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

It is useful to analyze the next question, the tasks undertaken by volunteers, together withvolunteer numbers to highlight the fact that all four organisations rely tremendously onvolunteers to perform services for their clients. The organisations use volunteers toperform core organisational functions as well as supporting services such asadministrative, logistics and planning. It is interesting to note that the task performedincreasingly demand more analytical, specialized and higher skills. It appears thatUnitingCare Wesley Lifeline and Domestic Violence Helpline have a more structuredapproach to the tasks of its volunteers and involve their volunteers in promotional efforts.In relation to volunteer numbers, volunteers make-up most of the organisations’population. It is, therefore, evident that without the work of volunteers, theseorganisations are not able to function.The number of hours worked by volunteers seems to vary across the four organisations,which suggests the distinct type of work. Volunteers are scheduled to work on a weeklyor fortnightly basis. The hours worked range from three to ten hours per week, or fourhours to one day per fortnight. Some of the work seems to be flexible; on the other handthe existence of a roster would suggest a structured approach in organizing volunteertasks. In the case of CFS and SES, volunteers would work more in emergency situations.The average length of service of volunteers also seems to vary between organisationsranging from five to ten years. It is interesting to note that some volunteers havevolunteered for as long as 15 to 30 years indicating that volunteering is a long-termcommitment and has become part of the lifestyle for some people. Nonetheless, RedCross acknowledges a recent trend toward short-term volunteering as a way to gainexperience and skill. In addition, incentives awards given by SES and CES recognize thelong-term contribution and commitment of their volunteers. Reasons for stoppingvolunteering normally reflect the age and stage of life of volunteers.The volunteer profile also differs between voluntary organisations reflecting the type ofservices performed. Red Cross and Meals on Wheels have predominantly femalevolunteers (although the gender ratio is becoming more balanced at Meals on Wheels).Female volunteers are also more common at UnitingCare Wesley Lifeline and DomesticViolence Helpline, whereas male volunteers make up the majority of volunteers at CFSand SES. These findings are consistent with research that found more females to beinvolved in volunteering (Bussell and Forbes, 2002). Red Cross and Meals on Wheelsalso have similar demography in terms of age and a broader range of ethnicity. The olderdemography corresponds with research, which reveals those over the age of 50 morelikely to volunteer (Bussell and Forbes, 2002). CFS and SES, and UnitingCare WesleyLifeline and Domestic Violence Helpline also have comparable demography withyounger volunteers, and a majority of the volunteers being white Australians. Those intheir mid 40s also comprise a group of volunteers with the average age at CFS and SESincreasing, and Red Cross noting that this age group are more skilled.Red Cross and Meals on Wheels reveal similar trends in volunteering with a steadynumbers of volunteers. This may be the effect of their well-recognized name in the16