As a not-for-profit organisation, you know just how important volunteers are to the operation of your organisation. But in a time where cost of living pressures, time constraints and increased global volatility take hold, nurturing your volunteer relationships, and ensuring you’re meeting your responsibilities towards them is something not-for-profits and charities will need to pay close attention to. Taking a comprehensive approach towards nurturing your volunteer relationships, and prioritising their safety, wellbeing and your obligations towards them can help you retain your volunteers and help attract quality volunteers in the future.

Enhancing your volunteer experience starts from the very beginning. Ensuring volunteers are provided with adequate training upfront and equipping them with the appropriate tools and information to carry out their tasks plays an important role in the volunteer experience. This includes providing comprehensive training and clear guidance on their roles and responsibilities and also being realistic and transparent about the time commitments required. This can help prevent blurred lines of responsibility and prevent potential claims against your organisation. Equally important are the legal obligations your organisation has towards your volunteers. Even if they are not employed by you, your organisation is still responsible for the health and safety of your volunteers. Government agencies such as Safe Work Australia can provide guidance on the extent of your responsibilities, and the rights of your volunteers. In addition to training, and health and safety, finding other small and subtle ways to keep your volunteers happy and satisfied can make a difference in how well your organisation is able to retain them. Whether it’s by providing small treats, arranging small social gatherings, or simply allowing them the opportunity to expand their skillset by allowing them to work on some of your internal functions, the key is to think creatively and find avenues for your organisation to provide value in non-traditional ways.

Your volunteers provide to your charity something money can’t always buy – time. So if they were to suffer an injury while they were performing their volunteering duties, the impact to their personal life (and livelihood) could be substantial. There are instances where regardless of taking every precaution, you may end up with a volunteer who injures themselves while performing their duties.

Holding appropriate insurance to protect your volunteers is also an important part of enhancing your volunteer experience. Cover under Worker’s Compensation doesn’t extend to volunteers, so for these instances, a Volunteer Personal Accident Insurance policy may be a worthwhile policy to hold for not-for-profits and charities. This insurance provides coverage to your volunteers if they suffer an injury or death while volunteering for your organisation, and may provide lump sum payments to help them sustain their livelihood.

To get a quote for Volunteer Personal Accident Insurance, fill out our form and a member of our team will contact you. In addition to Volunteer Personal Accident Insurance, your organisation may need to consider other forms of insurance to protect you in the event of other mishaps. Our Insurance Puzzle Helper can help provide you with some guidance on the various risks your organisation faces, and the policies that can help you insure against them. A few simple yes/no questions can help you work out which policies you may need to consider to provide you with adequate protection.