Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard that helps you assess and improve the quality of your volunteer management and involvement.

 

Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard for good practice in volunteer management.

If you want to assess the quality of your volunteer management and involvement, prove and improve the effectiveness of your work with volunteers, and enhance your organisation’s reputation, Investing in Volunteers provides the ideal framework.

Achieving the standard shows your volunteers – and potential volunteers – how much they are valued and gives them confidence in your ability to provide an outstanding volunteer experience. It also reassures funders of the quality of your practices.

THE PROCESS AND RESOURCES

The Investing in Volunteers (IiV) standards has been active since 1995 and updated in March 2021.

There are six quality areas that a volunteer involving organisation needs to work on to achieve the award.

The six quality areas

  1. Vision for volunteering
  2. Planning for volunteers
  3. Volunteer inclusion
  4. Recruiting and welcoming volunteers
  5. Supporting volunteers
  6. Valuing and developing volunteer

The full standard can be downloaded from www.investinginvolunteers.co.uk.

The six-step process of IiV

The Investing in Volunteers award follows a straight-forward process with six steps.

The journey of a volunteer involving organisation starts with registration at www.investinginvolunteers.co.uk.

  • Step 1 – Getting started – your organisation will be offered an introductory workshop and you will be allocated an IiV Assessor. Your IiV Assessor will be there to support you throughout the whole journey. There are materials and resources available to inform and guide you through the process as well.
  • Step 2 – Self-assessment – You will complete a self-assessment checklist to identify where your organisation is currently in relation to the standard.
  • Step 3 – Improving practice – Once you have agreed with your assessor what activities you need to take to meet the standard or where you want to use the opportunity to improve practice over and above the standard you need to devise and undertake an improving practice plan to complete them, considering how you will involve others in your organisation.
  • Step 4 – Assessment – The assessor(s) will meet with your organisation, online or by telephone and speak to volunteers, staff and board members as well as review written documentation to assess whether you meet the standard.
  • Step 5 – Achieving and celebrating the award – Once you achieve the award, you will be contacted with information about the certificate, plaque and logo.  You can also think about how you can celebrate and publicise your award. Your award is active for three years.
  • Step 6 – Continual improvement and renewing your award – Now you have achieved the award, this is your opportunity to continue to maintain the good practice you have achieved and to continue to improve, including any development points identified in your report.

Across Wales, you will have access to the support of TSSW, (Third Sector Support Wales), who can help you promote your volunteering opportunities, share ideas and good practice on developing your volunteering programme or management and connect you to local, regional or national networks for peer support and / or collaboration.

For more information about Investing in Volunteers and to download the standard or get a quote visit www.investinginvolunteers.co.uk.

IIV ESSENTIALS

IiV Essentials is a FREE online tool available at www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/involving-volunteers/investing-in-volunteers-iiv-essentials. It can be used by any volunteer involving organisation, free of charge. IiV Essentials can be used as a framework to inform your practice and check where you currently are against the standard. There is no commitment to continue with the award after completing IiV Essentials.

IIV ACHIEVERS AND CASE STUDIES

Wales-based IiV Achievers and Assessors share with us their thoughts and success stories:

There is a long list of  Wales based volunteer involving organisations that have achieved the IiV standard, including:

A

  • Aber Food Surplus
  • Aberconwy Mind
  • Aberporth Village Hall
  • Aberystwyth Students Union
  • Action in Caerau & Ely (ACE)
  • Adferiad Recovery
  • Age Concern Neath Port Talbot
  • Age Concern Pembrokeshire
  • Age Concern Swansea
  • Age Cymru Ceredigion
  • Age Cymru Dyfed
  • Age Cymru Sir Gâr
  • Age Cymru Swansea Bay
  • Arts Factory
  • Ash Wales
  • Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham

B

  • Barnardo’s
  • Bracken Trust
  • Bridgend Association of Voluntary Organisation

  • Brighter Futures Rhyl 

  • Bro Morgannwg NHS
  • Bryncynon Community Revival Strategy
  • BulliesOut

C

  • Caerphilly & Blaenau Gwent CAB
  • Caerphilly Borough MIND
  • Caia Park Partnership
  • Cardiff Women’s Aid
  • Cardiff Third Sector Council
  • Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre
  • Care for the Family
  • Carmarthen Domestic Abuse Service
  • Circus Eruption
  • Citizens Advice Caerphilly Blaenau Gwent
  • Citizens Advice Rhondda Cynon Taff
  • Clwyd Special Riding Centre
  • Community Mediation Services RCT
  • Conwy & Denbighshire NHS Trust
  • Conwy Mind
  • Cornelly Development Trust

  • Crest Co-operative Ltd 

  • Crickhowell Volunteer Bureau

  • Cwm Arian Renewable Energy 

  • Cwm Cynon Women’s Aid
  • Cyngor ar Bopeth Ceredigion Citizens Advice

D

  • DASU – Domestic Abuse Safety Unit
  • Digartref Ynys Mon
  • Disability Can Do
  • Discovery Student Volunteering Swansea
  • Drugaid/Barod
  • Evolve Project

E

  • EYST

F

  • Flintshire Community Parents
  • Flintshire Local Voluntary Council
  • Flintshire Mental Health Advocacy Service

G

  • Gilfach Goch Community Association
  • Groundwork North Wales
  • Groundwork North Wales – The Group
  • Groundwork Wales

H

  • Headway Cardiff
  • HomeStart Ceredigion
  • Home start Flintshire
  • Home-Start Cardiff East
  • Home-Start Monmouth
  • Hywel Dda Health Board

K

  • Keep Wales Tidy
  • KIM Inspire
  • Knighton and District Community Centre

M

  • Merthyr and the Valleys MIND
  • Merthyr Tydfil Youth Offending Team
  • MIND Cymru
  • Minority Ethnic Women’s Network
  • Mirus Wales

N

  • National Museum Wales
  • National Trust Carmarthenshire (Dinefwr)
  • Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Service
  • Neath Port Talbot Youth Offending Team
  • New Pathways
  • Newlink Wales
  • Newport Mind
  • North Wales Central Ward Scheme

O

  • OASIS Cardiff

P

  • Pembroke 21C
  • Pembrokeshire Action To Combat Hardship (PATCH)
  • Planning Aid Wales
  • Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations

  • Popham Kidney Support 

  • Presteigne and Norton Community Support
  • Prime Cymru

R

  • Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre-NWW
  • Ray Ceredigion
  • Royal Voluntary Service (National)

S

  • Safer Merthyr Tydfil
  • Safer Wales
  • Shelter Cymru
  • Skills and Volunteering Cymru
  • SNAP Cymru
  • Stephens and George
  • Student Volunteering Bangor
  • Student Volunteering Cardiff
  • Swansea CVS
  • Swansea Carers Centre
  • Swansea Community Farm

T

  • Taff Housing
  • The Bridge Mentoring Plus Scheme
  • The Environment Centre
  • The Mentor Ring
  • The Parish Trust
  • The Wallich
  • The Wilderness Trust
  • Toogoodtowaste

V

  • Vale of Clwyd Mind
  • Vale Volunteer Bureau
  • Velindre Cancer Centre
  • Vision 21

W

  • Wastesavers Reuse Centre
  • Welsh Refugee Council
  • Wrexham County Borough Museum & Archives Service