New Zealand National Volunteer Week, 2022

In the?11th episode of LinkedIn Karma with?#WonderingMo, I speak with Honourable Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Michelle Kitney, and Stephen Goodman, to discuss Volunteering - Mahi Aroha in and from New Zealand.

Volunteering is a two-way street. We get way more than we give. It is not only about sharing expertise, but about sharing experience.

Introductions

Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan: Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector of New Zealand

Stephen Goodman: Chief Executive Officer, Volunteer Service Abroad

Michelle Kitney: Chief Executive, Volunteering New Zealand

Moumita Das Roy:?Marketer, Volunteer, Diversity & Inclusion Advocate

Mahi Aroha in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Moumita: Kia ora Minister, thank you for joining us, and congratulations on your Cabinet move. Please tell us about your current role and what it means to lead the Voluntary Sector for the country.

Minister: Kia ora Moumita, thank you for inviting, it is great to be here with Michelle and Stephen. As the Minister for the Community and Voluntary sector, my role is to advocate for and to support the charitable sector to thrive. There are a few different ways in which I can do that through my portfolio. I've recently announced a suite of changes I'm proposing to the Charities Act, which is the legislation that regulates the sector. I'm trying to do this to strike a balance between supporting organisations, particularly very small organisations to be able to do their work, the work that they're passionate about, and to alleviate compliance burdens. Also to continue to strengthen trust and confidence in the sector. There's work that we've been doing to simplify crowdfunding, so it's easier for communities to access. Supporting community led development, funding for projects across the country to realise their aspirations. And support volunteering. That for me is a key priority within my portfolio. Recently, I asked the officials to do some work to look at what is being done overseas, and what some of the opportunities are there to support the volunteering ecosystem in New Zealand. They put together a really good report that will be published very soon on the DIA website. That's in a nutshell, my role as the Minister for the Community and Voluntary sector.

Moumita: Minister thank you for sharing. I came to New Zealand about 3 years back, and the first thing I did was I found myself a volunteering role. I wanted to feel integrated with communities and get to meet people. I joined a foundation that gave me this experience. In fact, it gave me my first referee in the country. I tell this to you, because you came to New Zealand as an international student. How did you use volunteering to network, find meaningful and contributory work and how did it set you on your path to holding the premier portfolio for the nation in this sector??

Minister: Firstly, thank you for volunteering. We are a volunteering nation, close to 50% of people in New Zealand give up their time to volunteer. Given this is the National Volunteering Week, I want to shout out to our volunteers across the country and say a huge thank you. And you're absolutely right, for the reasons that motivated you to volunteer. I too, started volunteering soon after I came to New Zealand. In fact, I grew up in a household where my parents volunteered a lot of their time in the weekend. I grew up with that mindset. When I came here, one of the first things I did was to join my university student association. I volunteered my time to support other international students. And as you said, it opened my eyes to various issues that were being discussed when I moved here. I remember while I was in the student union, I was marching with the domestic students who were protesting possible fee hikes. That was an issue that had nothing to do with me, because as an international student, I was already paying four times what domestic students pay. But I saw what they were saying, and supported their views. It broadened my horizon as well. I met people that I otherwise wouldn't have met. And I don't know if that was a clear pathway to my current role, but two years after I moved, I started volunteering with the Labour Party. That was a foray into the political world. I didn't join thinking of standing for parliament, but it's allowed me to meet a number of people who have supported me along the way.

Moumita: Fantastic. Great story of your first volunteering role to now leading the nation in the voluntary sector. Thank you for sharing your journey Minister.?

Michelle, tell us about your first volunteering role.

Michelle: My first volunteering role from memory was actually doing some tree planting in an urban marae. I did that when I was a student. At that point in my life, the opportunity to get out into nature and do some planting, was an antidote to student life, to the anxiety and stresses of having moved away from home. That is a fond memory.

Moumita: Stephen, what was your first volunteering role?

Stephen: Growing up, there were lots of things I did in the community. Later when I had my children, I volunteered through their schools. As a new parent, I found myself doing lots of things, supporting the schools, not just fundraising, but also enabling programmes around the schools. That was quite a big part of my life.

Moumita: Curtis, I'd like to thank you for helping me organise this conversation today. What was your first volunteering role?

Curtis Tohiariki Senior Advisor Strategic Advice and Support, Department of Internal Affairs (NZ).

I started quite young and was interested in sports volunteering. I have volunteered for Cricket Wellington, for several years. And then volunteered at various other places all through my younger days and for the past 20 years of my career. I am proud to be a part of the volunteering nation that we are, and part of the team that governs this sector led by Minister Radhakrishnan.

Moumita: Thank you Curtis. Michelle, let me go to you next. First I have to share how I started volunteering for Volunteering New Zealand and the role LinkedIn played in it. It was 2020 December, we couldn’t travel but we had to do our stay-at-home holidays. To use that time more meaningfully, I posted on LinkedIn, wanting to volunteer for New Zealand not-for-profit organisations. The Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand, Michelle Kitney got in touch. We created a series of videos from volunteers across New Zealand sharing their volunteering stories. Michelle also invited me to speak about this project in the New Zealand Parliament last year, which got cancelled due to Covid. Michelle, please tell us about Volunteering New Zealand and the role it plays in finding key volunteering roles across sectors? What kind of roles are currently available? How can someone register?

Michelle: Thank you for volunteering, and for supporting National Volunteer Week, which is an opportunity to celebrate the collective contributions of all volunteers of Aotearoa. Volunteering New Zealand is the peak body or umbrella organisation for volunteering and volunteers. We were set up over 20 years ago and established from the relationship between the volunteer centre network and the Department of Internal Affairs. And that role entails a range of national tasks like advocacy, research. For example, we celebrate National Volunteer Week, on behalf of the nation. We try and build the momentum behind it so that everyone across the country can honour those who make a difference in our communities.

When it comes to finding volunteer roles, that's not part of our core mahi. If someone is looking for a volunteer role, a great place to start is with one of the 20 Volunteer Centres across the nation, from Northland, down to the bottom of the South Island. They are regional organisations that work within the communities and they have membership bases of both community organisations and volunteers and you can access information about them through our website or from all the volunteer centres around the country. What we know from our research is that about 50% of people find their volunteer roles through word of mouth. There are also online portals to get access to volunteer roles like Seek Volunteer, Indeed, Be Collective or Do Good Jobs.

Moumita: Thank you so much, Michelle. Stephen, I am an e-volunteer with Volunteer Service Abroad. I must tell you one thing before I ask you a question. I'm a marketing and advertising professional. And I have done millions of ad campaigns in my life. But never have I ever been the face of an ad campaign. VSA give me that opportunity. I am now part of all VSA email signatures. And also on a billboard in Wellington. Thank you for that. Please tell us more about Volunteer Service Abroad and the role it plays in finding key volunteering roles for Kiwis across the Pacific? And how can someone register with VSA?

Stephen: VSA works in international volunteering and is New Zealand's oldest and largest organisation in that space. This is our 60th year. And during that time we have sent out well over 4,000 volunteers globally. Most recently, in the last few years, we've focused very much on working in the Pacific. When we talk about a volunteer assignment, we're talking about going out into communities, with your families for anywhere from several months through to sometimes an exclusive two years. A lot of our funding, comes through MFAT, for which we're very grateful for. The work we do is focused very much in five broad areas. These areas have been developed from a lot of experience, where our partner organisations want us to focus.

The areas we're working at the moment are business and economic growth, health and wellbeing, education sector. Increasingly, we're working in environmental and climate change science. Related to that is agriculture, fisheries and food security. These are the issues, where there is a real need for support at the moment across the Pacific. Our volunteers are all New Zealanders. In the past, majority have physically gone in to these countries, and will continue doing so when borders are open. We are now engaging partners online through e-volunteering, which is where someone like you Mo, from New Zealand can connect with, support and mentor, a partner organisation remotely. Everything we do, is driven by partner need and is aligned to their sustainable development goals.

The way our volunteers come in, depends on partner organisation requirements. We have programme managers, in specific countries. They discuss that requirement, and turn it into a final role description. We will go out and look for people with that skill set, who feel inclined to give themselves. The volunteers can come in seeing an advertisement or listening to an online forum like this. Read through our website, and then they will apply. Every candidate has to go through a selection process. If that goes right, and they get selected, we will prepare them and send them off to either work in a country or as you do, work remotely. Hopefully, this gives you a broad insight of what we do.

Moumita: It sure does Stephen. I'm going to ask you more questions around e-volunteering. Minister, I'd like to go over to you. What can we expect in the coming months from the ministry in the voluntary sector?

Minister: From my end, I've asked the officials to draw up a report in terms of the role I can play, to strengthen the volunteer ecosystem. Looking at different ways in which I can check in volunteering even more strongly than I have, in the past. We're working with Volunteering New Zealand, to update the best practice guidelines. I'm also looking forward to setting up a steering group because there are many government agencies, about 16 or so, that have strong links with volunteers. If you look at Fire Emergency New Zealand or Department of Conservation, they work with large number of volunteers. I want to set up a steering group that has senior level representation from those government agencies to look at how we might be able to address some of the concerns or support volunteer aspirations across the government in a way that's more cohesive.

Moumita: Thanks Minister. Finally, why do you think someone should consider volunteering? People may think there is not enough time or they are not an expert, or simply haven't considered it yet? What would you tell them?

Minister: Firstly, I want to thank everyone who does give time to volunteer. There are close to 50% of us across New Zealand who do that. Many of us do it because we get a lot out of volunteering. It enriches our lives, we get so much in terms of service and benefit across our society, in our nation. Shout out to all the ordinary New Zealanders doing extraordinary things day in and day out. For those who want a little bit more encouragement, I guess my message is just to do it, if you are thinking about it. People can volunteer in so many different ways. It doesn't matter how much time or how little, every bit counts. My message to everyone is to find a cause or an organisation you feel passionately about and support it.

Moumita: I love what you said Minister, start from where you are, with what you have. Not only with expertise, but also for experience. Michelle talks about mahi aroha being in the kindness DNA of New Zealand. Thank you for your time Minister. It has been a privilege to host you.?

Cheryll over to you for your thoughts.

Cheryll Martin QSO: General Manager, Volunteering Auckland.

One of the things I do every day is to approve opportunities that come through our online system. During Covid lockdowns, a lot of the opportunities were around food security, and combating isolation. Having people connect with people who were isolating, helping deliver food parcels, etc. But what we're seeing now is a lot more skill based opportunities coming through, around marketing communications, IP, also management positions in the volunteer space. The vast majority of community groups and projects across our country are volunteer run and led. If anyone is interested in finding what is available, go through our websites or find a local volunteer centre, who has connections with the local community groups, ensuring that there is volunteer management best practices in place so the volunteers have a win-win experience.

Moumita: Thank you for sharing Cheryll, that was a great summary of ways to get involved through regional volunteer centres. Michelle, over to you, please tell us why should anybody consider volunteering? And how has volunteering helped you in your personal and professional journey?

Michelle: There's 115,000 not-for-profits in New Zealand, and 90% of them are volunteer run and led. You get more than you give, that is what I hear consistently from people, talking about their volunteer experiences. The wellbeing, community, connection, there are so many upsides to volunteering, it is known as the helper's high. There's such a lot of benefits from volunteering. It's worth to start where they are, find a way to a volunteer centre. Start with a community organisation that's in your local hood and start small. Everybody has skills, everybody can volunteer, everybody has something to contribute. What we know from research is when people start volunteering, 80% of the volunteers surveyed, said they were going to stick with their current roles. It's about connectedness and community and building our own futures through volunteering.

Volunteering has been a huge part of my life. In terms of my professional journey, I feel I have volunteered my way into my current role. I did a lot of volunteering, when I wasn't working and was at home with the kids. I ran a membership organisation, I organised a national conference for volunteers, did grant funding, marketing and communications, service delivery contracts, all sorts of amazing experiences. All that contributed to my journey to Volunteering New Zealand into the role I have now. So volunteering is absolutely a part of who I am and where I am.

Moumita: Thank you, Michelle, I remember the video that you made for our project, where you spoke exactly about this, how you used your time to volunteer and how it took you to leading one of the premier volunteering organisations of the country.

Stephen, I want to follow up on what you were mentioning earlier, volunteering in international roles in the pretext of Covid and the concept of e-volunteering. I could volunteer there from here. Will you continue to promote e-volunteering and also have in-country projects started again?

Stephen: We have been exploring e-volunteering prior to Covid. With Covid, we had to bring all our in-country volunteers back. Then we faced this dilemma of the unknown, how long? So we shifted to online volunteering. This concept has been very successful, more than we originally anticipated. For example, this financial year, we've had about 65 online volunteering assignments, just as you're doing across the Pacific. Obviously, if you're in-country and you're located alongside your partner organisation, there is a strong person to person relationship aspect, which is a little different when you're doing it remotely. That said, when you are doing online assignments, depending higher on skills component, where you're mentoring, supporting someone through their learning journey, then online volunteering is proving to be very effective. It's a different form of volunteering, but it's one that certainly has its place.

We most definitely will be continuing with it. I suspect as we start to get more people out across the Pacific, the number of assignments will reduce, because our partner organisations would like in-country volunteers. A lot of them are getting very comfortable with having the connectivity with someone here in New Zealand. The other advantage of the e-volunteering is from the volunteer's perspective. It's actually opened up an opportunity for a number of people who previously wouldn't have been able to go and do a traditional in-country assignment, for reasons such short of time, medical reasons, family reasons. They can now and this has been really encouraging. I'm sure you're also experiencing, even through e-volunteering, you're forming a relationship with people in those communities. It is remote, but it's still a very strong relationship. They're getting a real sense of satisfaction and being able to work with them in a system.

International borders are now progressively opening. We've got about a dozen volunteers physically working in-country now. And many more getting prepared to join over the next few months. Slowly, but surely things are starting to reconnect.

Moumita: Thank you, Stephen. I wanted to echo what you said. I could personally take up volunteering because it was e-volunteering. Well, I do intend to do in-country projects, but not in the next couple of years. So I think e-volunteering gave me the opportunity to do the best I could. Thank you for creating these opportunities.

Michelle, coming to National Volunteer Week, what is the purpose of celebrating National Volunteer Week? And how are we doing this this year?

Michelle: It's such an exciting week for our team here at Volunteering New Zealand and across all our member organisations and volunteer centres. National Volunteering Week is an opportunity for accountability, everybody and anybody can celebrate. We run every year, in the third week of June. It is an opportunity to thank and recognize volunteers, and bring about awareness about the voluntary infrastructure, and all the things that are needed to make volunteering happen, which are often kind of invisible. It is an awareness drive to showcase the magnitude of contribution that happens across the country, to re-energise and refocus on the coming year.

We enable the week through media outreach, resources and tools, and celebrate across the country, in all sorts of ways, on social media, from volunteer expos to open days. Any organisation or person can get behind in very small ways, such as a shoutout on Facebook or LinkedIn to thank someone who has made a difference in the community.

This year National Volunteer Week coincides with the new public holiday for Matariki. And our theme for the week, celebrates and reflects the values of Matariki in a respectful way. This year’s theme is ‘Time to Shine- He wā whakawhiti.’??It’s a time to recognise and celebrate volunteers, a time to shine – whakawhiti. It’s Matariki, a new year and a fresh start; a time to dream – moemoeā and make plans for the future. In terms of events that are happening, we're participating in this fantastic event, thank you Mo. We also have an awesome celebratory session for our members and stakeholders. We'll be sharing out a few of our reflections and learnings over the past 12 months. We'll have a sneak preview of some of our latest data from our volunteering researchers. We're very honoured to have two amazing researchers from the Ministry of Pacific Peoples highlighting the amazing the magnitude and importance of Pacific People's contribution to our communities through volunteering. 97% of the people surveyed within the Pacific communities have volunteered, which is a lot higher than the national average of around 50%. All details are available here.

Moumita: Thank you Michelle, that's really helpful. Stephen, tell us about your personal volunteering experiences, with VSA or otherwise.

Stephen: My volunteer experiences was primarily through various local community networks. I've always found them incredibly rewarding, in the sense that you feel you're contributing something. I will bring it back to one of the common themes that comes through from our own volunteers. We say our volunteers go with two baskets, one of those baskets is full with their skills and what they have to offer. The other basket is empty, because they fill it with experiences, achievements, satisfaction, and a strength in themselves, which they bring back.

This applies to all volunteers and has been my experience too. I've always got more out of volunteering. That's one of the real privileges, of being able to volunteer, whether it be here in New Zealand and be local, or regional, or overseas. You make connections, you realise that by volunteering, you're broadening your understanding of the community. That's one of the real reasons why it's so important.

Moumita: Thank you, Stephen. One of my asks from LinkedIn on volunteering is for the volunteering roles to be recommended. We can request for recommendations for our job roles, we should be able to do that for our volunteering roles as well. This is meaningful, and skill based work, with rich human and cultural experience. I have created a workaround for this. You can always request for a recommendation for your volunteering roles by selecting the option "worked in different companies" from the recommendation dropdown.

That's a great note to end our conversation today. Thank you so much every one for joining.

Cheryll: You never know where your volunteering is going to take you. Just make a start. Just try something. Doesn't have to be long.

Michelle: Thank you Cheryll for your work at Volunteering Auckland. And Stephen, I was delighted to learn about the evolution that VSA went through during Covid and how the team kept the good work going.

Stephen: It's been a great discussion. I want everyone to acknowledge the collective role the volunteers play and the work that is being done in the background to enable their work.

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Association with Volunteering New Zealand

Association with Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA)

60 years of VSA: 1962 -2022

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