SURVEY ON INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERING FROM IRELAND 2013

Comhlámh

Presentation at the launch of the survey

Report by Siobán O’Brien Green, Comhlámh

Research and Policy Officer, 14th October

2014 in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

Castle.

Background

Comhlámh commissioned two research reports in 2013.

Models of International Volunteering: Trends, Innovation and

Good Practice by VOSESA – focus on what types of

volunteering are emerging and are recommended. Highlighted

online volunteering.

New Evidence on Overseas Volunteering from Ireland by

Dr Pat McCloughan – focus on socio-economic impact of

volunteering and Volunteer Sending Agencies (VSAs) in

Ireland.

Designed to assist Comhlámh in systematic information

gathering about the sector and to be of help to VSAs in

compiling information on their activities and volunteers.

2012 Survey

Used online survey tool, launched January

2013 and issued to 78 VSAs to collate

retrospective data from 2012.

46 VSAs completed the survey, survey closed

after 5 weeks and report was launched in

August 2013.

Research provided important new data and

analysis, as well as an estimation of the value

to the Irish economy of international

volunteering from Ireland.

2012 and 2013 Survey

2012 report recommended that Comhlámh conduct

quantitative research on an annual basis capturing

data relating to both volunteers and VSAs.

Work on the 2013 survey began in January 2014.

The objectives of repeating the research was to

begin to establish the survey as an annual piece of

data collection that would also encourage VSAs to

collect and collate data internally and to participate in

the Comhlámh survey. Also to begin longitudinal

data collection on the sector.

Who is a VSA?

Definition: agencies that arrange international

volunteer placements mostly in developing

countries. The agencies may be not-for-profit or

for profit.

Broaden definition for purposes of survey to

include agencies whose “main business” may

not be development work nor sending

volunteering overseas.

Survey Inclusion Criteria

“Are legally registered as either a company (with the

Companies Registration Office (CRO) in the

Republic of Ireland or in Northern Ireland with HM

Revenue and Customs) and/or registered as a

charity (with the Charities Section, Revenue

Commissioners or in Northern Ireland with the

Charity Commission for Northern Ireland)

And have sent volunteers overseas from Ireland in

2013.”

Building a Survey Sample

Starting point was survey dissemination list

from last year. But are there more VSAs?

Extensive trawl of all possible lists and

sources of VSAs undertaken. Result of 117.

Cross-checking with CHY & CRO.

Contact to determine if VSA met survey

inclusion criteria which resulted in 63 VSAs

or perhaps up to 79.

Still an underestimation.

Why the difference in figures?

Not all VSAs send volunteers overseas every

year, some may send on a bi-annual basis;

Some VSAs closed and ceased functioning

during 2013 or early in 2014;

Some VSAs had planned to send volunteers

overseas in 2013 but due to security issues

or natural disasters in intended host

countries could not complete their volunteer

programme;

Why the difference in figures?

Some VSAs have re-configured their operations

to reduce numbers of volunteers they send and

instead focus on local volunteers or employees

in host countries;

Some of the VSAs did not meet the survey

inclusion criteria in relation to CRO and CHY (or

Northern Ireland equivalents) status. This is

also a requirement of CoGP signatories.

Online survey

Choice of Survey Monkey was again utilised

for the 2013 survey process due to cost,

ease of use and familiarity for respondents

with the interface of the previous 2012

survey and potential repeat future use.

Need for building and using a survey tool that

can be re-utilised year on year at low cost

but with a good level of functionality.

Questionnaire Design

Detailed review of the 2012 questionnaire and the

collated response data with a key focus on establishing:

low response rate questions, clarifying question

wording where necessary and determining new

possible questions.

Expert advice sought, including from Central Statistics

Office and market research and data analysis experts.

Question sequence, wording and response options

were changed slightly and some were harmonised with

CoGP self-audit tool for internal cross-referencing and

in order to verify survey data, trends and reliability.

Questionnaire Design

Efforts to increase individual question

response rate were made by amending the

question order, changing the question text for

the purposes of clarity, adding a “Don’t know”

or “Don’t collect this information” category to

some questions (where appropriate) and

allowing respondents to add comments to

expand on or clarify their answers for suitable

questions in order to reduce skipped

questions.

Questionnaire Design

Direct comparison for some question

responses between the 2012 and 2013

surveys is not possible due to these changes.

Piloting of questionnaire took place and

amendments followed.

Survey emailed to VSAs but also promoted

through e-newsletters and disseminated the

survey information and link through relevant

networks.

Process and Results

Survey issued to 117 potential VSAs later in

calendar year (March to May).

49 final survey respondents.

Longer time to participate in survey (6

weeks), phone and email reminders to VSAs.

Increase in survey respondents.

Increase in overall question responses.

Limitations

Due to the confidential nature of the survey and how data

were collected it is not possible to state that the same

VSAs participated in the 2013 survey as in the 2012

survey, as a result although some comparisons can be

made with question responses from the two surveys we

cannot be fully sure that we are comparing like with like.

Some caution needs to be applied when looking at trends

emerging between the two surveys, but this should

decrease with future Comhlámh VSA surveys.

Need to be aware of VSAs constraints in questionnaire

length and design.

Who was sending volunteers in 2013?

Structure of VSAs.

Types of volunteering offered.

Where did they send volunteers?

Demand for volunteering.

Changes in interest in volunteering.

Fees or contributions from volunteers.

VSAs in Ireland

Year Organisation was Founded?

Almost half of all VSAs were established in

the first decade of this century, with a further

14% set up since 2010.

92% of respondents are not for profit

organisations.

Types of Volunteering Offered

Types of International Volunteering Programmes Offered

Types of International Volunteering Programmes Offered

Over 80% of VSAs offered youth volunteering.

Other forms such as corporate (36%), diaspora

(13%) and online (not asked in 2012 11%)

modalities of volunteering are also offered.

Growth in the numbers of VSAs offering

corporate and diaspora volunteering

programmes when the survey results for 2012

and 2013 are compared.

Multiple choices possible for this question.

Number of Paid Staff in VSAs

Most VSAs have between 1 and 9 staff

including both full and part time, based in

Ireland.

But 10 VSAs who answered have no staff,

implying that they are volunteer led and run.

Comhlámh Code of Good Practice

77% survey respondents are signatories to

the CoGP.

This high percentage of VSAs that are

signatories to the CoGP demonstrates the

commitment of many Irish VSAs to the CoGP

principles and to working to ensure

responsible, sustainable and responsive

volunteering.

Applications to VSAs in 2013

A total of 3,950 applications for volunteer

placements were received in 2013 by the 47

VSAs who answered this question (3,789 in

2012 ).

This exceeded the number of volunteers that

VSAs wanted to recruit in 2013 which was

2,270 (2,202 in 2012 ).

This indicates a substantial interest in and

demand for international volunteering

placements in 2013 in Ireland.

Changes in Interest in Overseas Volunteering noted by VSAs between 2012 and 2013

Reasons for any changes noted

Most VSAs, 43%, reported no change in interest

in volunteering between 2012 and 2013.

Reasons given for any reported decline in

interest in volunteering from VSAs = the cost of

volunteering and the impact of the economic

crisis in Ireland including youth emigration.

Reasons given for reported increase = more

targeted marketing and targeted recruitment by

the VSA.

Funding sources for VSAs

VSAs were asked: “How is your organisation funded?

Please tick all that apply.”

We can’t assess amounts or importance of funding

streams, only the most frequently cited.

VSAs rely on a variety of funding sources, the most

important of which are donations from the public,

fundraising events and volunteer contributions or

placement fees. Similar to 2012 findings.

Almost half of the 47 VSAs who responded receive

some funding from Irish Aid.

Funding sources for VSAs

37 36

28

23

20 19

9 8

5

11

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Num

ber

of

VS

As

Funding sources

Funding sources of VSAs

Contributions or fundraising from volunteers

Contributions or fundraising from volunteer

Range of contribution or fundraising

requirement vast from approximately €140 to

€4,500 but it depends on many factors.

VSAs leverage this contribution as an

important funding source (3rd most frequently

cited funding source).

But it is mentioned as a reason for decrease

in interest in volunteering by VSAs too.

Where did they go?

Volunteers from Ireland travelled to 47 countries in

2013. The majority of countries were on the

continent of Africa.

All Irish Aid Key Partner countries (Ethiopia,

Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone,

Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia) received

volunteers from Ireland in 2013.

Change in response options from 2012 survey

which should allow in time more detailed analysis of

recipient countries.

Where did they go? Countries but not #s of volunteers

Who volunteered in 2013?

Numbers of volunteers.

What did they do?

How long were they volunteering for?

Age of volunteers.

Education profile of volunteers.

Prior experience of volunteering.

Issues emerging or barriers to volunteering

Lower response rates in this section of the survey.

Comparisons with 2012 survey not always possible.

Who was volunteering?

Responses range from 3 to 350 per VSA.

Demonstrates a small decrease in the total

number of volunteers in 2013 when

compared with 2012, from 2,120 volunteers

in 2012 to 1,728 in 2013.

Why the difference?

Low response rates to question 13 (38 VSAs compared to 47

for question 7).

Some VSAs could not send volunteers overseas in 2013 due

to natural disasters, infection outbreaks or civil unrest in

countries;

Feedback from open questions in 2012 and 2013 surveys

suggest that the current economic situation in Ireland may

make it more challenging for potential volunteers to take time

away from their work, studies or job hunting to volunteer

overseas;

The skills required by VSAs for certain placements may not

correlate with the skills applicant volunteers have, as a result

applicants may not be suitable for the placements on offer.

But

More applicants (3,950) than actual volunteers

(1,728) in 2013.

We can’t tell from the survey but possibly due to:

Changing life circumstances during the volunteering

application process which may occur for work, study,

health or family related reasons.

Rejection of the volunteer applicant by the VSA,

because of a mismatch of volunteer skills and host

partner or community skill requirement.

Volunteers are applying to multiple VSAs for one

volunteering placement initially.

What did they do?

VSAs were asked to identify all the activities

their volunteers participated in. The greatest

numbers of responses were in the areas of:

Teaching/training;

Children/youth development;

Capacity building;

Medicine and healthcare;

Community development.

Very wide range of activities represented.

Changes from 2012 survey findings with less focus

on building and construction and more focus on

medicine and healthcare.

Possibly due to different VSAs sending less or more

volunteers in 2012 and 2013.

High numbers of volunteers and VSAs active in the

areas of teaching, children and youth development,

disability and special needs advocacy in both 2013

and 2012.

Hours per week spent volunteering

How long were they there?

The majority of volunteers in 2013 were on

placements for between two and four weeks

duration (40% of volunteers).

The second largest group of volunteers were

overseas for less than two weeks (37% of

volunteers).

These findings are comparable to the 2012

data.

Age Profile

Age Profile

The majority of volunteers from Ireland in

2013 (46%) were aged between 18 and 25

years.

The second largest cohort of volunteers by

age breakdown was those aged between 26

and 30 years at 15%.

The vast majority, 71%, of volunteers in 2013

were aged less than 30 years.

Smaller numbers in other age cohorts.

Nationality of Volunteers

Responses of interest to ensure volunteer

cohort from Ireland reflects changes in Irish

population as seen in Census 2011 and

2006.

Should be useful to track Diaspora

volunteering trends over time from Ireland.

Wide range of nationalities of volunteers but

very small numbers.

Status of Volunteers

Status of Volunteers

The majority of volunteers were classified as

students (numbering 645 or 54%).

The second most popular classification was

employed (numbering 393 or 33%).

Status may feed into demand for short-term

volunteering placements.

Corresponds to corporate volunteering

opportunities?

Low response rate and many VSAs do not collect

this information.

Prior Volunteering Experience

Prior Volunteering Experience

Education Profile of Volunteers

Very low response rate and many VSAs

do not collect this data.

Cannot draw conclusions from the level

of responses provided.

Overall the majority of volunteers as

recorded in the responses to question

22 have some sort of third level

education qualification

Issues emerging for VSAs

What explanations for differences in numbers

wanted by VSAs and numbers sent overseas in

2013?

Financial concerns from volunteers, including difficulty

in fundraising;

Difficulty in getting leave from work to volunteer or the

length of time of a volunteer placement is perceived

as being problematic as it is too long;

VSAs needing volunteers with a specific set of skills

and not being able to find volunteers with these skills.

Observations from the survey

Youth.

Child Protection.

Predominance of very short-term volunteering.

Need to encourage and support participation in

the survey and in house data collection by

VSAs.

But with awareness of pressures on VSAs both

staff and resources.

Looking to 2015 and beyond

Comhlámh plans to conduct this survey on an annual

basis with VSAs in order to collect comparable

longitudinal data, develop a sound evidence base on

VSAs and volunteers and capture trends in overseas

volunteering from Ireland.

The data from annual surveys will assist in informing

international volunteering practice in Ireland and will

support Comhlámh’s work with and for volunteers

before, during and after their volunteering placements in

addition to work with VSAs in relation to the CoGP.

Thank you

VSAs for engaging with the survey.

Comhlámh Research and Policy Expert

Advisory Group.

Colleagues and Staff in Comhlámh.

Questions, comments, queries?