The European Volunteer Management Ethics Guide
22/11/2024
- Published 2024
- The project was led by Professor Lucas Meijs and researcher Ivo Geers from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM)
This is one of four free guides produced by the ‘Enhancing volunteer impact – developing European management standards’ (EVI-Dems) project. The project aims to enhance the impact of volunteers by increasing opportunities across Europe for existing and future volunteer managers to be educated at higher education level based on common European standards for volunteer management training.
The ethics guide is intended to be a practical, user-friendly, dilemma-solving tool for volunteer managers across Europe to make ethical decisions when managing volunteers.
It identifies five key ethical principles, the core components, and a range of possible actions.
- Foster a philosophy of volunteering in your organization
- Develop a culture of altruism
- Provide clear information about opportunities and how to get involved
- Recognise the inherent value of all volunteers and the work they do
- Acknowledge volunteers as individuals
- Treat volunteers with courtesy
- Treat volunteer with dignity
- Respect volunteers’ privacy
- Give all volunteers an equal and fair treatment
- Create anti-discrimination culture
- Ensure all have same standard of safety
- Ensure volunteering opportunities are open and accessible to all
- Ensure volunteers have opportunities to participate in events and decisions
- Guard against exploitation
- Ensure that you and your organisation can be held accountable
- Be open about the work of the organization
- Be accountable to your volunteers
- Ensure that volunteers embrace the value of the volunteering engagement
- Values - to benefit the community or others
- Respectful commitment – promote team working