Volunteer Policies for Board Consideration and Approval ======================================================= Submitted by the NCF Volunteer Co-ordination Task Force 9 April 1996 Issue: Volunteering is becoming more developed. We have designated more funds to this arena for 1996 and hope to improve NCF's effectiveness in achieving its mission via successful usage of this outstanding resource. Need: NCF currently has no Board policies on volunteering despite the fact that volunteer involvement is listed as an NCF Board value, that approximately $20,000 have been committed to volunteering in 1996, and that NCF gets a large percentage of our goals accomplished through volunteer efforts. We are implementing our NCF volunteering strategy. This includes handbooks, recruitment from the community, orientations, training and recognition. The staff, volunteers and membership need the two basic elements of volunteering defined via Board policy: -Definition of a volunteer -Volunteer Participation Most non-profits Boards do have volunteer policies similar to these. In doing our research we utilized the Ottawa-Carleton Volunteer Centre and have based these two drafts on wording recommended for non-profit organizations. Goal: To have these two policies approved and inserted on-line as well as used in all the volunteer materials currently being produced (please see the March Projects Co-ordinator Report for details). ------------------------------------------------ Policies ======== Definition of a Volunteer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A volunteer is anyone who without compensation, or expectation of compensation beyond reimbursement of approved expenses, performs a task at the direction of, and on behalf of, the agency. A volunteer must be officially accepted by the agency prior to the task. Unless specifically stated, volunteers shall not be considered an agent of the organization. Volunteer Participation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Volunteers are vital to the NCF and are second only to its mission. Volunteer participation is valued because it helps the NCF to accomplish its mission and provide services in the most cost-effective manner possible. The NCF accepts the service of all volunteers with the understanding that such service is at the sole discretion of the NCF and that the organization does not exist solely to provide opportunities for volunteer participation. Volunteers agree that at any time, for whatever reason, the NCF may decide to terminate the volunteer's relationship with the NCF.