Volunteer Makers is a National Training Programme that addresses social, demographic and technological change to help museums develop and grow volunteer engagement, supporter diversity and public participation
The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro will host the latest Volunteer Makers seminar next week following on from its launch seminar at the Museum of London last month.
The two-year national training and support programme has been funded by ACE to guide museums through the development of their volunteer engagement programme and provide an understanding of the changing face of the volunteering landscape.
Created by Tickbox Marketing, Volunteer Makers has created a new model that brings together volunteering and public participation with audience development, marketing and digital technology to create meaningful relationships and valuable exchanges.
The programme aims to inspire and support museums to maximise the impact of their engagement with volunteers, widen public participation in volunteering and develop a model that meets the challenges of a changing volunteer landscape.
A key feature of the programme is the Volunteer Makers app, which provides personalised volunteering activity through gamification, a challenge database and skills/interests matching.
“We know that people still want to give their time to volunteer, but also that that time needs to give something back. Museums need to offer more than just operations or events,” said John Orna-Ornstein, Director of Museums, ACE. “They need to offer support, interaction and sustainability across the range of their activities. “Volunteer Makers offers an intelligent answer to this problem. The app in particular not only makes it easier for people to find out how they can help, but addresses their interests or availability so that everybody wins. It’s volunteering for the modern world. And it’s going to have massive benefits in communities across the country.”
Volunteer Makers Director Claire Sully said that recently there’s been a shift in the volunteer demographic to include more young people and teenagers as well as growing numbers of baby boomers. However, she points out, traditional models of volunteering are shutting the door to these volunteers and organisations are facing the consequences while economic pressures are starting to hurt.
“We believe Volunteer Makers will help organisations as they connect with and grow a wider more diverse support base ensuring sustainability – in an uncertain economic landscape,” she said. “The Museum sector is leading the way in developing innovative models for engaging its communities. We believe this work will help museums as they connect with and grow a wider, more diverse support base that will help sustain the sector and prove important for other sectors too.”
The Royal Cornwall Museum seminar will take place on Wednesday 8 February and tickets can be booked here.
This seminar will be followed by a number of other regional seminars across the country and Volunteer Makers will launch training workshops in April.
