Wanted! 1.5 Million Volunteers

By Primary Communication
Wednesday 2 April, 2008

At a Sport Knowledge Australia (SKA) seminar taking place in Sydney on 8 April, delegates will draw upon a national sporting organisation case study to learn what motivates volunteers, and how to recruit and keep them.

The two year study, which focused on a community sport, found an annual volunteer dropout rate of more than a quarter with one in five clubs reporting difficulties in filling positions.

However, the positive news for Australia’s sport and recreation organisations who rely upon the work and goodwill of some 1.5 million volunteers, is that a range of human resources management techniques were proven to aid retention.

At the seminar two of the authors of the study - Associate Professor Simon Darcy of the UTS School of Leisure, Sport & Tourism and Professor Tracy Taylor, Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Business UTS, will present their findings - the result of an Australian Research Council grant and collaboration with Australian Rugby. They will be joined by Lynne Dalton, CEO of the Centre for Learning.

Dr Paul Jonson, Academic Programme director of SKA, said that lessons from the rugby case study were broadly applicable to volunteer management, “The study examines what motivates volunteers, and looks at the success levels of organisations that use best practice to recruit and retain volunteers.

“During our one-day seminar, attendees will gain a valuable contemporary insight into volunteer development along with a sound understanding of the application of human resources management. More importantly, participants will acquire tools for the recruitment, retentions and rewarding of their invaluable volunteers.”

view seminar brochure

ATTENTION EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: For enquiries regarding interviews with presenters contact – Primary Communication – Liz Herbert, Mobile: 0407 234 221 Tel:+61 2 9212 3888.