No. 1 30 Mar 2017
SWIM NEWSLETTER In this issue: The new SWIM
newsletter Micro-volunteering
SWIM - an ACE-funded project to recruit and train volunteers and trustees in Cambridgeshire museums 2016-2018
The new SWIM newsletter This is the first of a series of short (and irregular) newsletters for our project museums. We hope to
bring you tips concerning best practice, share the great volunteering that is being offered around the museums, and keep you up to date (catch you up, as the Americans say) with what we’re doing.
Volunteer motivations
“There’s a cultural
Volunteers’ motivations are different and tend to vary across the age groups (see graph below). Broadly speaking, young people are keen to gain experience, and want short bursts of volunteering.
shift occurring in
Then careers and families take up time, so this group have more skills and experience but also tend to prefer short bursts of volunteering. Then with retirement approaching motivation and available time alters. But its not static. Retirement-age volunteers are highly educated, have substantial experiences and are less reverential to authority than previous generations, so volunteering needs to reflect this change.
organisations involved with volunteering that recognises volunteers are no longer tied to a time or place…”
See www.volunteercambs.org for the latest museum volunteer roles
Source: Managing Volunteers Survey 2013 (nfpSynergy)
Micro-volunteering This is where micro-volunteering may be useful, bringing opportunities to participate and engage in museum activities as a volunteer but typically spending 30 mins or less doing so. The great thing is that you are probably doing it already! For example, Museum of Cambridge with the Capturing Cambridge project has people volunteering their time to add to the understanding of their city. Other museums have frequent call-outs for help with one-off events. Why not chat to Mark and Mike about ways in which we can help to target the harder-toreach groups. And don’t forget to record them as volunteering opportunities, even if you’re already recording them as visitors—they are both! For further info: http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/2015/06/06/microvolunteering-is-it-as-small-as-it-sounds/