza lewica i prawicą. Przyszłość polityki radykalnej, Wyd. Zysk i S-ka, Poznań, brak roku wydania.

Global Development Research Centre, Skills required of an NGO Keane J., Global Civil Society? Cambridge University Press, Cambrigde 2003.

Luttwak E., Turbo-Capitalism. Winners and Losers in the Global Economy, Harper Collins Publisher, New York1999.

Nickles W. G., McHugh J. M., McHugh S. M., Understanding Business, Tenth Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin, new York 2012.

Saxton J., Harrison T., Guild M., The New Alchemy How volunteering turns donations of time and talent into human gold, Synergy December 2014.

Sennett R., Something in the city: The spectre of uselessness and the search for a place in the world, „Times Literary Supplement”, 1995.

62

Sloterdijk P., Kryształowy Pałac. O filozoficzną teorię globalizacji, Wyd. Krytyki Politycznej, Warszawa 2011.

Stowarzyszenie Klon-Jawor 2014, “The third sector in Poland and EUsources of acquiring data and the methodology of comparing the NGO sector in Poland and the EU in the context of the implementation of the Cohesion Policy in the financial perspective 2007-2013” Ekspertyza powstała na zamówienie Departamentu Pożytku Publicznego MPiPS. Study on the practices in the governance of NPOs in Bulgaria (2005).

Wellman B., Gulia M., Netsurfers don’t ride alone: virtual communities as communities w: B. Wellman red.Networks in Global Village, Boulder, CO Westiev Press 1999.

Whetten D. A., Cameron K. S., Developing Management Skills, Global Edition 2011.

Yegen M., Keyman E. F., Caliskan M. A., Tol U. U., Türkiye’de Gönüllü Kuruluşlarda Sivil Toplum Kültürü Websites https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/masters/charity-courses/voluntarysector-management http://tr.yada.org.tr/pdf/d74fb3e0cab68964840d915cbb98432f.pdf https://www.i-l-m.com/Learning-andDevelopment/management/volunteer-management/8309-level-3management-of-volunteers https://www.ncvo.org.uk/about-us http://www.tusev.org.tr/en/research-and-publications/civil-societymonitoring-project http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/eurobarometre/2011/juillet/04_07/r apport_%20eb75_2_%20benevolat_pl.pdf http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/ngo-skills.html

63

EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICES IN THE AREA OF EDUCATION, TRAINING, PROJECTS AND OTHER PROGRAMMES FOR NGOS THE BENCHMARKING REPORT PART II

REALIZED BY UNIVERSITY OF HUMANITIES AND ECONOMICS IN LODZ UNDER THE PROJECT FUTUR3

LODZ 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK KEY TERMS METHODOLOGY

3 4 4 6

CHAPTER 2. GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES BULGARIAN CASES FINNISH CASES HUNGARIAN CASES ITALIAN CASES LATVIAN CASES POLISH CASES PORTUGEESE CASES ROMANIAN CASES TURKISH CASES UK CASES

8 9 10 16 21 22 24 26 31 33 34

CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES

38 39

This report reflects the views only of the authors, and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2

INTRODUCTION

The objective of the FUTUR3 project is to help third-sector employers, employees and educational organisations that train professionals in the field to identify future skills needs in the sector and to prepare for them. Here the third sector refers to civil society organisations like associations, NGOs, trusts or foundations that are non profit. This project focuses on organisations with volunteering activities, and the main target group is professionals working with volunteers: volunteer managers, coordinators and so on.

Throughout Europe, third-sector employees’ educational and employment backgrounds are diverse. Differences between EU Member States are vast, as the third sector is more structured in some countries than others. Occupational standards for professionals working with volunteers have been developed in some countries (e.g. the UK), but in most countries they do not exist. In some countries occupational standards are more directly linked with educational qualifications than in others.

Along with the growing complexity of volunteering, changes in service structures create urgent needs to update the competences of personnel. Employees in the sector believe that the most pressing future skills needs concern ICTs and social media, cooperation with a range of partners and dealing with uncertainty in e.g. funding and volunteering. Universities, VET centres, and other educational institutions need information on future skills needs to prepare students for employment in the third sector. Many employees in the sector work in the field of inclusion (poverty, unemployment, migrants, disability...). Focusing on future skills needs will help to modernise the sector as an employer, in line with the Europe 2020 strategy on inclusive growth. A skilful workforce is able to help volunteers tackle the challenges of exclusion.

By engaging stakeholders, experts and futurologists, the FUTUR3 project address these needs. Through its benchmarking and peer learning activities, it offers a model for foresight activities for effective collaboration and capacity-building. It aims to increase understanding of skills needs in the third sector on a European level and to discuss them from a future perspective. The project discuss education-work life correspondence in this field of employment. The educational and professional diversity of the European third sector calls for a cross-national benchmarking process to better understand the inter-country differences and to map out common future needs.

3

CHAPTER 1.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK KEY TERMS Third sector For Amitai Etzioni, the third sector is a specific community distinct from state and market.

While the activity of state structures is based on the principle of administrative hierarchy, the action of companies is directed towards maximizing earnings, the action of the third sector refers to the voluntary Involvement of individuals as based on common values, and various forms of communication1.

Neither Etzioni’s concept nor contemporary definitions of the third sector allow for a clear demarcation of the subjective scope of this sector.

Determining its borders is connected with institutional and socio-cultural contexts of the country or region. For the purposes of comparative research on the third sector often is used operational definition of non-profit sector, which sector - depending on local conditions and their interpretation - is considered to be the whole or a central part of the third sector.

The non-profit sector as an illustration

Image 1. A. Evers, J-L Laville, The Third Sector in Europe, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA 2004, p. 17.

1 Etzioni A., The third sector and domestic missions. Public Administration Review, 33(4), 1973 r., s.

314–323.

4

Definition of the non-profit sector has developed as part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Non-profit Sector Project, which in the 1990s was attended by over 30 countries. This definition has since then been applied in the Statistical Office of the United Nations manual Handbook on Nonprofit Institutions in the System of National Accounts. According to it, the non-profit sector includes entities with these common characteristics: 1. They are adequately formalized (eg. as a result of registration with the relevant office), or at least their objectives, operation and structure are persistent, 2. They are institutionally separate from government, 3. They are non-profit (non-profit work and do not distribute any surplus among their members, employees, etc.)

4. are self-governing (authorities and courses of action are defined within the organization) 5. They characterized by the voluntariness of participation in the activities of the organization2 The specific features of a European approach to the third sector can be summarized on the basis of three parameters: - the type of organizations involved, - the intermediary nature of the third sector within a ‘welfare pluralism’ or a plural economy, - and a sociopolitical dimension that is as important as the economic dimension.

Because of these different components, classificatory interpretations of the third sector’s importance that measure its contribution to the economy of a country according to a set of definitions and criteria need to be complemented by a historical–dynamic approach, which is essential for understanding the system’s potential in European societies3.

Benchmarking: Benchmarking compares an organization’s practices, processes and products against the world’s best4. Comparing current levels of performance to the highest standards, identifying who performs at spectacular levels helps set a standards towards we can aspire5.

The process of benchmarking involves: - Finding best practice - Studding it in detail - Planning to exceed that performance 2 Handbook on Non-profit Institutions in the System of National Accounts, ONZ New York 2003.

3 A. Evers, J-L Laville, The Third Sector in Europe in: Globalization and Welfare, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA 2004, p. 11.

4 W. G. Nickles, J. M. McHugh, S. M. McHugh, Understanding Business, Tenth Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin, new York 2012, p. 221.

5 D. A. Whetten, K. S. Cameron, Developing Management Skills, Global Edition 2011. p. 574.

5

Identifying benchmark standard helps ensure the new information, new ideas and new perspectives will be improved, and that standards not considered possible before may become realistic.

METHODOLOGY Implementing the research project under the FUTUR3 project we wanted to achieve two main goals: 1. Setting a list of skills and educational needs that will allow people working in third sector to develop competences of working with volunteers.

2. Gathering examples of good practices in this field, which can become a practical guide for organizations in our countries.

Such examples can be a source of inspiration for our NGOs and contribute to their development or cooperation with educational institutions (schooling companies, schools, universities).

Both goals can result in other valuable outcomes:  reinforcing the self-awareness of specialists working in the voluntary sector,  enrichment the discussions over the direction of development of the nongovernmental sector  encouraging cooperation between specialists working within the non-governmental sector on a national and international level,  creating a publication that would serve self-discovery and development inspiration for NGOs working in countries benefiting from the project.

The base of the desk research analysis constitutes an analysis of existing materials, which include the data gathered by the researchers themselves during the work within the term (reports, analyses, conclusions from previous researches) and/or public information from such resources as:  book publications,  reports from sector analyses conducted by umbrella organizations 6,  press articles and thematic magazines,  web pages,  laws, legal records,

6 Non-governmental subjects are such that specialize in actions with the goal of supporting the development of the sector, and are often umbrella organisations or similar.. The tasks and missions of umbrella organizations include shaping the working environment through, among others: creating and facilitating cooperation, easing actions of organizations, reinforcement of professionalism, delivering information about parameters of the sector’s development, creating representation, creating work standards.

6

 public documents and statistics, reports, analyses and publications, yearbooks etc.

statistical

Resources shared on special request by various institutions, such as statistic offices, state universities, research companies and trade organizations can serve as help as well.

7

CHAPTER 2.

GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES GOOD PRACTICES

Is there any educational offer (at universities, companies provided corporate coaching, umbrella organizations) for people employed in non-government sector?

Are there any examples of good practice in the area of development of cooperation between NGOs and volunteers? Are there any training programmes with a similar scope or projects testing new solutions?

For these questions we have tried to answer in the benchmarking process. In this report we have presented 20 good practices from 10 European countries prepared by using the same template7 include training, projects and programmes that develop:  universal skills – administration, team work, fundraising,  technical skills – social media, internet communications, work in internet,  multicultural skills – breaking cultural stereotypes, work with migrants, work in multicultural environment,  cooperative skills – networking, self - help.

7 Best practice template: Summary of practice.

What is it that makes this a good practice (e.g. it motivates volunteers, it has saved us costs etc.)  Who does this practice involve and who does what? (E.g. volunteers, volunteer managers, beneficiaries etc.)  Description of the process. Write a step-by-step description of the practice, focusing on its essential parts. Think about the practice as an activity so that the description focuses on the actual action.  Results. What kinds of results have you achieved with this practice? How do you know that it works? How have you applied it somewhere or promoted it?

Contact details: name of contact person, organisations, email address, webpage.   

8

BULGARIAN CASES CASE 1 Summary of practice The overall objective of Steps 4 LIFE project is to introduce and to set the prerequisite for applying non-formal and informal education in the work with youngsters in pilot Partner countries like Mexico, Vietnam, Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines and Uganda. Non-formal and informal methods in youth work are very powerful tools to enhance creativity, to enrich the personal and the professional experience and to create multiple-choice opportunities for young people.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

This project targets to address the following concrete aims: To build up the capacities of youth workers in Partner countries through introducing innovative methods of work that will diversify their services; To boost the potential of young people in Partner Countries through applying non-formal and informal education in youth work as a tool for effective and successful realization; To foster and strengthen the long term sustainable cooperation between youth organisations from Programme and Partner countries building upon the previous experience; To contribute to the process of development of quality training programmes and methodologies for youth; To build up the capacity of youth organisations from Partner countries with the purpose of contributing towards the process of sustainable community growth.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

The project addresses the one main target group, namely youth workers and leaders from NGOs, form the 6 pilot Partner countries who are ready to transfer and apply the non-formal educational methods into their work with young people, with the idea to help the boost their potential and develop their personal and professional skills.

The beneficiaries of the project were young people who use the services of these organisations as well as other partner NGOs who can benefit from the project results.

Description of the process The project included the following activities divided in several phases.

Phase I. A series of international training courses for multipliers (three training courses) - one on each continent (Mexico, Indonesia and Vietnam).

Each partner organisation sent 2 representatives to the training courses. Bulgaria sent 5 participants (3 representatives from IIC, 1 from Open Education Centre and one from Hope Association). Each training course consisted of several stages. After the 5-day training the participants divided into 4 small mixed teams and prepared a two-day training programme on a certain topic to test and apply the concepts that they have learned and the skills that they have acquired during the training.

9

Phase II. Delivery of national training courses to a selected group of youngsters using NFE methods immediately after each international training.

Each national training was 5 days and composed 25 youngsters or representatives of NGOs or educational institutions. The process of preparation was supported by NFE experts by all means of communication (skype, phone, e-mails, etc.)

Phase III. Creating liaisons with university in each country in order to introduce NFE Phase IV. Developing NFE educational programmes/ modules.

Phase V. Development of online tools for introducing NFE Phase VI. The big event in Bulgaria – Non-formal Education Forum (NFE Forum) Results Preconditions and prerequisites for introducing and transferring non-formal and informal education in Partner countries set up; Capacity of Partner organisations to network and cooperate on international level increased; Capacity of Partner organisations to work with different groups of youngsters by applying diverse creative and innovative methods and successfully address specific social needs increased; Awareness and understanding about the importance of NFE for the personal and professional development of young people raised; Intercultural, interethnic and interreligious dialogue between target countries promoted and initiated; Flow of information and sharing of experience in the field of youth development between Programme and Partner countries stimulated; Cross-sectoral cooperation with universities and other relevant educational institutions enhanced.

Contact details Association International Initiatives for Cooperation, Contact person – Kostadinka Todorova- chairperson of IIC Email – tkostadinka@gmail.com http://iicbg.org/the-boulevard-of-christmas-trees-2015/

CASE 2 Summary of practice Boulevard of Christmas Trees – the boulevard of Christmas trees is a volunteer initiative organized by IIC since 2011. Every year in the beginning at December, we gather our local volunteers (of all ages) to organize the boulevard of the Christmas trees and inviting the local community (schools, kindergartens, local businesses, NGOs, groups of friends, families etc.) to decorate their own (live) Christmas tree in a specific and unusual and creative way. The trees are placed in the centre of Razlog in a form of boulevard so everyone can pass through it and enjoy the trees and feel the Christmas mood.

10

What is it that makes this a good practice?

This is good practice because we are promoting active citizenship in society and motivating people to make their own town to look more beautiful and colourful during the Christmas holidays. Every year on the event more than 600 people are involved in Christmas trees decoration.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

The practice involves people from all ages, volunteers, kids, school children and teachers, managers and employees of different of businesses. The IIC team and the volunteers organize all the event with the logistic support of Razlog municipality.

Everyone else has the task to decorate their own tree using their creativity and unconventional thinking to decorate the tree.

Description of the process The first phase of the initiative is the preparation – planning, contacting people and inviting them to take part and supplying the trees. The initiative starts 2 months before the event. All of our team is writing invitation letters and promoting the Boulevard among the local community, arranging all the matters with the municipality (exp. the place for the trees, the light of trees etc.). On the day of the event in the early morning we place the trees and the people start coming and start decorating their trees using their own decorations. More than 600 people at the same time are decorating their trees in unusual way (hand-made decoration, sausages (from the local meat company), fruits, animal leather (from the cookery groups), bread figures, cheese, sweets and even condoms (from an NGO dealing with HIV/AIDS prevention)). The decoration continues all day until the night comes when the town Christmas tree is illuminated.

Media promotion is done during the whole initiative.

Results The results of this practice are that the people are encouraged to be more active citizenship and motivate to do different things from their daily life activities. We also provoke them to think outside of the box and to decorate the trees using their imagination. The practice works really well because during the years more and more people are attending the event and every year we increase the number of the trees.

In 2011 the trees were around 55 and in 2015 the trees were more than 80.

We think to continue with this practice and every year to try to increase the number of the participants and the trees.

Contact details Association International Initiatives for Cooperation, Contact person – Kostadinka Todorova- chairperson of IIC Email – tkostadinka@gmail.com http://iicbg.org/the-boulevard-of-christmas-trees-2015/

11

FINNISH CASES CASE 1 Summary of practice Humak university of Applied Sciences and The Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities (NGO partner) have worked in cooperation to develop their work.

The aim of the partnership has been to develop a national model of vital local associations together with the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities.

This has lasted for over 10 years and focused on the strategic goals set by our partner. The partnership began as a project to develop local associations, during which NGO partner staff and students from Humak spoke to local activists all over the country. The aim of these meetings was to identify good practices and areas of development, and to choose a development target. During the following year we met the larger associations in southern Finland. The ‘field’ activity was followed by volunteer leadership training courses, which included similar development activities.

Each participant had a mentor from their own association. As an example of strategydriven development, there were innovation workshops with the youth disability network Seitti by the theme “young people are now”.

There is a task force to develop the local activities of the NGO partner, which comprises activists from all around the country. The task force exists to share expertise in order to create healthy local associations. As a result, both partners wish to find and share mutually useful information and practices, webinars, publications etc. Humak students have been involved in this real-world development process right from the start.

What is it that makes this a good practice Our cooperation has always been based on engaging activists. In local associations, they have had opportunities to benchmark each other and share their good practices.

This supports our motto Human Connections, which means engagement and equality. This activity increases the university’s understanding of the functions of strategy-based development, which in an NGO is planned centrally and realised in local activity. This project offers Humak and our students in the Civic Activities and Youth Work training programme and authentic learning and development environment. Our cooperation benefits both parties greatly. It offers a real opportunity to develop contacts between universities and NGOs both nationally and locally. Our work brings together the work of paid staff and volunteers, helping partners to find solutions to both.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

At The Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities (NGO partner), this project has involved many people from the staff and trustees at the national level to local activists. Staff who work on organizational development and training have taken a key role, which has helped us in mainstreaming this activity and to organise training that meets the identified development targets. At Humak, we have had one named 12

person (a senior lecturer or lecturer) responsible for this project. Duties and responsibilities have been identified in a contract signed once every year or biannually.

Description of the process People-based development projects in local associations nationally  Training to support development activities, volunteer leadership training in particular  Young people’s innovation workshops  Development task force activities. Concrete result: defining audit criteria for healthy local associations  joint webinars, training events and publications (including bachelor’s and master’s theses) Results Associations that have taken part have adopted need-based development activities and have received support in their regions. Our long-term partnership has in the long term enabled us to follow the results and do benchmarking. The agreement has offered many students, who will later on work for the third sector, insight into how to develop a nationwide NGO at all its levels, and many have also written their thesis as part of these projects. Both partners have been able to share new information and build their expertise. The continuity of this partnership enables both partners to develop their activities for the future and to support volunteers and activists in a changing world.

Contact details Senior Lecturer Tarja Nyman, Humak University of Applied Sciences tarja.nyman@humak.fi www.humak.fi Senior Member Relations Officer Mirva Kiiveri, The Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities (Invalidiliitto ry), mirva.kiiveri@invalidiliitto.fi www.Invalidiliitto.fi

CASE 2 Summary of practice Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL): Nationwide Volunteer Leadership Training (VJK) MLL is an NGO that advocates the well-being of children, young people and families.

The national Volunteer Leadership Training course (VJK) offers an interesting way to develop one’s skills in volunteer management and development. The course is aimed for chairs and vice-chairs at the organisation’s local associations. The aim is to build leadership that enhances interaction between the local, district and national levels of the organisation and creates a lively organisation. We developed the course in a joint project with Sivis Study Centre in 2007-2009.

13

What is it that makes this a good practice?

The course is run for the fourth time in 2016. It’s based on the organisation’s strategy, and the training also functions as a key streamlining activity. The course is based on the values of community and joy, and the process is built on participants’ expectations and needs. Working methods draw on participants’ existing knowledge, experience and skills, and they are highly interactive: discussions in changing groups and sharing experiences about development activities undertaken locally in one’s own association. An essential part of the learning is a development task implemented in one’s local association.

We use people who have taken the course already as mentors, which adds to the depth. The course is accredited with 3 ECTS credits and run in cooperation with the Sivis Study Centre, which oversees its quality. There is proof that it is well received. It has improved our internal dialogue, created new activities and enhanced the impact of our local associations.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

The course is managed by staff at the headquarters, and involves many staff members and volunteer leaders. It is mainly organised through regional workshops that focus on interaction and sharing the results of participant’s development tasks.

The course also takes place on Moodle and uses training materials taken from the organisation’s own intranet.

In practice the training course is organised by four trainers at the organisation’s headquarters, and a work counsellor who is hired from the outside. We use a range of our employees and outside experts in the training as well. What is special in this training is that we have former chairpersons of the local associations who have taken this course before as mentors. Each of them (6 in total) takes responsibility for mentoring one regional training group.

Description of the process The course takes around 7 months to complete. Participants first work on learning activities prior to the course. There is a national seminar and then the participants break into regional groups. The groups meet three times, and in between participants have tasks to develop themselves as leaders and their local associations. When this part of the activity is finished, the group meets once more for a joint seminar. The first seminar and final seminar are organized nationally and bring all participants together to a big event.

The course focuses on three themes: 1. Volunteer leadership in MLL This part focuses on leading people and good governance. Participants gain competences in developing their leadership skills and interacting with different kinds of people respectfully. The contents focus on practical needs in volunteering leadership and management, especially when the leader is a volunteer, and also on governance and industrial relations with staff.

2. MLL and well-being

14

The second part focuses on the practical work of the local associations: its goals, organisation and development. It offers tools to motivate and keep improving the work. A specific focus is on sharing good practices at local level. Themes include strategy, evaluation, giving feedback and motivating.

3. MLL advocacy The last part is about advocacy. The aim is that participants gain an understanding about advocacy in MLL and how they could be part of it. A specific focus is on work to influence decision makers and authorities at local and national level. Themes include children’s rights, advocacy methods, communication and networking.

Results In MLL volunteer leaders come and go (because the majority are parents of small children and when they grow up, parents start volunteering elsewhere), and so there is a constant need for this course. We have trained over 300 leaders who have used their new competences in many walks of life. The course is easy to adapt to other NGOs. What is special is the cooperative learning process enabled by the course. We have also learned that it’s good to coach the participants to also work in networks, not only in their own associations.

We have an ongoing feedback system for the course. Student feedback allows us to evaluate the success of the course and the contents, methods, trainers and practical arrangements. We use both pre- and post-course surveys to assess the learners’ competences and our success. These are done electronically. We know that many former participants have been able to use this course to their advantage in looking for a job, and have added it to their cvs.

Contact details Organisational manager Arja-Liisa Mauno, arja-liisa.mauno@mll.fi www.mll.fi → Yhdistysnetti

15

HUNGARIAN CASES CASE 1 Best Practice of ÉK ASSOCIATION Summary of practice EK Association is a cultural organisation with main interest in the field of architecture in general, monuments, preservation of heritage and sustainable architecture.

Another important area is education and training related to these themes.

The best practice of the association comes from this common interest of the members and associated partners as all these volunteer persons are fully involved even to the selection of themes realised by the organisation.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

Through their real forming impact on the directions and themes of the association, the volunteers of EK have real personal connection to the issues in which they get involved – so they can study their very special themes of interest, which might provide the best benefits in their professional career and personal life.

Naturally based on same interest, individuals can later be involved in highlighted themes, either talking about an event (exhibition, conference or workshop) or a more detailed and larger project with different forms of outcomes (studies, educational tools, homepages etc.)

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

Each theme has project managers (basically the initiators of the specific project), who can recruit, involve and deal with further volunteers in order to achieve the best results in the specific question or field of interest.

Themes are selected together by the members of the association, searching for the best strategies for the association. Still even from outside of the membership it is possible to suggest and initiate new projects based on new ideas.

The projects can have separate target groups with different sort of beneficiaries who might be partly the same persons as the volunteers themselves.

Description of the process Planned project management and volunteer work as part of APPROACH Project: Current main project of EK Association - Applicable Representation of City Centres with Heritage Importance (APPROACH) involves volunteer architects, students of universities and vocational schools. The project’s main theme is the creation of a homepage with freely accessible 3D educational tools showing the development of 4 cities (Edinburgh, Budapest, Lublin and Granada) through earlier time periods until current modern phase. The project with its not-for-profit outcome plans to help architectural students to gain better and clearer understanding how cities evolved and what reasons stood behind this evolution. Another important reason to start the project was to raise awareness to urban analysis science through this educational, heritage and touristic application.

The idea came partly from former projects, partly from a great interest in BIM systems used as part of education among some of the members of the association, 16

paired with common interest of heritage and urban analysis. The idea received funding from Erasmus+ and acts as a European partnership project now with partners from different countries who involve their staff and further volunteers to the project.

The project manager partly coordinates the project and partly all the workers who are mainly modellers of the great 3-dimensional city maps. Involved volunteers are members of the association (architects, modellers), students from VET institutions and universities who have interest in taking part of the building process.

The whole process requires a well set up system of guidelines, good skills in CAD and BIM technologies and a teamwork system which allows volunteers to contribute to the creation of the maps directly from their homes, their educational institutions or from shared workspaces provided by the association.

Communication takes place mainly through the Internet (mail, chat applications), guidelines are shared online and access is given to the Teamwork server through private mails. Within the Teamwork application of the architectural planning software there are further possibilities for communication and for sharing the workspace and distribution of tasks within the very same common project file that collects all modelling contribution from the volunteer workers.

Later, further phases of map creation are developed in smaller groups which involve visual artists and IT professionals who work on texturing the model and to add interactions to the parts of the models and finally to place and embed everything to the final homepage.

Volunteers are recruited through Facebook and homepage of the organisation which requires a constant communication on these platforms so that the possible participants can get informed easily.

Results EK’s practice basically comes from the professional work of the members practising as architects, which requires well-structured and organised teamwork, distribution of tasks, the perpetual changes in project plans – but all within an available time frame determined by deadlines of actual contracts.

Participating in projects which allows accesses to virtual shared workspaces give a chance for learning a lot, to gain newer skills for the workers as well – who collect new experiences by common project work developed together in the virtual space of the Teamwork.

(Professional architectural online shared workspaces – Teamwork – is an available, well- developed feature of ARCHICAD, a software designed in Hungary for Building Information Modelling.)

Contact details ÉK Association (ÉK Egyesület) Gabor Palotas, vice-chairman info@ekegyesulet.hu, palotas.gabor@ekegyesulet.hu www.ekassociation.hu

17

CASE 2 Yumeiho Therapy for Hungary Summary of practice 1. Objectives of the Association 2. Introduction of the Yumeiho massage therapy in Hungary created by the Japanese dr Saionji Massayuki.

3. Providing the neccessary personal and objective conditions in practice.

4. Popularizing the role of Yumeiho massage therapy in healthcare and health restoring issues.

5. Regional teaching centres were established to provide an excellent training in learning the therapy.

6. Course books and educational packages were compiled according to international norms.

7. The communication language of the Yumeiho massage therapy is the Esperanto.

8. Strong connection is maintained with more than ten countries within the international organization.

9.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

Having worked together with the Association in a number of events we can say that we know their well-organized and successful work very well. They constantly keep people informed and involve volunteers into their activity. Their results in healthcare have become well-known among people. Anybody from infants to aged people or families can take part in their public programs.

These programs popularize the healthy way of life which is a very important task since the general health indicators of Hungarians draw a very bad picture. The question of health prevention has become a central task in Hungary.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

The bodies of the Association: Members’ meeting, Presidency and Supervisory Board Members’ meeting: The decision-making body of the Association. Decisions are accepted with simple majority public votes Presidency: The managing body of the Association elected by the Members’ meeting for five years.

President: Manages the operation of the Association, represents it, calls the Members’ meetings and Presidency sittings.

Internal vice President: Has supervisory power. Organizes and improves the relationship with national civil and state organizations.

International vice President: Supervises the Association’s international relations.

Representative for economic affairs: Responsible for administrative issues.

Supervisory Board: Monitors and controls the Association’s operation and financial activity.

Supporting members: Help the Association’s work.

Volunteers: Give help with the preparation and fulfilment of the programs organised by the Association.

18

Description of the process A member of the Association can be a Hungarian citizen who accepts the rules of the Association and is not prohibited on public affair. Membership comes into existence with joining the Association. The Presidency makes the decision on the admission of the candidate for membership. Yumeiho Therapy can be taught for members only.

Members have access to educational materials on various levels in order to learn the basic theory of Yumeiho therapy. There are courses for new members to learn the therapy in practice. The massage therapy is based on various level modules so the higher degrees can be achieved through the modules. Secondary medical qualification and knowledge of anatomy are compulsory as conditions for being allowed to start a course. Those who are not in possession of it are required to pass the medical module before finishing module successfully. Only therapists verified as having at least 3 degree of the therapy method can work as therapists. Using of the Community Trade Mark of Yumeiho is subject to authorisation.

Members have a statutory responsibility to participate in further theoretical and practical trainings. Yumeiho can be taught only by a member of the Association.

Regulations and norms are based on international standards in the educational system. The highest degree to obtain as a Yumeiho therapist is 7th degree (7dan of Yumeiho Therapy) on the basis of the International Rules of Procedure. Therapist achieving at least level V is considered as ’Master’ internationally.

The Association organizes central professional training courses for members 2-3 times a year. Every two years congresses are held within the international organization always in a different country. The Association helps its members participate at congresses.

Voluntary work plays an integral part in the preparation and arrangement of local and international events.

As a charity work the Association assists sportsmen/women in preparing for competitions and treat future expectant mothers within the infertility framework.

The Association is a non-profit organisation, the amount of income is used in order to achieve its goals. The Association manages its finances independently according to its annual budget.

The assets of the Association consist of the membership fees, other voluntary payments of the sponsors, supporting and honorary members, and the fees of courses and educational materials.

Results The Seat of the Hungarian Yumeiho Association is in the city of Hodmezovasarhely.

Ms Katalin Farago plays an outstanding role in making Hungarian people acquainted with the therapy. The Yumeiho Therapy Coursebook used by the Association was translated by her and was published in 1996. She is the author of the teaching modules as well. The Hungarian Yumeiho Association was founded in 2000. We have reason to believe that, without her efforts, it would not have been established.

She is the only Hungarian and the first woman in the world to be awarded with danVI Master degree. There are only three people with the same title in the whole world.

She works very effectively. Today there are seven dan5, eight dan4 and thirty-nine dan3 Yumeiho therapists in Hungary as the result of her educational program.

Katalin Farago has organized four European Congresses and three World Congresses 19

with the help of volunteers so far. She is regularly among the lecturers of world congresses. Last time she held a speech in April 2016 in Tokyo. Her lecture on “Connection between thyroid gland illnesses and infertility” proved the success of her fifteen-year long work. As the result of her program 106 women became pregnant and 104 babies were born.

Local and national community programs are held which can be visited by everybody.

Various forms of media are used to inform people about the events. There is a constantly growing community of members and volunteers in the Association.

Contact details Ms Katalin Farago-the official representative of Yumeiho Therapy for Hungary Faragó Katalin 6800 Hódmezővásárhely Móricz Zsigmond u. 4/c. fsz. 1. farago.kata@espmed.hu yurefam www.yumeiho.hu

20

ITALIAN CASES CASE 1 Summary of practice SPICeS - School of International Policy, Cooperation and Development It is a high post-graduate training programme on development cooperation, projects and volunteers management. The SPICeS, could be a one-year “specialisation school” or a two-year “University Master” integrating the “school” with exams at the local university.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

Because it offers complementary and different points of view about the issues of sustainable development and least developed countries, and it opens among the 68 NGO federated to FOCSIV a wide spectrum of possible collaborations, volunteering and employment.

Results www.focsiv.it http://www.focsiv.it/spices-3/ Contact details Focsiv Federico Buttinelli FOCSIV- spices@focsiv.it

CASE 2 Summary of practice National Civil Service professional training This is a professional training proposed by CO.P.E. ( Cooperazione Paesi Emergenti) for all civil service volunteers who have been selected for a year of volunteering in the CO.P.E. offices in Italy. The training is based on topic such as cooperation, project management, fundraising and communication What is it that makes this a good practice?

It is a good instrument for newcomers on the cooperation world who wants to continue working in this sector, to receive training and improve their skills. It promotes exchange of knowledge and experiences and opens a space for possible collaborations, volunteering and employments.

Results www.cope.it http://www.serviziocivile.gov.it/ Contact details CO.P.E. Cooperazione Paesi Emergenti Piermauro Manmano serviziocivile@cope.it 21

LATVIAN CASES CASE 1 Summary of practice “SIF” project. The project is mainly about the integration of long-term patients into the job market by providing ICT skills acquisition. It has been done by motivating and supporting target group to learn new different level IT skills during the illness.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

The main benefit will be the development of a new IT long-distance learning programme through which long-term patients will be able to learn the basic and advanced computer skills. To take full advantage of this programme, 4-month-long training programs have been organised for the representatives of NGOs and social workers for programme acquisition and patient motivation, followed by piloting the programme for six months in various Latvian health care facilities.

Results It is possible to get more information on the project`s webpage (http://www.fondssabiedribai.lv/lv/ikt-prasmes) or contacting “Foundation for Society” directly.

Contact details Nodibinājums “Fonds Sabiedrībai” (Foundation “Fund for Society”) Reg. number: 40008149529 Address: Raiņa bulv. 2-3, LV-1050 www.fondssabidribai.lv

CASE 2 Summary of practice “United, not split” project. 153 third-country nationals in Ventspils, Jelgava and Daugavpils have mastered the Latvian language and integration which, complemented by discussions and tours to Riga - Latvian Occupation Museum, the War Museum and the open-air museum.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

With help of this project it is possible to get integrated into Latvian society.

Moreover, it is a good example and even a platform to be launched in other countries using this successful example.

Results

22

It is possible to get more information on the project`s webpage (http://www.fondssabiedribai.lv/lv/vienoti-nevis-skelti) or contacting “Foundation for Society” directly Contact details Nodibinājums “Fonds Sabiedrībai” (Foundation “Fund for Society”) Reg. number: 40008149529 Address: Raiņa bulv. 2-3, LV-1050 www.fondssabidribai.lv

CASE 3 Summary of practice “Go and Return” project. The project aims to pay attention in the Baltics to the everincreasing problem of young people’s migration from the Baltic states. In particular to seek means and opportunities to educate new professionals to promote return migration back to the Baltic States after education abroad.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

36 young people from the Baltic countries will be involved in the project’s realisation.

Getting acquainted with the real situation and developed laws, these young people will look for ways to creatively address emigrated young people and develop realistic proposals, based on their own views and the need for events in the Baltic countries that should be taken to motivate young specialists in order to boost return migration.

Results You can find more information here: http://www.fondssabiedribai.lv/lv/go-and-return http://goandreturn.wordpress.com/ and social networks - the project Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Go-and-Return/506021139409808

Contact details Nodibinājums “Fonds Sabiedrībai” (Foundation “Foundation for Society”) Reg. number: 40008149529 Address: Raiņa bulv. 2-3, LV-1050 www.fondssabidribai.lv

23

POLISH CASES Summary of practice The project "Cyber - Hand Leader. Supporting the Leaders of Social Change in Poland" is aimed at graduates of Lower Silesia universities who can under the project go to non-governmental organisations to learn. There the first hold a two-month internship and work for half a year. Their salary is funded by the project. The period of the internship and employment precede a two-month training course.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

The project promotes employment in NGOs, suggests new avenues of cooperation between volunteers and members of the organization (e.g. cooperation in the form of online participation). It enables the development of knowledge about the sector – as part of the training. It enables collaboration between organizations - by directing volunteers and interns. Through the involvement of trainees in the process of preparing applications to the EU, organisations can save costs, increase the pool of ideas and enable the potential employment of interns on the project in the future.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

Such actions should be implemented by non-governmental organizations, which have their own preferences as to the skills of future employees, interns and volunteers.

The project was preceded by a diagnosis of the potential of the NGO sector as an employer and staffing needs of the sector. The research was also aimed at finding factors that may motivate individuals to take up employment in the sector.

The target audience of the project were university graduates. In Poland, the beneficiaries of the project may be in particular young people NEET. Description of the process During the project, participants take part in numerous meetings, workshops and group trips, they also have the opportunity to go on an internship abroad. Half of the participants of the first cycle of the project found permanent employment in their chosen organisations, another twenty five percent continues to work with NGOs in another form.

Results In the course period, they launched a number of new initiatives other than the training course, including the appointment of new non-governmental organisations, managed by young leaders from Lower Silesia.

Contact details Centrum ds. Katastrof i Klęsk Żywiołowych "Tratwa" 50-242 Wrocław http://www.tratwa.org/2012/htdocs/kontakt#mid_115 http://www.fise.org.pl/x/204163

24

ul. Henryka Probusa 9/4,

http://tratwa.fe4.tangora.com/Aktualno%C5%9Bci.69/Cyber-r%C4%99ka-rusza-wteren.5.aspx

CASE 2 Summary of practice Gajusz Foundation - Centre of volunteerism. Gajusz Foundation provides a stationary and a perinatal hospice for children. Thanks to hospices, patients can spend their most valued days in the comfort of their homes, with their parents by their side. The foundation provides around-the-clock free medical, psychological, and social care.

The Foundation provides relief, alleviation, and support for sick children and their families, mainly from the Lodz region and surrounding areas.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

The Foundation works by engaging volunteers, who take care, provide help, company and entertainment to terminally or chronic ill children staying at the public healthcare institutions as well as by organising legal and psychological support for children who fell victim of communication accidents.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

Everyone who is at least 18 years old and wants to help.

Description of the process Gajusz Foundation - Centre of volunteerism organise free trainings for volunteers in the following areas: hospice volunteerism, hospital volunteerism, action volunteerism, fundraising volunteerism.

Contact details Fundacja Gajusz 93-271 Łódź, ul. Jarosława Dąbrowskiego 87 Gabriela Halakiewicz, koordynator wolontariatu e-mail: ghalakiewicz@gajusz.org.pl, tel.: +48 697 789 920.

25

PORTUGUESE CASES We chose two different best practice examples, the 1st one is a Project called Join4Change promoted by ISU- Institute of Solidarity and University Cooperation and CPV - Portuguese Confederation of Volunteering.

The ISU is a Non-Governmental Organization for Development (NGO), founded in 1989, pursuing the global development goal, believing that this is based on the sum of the achievements of individuals, from the stimulus of their abilities and skills. Working with people in poverty and social exclusion and demand, through training and ongoing projects, and adjusting your action to identified needs. It does so without imposing standardized paths or replacing people in their decision-making role. Thus seeks to transform individuals to be more capable and more autonomous for one’s own benefit and the community.

The action of the ISU takes place in 4 intervention areas: Volunteer, Social Intervention, Cooperation and Education for Development. In addition to the development of various intervention projects, it seeks to sensitize civil society on issues related to the spirit of solidarity and mutual cooperation. Thus, the ISU sees volunteering as a form of active participation in society, cooperation, multiculturalism and tolerance. This is the underlying nature to UIS areas of action that are different projects with own goals. It founded the Training Centre for Volunteering in 1999 and since then has been a reference in the training of people and organizations.

The CPV - Portuguese Confederation of Volunteering is a Non-Governmental Organization Portuguese integrating thirty-two (32) private corporate bodies established or activity in the country, representing or promoting volunteering. The organization was established on 19 January 2007 and aims to "represent volunteers from Portugal and their organizations, whatever their field of activity, and contribute to the protection of the respective rights and interests", by essentially exercising related activities, among others, preserving and updating the identity of volunteering; cooperation with federated organizations; the intensification of the volunteer's role in Portugal; promoting and conducting studies on volunteering.

The 2nd best practice it´s a school of volunteering called Pista Mágica, was created in 2008.

It´s the 1st volunteering school in Portugal and their mission is "Educating for the exercise of a volunteer to effectively solve the problems of vulnerable people and the world". They offer their services such: training courses; conferences; seminars (some of them without cost associated) for different target people.

CASE 1 Project Join4Change http://www.join4change.net/pt/ Summary of practice Join4Change project http://www.join4change.net/pt/ was a two-year project ran until February 2016, was developed by ISU - Institute of Solidarity and University Cooperation and CPV - Portuguese Confederation of Volunteering intended to contribute to improving the involvement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in promoting volunteering strategies, through training its agents, the availability of online resources and encouraging the sharing of experiences.

26

What is it that makes this a good practice?

The project allowed the empowerment of CSOs to mobilize volunteer management through actions to develop social skills, personal and relational leaders, employees with coordination and leadership roles, and sharing of best practices fostering the creation of new synergies.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

This project involved: volunteers; companies; NGOs: associations and foundations: 100 CSOs showed interest in participating in the project and 62 CSOs were identified to the path of reflection, research, education and training in respect of the Volunteer; 80 people from 44 CSOs participated on five actions of training workshops; 55 national CSOs, 3 Norwegian CSOs, 5 state entities, foundations and 3 companies participated on the International Seminar.

Description of the process The project has three main phases: 1st – Mobilization and Diagnosis in this phase the project was disseminated throughout the country to get the information to the largest possible number of organizations that could be interested in participating, then 62 organizations were identified to continue the path of reflection, research, education and training in respect of the Volunteer Management. During 2 months took place workshops whose themes were initially identified; 2nd- Training and Monitoring five training workshops were held - built based on the needs identified in the previous phase. 80 people from 44 CSOs participated in these workshops, which included 200 training hours. At the same time also a toolkit was developed (1 Manual for Trainer, 1 Manual for Trainees and 1 Tool Box Volunteer).

3rd- Networking and Recognition enlargement and dissemination of project through an online platform which enhances the connection and interaction of stakeholders / the theme and an International Seminar which enhances moments of reflection for present persons and entities and was attended.

Results The number of institutions that showed interest in participating in the project (100); the number of organizations participating in all activities (62); the feedback and involvement of all participants.

Contact details Organization: ISU- Institute of Solidarity and University Cooperation Email adress: geral@isu.pt Webpage: www.isu.pt Phone number: +351 965 002 058 Address - Rua Maria Alice, nº9 | 1750-350 – Lisboa Organization: CPV - Portuguese Confederation of Volunteering Email adress: geral@convoluntariado.pt Webpage: http://www.convoluntariado.pt/ 27

Phone number: +351 936 338 690 Address - Av. Júlio Dinis, n.º 23, 1.º Esq. | 1050-130 Lisboa

CASE 2 Pista Mágica volunteering school http://www.pista-magica.pt/Pista_Magica/Inicio.html Summary of practice Pista Mágica http://www.pista-magica.pt/Pista_Magica/Inicio.html is a nongovernmental organization that is characterized by a volunteering school. Their mission is to educate for the exercise of volunteering, creating bases for volunteering under the assumption: “that volunteering is the way of the fight against inequalities in Portugal and in the World”.

Pista Mágica develops several activities to promote the spirit of volunteering, some activities has no associated costs and are developed by volunteers members of the association.

What is it that makes this a good practice It´s a good practice because its scope of activity and the range of services offered by the organization, such as: a) Promoting courses targeted at volunteer agents, be they volunteers, aspiring volunteers, managers / volunteer coordinators, organizational leaders; b) Development of lectures such as conferences, seminars in educational organizations (schools, universities); c) Providing consulting services in the areas of the courses held; c) Providing free access to the library specializing in volunteerism, with a focus on volunteer management; d) Promotion of educational activities for volunteering in schools and libraries for the children, youth and university population.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

This practice involves the association members (they also are volunteers) carry out the activities; the public that receiving activities (children, young people and adults); associations and institutions using the services and the community in general.

Description of the process The association promotes server training courses such as: a) Initiation to volunteer (12 hours) - directed to people who want to start volunteering activity and those with previous experience, but who have never had the opportunity to previous training. Contents: understanding the types of Volunteering; Legislation and official documents; Reflection for action and work in the field (teamwork, interpersonal communication and conflict resolution); b) Training for trainers in the volunteering field (24 hours) - directed for those who have the function to train the novices volunteers in nonprofit organisations. Contents: the trainer's role in introduction to volunteering; the voluntary contributions to a better world; historical review of volunteering; volunteering in the world, in Europe and in Portugal; the requirements for the exercise of volunteering; definitions and 28

types of volunteering; Portuguese legislative information and other official international documents; ethical voluntary code; reflection for action; work in the field; c) Volunteer management training course (36 hours) – directed for those who want to work in development and management of volunteer programs. Contents: introduction to volunteering; planning volunteer programmes; organization of volunteer programmes; development of voluntary post profiles; recruitment of volunteers; interview and selection of volunteers; orientation and training of volunteers; supervision of volunteers; voluntary assessment; recognition of volunteers. d) Audiovisual techniques for non-profit organisations (24 hours) – this training provides basic knowledge for the development and dissemination of training materials. it addresses audiovisual tools to institutional promotion, recruitment and training of volunteers. Contents: the important of communication; the power of video in building skills; how to make a video: image capture, editing and finishing and a study cases. e) Workshop on how to create an association (6 hours) – this workshop allows its participants the opportunity to access compiled and organized content of how to create an association in Portugal. In addition to all legislative theme, they are provided - in a pragmatic way - the necessary steps to give the constitution of the Association process. f) How to design projects (local or national project) (12 hours) - Designing social projects al local or national level. Contents: develop local projects of short duration; develop national media projects / long term and Practical cases. g) Strategic planning course in non-profit organisations (12 hours) – this training course provide the tools for the preparation of the strategic planning of non-profits organizations. Contents: create a mission statement; create a declaration of strategic vision; setting strategies and goals; preparation of the annual activity plan; and work in study cases.

Results After each activity they make the assessment and the feedback are very positive and are publish on the their webpage http://www.pistamagica.pt/Pista_Magica/Testemunhos.html "The training was very useful for the acquisition of new perspectives and ways of acting and face of volunteering activity."

"I think this training was extremely important and well organized. They were focused on very specific aspects of situations that can be found in a very clear way. I congratulate the organization of the School and Trainer. " "I consider a very important training for those who take responsibility in volunteer management. It allows you to open new horizons of creativity and application of innovative concepts around volunteering. " Contact details: Organization: Email address: info@pista-magica.pt Webpage: http://www.pista-magica.pt/Pista_Magica/Inicio.html Phone number: +351 229 069 613

29

Address - Centro Empresarial de Matosinhos, Edifício Nova Centralidade, Praça da Cidadania, 95 - Gabinete 4, 4465-266 S. Mamede de Infesta

30

ROMANIAN CASE CASE 1 Summary of practice A Youth centre in a village from Transylvania has been created in an old house of. It creates projects for the local community and different groups that are coming to the centre from all over Romania and Europe. It involves a lot of volunteers from all over the world for all the tasks in the centre.

What is it that makes this a good practice The centre has 100 volunteers / year now from more than 10 countries and it has just 2 employees. It uses more platforms and programmes to attract and sustain the volunteers, for example EVS and workaway.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

The centre’s volunteer manager is making sure that all the people involved have a good time, enjoy and also learn from their experience in the scout centre. Every day the volunteers are choosing their daily tasks and projects and every evening they have a debriefing and share their experience with the team Description of the process

The volunteers are recruited by different methods:  EVS – using our external partners from different countries  Workaway.info  Helpx.net Our website with a campaign in social media for summer volunteers helps to bring Romanian volunteers for a short term in the summer. Volunteers from different countries like Argentina, Spain, France, Denmark, Italy, New Zeeland, South Africa, USA, Germany, Portugal, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Denmark and Romania joined the Nocrich Scout Centre volunteering programme for couple of days or even months. Short term volunteers are contributing with a fee of 3 euro/day to be able to sustain their food. Who can participate? everyone who wants and who is over 15 years old. Accommodation for the summer volunteers is done in tents at Nocrich, work is similar to fun and knowledge and you will have the chance to learn new things, make new friends and explore the nearby Saxon 31

villages. The volunteers are split and can take part in more teams like: Animation & Programme Team – this involves taking part in the organization and implementation of the activities for the kids from the village. The volunteers can develop their skills as a scout leader and share experience in order to offer the kids an international and diverse image of what scouting is. The activities are very diverse, ranging from typical scout meetings with games, to challenges, village quests, camps. Pottery and Artistic Team – we opened a pottery and ceramics workshop. Here, with the guidance of a potter who comes pretty often during the summer, the volunteers can learn more about this craft and also experience it.

Moreover, painting the pots has become a daily task. Administrative Team – We have a lot of groups doing the summer camp, so one of the task of the volunteers is to be sure the groups have everything they need and to support them when needed. Another task will be cooking for all the members of the team of volunteers – Nocrich Family. The manual work involves ensuring the wellbeing of the scout centre and keeping it up. Cleaning, organising, (re)building, painting, mowing the lawn, shopping for food.

All volunteers have volunteering contracts or activity agreements.

Results   

30 kids in the local community actively involved in non-formal education programmes and with a significant improvement of English language skills One pottery workshop that is working now and able to provide educational activities and a small production A camping site with 7000 metres square of camping that can be opened for the summer season More than 5 big educational events for the summer created by the volunteers Contact details Diana Sutea Nocrich Scout Center H.C. Habermann nocrich@scout.ro www.nocrich.scout.ro

32

TURKISH CASES CASE 1 Summary of practice LĂ–SEV. This is an example of one of the biggest charitable foundations in Turkey which is a non-profit NGO, mainly aiming to provide educational and emotional support, financial assistance and health services for children who have leukemia or chronic blood disorders, in order to help them cope with a life-threatening illness.

The foundation is providing service with about 2.5 million volunteers and is a great example of volunteer management, cooperation, communication, volunteer work commitment and training.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

This example is useful and is a great example for third sector who works mainly with volunteers. It promotes exchange of knowledge and experiences and new methods to manage the volunteer coordination.

Results http://www.losev.org.tr/v2/tr/default.asp Contact details Public Relations - Volunteers Communications Studies Department losev@losev.org.tr

CASE 2 Summary of practice The Foundation of Disability Education, Culture and Health This example is about providing private education for the persons with disabilities, and to secure their employment for vocational education. The foundation also implements studies by planning similar fields for the development of persons with disabilities.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

This example is useful because if offers a different experience to work with disadvantaged groups. The volunteers in Foundation of Disability Education, Culture and Health are also involved in abroad assignments. This makes new possibilities for new collaborations, volunteering and employment.

Results www.engellivakfi.org Contact details The Foundation of Disability Education, Culture and Health Abdurrahman KURTASLAN info@engellivakfi.org -- engellivakfi@gmail.com 33

UK CASES CASE 1 Summary of practice Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard for all organisations which involve volunteers in their work. IiV is owned by the UK Volunteering Forum.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

Investing in Volunteers has been designed to be an effective and rigorous process to ensure that volunteers receive the best possible management support and organisations receive maximum benefit from their volunteers' contribution.

The standard is based on the four areas of volunteer management:  Planning for volunteer involvement  Recruiting volunteers  Selecting and matching volunteers  Supporting and retaining volunteers.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

Over 800 organisations have achieved this quality accreditation throughout the UK, ranging from small community groups that are totally volunteer-led to large national multi branch charities that have thousands of volunteers.

Description of the process Step one: Getting started The organisation works with their Country Manager to agree how they will work together to complete the IiV process. After registration, they are ready to begin the process. There is an introductory workshop or briefing session where the Advisor explains the steps to achieving the award. By the end of the workshop, the organisation will have developed a provisional timetable to achieve the award.

Step Two: Self-Assessment A Self-Assessment Checklist to benchmark where the organisation currently is in relation to the standard will be completed and be sent to the Advisor with three pieces of written material evidence. Based on the written evidence submitted, the Advisor will check that the ratings seem appropriate.

Step Three: Development The organisation will establish a development plan using the template provided. This is forwarded this to the Advisor for approval.

Step Four: Assessment Visit(s) The date(s) for the assessment visit(s) are mutually agreed. The Assessor’s purpose at the assessment visit is to gather sufficient information so that they can judge whether the practices in the organisation meets the IiV standard. During the assessment visit, the Assessor will interview the main contact person, volunteers and other stakeholders using the agreed schedule and may wish to look at documentary evidence.

Step Five: Local and national quality assurance

34

After the assessment visit, the Assessor will submit their report to the quality assurance panel for verification.

Step Six: Achievement of the Award The organisation will be contacted regarding the outcome of the Quality Assurance Panel. Successful organisations are given a certificate and plaque to display for three years.

Results Investing in Volunteers demonstrates real achievement measured against a rigorous national standard. Achieving Investing in Volunteers benefits an organisation in many ways, including:  Enabling them to publicly demonstrate their organisation’s commitment to volunteering and effective volunteer management  Increasing volunteers’ motivation and enhancing their experience  Encouraging more people to volunteer  Enhancing the organisation’s r reputation in the local community and with funders  Minimising any potential risks arising from the involvement of volunteers.

A total of 21 organisations across the UK were accredited or successfully renewed the standard in April 2016. These are: England Bristol Drugs Project Citizens Advice Plymouth Imperial College Union Leeds Beckett Students' Union Nottingham Trent Students' Union Nottinghamshire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Ormiston Families Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust Plymouth Domestic Abuse Services Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Northern Ireland Laganvalley Regional Park Holywood Family Trust Foyle Search and Rescue Brain Injury Matters (previously Headway Belfast) Scotland Broomhouse Health Strategy Group Changeworks Volunteer Edinburgh Care and Repair Edinburgh 35

Glasgow Homelessness Network Wales DASU (Domestic Abuse Safety Unit)

Contact details Contact details for the five development agencies that are delivering the Standard across the UK and Republic of Ireland NCVO IiV Manager Address: NCVO, Society Building, 8 All Saints Street, London, England N1 9RL Telephone: 020 7520 2438 Email: iiv@ncvo.org.uk Website: www.ncvo.org.uk Tel: 020 7713 6161 Volunteer Now David Fitzsimons, Training & Development Officer Address: Volunteer Now Enterprises Ltd, 34 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, BT2 7DB Telephone: 028 9081 8330 Email: david.fitzsimons@volunteernow.co.uk Website: www.volunteernow.co.uk Volunteer Scotland Anne Hislop, IiV Manager Address: Volunteer Scotland, Jubilee House, Forthside Way, Stirling FK8 1QZ Telephone: 01786 479 593 Email: anne.hislop@volunteerscotland.org.uk Website: www.volunteerscotland.org.uk Wales Council for Voluntary Action Fiona Liddell, Volunteering Development Officer Address: Wales Council for Voluntary Action, Baltic House, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, Wales CF10 5FH Telephone: 02920 431730 Email: fliddell@wcva.org.uk Website: www.wcva.org.uk Volunteer Ireland Terri O'Brien, Quality Standards & Training Officer Address: Volunteer Ireland, 18 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Telephone: +353 (01) 636 9446 Email: terri@volunteer.ie Website: www.volunteer.ie

36

CASE 2 Summary of practice NCVO has been running an internal peer to peer digital skills programme since June 2015 to build the skills and confidence of all staff.

What is it that makes this a good practice?

97% of attendees have learned something new from the session they attended and 95% feel more confident about the subject. 85% of the six month survey respondents could articulate at least one thing they’ve done differently since attending a session.

Who does this practice involve and who does what?

People at NCVO generally had a good level of digital literacy, some lacked the confidence to try new tools and approaches. Many also lacked the time to attend external training.

Description of the process We considered using external trainers to deliver sessions, however we felt a peer to peer approach would provide a valuable opportunity for the digital and communications team to develop their presentation, facilitation and communication skills, save time and money, and make digital more approachable to our less digitally confident members of staff.

Using in-house resource meant asking members of the digital and communications team to design, write and deliver content on top of their existing workload. This, and asking members of staff working to full capacity to take time out of their already packed schedules to attend sessions, and then implement what they’ve learnt, presented a potential challenge.

The Learning Lab was designed with all of this in mind: as an informal, peer to peer learning opportunity, delivered in one hour sessions to small, mixed groups. Sessions are optional and staff could attend as many or as few as they wanted.

Results Staff particularly like the length, delivery, content and tone of the sessions as well as the opportunity to interact with colleagues they may not usually interact with.

We've had three fantastic blog posts from staff who have shared what they've learnt and enjoyed about the Learning Lab: Contact details HELEN RIDGWAY Online Engagement Manager at NCVO https://knowhownonprofit.org/case-studies/building-a-digital-workforce NCVO Society Building 8 All Saints Street London N1 9RL

37

CONCLUSIONS Similar issues concerning the third sector have emerged simultaneously all over Europe from both a professional and volunteering perspective. This has left many third-sector organisations with increasing learning and professional development needs. At the same time, the sector has assumed greater responsibility for service provision all over Europe, which places increasing demands on organisations’ operations and personnel needs.

In collecting and presenting data covering a wide range of different aspects of the European third sector, the benchmarking includes 10 countries. The size, scope and structure of the sector vary between the countries, but its importance as an employer is growing everywhere. E.g. in Finland and the UK, the sector and volunteering have a long tradition and is highly structured, but its role as an employer has expanded rapidly since the 1990s. The same has happened all over Europe, for instance in Portugal the sector employed around one third more people in 2007 than in 1997. In Italy, the number of permanent staff in thirdsector organisations grew by ca. 10 % between 2001 and 2011, but of employers in fixedterm employment by over 100 %. Also in more recent EU Member States, where volunteering and the third sector have emerged relatively late, such as Latvia and Hungary, growth has been fast.

The report presents 20 good practices from 10 European countries and including training, projects and programmes, that develop universal skills as administration, team work, fundraising; technical skills as using social media, internet communications, work in internet; multicultural skills as breaking cultural stereotypes, work with immigrants, work in multicultural environment and cooperative skills as networking or, self – help as well.

Each presented case study includes a summary of the good practice, justification of choice, description of the practice, participants and results and also contact details.

38

REFERENCES Evers A., Laville J-L., The Third Sector in Europe in: Globalization and Welfare, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA 2004.

Etzioni A., The third sector and domestic missions. Public Administration Review, 33(4), 1973.

Handbook on Non-profit Institutions in the System of National Accounts, ONZ New York 2003.

Nickles W. G., McHugh J. M., McHugh S. M., Understanding Business, Tenth Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin, new York 2012.

Whetten D. A., Cameron K. S., Developing Management Skills, Global Edition 2011.

39