When the underground voices surface, when the words start adding up and the themes become clear, and when there is a crescendo of concern – we are way behind taking notice. The voices have been around for years: there are board members and trustees of not-for-profit organisations that are just not performing as best they could. We are talking about governance, all those important legal rules set to ensure public confidence in what we are doing, and in conforming to the regulations for reporting to government and Charities Services. They keep pressing on us, loading up our anxieties, wh ..read more

What is Over the past thirty years you, dear government, and the community and voluntary sector, have created a vast amorphous collocation of organisations. We call them variously these days: non-government organisations (NGOs) or non-profit organisations (NPOs) or non-profit institutions (NPIs). We might as well call them non-entities for the way many of them keep struggling to stay afloat, to do the work expected of them, and to be so little acknowledged and appreciated for what they can accomplish. You’ve done a lot to lift the game to your liking, like making organisations to be more resp ..read more

All hail to volunteers on this day. May you enjoy being feted in various ways, and feel real warmth in the thanks and appreciation that is showered on you. Of course, I would like to think you get the respect you deserve throughout the year, and not all at once. For the past seven years I have paid tribute to volunteers and volunteering through this blog, and railed against the platitudes of ‘couldn’t manage without you’ and ‘you help us make a difference’ and ‘volunteers are the life-blood of our organisation’. I have also written about the benefits of volunteering – to national economy, to ..read more

On November 5 we will celebrate International Volunteer Managers’ Day, as we have done in various ways since 1999. This year a global effort is attracting pledges for action from leaders of volunteer programmes from north and south, east and west. There is also an opportunity for bloggers to share perspectives and ideas about being a voice. Here is my contribution. I’m going to shout out about how the role of leading volunteers and managing a volunteer programme is where personal interests and attributes, professional standing and political commitment are rolled into one. The Personal It has ..read more

  Election fever is gripping many New Zealanders at present. It’s our triennial opportunity to have a say on the sort of government we want, to chew over the range of policies on offer, to consider the calibre of potential parliamentary representatives. This time round there is a deal of uncertainty about the outcome: a restlessness with current government, changes in leadership all round, and a new party working its way into the competition. The resurgence of interest in a General Election and voting this year is something I have not seen for more than three decades. No party is touting ..read more

So – you’ve got your dream job, managing a volunteer programme. You are all get up and go, until you discover it’s a pretty complex role and all your previous experience and training really was not enough. And sometimes you get tripped up and stumble with what is expected of you. That’s tough, and you need to find time to figure out what you need and how to get your feet strong on the ground. Will the organisation give you some back-up, and support (with funding) to attend a worthwhile training programme, or to attend a relevant workshop or conference? No such luck if professional development ..read more

New Zealand’s National Volunteer Week finished up on Saturday, a week-long shout out, partying, praise and awards for volunteers. If you have not seen enough of the events, the press releases, videos and social media interaction there is a grand collection on Volunteering New Zealand’s FB page. It’s the one week of the year that volunteers get public notice and due recognition – and even the Prime Minister chimed in this year at the function hosted by the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector. Though if an organisation knows what is best for it there will be plenty of regular in-hou ..read more

    Queen’s song Under Pressure came out in 1981, recorded in collaboration with David Bowie. It’s got a rhythm and words that echo the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. Remember these music and movie hits? Sort of dystopian nihilism, speaking a kind of truth about power and injustice:   It’s the terror of knowing What this world is about Watching some good friends Screaming ‘Let me out!’.... Pressure on people – people on streets....... Thirty-five years later we could be screaming even louder for inequalities of income, homelessness, the cost of housing, polluted waterways a ..read more

The collective noun of Community & Voluntary Sector is widely used. The words trip of the tongue whenever we want to make a point of how important the sector is, or to argue the significance of volunteer contribution to organisations and communities. Or to point out that this or that organisation is getting a raw deal. Trouble is, ‘community’ invokes anything from my local neighbourhood, to a particular set of organisations or particular groups of people, and then links with the broader term of Civil Society. It’s a blanket word used so loosely we risk drowning the distinctions – and the ..read more

A few days ago I got a call from Matthew, one of those volunteer types who like to put up their hand for the next best thing. He had landed the job of recruiting a team of volunteers for a city-wide fund-raising effort and scheduling them into a roster for the day. Not a problem he thought – just ring around the people on the list handed to him – slot them in at their preferred time, perhaps do a bit of juggling with where they wanted to go. Piece of cake. And a nice way to support an organisation he respected. Except a lot of people did not answer his calls, even after several messages ..read more