SAM Volunteer Management
What is SAMi Volunteer Management?
SAM Volunteer Management is a self assessment manual for organisations that involve volunteers in their work. It is designed to be used alongside support from volunteering infrastructure organisations in order to enable and empower volunteer managers to look at what they do, why they do it and how they can improve their volunteer programmes.
Why would you use SAM Volunteer Management?
SAM Volunteer Management can be used as a tool for:
- Starting Up: organisation/individuals setting up a volunteering programme for the first time
- Troubleshooting: organisation/individuals that are experiencing difficulties within certain aspects of their volunteering programmes
- Continual Development: existing volunteer managers of all levels of experience who want to continually review and develop the quality of their volunteering programmes
SAM has been developed by people who have worked with volunteers and the voluntary sector for many years. It has been designed by people who know how precious our time is and how difficult assessment can be, so at long last, something that will make our job as volunteer managers simpler, less time consuming and easier to manage.
If you are looking for a user friendly tool to make your life less complicated, then look no further! Sue Vickers, Volunteer Centre Tameside
How is SAM Volunteer Management organised?
SAM Volunteer Management is divided into four colour coded manuals:
- Planning for Volunteers
- Recruiting and Selecting Volunteers
- Supporting Volunteers
- Monitoring and Evaluation
SAM Volunteer Management does not assess your project against a set of standards. SAM Volunteer Management is about provoking thought in order to help you decide what will move your volunteering programme forward.
Important factors that influence a volunteer manager’s work such as organisation background, values, individual feelings and working scenarios are addressed within each manual, in a thought provoking way. SAM Volunteer Management will act as a stepping stone, giving organisations the confidence to work towards quality marks, such as Investing in Volunteer or PQASSO.
How is SAM Volunteer Management delivered?
SAM Volunteer Management needs to be used with support from an approved SAM Volunteer Management Practitioner. The experience of using SAM Volunteer Management would not be anywhere near as effective or enjoyable if you complete it on your own, so SAM Volunteer Management is only available through a North West Network (NWN) approved SAM Volunteer Management Practitioner.
An approved practitioner is someone who has completed NWN’s cascade training on how to use SAM Volunteer Management. We trust our approved practitioners give you quality experience of using SAM Volunteer Management.
If you are a volunteering infrastructure worker/ volunteer manager and would like to find out how you can become an approved SAM Volunteer Management Practitioner please click here.
If you are a volunteer manager and would like to find out how to access support from an approved SAM Volunteer Management Practitioner please click here.
Who developed SAM Volunteer Management?
North West Network (NWN) developed SAM Volunteer Management in partnership with a Consultation Group with funding from the Government Office North West Voluntary and Community Sector Infrastructure Early Spend Fund. The Consultation Group included the following people:
Siddika Ahmed: One North West
Karen Ashley: Routes to Employment
Barbara Bleeker: Trafford Council for Voluntary Service
Cathy Jackson: North West Volunteering Forum
Shona Murphy: Chorlton Workshop
Dorothy Shears: Hyndburn & Ribble Valley CVS and Volunteer Centre
Sue Vickers: Volunteer Centre Tameside
Elaine Wood: Calico Housing Ltd