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There is a range of mechanisms for you to involve volunteers
To pursue volunteering, you will need a support infrastructure. You can learn from the cities that have
already introduced mechanisms to help sustain assets through volunteering. You can also see some important
wider mechanisms and projects that support volunteering more generally but which also have relevance for
volunteering around public assets.
City governments that want to use volunteers need an appropriate infrastructure
There are two basic ways in which city governments can encourage volunteers:
• Volunteer management that serves all or many departments. For example, some cities in the United States
have volunteer management positions that coordinate volunteers in all areas of city government.
• Volunteer management staff in key departments of the city such as parks and recreation and libraries.
There is no right or wrong structure. Having volunteers in all government departments is desirable for the
reasons outlined earlier but local government leaders will have to decide whether they have the resources to
manage volunteers across different departments. The key question for such leaders is “would the savings made/
benefits delivered equal or exceed the resources expended on recruitment, training and management?”
Baltimore and Detroit have focused on a few key city departments in their volunteer strategy
In the 2000s, the Baltimore and Detroit city councils introduced measures to encourage community groups,
non-profits, and businesses to help in maintaining parks and recreation centers. These measures and their key
learning points are outlined in Table 4.3. Two of the four initiatives looked at are part of a national foundationfunded
Cities of Service initiative (see Box 4.1). The initiative funded the appointment of a chief service officer
(CSO) within many U.S. cities, including Baltimore and Detroit.
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