Volunteers are the lifeline of AWARE. AWARE has grown from its humble beginnings, where meetings took place in volunteers’ homes and offices, and documents were kept in the boots of cars, to an active and vibrant organisation headed by experienced and dedicated staff and volunteers.

Since 2009, we have seen an average of 4 newly registered volunteers each week. As our volunteer strength continues to grow, it is important for us to understand how our volunteers feel about their volunteer experience and their interaction with us, what their needs are, and how we can improve our volunteer management system (VMS).
A twenty-question volunteer experience survey was distributed to over 245 AWARE volunteers in May-June of 2012. The highlights from their responses are presented below.

1. The Good
    
   • Over 94% of volunteers agreed that their volunteer work with AWARE has been meaningful and that they feel their contributions are appreciated
   • 88.2% strongly agreed that they will continue to volunteer with AWARE

    

2. But…
    
   • Close to 14% of volunteers said that they feel obliged to continue their work with AWARE even though they would rather stop
   • At least 13% felt that one of the projects they have been involved in was either poorly organised or inefficiently carried out

    

3. Volunteers want more feedback
    
   • While 78.5% of volunteers feel that we provide an environment that is conducive to volunteering, 13.7% felt that they were not given appropriate feedback on their work

    

4. Comparing experiences to before 2010
    
   • Volunteers who have been with us for 3 years or more felt that AWARE has more strategic focus now and has shown concerted effort to coordinate work. They felt more appreciated by the organisation now

    

5. Volunteer want a clearer job description
    
   • Close to 65% of volunteers feel the need for a clear job description for all assignments

    

6. Clearer Volunteer Management policies and procedures
    
   • 58.8% of volunteers feel that AWARE should provide a volunteer manual to set out policies and procedures

    

7. Better induction programme
    
   • 55% of volunteer wanted a better induction programme

    

8. More trainings
    
   • Almost half of the respondents wanted more training opportunities

    

9. Volunteers want more engagement
    
   • Volunteers also said they would appreciate greater interaction and involvement with other elements of AWARE’s programmes and with the organisation as a whole

    

10. And more play time!
     
    • Finally, volunteers wanted more social events for bonding and to better engage with other volunteers and with the organisation.