Best Practice Guidelines

These best practice guidelines support Volunteering Involving Organisations to strengthen volunteer engagement and management across the full volunteer lifecycle. They are designed with the volunteer at the centre and aligned to what volunteers need at each stage of their involvement.

The guidelines cover seven key practice areas, from recruitment through to exit, and describe principles, what good practice looks like, and practical actions organisations can take. Each area is supported by a curated set of resources, including policies and templates.

Benefits for volunteer managers

• supports consistent, volunteer centred practice across the volunteer lifecycle.
• clarifies what good volunteer practice looks like at each stage.
• provides practical actions to improve volunteer engagement.
• offers access to supporting resources, policies and templates.

How to apply this resource

These guidelines are most useful when reviewing volunteer management practices, identifying areas for improvement, or planning changes across recruitment, support, development and retention.