Family volunteering creates opportunities for parents, children and other family members to spend time together while contributing to the community and causes they care about. It's a great way for family groups to enjoy quality time with each other. Family volunteering also introduces family members to the benefits of volunteering. It's a fact that people who volunteer when they are young are more likely to continue to volunteer throughout their adult life.
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Why involve families as volunteers in your organisation?
- family volunteering grows future generations of volunteers from across the community
- access to a larger pool of volunteers
- people who volunteer as a family are more likely to volunteer more frequently
- can be more reliable as individuals commit as a family group
- valuable for events and seasonal activities e.g. Christmas
- opportunities for intergenerational learning
- potential for long term retention
- greater commitment as volunteer and family interests are competing less for time
- creates stronger ties to the community they serve
- community members develop awareness of community issues and needs.
Successful family volunteering activities are:
- fun, active, and hands-on
- flexible with a range of activities, times and locations
- able to include a range of experience and age groups
- inclusive of children, with learning opportunities
- able to be shared with other families.
Some examples of family volunteering activities:
- fetes and festivals
- reading to children
- fundraising activities
- school and kindergarten activities
- planting trees/bush regeneration
- recycling projects
- sporting club activities
- surf lifesaving
- visits to nursing homes
- caring for animals
- sorting donated books.
How to attract and retain family volunteers:
- Promote the fact that your organisation welcomes families as volunteers.
- Provide specific opportunities for family members to volunteer.
- Be flexible and consider offering weekend and after hours volunteering.
- Allow for participation by younger and older people and groups. How would current volunteer programs need to change? Can the work be shared?
- Provide opportunities for children to take part as this will encourage their parents and guardians to become involved as volunteers.
- Check your insurance policy covers a range of volunteer age groups and make sure you have appropriate screening procedures in place.
Finding family volunteers:
- Be strategic with your advertising. Consider local school newsletters, community magazines and childcare centres.
- Ask your existing volunteers to bring their families along. Ask prospective volunteers if they are interested in volunteering with their families.
- Emphasise how your opportunity enables families to spend quality time together as well as making a difference to the community.
- Promote a volunteer project as a 'Family Volunteer Day'. Limiting the initial involvement to a single day can be a good way for families to try out volunteering.
- Offer family volunteering opportunities to corporate partners.
- Include family volunteer opportunities in your online volunteer vacancies.
- Register a family volunteer vacancy with Volunteering Queensland.
Links
Volunteering Queensland
Volunteering Australia
Resources
Fact sheet: Family volunteering information for volunteer organisations Fact sheet: Family volunteering information for volunteer organisations
Fact sheet: Family volunteering information for families Fact sheet: Family volunteering information for families
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