Following our strategy day in November, AVM’s board is beginning to develop our strategic themes for the Association, which we would like to share with you. We have started by developing what we offer for our members. This includes:
  • Holding events outside London. The need to do this was brought out in the survey we held on International Volunteer Managers Day. We’re pleased to say that we have arranged events in Bristol, Manchester and Stirling later in 2018, so are already beginning to address this.
  • Mentoring: ever since AVM launched 10 years ago we have had this planned, but I’m pleased to say that we now have a work stream developing a scheme for our members. Watch this space for how you can share your experiences, and get involved in our test project.
  • Improving our online resources to be more efficient and effective in how we support volunteer managers. We will be exploring options such as webinars and live streaming of events. We have already started filming our L&D events, which are exclusively available on our website to members. We want to continue extending how people are able to access and engage in a variety of ways. If you’re interested in being involved in this work, please get in touch.
  • We want to ensure that our members feel that AVM is their Association by giving people the opportunity to shape its future, so we are developing opportunities to enable this, such as expanding our committees. We’ll be sharing more details later in the year explaining how you can get more involved.
  • We want to better understand what our members want from us. The survey in November 2017 was the start of this and we’ll continue to develop ways to greater understand what members need from AVM.
  • We also want to understand the needs of those who haven’t joined the Association as members and address any gaps or barriers to them joining.
We recognise that AVM doesn’t exist in a vacuum and are keen to develop partnerships and networks with organisations and groups across the sectors so that we can better support our members and ensure the voice of volunteering is heard. The board’s next strategy day will be in April, and we will update you on our progress. As always, you can get in touch with comments or questions.