A free resource for nonprofit
organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations,
charities, schools, public sector agencies & other mission-based
agencies
by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com
& coyoteboard.com (same
web site)
Make All Volunteering as Accessible as
Possible:
advantages for your program & how to do it
If you want access to the greatest amount of talent and resources
that volunteers can possibly bring to your program, you have to make all
volunteering as accessible as possible. That means looking for ways
to accommodate a myriad of people who have different abilities, needs,
personality types, work styles and available times for service.
Accessibility and diversity are about accommodating everyone, not
just people with disabilities or people who are from minority groups.
You want to make volunteering as welcoming to the widest number of
people possible. - Volunteer expert
Susan
Ellis.
Designing for inclusivity not only opens up our products and
services to more people, it also reflects how people really are. All
humans grow and adapt to the world around them and we want our designs
to reflect that. -
Microsoft's
Inclusive Design web site (accessed November 26, 2019)
There may be a fantastic web designer out there who would love to
volunteer at your organization, but who also isn't very talkative and
doesn't make much eye-contact and, therefore, might be seen by some as
unfriendly. Is your screening process such that you would still welcome
this candidate into your organization?
There may be a fantastic person with the talents, skills and time to
run your new volunteer orientations, but she doesn't have a car. Do you
have clear guidelines on your web site on how to get to your agency by
mass transit?
There may be a fantastic writer out there who could tell stories about
your organization in such a way as to move new donors to open their
pocketbooks and new volunteers to sign up to help, but who also legally
blind. Is your web site accessible so that that fantastic writer can read
your web site and blog and online newsletter with an accessibility screen
reader?
There may be a fantastic graphic designer out there who could do
amazing work for your organization online and in your print material, but
who also uses a wheel chair for mobility, or has no transportation to get
to your work site. Could that volunteer with the mobility issues get
through your front door for an interview? Would you be willing to have
your mandatory interview online via Skype? Would you be willing to
accommodate the volunteer through
virtual
volunteering?
There may be a person with a myriad of amazing skills, but she can't
commit to any of your 20-hour-a-week, only-during-business-hour roles. Do
you have any short-term projects she could do just one day a week, in the
late afternoons?
Of course not every volunteer role can accommodate every person: a role
may absolutely require a person with a clear, understandable speaking
voice. Or may require someone that can carry a certain amount of weight
and walk a certain distance. Or to interact regularly with other people.
Or may require structural changes to a building that are too expensive for
your program to afford. Or may require a volunteer to be onsite on Friday
mornings. Or may require a volunteer to be calm and thoughtful in highly
stressful situations and to be able to manage anxiety that can arise from
such work. Or may require volunteers to be welcoming and inclusive to
people of a diversity of beliefs and religions, something some people
cannot do because of their own deeply held religious beliefs. If you are
upfront about absolute requirements, most people will understand and self
screen themselves out of applying to volunteer for those roles. The
easiest way to making your organization as accessible for the greatest
diversity of volunteers as possible is simple: put all of the requirements
for a volunteering assignment in writing, and let potential
volunteers view this complete information on your accessible web site.
Potential applicants know what they can and cannot do, and most volunteers
will search for opportunities based on their abilities, their schedule and
their interests. If the volunteering assignment is very clear about
requirements of the task, everyone and anyone can self-screen for it.
Accommodations a program can offer for potential and current volunteers
include, but are not limited to: modifying policy and procedures,
redesigning spaces and removing structural barriers (onsite as well as
online), providing assistive devices, restructuring roles, modifying
service schedules and substituting alternative activities.
Outreach & recognition materials
Your outreach materials will convey your welcoming atmosphere by
incorporating quotes, pictures or descriptions of a diversity of people.
Diversity means people of different ages, ethnicities, cultures and body
types. You don't have to try to represent every possible human type, but
your photos should indicate that you welcome different kinds of people.
If
all
of your photos and messaging imply that volunteers must be super heroes,
selfless, in perfect health, donating huge amounts of time to be of value
to your organization, you are going to turn a lot of people off to
volunteering with your organization. You need a diversity of messages to
appeal to a diversity of people. You don't want anyone to think they
aren't perfect enough to volunteer with you because all of your messaging
implies that that's what you want.
In addition, your web site needs to be accessible for people with
disabilities. It needs to be designed so that it can be navigated by
someone with a sight impairment, or someone with a mobility issue. Videos
need to be subtitled and podcasts need to be transcribed for people with
hearing impairments. Doing that will make your web site more accessible
for EVERYONE (I often prefer to read a transcription of a podcast than to
listen to it, for instance). You can
use
W3C WAI resources to make your web site and other digital creations
more accessible and usable to everyone.
Tasks
Do you have a diversity of tasks - some that can be done by someone
sitting at a desk, others that require a lot of movement, maybe even
carrying things and walking a lot? Some that don't require a volunteer to
interact much with others and some that require a volunteer to regularly
interact and help others? Some that put volunteers together as a group?
Some that allow volunteers to provide service for a few hours on a
Saturday, without any ongoing commitment? Leadership roles? Some that
require expertise, some that don't require any? Some that can be done
during regular work hours and some that can be done on evenings or
weekends?
Consider unpaid internships: these are volunteer roles that are meant
to help a person in their career pursuits, to help them gain skills and
expertise. I have no ethical issue with unpaid internships, in general,
however, because of the time commitment and schedule of these internships
at MANY organizations - say, 20 hours a week, spread over three days a
week, only during business hours - these roles exclude anyone who can't
afford to work unpaid that many hours during traditional working hours, or
someone who needs childcare. I feel very strongly that it's inappropriate
to create onsite roles for volunteers - unpaid people - to work for more
than 10 hours a week in a set role - I find it exploitative and
exclusionary for those that cannot afford to work that many hours unpaid
onsite at an organization. Internships shouldn't be only for people who
can afford it financially.
When writing out roles for volunteers, including unpaid internships,
always ask these types of questions:
- Does this assignment have to happen only during regular business
hours?
- Does this role really require someone to make a three month (or
whatever) commitment that is being asked for?
- Does this role really require a volunteer to provide 20 hours (or
whatever) of service every week? Could two roles be created, requiring
just 10 hours a week each?
- Does this assignment absolutely require the volunteer to work onsite?
Could ANY part of this role be done remotely, from the volunteers own
home or workplace?
Again, not every role can be crafted so that it can accommodate any
person's schedule - some tasks, indeed, MUST be done onsite, during
regularly business hours. Some roles DO require someone to make a
long-term commitment - board membership usually requires a year-long
commitment, at least - otherwise, activities become very inefficient,
institutional knowledge isn't built up, and on and on. Some roles do
require a volunteer to work a four-hour shift, because of the need for
continuity.
But the greater diversity of tasks you have for volunteers, the greater
diversity of volunteers you will have - and the greater pool of talent,
skills and energy you will be able to draw from. And, again, don't forget
to
create
virtual volunteering activities!
Work environment
Do you ask about dietary restrictions before ordering food for
employees? Have you offered to provide convenient breaks for all nursing
mothers to pump? Do you remind volunteers that you encourage them to let
you know if they need to take a day off to acknowledge a religion your
organization doesn't get a day off for? Remind employees and staff that
not everyone fits one profile - it's fine to say you are looking forward
to Christmas, but don't push it if a staff member doesn't seem all that
enthusiastic about it. Baby showers are fine, but staff should remember
that someone that chooses not to participate may have a very personal,
painful reason for opting out.
People with disabilities
Consider people with disabilities as candidates for volunteering, not
just as recipients of service by volunteers. People with disabilities
volunteer for the same reasons as anyone else: they want to contribute
their time and energy and expertise to improving the quality of life for
others, or to promote a cause they believe in, or to have fun. They want
challenging, rewarding, educational service projects that provide them
with outlets for their enthusiasm and talents, just like anyone else.
For too long, individuals with disabilities have been viewed
as recipients, not providers of service. However, many are fully capable
and willing to provide service to others in their community. Their
desire to become active volunteers should not be overlooked. Their
involvement should not be merely as token volunteers, but as
fully-participating, active, and responsible partners of the community
service team.
-- from the Training Manual for Working With Youth Volunteers Who Have
Disabilities, produced by Youth Volunteer Corps.
Not all individuals with disabilities will require an accommodation. But
just as building designs can help persons in wheelchairs to navigate
doorways, there are ways to accommodate persons with disabilities to serve
in volunteering programs. And an added bonus: making assignments
accessible for people with disabilities ends up making them more
accessible for everyone.
Everyone has abilities, and limits to those abilities. Designing for
people with permanent disabilities actually results in designs that
benefit people universally. - Microsoft's
Inclusive Design web site (accessed November 26, 2019)
As noted earlier, a key to making volunteering accessible is to put all
of the requirements for a volunteering assignment in writing, and
let potential volunteers view this complete information. If the
volunteering assignment is very clear about requirements of the task,
everyone -- with and without disabilities -- can self-screen for it. A
diversity of volunteer tasks help volunteers with a variety of abilities
to participate in your programs.
Check your application and screening procedures for consistency with the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Your application process can ask
"are there any challenges you face that might prevent you from fulfilling
a volunteer task" or "are there any accommodations you might need to
fulfill a volunteer role", but it should NOT ask if an applicant has a
disability.
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment to a volunteer role, the
service environment, or the way things are usually done that allows a
qualified individual with a disability to complete the application
process, perform essential service functions, or enjoy equal access to
benefits and privileges of volunteering service. Providing reasonable
accommodations is not a complicated process, but it does involve taking an
honest look at your current accessibility and systematically eliminating
any barriers to participation.
Ask ALL volunteers regularly to suggest accommodations they might need to
undertake a volunteering task - never limit the question to only people
that you perceive as having disabilities. Ask any volunteer who suggests
something, if it's not clear, how the recommended accommodations
might help the volunteer to complete essential duties and participate in
the program. A request for reasonable accommodations should be welcomed at
any time during the application process or during service.
Many accommodations cost nothing at all. Providing accommodations
involves eliminating identified barriers, onsite as well as online, and
often only requires creativity and flexibility and a change in priorities,
not buying something. This could be the modification of an organizational
policy (such as the creation of a flexible schedule option), or simply
rearranging furniture, or getting rid of all non-descriptive links on your
web site, like "read more" and "more information."
Back in 2009, on UKVPMs,
an online discussion group for volunteer managers in the United Kingdom
that I
read regularly, someone posted a message about making the
volunteering opportunities at his organization more accessible for people
with disabilities, childcare needs etc. GREAT IDEA! Not so great was the
idea to put a symbol next to certain volunteering opportunities so that
those who need certain accommodations "can easily see which opportunities
they can participate in." YIKES!
Instead, a volunteer manager might want to include the accessibility
symbol next to a statement before every volunteer assignment listing that
says,
We strive to make our volunteering opportunities accessible
to the largest number of people possible. If you have accessibility
requirements that you aren't sure could be accommodated in an assignment
in which you are interested, please contact us, so we can work together
to accommodate you in this or another assignment.
If you want to put symbols next to, say, those assignments that require
working during business hours, or that require a volunteer to use his or
her own car, or assignments requiring bi-lingual speakers, that's fine.
But don't brand assignments based on accessibility. Instead, keep working
to make all assignments as accessible as possible.
The volunteer manager or other program staff and the volunteer should meet
at least once after new accommodations are in place to review their
effectiveness and make any changes necessary to ensure that volunteers can
participate fully in program activities.
Remember that all information about a specific volunteer’s
accommodation(s) is confidential, but you can be open to all volunteers
about accommodations in general. You absolutely can say to all volunteers,
"We have some roles for volunteers who may not feel comfortable
interacting with others, and these include..." or "Our web site is now
fully accessible for people with disabilities."
Back in 2006, the Corporation for National Service published this on its
web site: "Providing reasonable accommodations for people with
disabilities," written by Elesheva Soloff, then the Training Specialist
with The National Service Inclusion Project at the University of
Massachusetts, Boston. I've reproduced its nine points below, for those
that aren't sure what to do when a volunteer asks for accommodation or
when an organization wants to address an accommodation issue. According to
the Institute for Community Inclusion, effective practices include:
1. Respond to the request as quickly as possible
The best place to start is with the individual who requested the
accommodation -- often he or she will know exactly what accommodation is
needed.
- Involve the individual with the disability throughout every stage of
the accommodations process. In determining each factor ensure that you
request input and feedback from the individual.
- Often, the proper accommodations will be identified through a trial
and error process guided by a dialogue between the organization and the
individual requesting the accommodation, and a third party resource if
needed.
2. Define the situation
- What is creating the barriers?
- Is documentation needed to support the accommodations?
- What specific service tasks, environments, equipment, or policies are
creating barriers to successful performance?
3. Perform needs assessment
Is it necessary to modify the service position, an organizational policy,
the physical environment, or to obtain a product (assistive technology)?
4. Choose the accommodation
- Supervisors can choose among varied accommodations as long as the
chosen accommodation is effective.
- If there are two possible accommodations and one costs more than the
other, the supervisor may choose the less burdensome accommodation as
long as it is effective.
5. Redefine the Situation
- The accommodation process may not always end with a successful
outcome; it may be beneficial to redefine the accommodation situation.
- Supervisors should be sure that accommodation ideas be exhausted and
that a good faith effort has resulted.
6. Ensure confidentiality for the volunteer or service member
- Requesting an accommodation may be a first time disclosure for an
individual with a disability -- service members and volunteers may be
concerned about disclosing because of myths, fears, and stereotypes
society has about people with disabilities.
- Supervisors can ease some of the concerns associated with disclosure
by ensuring service members and volunteers that their requests for
accommodations will be considered, and all medical information will be
kept confidential.
7. Explain the accommodation to other volunteers or members
- Supervisors have an obligation to protect the confidentiality of
service members and volunteers medical information.
- Explain that the modification is for legitimate reasons or in
compliance with federal law.
- Programs and organizations can conduct organizational disability
awareness trainings to increase everyone’s knowledge about
accommodations.
8. Monitor and Evaluate Accommodations
- Once an accommodation has been identified and provided it is crucial
to monitor the accommodation to ensure its effectiveness.
- Check-in with the service member or volunteer to ascertain whether the
accommodation provided is effective and whether any change has occurred
that would alter the current accommodation needs.
9. Recognize that the need for accommodations may change over time
- The supervisor is responsible for making sure that effective
accommodations are provided and maintained.
- Supervisors should discuss accommodation maintenance with the service
member or volunteer and determine how and if it should be monitored.
- A service member or volunteer is not guaranteed a specific
accommodation forever; supervisors can modify or stop the accommodation
for various reasons.
Resources that can help you make your volunteering activities accessible
specifically for people with disabilities:
Also note: creating accommodations for volunteers with disabilities
ends up making your volunteer engagement better for EVERYONE. Don't be
surprised when an accommodation designed for someone that asks for it ends
up being something many other volunteers value.
Engaging volunteers with Arrest and Conviction Records
Just because someone has an arrest or conviction does NOT mean someone
would be inappropriate for volunteering. And by excluding everyone with an
arrest or a conviction, regardless of the nature of the offense,
nonprofits and schools exclude people with the education, physical
abilities, skills and temperment from their programs. Schools that have
such a blanket prohibition cut off parents from the classroom, and there
is study after study showing that parental involvement in school has a
substantial positive effect on student grades, class participation and
disciplinary issues. We are all affected when millions of people in the
USA — both men and women, particularly people of color — are locked out of
volunteering opportunities because of an arrest or conviction record.
Consider:
- 70 million people in the USA have an arrest record. That’s nearly 1
in 3 of adults.
- 28% of all 2010 arrests were of African Americans, despite African
Americans comprising ONLY 14%of the USA population.
- Nearly half of children in the USA have at least one parent with a
record.
- Only 4.5% of U.S. arrests involved violent crimes in 2014.
- NO research has shown that workplace violence is generally
attributed to employees with arrest records, nor that hiring
ex-offenders is causally linked to increased workplace violence.
- NO research has shown that people with records are more unreliable
as volunteers or employees than those without records.
Automatically excluding people as volunteers who have arrest records
does NOT keep your clients, staff and other volunteers safer than by
creating sensible, appropriate, inclusive policies that allow for the
engagement of such volunteers.
As a volunteer-hosting organization, you reduce risks and improve
safety for everyone at your organization by evaluating ALL applicants -
those with and those without arrest records - in terms of their work
history, volunteering history and references. You absolutely take into
account the age of an offense and the nature of an offense, but for
volunteers with records - and for ALL applicants - you also take into
consideration the nature of the volunteer roles, the degree of supervision
by other volunteers and employees in different roles, your policies and
procedures regarding, for instance, two volunteers being alone together,
or a volunteer being alone with a client and so forth. If you don't want
to involve a volunteer with a record in any role where that person would
work one-on-one with another volunteer or a client, or have access to a
database with credit card info, or to handle money, fine - but why would
you exclude someone who is a great web designer from redoing your web site
because, when he was 18, he was arrested for a non-violent crime?
Please see
Keeping
volunteers safe – & keeping everyone safe with volunteers
for a list of my favorite resources regarding safety in programs that
involve volunteers and/or children; I consider many of these resources
mandatory reading for managers of volunteers. If you are truly committed
to safety at your organization, these are the resources, by respected
experts, that provide meaningful guidance - and none recommend excluding
everyone with an arrest record from volunteering.
Sources for bulleted statistics:
Is there accountability for improper behavior with volunteers?
If your executive director says something that could be seen as a
violation of your policies and procedures, does he or she apologize to
staff and talk about what was learned? Or do you just pretend it didn't
happen? Does your HR department just log complaints without investigating,
or without being perceived as doing anything? Create a fair,
well-communicated process for investigating these complaints - you do not
have to violate anyone's confidentiality, but staff should see that you're
trying to solve the issues they've brought up.
There is actually an urgent need for inclusion & accessibility
Nonprofits, NGOs, charities and others MUST take a leadership role in
creating
community cohesion, especially in the face of the rise of violent
extremism all over the world, including the USA, and the increasing
belief in demonizing the "other" - people of a particular religion (or
no religion at all), people of a particular ethnicity, immigrants,
people with mental illness, people with different economic power, and
more. It is a bold, vital statement in the face of these movements to
make your program's volunteer engagement as inclusive as possible, as
representative of everyone in your community as possible. It's a
practice that affirms to everyone - board members, consultants, EVERYONE
- that your organization makes inclusion and accessibility a priority.
If you don't already have such, create an official policy regarding
your belief in inclusion and accessibility that makes it clear what your
organization values. For instance:
We work to create a welcoming, accessible environment where all
clients, volunteers, staff and anyone involved with our organization
can feel safe, valued and given an opportunity to engage in meaningful
activities working toward our mission. We cherish the diversity of
humanity, a diversity which includes differences in religions/value
systems, sex, age, race, ethnicity, and national origin, range of
abilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, financial means,
education, and political perspective.
Here's one from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie,
New York, a community of faith, that I really love:
Systems of power, privilege, and oppression have traditionally
created barriers for persons and groups with particular identities,
ages, abilities, and histories. We pledge to do all we can to replace
such barriers with ever-widening circles of solidarity and mutual
respect. We strive to be a congregation that truly welcomes all
persons and commits to structuring congregational life in ways that
empower and enhance everyone’s participation.
Any online search for statements regarding commitments to inclusiveness
or accessibility will lead you to more terrific statements you can adapt
for your own organization. And if you lose potential volunteers, even
board members, because the idea of inclusiveness makes them
uncomfortable, then consider it a win: you've just allowed those who
could not make the commitment to accommodate a diversity of people to
screen themselves out of participation.
There is also this article, 4
tips on inclusive digital service design for charities, where Charity
Digital News talks about what it means to embrace user-centric
service design principles to create more welcoming online digital
spaces. It's a good compliment to the page you are reading now.
Also see:
- Making
certain volunteers feel unwelcomed because of your language and
Do
you welcome people with your language?, blogs I wrote
after I observed a volunteer recognition event description on Facebook
and a post on Facebook that implied something about firefighters.
- People
with disabilities & virtual volunteering
Testimonials about how virtual volunteering allows people with
disabilities to volunteer online.
- Welcoming
immigrants as volunteers at your organization
There's so much you can do to welcome and accommodate immigrants as
volunteers at your nonprofit, charity, school or other organization,
bringing you an even greater pool of talent and ideas.
- How Volunteers Can
QUICKLY Help Your Program To Be More Accessible Online
Most nonprofits, NGOs, charities, schools and other mission-based
organizations will never be able to afford a professional web designer,
let alone one that can build a fully accessible web site. Yet, these
organizations most certainly want people with disabilities to access
their online information, just like any other donor, client, volunteer,
participant, activist or other potential supporter. This resource talks
about how volunteers can help any mission-based organization have a more
accessible, more welcoming web site.
- Screening
Volunteers for Attitude
When an organization involves volunteers in high-responsibility,
long-term roles, volunteer turnover can be a program killer. Screening
is vital to finding the right people for high-responsibility, long-term
volunteer roles, particularly those where the volunteer will work with
clients and the general public, and to screen out people who may be
better in shorter-term assignments or assignments where they would not
work with clients or the general public, or who would not be appropriate
in any role at the organization.
- Recruiting
Local Volunteers To Increase Diversity Among the Ranks
Having plenty of volunteers usually isn't enough to say a volunteering
program is successful. Another indicator of success is if your
volunteers represent a variety of ages, education-levels, economic
levels and other demographics, or are a reflection of your local
community. Most organizations don't want volunteers to be a homogeneous
group; they want to reach a variety of people as volunteers (and donors
and other supporters, for that matter). This resource will help you
think about how to recruit for diversity, or to reach a specific
demographic.
- Volunteering
to build community cohesion
Engaging volunteers isn’t always just to get a task done. Sometimes,
volunteering has much larger, more important goals – like a group
volunteering effort done to help demonstrate solidarity and
understanding between different groups. Volunteers can help build
community cohesion and better community understanding. Volunteers can
help change minds – without ever asking volunteers to change their
minds.
- Creating Group Volunteering Activities
Details on not just what groups of volunteers can do in a two-hour,
half-day or all-day event, but also just how much an organization or
program will need to do to prepare a site for group volunteering. It's
an expensive, time-consuming endeavor - are you ready? Is it worth it?
- Volunteering to Address
Your Own Mental Health (Depression, Loneliness, Anxiety, etc.):
Realistic advice on volunteering to address your loneliness, depression,
anxiety, etc., and to avoid an experience that will make you feel worse
instead of better.
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