APM celebrates achieving its third Investing in Volunteers (IiV) Standard

APM is delighted to have achieved the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard for the third time, in recognition of the excellent work carried out with volunteers. Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard for excellence in volunteer management.

IiV has been awarded to APM following an assessment against a range of good practice standards. The results showed that APM excelled in all aspects of working with its volunteers.

APM relies on the expertise and commitment of its volunteer community for the development and promotion of project and programme management. This includes the effective delivery of many wide-ranging activities, including events, publications and product development. Volunteers play a vital role in APM’s network of Branches and Specific Interest Groups (SIGs), and other volunteer communities, including Education Outreach. APM currently has 450 volunteers supporting activities across the organisation.

APM also hosts an annual Volunteer Achievement Awards to recognise and reward the contribution volunteers make to the success of the organisation and wider profession.

Debbie Dore, chief executive at APM, said: “We are delighted to have achieved our third accreditation with Investing in Volunteers. A tremendous amount of work is carried out by volunteers at APM, and so much of what we do would not be possible without them. This award is a real reflection of our commitment to ensuring volunteers have the best experience possible.”

IiV aims to improve the quality of the volunteering experience for all volunteers and for organisations to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by volunteers. IiV is managed by the UK Volunteering Forum and delivered by NCVO, Volunteer Scotland, Volunteer Now in Northern Ireland and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

IiV’s nine good practice development areas cover all aspects of volunteer involvement, ensuring an excellent volunteer experience from interview to exit:

1. The basis for volunteer involvement
2. How the organisation resources volunteering
3. Diversity in volunteering
4. The development of volunteer roles
5. Steps taken to protect volunteers
6. Fair recruitment procedures
7. Volunteer induction
8. Volunteer support and supervision needs
9. Recognition of volunteer contributions

IiV is the only quality standard that has independent external validation with a UK Quality Assurance Panel that makes recommendations to the UK Volunteering Forum, the awarding body.