{"id":6430,"date":"2021-07-19T03:32:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T10:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/?p=6430"},"modified":"2021-07-18T17:49:01","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T00:49:01","slug":"volunteer-bill-of-rights-a-commitment-by-a-host-organization-to-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2021\/07\/volunteer-bill-of-rights-a-commitment-by-a-host-organization-to-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Bill of Rights &#8211; a commitment by a host organization to volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/volunteerstransparent.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/volunteerstransparent.jpg\" alt=\"graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers\" class=\"wp-image-1186\" width=\"238\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/volunteerstransparent.jpg 358w, https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/volunteerstransparent-183x300.jpg 183w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 238px) 100vw, 238px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/volunteer\/comments\/nhvdb5\/volunteer_bill_of_rights\/\">I ask this<\/a> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/volunteer\/\">volunteer subreddit<\/a> and got just one response&#8230; maybe I will have better luck on my own blog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2010, Robert Egger, the founder of the nonprofit DC Central Kitchen, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.robertegger.org\/blog\/a-volunteer-bill-of-rights\">proposed a national Volunteer Bill of Rights<\/a>. In an interview, he said, \u201cIf a program can\u2019t tell a volunteer what they accomplished, allow them to talk to any staff member, provide financial data or allow a volunteer to rate their experience or provide feedback\u2014then volunteers should feel free to call them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His Volunteer Bill of Rights, which he implemented at DC Central Kitchen, included the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The right to work in a safe environment.<\/li><li>The right to be treated with respect by all staff members.<\/li><li>The right to be engaged in meaningful work and be actively included regardless of any physical limitation.<\/li><li>The right to be told what impact your work has had on the community.<\/li><li>The right to ask any staff member about the organization&#8217;s work.<\/li><li>The right to provide feedback about your experience.<\/li><li>The right to receive financial information or an annual report.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, the Association for Women in Communications created <a href=\"https:\/\/womenincommunications.org\/volunteerism-bill-of-rights\/\">its own Volunteer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities<\/a>. In their document, they said that it is a Volunteer&#8217;s Right to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>To be assigned a task that is worthwhile and challenging.<\/li><li>To receive the orientation, training and supervision needed to do the job.<\/li><li>To feel that your efforts have real purpose and contribute to the organization\u2019s mission.<\/li><li>To receive useful feedback and evaluation on the volunteer work that you perform.<\/li><li>To be treated with respect and as an equal partner within the agency.<\/li><li>To be trusted with confidential information necessary to carry out your assignment.<\/li><li>To be kept informed about relevant matters within the organization.<\/li><li>To expect that your time will not be wasted because of poor planning or poor coordination by the organization.<\/li><li>To ask any questions that will clarify a task or assignment.<\/li><li>To give the organization input or advice on how to better accommodate the needs of present and future volunteers.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>And they said it is a Volunteer&#8217;s Responsibility to<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Not to take on more responsibility than you can handle.<\/li><li>Meet time commitments or to provide notice so alternative arrangements can be made.<\/li><li>Perform the tasks assigned to you to the best of your ability.<\/li><li>Provide input on ways your task might be better performed.<\/li><li>Follow organization policies and procedures.<\/li><li>Respect those confidences entrusted to you.<\/li><li>Be open-minded and respectful towards opinions shared with you.<\/li><li>Notify the organization in advance of absences or schedule changes that may affect them.<\/li><li>Accept reasonable tasks without complaints.<\/li><li>Communicate and work with others in the organization if the task calls for it.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I would add that I believe a volunteer has a right to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Ask for a description of a role or task in writing, detailing time commitments, responsibilities, impact of the service to the organization, etc.<\/li><li>Ask why a role, or certain roles, are reserved by the organization for volunteers (as opposed to paying people for their time and expertise), and get an answer that is not &#8220;because we can&#8217;t afford to pay people.&#8221;<\/li><li>Expect a role to be fun and\/or personally fulfilling and\/or professionally helpful.<\/li><li>Complain and be treated with respect if complaining when an organization has not fulfilled its responsibilities to the volunteer, in terms of providing a safe environment, being treated with respect, addressing harmful and or toxic behavior, provided with appropriate preparation and support for a role or task, information-sharing by staff, what a role is versus how it was described initially to the volunteer, etc.<\/li><li>Say no and withdraw from a role without penalties to future volunteering or program participation if a role the volunteer has successfully undertaken changes substantially later in terms of the amount of time required, the responsibilities, the training required, etc.<\/li><li>Not face any financial burdens to volunteering in their own communities (where they live geographically) or online, in terms of having to pay a prohibitive fee to the organization in order to volunteer. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What would you add? Or reword? Or do you even think such a Bill of Rights is necessary? And when I say necessary, I mean that nonprofits sign on to it, post it, and voluntarily adhere to it (or try to) &#8211; not a legal document, just a promised MO. Please add your ideas in the comments section below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And what might prevent you, as a volunteer-hosting organization, from implementing such a Bill of Rights for your volunteers? Please comment below! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" src=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/donate_icon_small.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4685\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/\">my web site<\/a>&nbsp;and would like to&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/me\/payme.shtml\">support<\/a>&nbsp;the time that went into&nbsp;researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work),&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/me\/payme.shtml\"><strong>here is how you can help<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I ask this on the volunteer subreddit and got just one response&#8230; maybe I will have better luck on my own blog. In 2010, Robert Egger, the founder of the nonprofit DC Central Kitchen, proposed a national Volunteer Bill of Rights. In an interview, he said, \u201cIf a program can\u2019t tell a volunteer what they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[100,176,568,9,530],"class_list":["post-6430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-volunteer-engagement","tag-community","tag-engagement","tag-ethics","tag-nonprofits","tag-volunteering"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3fFJB-1FI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6430"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6439,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6430\/revisions\/6439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}