Marketing Initiatives and Campaigns to promote Volunteering - a ...

From this table it can be seen that there is somewhat more consensus in the UK about theprimary motivation for young volunteers, and there are three motivating factors on whichthey all agree: making a difference, improving skills and increasing employability.Further research might reveal that the three organisations are targeting different sectors ofthe community, and this could account for the different emphasis placed on othermotivating factors.Older volunteers:Alongside the traditional British volunteering organisations (e.g. Red Cross, Women’sVoluntary Service, etc.), there are some newer organisations, which have been launched,in the past decade to increase the percentage of volunteering in the UK. They includeREACH Volunteering UK, dedicated to “recruiting people with managerial, technical andprofessional expertise and placing them in part-time, unpaid roles in voluntaryorganisations that need their help”, and Experience Corps, “set up to encourage all peopleaged 50 and over to offer their skills and experience to benefit others in their localcommunities”.The Experience Corps represents an interesting case study. The UK Governmentlaunched the scheme in November 2001 with L20m and a target of recruiting 250,000over-50s volunteers in three years. However, towards the end of 2003 it was decided thatit had no chance of meeting the target, and future funding for the project was cancelled.According to a news report in Guardian Unlimited (March 13 2004), the government wasblamed for failing to take the advice of an expert panel, which advised that setting up anew organisation rather than building on the six existing national ones would create yetanother layer of bureaucracy, and for putting too much focus on a “grandiose high profilescheme based on targets and numbers, rather than on quality”.Overall, the emphasis in the UK volunteering websites is somewhat different to thosefrom the US, and whilst ‘making a difference’ is still a common motivating factor, thereis more emphasis placed on having fun, making new friends and gaining employment,and no mention of volunteering as a traditional activity.In summary, the key points mentioned on UK volunteering organisation websites are:• ‘Making a difference’• Improved skills for the volunteer• Volunteers increase employability• Volunteers making new friends• Volunteers having fun• Volunteers gaining work experienceThere are also several useful research sites on volunteering based in the UK, includingthe Institute for Volunteering Research.12