Experts help Anti-Corruption Groups Manage Volunteers

3 July 2008 - The Asia Foundation (TAF) and VSO Bahaginan have been engaging in partnerships to provide technical assistance on volunteer programme development and management to various development organizations. VSO Bahaginan trained patient support groups in 2005 and currently anti-human trafficking organizations. In April 2008 TAF and VSO Bahaginan has again agreed to work together, this time to assist TAF anti-corruption partners to enable them to enhance the way they engage volunteers.

From May to September 2008 TAF and VSO Bahaginan will engage selected anti-corruption groups in capacity-building activities on volunteer programme development and management. By the end of these activities the selected organizations will be able to —

• learn about the experiences of other organizations in volunteer programme development and management;
• review and assess their current volunteer management practices using the Volunteer Management System (VMS) Benchmarking Tool; and
• produce draft/revised volunteer management operations manual containing policies and guidelines in working with volunteers.

The course is divided into two phases:
Phase 1: Learning Exchange and Benchmarking Volunteer Management System
Phase 2: Volunteer Management Systems (VMS) Development

Other activities include:
• Drafting of Volunteer Management Operations Manual
• Requesting and Working with Fellows
• Partnership Meetings
• Other Consultation Meetings

The Asia Foundation nominated 7 organizations involved in anti-corruption work.
Representatives from the following organizations will participate in the course: CODE-NGO,
Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government (CCAGG), Dilaab Foundation, Evelio B.
Javier Foundation (EBJF), NAMFREL-Coalition Against Corruption (CAC), Procurement Watch,
Inc. (PWI) and Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN).

Phase 1 of the course has just been held last June 10 to 11 at the Legend Villas in Mandaluyong.
At the fellowship dinner and project overview, the participants tallied their years of being or
working with volunteers. A wealth of combined experience of more than 120 years was
discovered and it is through these that the workshop sessions will be enriched.

At the one-day workshop, the participants were reminded of how volunteering contributes to development. However, organizations have yet to harness the contribution of working with volunteers for anti-corruption work. Later in that day, concerns on volunteer management were surfaced and prioritized.

VSO Bahaginan has developed a Benchmarking Tool in collaboration with 20 organizations that
involve volunteers. This tool was introduced to the workshop participants and they assessed their
respective volunteer programme with the identified elements using the Benchmarking Tool. Consultation with VSO Bahaginan has been encouraged between Phase 1 and 2. The participants are also invited to share the Benchmarking results to their colleagues in their organization.

The 4-day Phase 2 workshop will be held on July 01-04 at the Lake Island Resort in Binangonan,
Rizal. Phase 2 focuses on approaches to address volunteer management concerns. The
elements of Volunteer Management Systems will be discussed through case presentations and
learning activities.

Action planning for a volunteer programme for each organization will also be facilitated within
the workshop. Post workshop support is through Fellows who will work closely with the 7
nominated organizations for an effective volunteer programme helping.