Getting started

What will I learn?
‍This module is designed to highlight the initial primary actions a club should take to streamline the management and coordination of volunteers in a sport club environment.

How long will it take?
‍This module will take approximately 15 minutesto complete.

Who should complete this module?
‍This module is relevant for any club leaders that are responsible for recruiting, coordinating, retaining, and recognising volunteers. Relevant club leaders may include: Volunteer Coordinator,President, Vice President, Secretary, and General Committee Members.

Section 1

Why is Volunteer Coordination at a club important?

Sustainable approaches to volunteer recruitment

Strategic implementation of volunteer structures creates a stable and productive platform for sports clubs to thrive

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Creating a larger volunteer workforce

Volunteer coordination helps attract and establish an expanded workforce that promotes sharing the volunteer workload

Creating a positive culture of volunteerism

Embedding volunteerism practices into the foundation of club operations promotes a sense of belonging and community-mindedness amongst members

Everyone is recognised for their efforts

Volunteer coordination ensures that clubs are acknowledging the work of members off the playing field, court, or pitch helps ensure everyone feels as though they are contributing to the success of the club.

Improves volunteer experience

A well-coordinated volunteer workforce ensures better retention of volunteers and members.

Section 2

Identifying and appointing a volunteer coordinator

To effectively coordinator and manage the ongoing recruitment, retention, and recognition of volunteers in a club environment it is essential to have a club leader that can oversee this process. The specific title of this role is Volunteer Coordinator.

NOTE: This can be a shared role and should be supported by all committee members.

In some clubs, the responsibilities of the Volunteer Coordinator are suitable to be the primary function of the Vice President or a General Committee Member as it provides them with a good opportunity to familiarise themselves with and oversee all the operational and volunteer requirements of the club.

The following is a brief description of what the role entails:

Purpose

The Volunteer Coordinator is a critical role which ensures identification of all tasks which need volunteer assistance, creation of roles that are right sized for a volunteer’s capacity, recruitment and training of volunteers to fulfil them and creation of an environment which supports volunteers to remain in their roles for lengthy periods.

Administrative Roles

Identify andrecruit people into volunteer roles that suit them
Volunteerrecruitment should be supported and assisted by all committee members
Survey members,participants, and parents on their willingness and/or interest to volunteerthrough development and distribution of a volunteer registration survey.
Ensure volunteerrecords and compliance checks are current. I.e. Working with Children Checks
Lead practices ofsuccession planning of committee and volunteer roles (this should be a standingagenda item at committee meetings).

During competition season

Create or support the creation and maintenance of rosters for volunteers as and when needed in each area of the club
Continually check with volunteers to identify any issues with knowledge and practice and organise any additional training or support if needed.
Recognise and thank volunteers throughout the season

After the season

Ensure each volunteer is contacted, recognised and thanked for their contribution
Gather feedback about the volunteer experience and use this to identify ways to improve the club volunteer program.

Section 3

Understanding your club volunteer needs

Conducting a Volunteer Roles Audit and Creating a Volunteer Roles Spreadsheet

Volunteer Roles Audit

A Volunteer Roles Audit is designed to help identify what roles and tasks need to be filled and undertaken to ensure your club runs smoothly.

This process is ongoing and spreadsheet of roles should be updated over the course of a year.

Section 4

The following aspects of each role identified in the Volunteer Role audit should be detailed:

Role Type

What area of club operations does this role fit? (Examples will be detailed in the following section of the module)

Desirable skills and/or attributes

What skills and attributes are required to complete the role to a satisfactory standard?

Time commitment

Approximately, how many hours per week does the role require?
How much of a commitment is the volunteer role?
Eg: Low: 1-2 hours, Medium: 2-5 hours, High: 5 hours+

Role category

Is the role a casual/roster-based role or a seasonal/ongoing role?

Section 5

The following are general role types and examples that may exist within a club:

Governance roles

Executive committee roles – President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer

Coordinator roles (General Committee Members)

Volunteer Coordinator, Junior coordinator, Senior coordinator, Umpire coordinator, Men’s Coordinator, Women’s Coordinator, etc

Team/competition management roles

Team managers, competition coordinators, or gameday administration

Administration and communication roles

Social media, club communications, sponsorship, merchandise, grants

Game day/competition roles

Coach, timekeeper, scorekeeper, umpire

Hospitality roles

Canteen, bar, club dinners, gate attendees

Events and social functions

Social events coordinator, fundraising events coordinator, catering

Facility and equipmentmaintenance

Groundskeeper, cleaners, uniform and equipment management

Other

Other miscellaneous roles that may be unique to your club

Section 6

Organise the information into a simple spreadsheet for future reference:

Section 7

Map out the club volunteer structure

As an extension of the volunteer roles audit, itis a good exercise to map out a volunteer organisational chart of the club.
A volunteer chart will help identify chains ofcommunication and help those people in volunteer roles identify their primarypoint of contact on the committee should they need guidance, support or advicefulfilling their duties.
Chains of communication help ensure that operationalknowledge and responsibility is shared evenly among several club committeemembers as opposed to being the sole responsibility of a single club leader.
To support the chain of communication, it isimportant that a club committee and volunteer chart clearly differentiatesbetween committee roles and volunteer roles.
- A general rule that can be used to differentiatecommittee roles from volunteer roles is to establish that committee members arerequired to attend committee meetings while it is optional for those peopleundertaking a volunteer role.
- This differentiation helps streamline committeemeetings and reduces the time commitment expected of members undertakingvolunteer roles.
- A member undertaking a volunteer role can opt toattend the committee meetings to provide any relevant updates to the committee asthey deem appropriate, or they can provide a written or verbal report that can bepresented on their behalf by their relevant point of contact on the committee.

Section 8

EXAMPLE CHART OF A SOCCER CLUB:

Module 1

Digital Volunteer Management Toolkit Training Modules