Volunteering and Social Development : A Background Paper for Discussion at an Expert Group Meeting New York by Justin Davis - October 1999

Section 5: Government Support for Volunteering
41. Given the diversity of volunteering it is not possible to put forward universal models for its development. What works in one country may not work in another with very different cultures and traditions. Volunteering is a product of its environment and a government scheme for promoting volunteering in the United Kingdom or United States will probably not be appropriate for Latin America or Southern Africa. This is not, however, to say that lessons can not be learned and practice exchanged. Countries in the industrial North may well hold lessons for the countries of the South keen to develop more institutionalized forms of volunteering. Similarly, models of mutual aid and community development originating in the developing world may well hold lessons for the developed world. Government support for volunteering can take several forms: recognition; facilitation; promotion; and special measures.

Recognition
42. At the most basic level governments can support volunteering by raising its visibility and recognizing its contribution. Including volunteering in the national accounts would highlight its contribution to the economy and help ensure that a volunteering perspective is built into the policy making process. Understanding more about the level and nature of volunteering is also crucial to the development process. If social capital is vital to economic advance and social integration then it is important that governments know more about the source of this capital - the voluntary and community groups which foster social interaction - so they can invest in its development. Without an up-to-date map of the volunteering terrain it is not possible to target resources effectively.

Recommendation 1: Governments should collect systematic data on the extent of volunteering and its economic and social impact.

Facilitation
43. Governments can facilitate volunteering by establishing an enabling legal and fiscal framework for voluntary and community organizations. Governments can also facilitate volunteering by providing direct financial support to help build the capacity of voluntary and community organizations and ensure that volunteers are provided with appropriate training and support. More particularly governments can support volunteering by providing financial support for the development of an effective volunteering infrastructure, especially at local level.

Recommendation 2: Governments should establish an enabling legislative and fiscal framework to enable voluntary and community organizations to flourish.

Recommendation 3: Governments should provide financial support to help build an effective volunteering infrastructure.

44. Governments should be aware of the impact of broader public policy on volunteering, both positive and negative. Some policies, not specifically focused on volunteering, can enhance the capacity of people to contribute in their communities. Similarly, some polices may unwittingly work against volunteering. For example, in some countries social security legislation works against the involvement of unemployed people in volunteering, despite an otherwise favorable policy climate.

Recommendation 4: Governments should 'proof' all new legislation with a view to enhancing the positive, and minimizing the negative, impact on volunteering.

45. Governments can encourage the private sector to support volunteering by developing public/private partnerships and by offering tax incentives for schemes which encourage private sector employees to get involved in the community. Governments as major employers in their own right can take a lead in establishing employer-supported volunteering schemes.

Recommendation 5: Governments should look for ways of encouraging employer-supported volunteering, both in the private and public sectors.

46. The media offers opportunities to government to promote a positive image of volunteering and encourage more people to get involved, especially those from socially excluded groups. New technology also offers opportunities to raise awareness of volunteering and improve access routes into volunteering.

Recommendation 6: Governments should explore the potential of the media and new technology to raise awareness, promote a more positive image, and improve access routes into volunteering.

Promotion
47. Governments can support volunteering by increasing citizen participation in all aspects of public administration, from planning and policy making to service delivery, monitoring and evaluation. The record to-date has not been good. The 1998 Social Watch report concluded that performance by governments in encouraging participation since Copenhagen had on the whole been 'paltry' (Social Watch, 1998).

Recommendation 7: Governments should seek to increase citizen participation in all aspects of public administration as an essential element of good governance.

48. Whilst much volunteering takes place in the voluntary and community sector there is a strong tradition in some countries of public sector volunteering. Governments can support volunteering by looking at ways of involving volunteers in innovative ways in the public sector to complement the work of paid staff. They should avoid the temptation to substitute volunteers for paid staff as this would undermine public support for volunteering.

Recommendation 8: Governments should look to involve more volunteers in the public sector as a complement to the work of paid staff.

49. With concern in many parts of the world about declining levels of civic engagement among young people some governments are exploring ways of using schools to teach the values and benefits of volunteering. In a number of countries service learning is becoming accepted as an important element of the school curriculum; while universities are beginning to look at ways of encouraging and accrediting student voluntary activity.

Recommendation 9: Governments should explore the potential of working with the education and youth system to teach the values of citizenship and participation to young people.

Special Measures
50. Governments can be pro-active in promoting volunteering. In some countries volunteers have been given tax exemptions, or some kind of citizen credit, to use to pay off student loans or purchase health care.

Recommendation 10: Governments should explore ways of offering incentives for people to play an active role in their communities, through ideas such as citizen credits.

51. In some countries governments have developed an overall strategy for promoting volunteering. Such strategies have been most effective where they have been developed in partnership with key stakeholders from the voluntary and community and business sectors. At the heart of the strategy should be an acceptance of the independence of volunteering and a recognition that while much can be done by the state to promote and encourage increased participation, volunteering should be allowed space to develop in its own unique and varied way.

Recommendation 11: Governments should consider developing an integrated strategy to promote volunteering in partnership with the voluntary and community and business sectors. Such a strategy, while recognizing the important role to be played by government in support and promotion, should reassert the essential independence of volunteering.

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