National occupational standards for managing volunteers

These have been developed and agreed by a group of national organisations with expertise and experience in volunteer management, including the Volunteer Development Agency in Northern Ireland.

The National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Managing Volunteers specify the standards of performance that those who recruit and support volunteers should be working to across the UK. They also describe the knowledge and skills that managers of volunteers need in order to perform to the required standard.

Volunteer involving organisations can also use the standards to ensure that those involved in the management of their volunteers are competent and have the knowledge and skills to do so effectively and appropriately.

If you work with volunteers, you can conduct a comprehensive analysis of your learning and development needs based on the National Occupational Standards using a tool devised by the Volunteer Development Agency. Go to http://www.volunteering-ni.org/documents/TNAbasedonNOSforMV.doc

All Agency training courses in volunteer management are mapped to both the NOS for Managing Volunteers and the Investing in Volunteers organisational quality standard for volunteer management. The newly accredited University Certificate in the Effective Management of Volunteers (60 CATS points at Level 1, delivered with Queen's University, Belfast) has been mapped to support the NOS.

For more information please contact the Training Team at training@volunteering-ni.org or 028 9023 6100