Making a difference: now and in the future - Evaluating the impact of volunteering

1. Volunteering Conference 2016 Volunteering for future generations
Workshop D
Making a difference: now and in the future
Evaluating the impact of volunteering

2. Your name?
What attracted you to the session?
Your role and organisation?
SESSION 1

3. HOW and WHY voluntary organisations evidence OUTCOMES and IMPACT
The 7 goals of the Wellbeing Future Generations Act
Where everyone has
jobs and there is no
poverty
Where we’re
prepared for things
like floods
Where everyone is
healthier and are
able to see the
doctor when they
need to
Where everyone has an equal chance
whatever their background
Where Communities
can live together
happily
Where we have lots of
opportunities to do
different things and
where lots of people
can speak Welsh
Where we look after
the Environment and
think about other
people around
the World

4. ‘To help us know whether we are making progress towards achieving the well-
being goals, Welsh Ministers must set national indicators’
‘Ministers must also set milestones to show expectations of what the
indicators should show at certain points in the future’
How to measure a nation’s progress? The National Indicators
Source: Section [10] [1] of the Well-being of Future Generations [Wales] Act 2015

5. What do we tell others that convinces them about the impact of our work?
Who do we tell about the impact of our work?
How do we know at the moment whether our work with volunteers is making a
difference? e.g. To the individual volunteer? To the communities we work with and for?
To wider society? And to future generations?
What methods do we use now to evidence the impact of our work: that what we do is
making a difference?
e.g. Surveys? Counting the number of people taking part?
Why is it important to evidence the results of our work?
For us as organisations? For the people who volunteer with us? For Wales? Now and in the
future.
How can we evidence the different ways in which our work contributes to the Wellbeing
Goals? e.g. What indicators are being used by Government to judge progress towards the
Wellbeing Goals?
How do we evaluate our own work to make sure our role in achieving the Wellbeing Goals
is recognised … and resourced?

6. Q1 What do you tell others to convince them about the impact of volunteering?
Q2 Who do you tell about the impact of volunteering?
Q3 Why do you tell them about the impact of volunteering?
SESSION 2

7. Volunteering Spirit Wales /
Ysbryd Gwirfoddoli Cymru
aims to
Widen access to event volunteering
Professionalise standards in the involvement of volunteers at events
Build networks of support for organisations to learn from each other’s
experiences of managing event volunteers
Six partners: six projects
Multiple stakeholders

8. Six pilot projects
Stakeholders

9. • Online survey of 177 voluntary organisations 2015 and 2020: baseline and impact
• Pre-event and post-event survey of volunteers
• Equalities and diversity monitoring
• Tailored evaluation of a pilot project within each partner event
• Partner self-evaluations of their own event
• Structured interviews in person and telephone with partners
and stakeholders by independent evaluator
• Built in reflection: Facilitated group discussions
• Collection and analysis of print/online material relevant to VSW YGC produced by
WCVA, partners and stakeholders: e.g. web links; leaflets; policy documents; mission
statements; photographs; individual volunteer case stories; presentations; and so on.
The VSW YGC evaluation framework

10. 1. Keep your evaluation plan achievable and realistic
2. Be selective and strategic about what you choose to evaluate
3. Make full use of the information you already collect
4. Remember that self-evaluation is not self-congratulation
6. Think about the audience for your evaluation
5. Make recommendations as a result of your findings
7. Recognise limitations and make the most of unique perspectives
Thinking about evaluation: the starting point

11. 4. How much time/resource do you need
to set aside to put your findings and
recommendations into a form that can
be easily communicated to others?
3. How and when are you going to analyse
the information you have
gathered?
1. What do you want/need to evaluate?
2. What information do you need to
collect to help you evaluate?
5. How will you use the learning and the
information gained?
Some key questions

12. Q1 What methods do you use NOW to evidence the outcomes and impact of
volunteering ?
Q2 What might you want to change or develop in FUTURE to demonstrate more
effectively how volunteering contributes to achieving the Wellbeing Goals ?
Surveys and questionnaires Doing a SWOT Analysis
Face-to-Face Interviews Listening Campaigns
Telephone Interviews Conducting a Participatory Review
Focus Groups Users’ Forums
Appreciative Inquiry: ‘a model that seeks Graffiti Walls
to engage stakeholders in self-determined Storyboards
change and achieve positive change’ Logbooks, Blogs and Webchats
Open Space: ‘a simple way to run productive Story-telling and Testimonies
meetings, for five to 2000+ people…’ Informal feedback sessions
Photo Diaries and Scrap Books Video and Audio Diaries
Feeling Boxes Performances and Presentations
Social Return on Investment: ‘an analytic tool for measuring and accounting for a
much broader concept of value, taking into account social, economic and
environmental factors’ Planning an evaluation as a normal part of ‘doing’

13. The next steps
Q 1 How might WCVA best support the sector to evidence that volunteering has a vital
part to play in achieving the Wellbeing Goals?
e.g. Advocacy to government? Training? Information exchange?
Sharing best practice?
Choices Choices …. What are the priorities?
SESSION 4

14. DIOLCH
THANK YOU
Volunteering Conference 2016 Volunteering for future generations
Nia Ramage Event Volunteering Co-ordinator
nramage@wcva.org.uk
#VolSpiritWales
#YsbrydGwirCymru

15. The Act defines seven areas of wellbeing: for a
prosperous; resilient; healthier; more equal
Wales; with cohesive communities; and a
vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language.
These serve as a framework for strategic
planning and for monitoring our progress as a
nation towards a more healthy and sustainable
future.