1. RQA Volunteer Programme
An Introduction for RQA Committees

2. What is the RQA Volunteer Programme?
The RQA Volunteer Programme provides an opportunity for RQA members to support the Association in a manner that suits them.
Role – usually as a member of a Committee, Working Party, Forum, or the Board
Task – generally on single-task projects such as drafting a white paper or a webcast
Virtual – such as promoting RQA on social media.
The RQA Volunteer Programme provides an opportunity for RQA members to support the Association in a manner that suits them.
There are typically three modes of voluntary support:
Role – usually as a member of a Committee, Working Party, Forum, or the Board
Task – generally on single-task projects such as drafting a white paper or a webcast
Virtual – promoting RQA on social media
The time commitment varies significantly and depends on the type of support and the nature of the project. For example, creating a podcast might take no more than a couple of hours, whereas drafting a booklet could take as much as 250 hours over many months.

3. Why do people Volunteer?
People volunteer for a host of reasons; those reasons are usually personal:
To make contacts in the profession
To feel useful and needed
To gain respect and recognition
To do something they like
To support their Association
To share their knowledge.
People volunteer for a host of reasons; those reasons are usually personal:
To make contacts in the profession, To meet new people, To establish a track record, To be in charge of something, To feel useful and needed, To build confidence and self-esteem, To make a transition to a new career, To break from other stresses in their life, To gain respect, To help other people, To be with colleagues who volunteer, To get to know a new community, To get recognition, To learn something new, To do something they like, To please their manager, To support their Association, To challenge themselves, To share their knowledge, To do something different, To share their passion

4. How does the Programme work?
Step 1: Register onto the Programme via the RQA website Step 2: Assess each of the current volunteering opportunities Step 3: Select a suitable task or role, or make a suggestion Step 4: Contact the Association for details.
The first step is to register onto the Programme via the RQA website. The registration process captures the skills, interests and preferences of the Volunteers; this helps the programme administrators match Volunteers to opportunities.
The RQA website details the types of volunteering activity and explains the expectations of the programme.
Once registered, the Volunteer is able to assess each of the current volunteering opportunities, which are listed on the RQA website. Guidance is provided on how to fulfil the chosen role or task.
Alternatively, the volunteer can suggest a new task or role that’s not on the list – the RQA is always open to fresh ideas.
When the volunteer contacts the Association, the office provides the details of the volunteering opportunity, and the admin team guides and supports the project.

5. How does the Programme support Committees?
The Volunteer Programme provides a pool of motivated individuals.
The Programme supports the work of RQA Committees:
By providing potential new Committee members
By providing valuable resources to support Committee projects
By providing additional expertise or a different perspective.
The Volunteer Programme provides a pool of motivated Volunteers who are keen to get involved. There are two distinct ways that the Programme supports the work of RQA Committees:
By providing potential new Committee members
By providing valuable resources to support Committee projects
The Volunteer Programme should be the first point of contact for Committees when they’re looking for new members and additional resources.

6. Current Status of the Programme
Over 40 members expressed an interest in the Programme:
18 of those are registered
13 of those are involved in seven live projects
The projects vary from authoring eLearning modules, to drafting white papers, and course translation.
Around 40 people have expressed an interest in the Programme, more than half of those are registered.
We have seven live projects currently, involving 13 members.
The projects vary from authoring eLearning modules, to drafting white papers, and course translation. Most of the projects involve the drafting of white papers, mainly because they’re fairly easily to review and convert into other media if appropriate.

7. What Volunteers are Saying
“Thank you very much for the offer to help in the writing of the white paper”
“Glad to know that I got the opportunity to be an volunteer”
“I'm pleased to accept the opportunity”
“Thanks for this opportunity”.
It seems that the volunteers are extremely happy to get involved in supporting the Association.
Each of the volunteers is highly motivated – whenever we send a message we get 100% response rate.

8. The Future of the Volunteer Programme
RQA will continue to market the programme New volunteers will be taken on-board in phases Create new products in a timely manner.
We will continue to market the programme highlighting its benefit to members, through testimonials, case studies, and finished projects.
New volunteers will be taken on-board in phases so that we’re able to support their efforts and convert their output into great products in a timely manner.