Quality standards

Volunteer services often place high personal demands on the volunteers. To ensure that they are not overburdened, volunteers need to have contact persons outside their placement that are easy to reach. There are different models for personal support: volunteer mentors can be used as well as host families, full-time educators in a host organisation or – particularly in the case of placements abroad – country representatives.

The combination of working and learning is already designed to be part of the volunteer service itself. Beyond that, however, what are also useful are independent educational opportunities in which volunteers can acquire and expand their social skills and gain practical qualifications. Encounters with other volunteers are also indispensable. If possible, they should be an integral part of the educational programmes. Education and encounters also let volunteers reflect on their volunteer service.

The commitment of volunteers must be recognised. Such recognition is experienced through a culture of appreciation in the placement site and the organisation placing the volunteer. Documenting the volunteers’ commitment is standard practice – as is handing out a certificate to the volunteer at the end of his or her period of service.

If the quality of their own work is to be safeguarded and developed further in the long term, providers of volunteer services must constantly review their own actions with a critical eye. By doing so, one can determine whether and how the intended goals are achieved for all participants and where there is a need for change or improvement.