3. Recognition: Multilevel approach
A. Internal recognition
The most important part in any contribution is to be acknowledged, appreciated and recognized internally, so the person can feel the value of their effort and foster their sense of accomplishment. Follow the path and set up your own assessment system to test and validate the learned skills and competences of your e-volunteers:
Checkpoint 1 - Set clear goals
What is the purpose for the e-volunteers assessment? Is it about measuring progress, identifying areas for improvement or maybe for offering new possibilities for higher involvement?
Checkpoint 2 - Setup criteria
Use different criteria to match the competence level of your e-volunteers to the expectations you have of them. A newcomer cannot compete with a long-term e-volunteer and a beginner cannot compete with an expert on some topic!
Checkpoint 3 - Define methods
Different skills and achievements require a different assessment approach – make sure you choose the right method for each! Practical Assignments, quizzes and tests, peer reviews, role-play or even self-assessments are only a few examples.
Checkpoint 4 - Check regularly
One moment cannot define one’s overall performance. After your baseline evaluation once the e-volunteers come onboard, you should make a plan for interval evaluations to track their progress and finish with a final evaluation once their task is completed to have a clear picture of their performance.
Checkpoint 5 - Recognition badges
It can be digital badges, certificates or any other form of recognition of their contribution and newly acquired (or improved) competences.
Checkpoint 6 - Revise and update
Life never stays still, and so do the needs and trends in e-volunteering practices. Make sure you update your internal structures and refine them to match the current situation in your organization and your e-volunteers habits.
EXAMPLE OF RECOGNITION PLAN
Team: E-Volunteers Team on Social Media Management
Task: Content Creation
Learned Skills/Competences: Creativity, Content Creation, Digital Skills, Communication Skills, Team Work
| Phase | Guiding questions | Indicators | Assessment Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Assessment | What are the strong points of the e-volunteers? What are their weak points? What are they expected to deliver? What are the key-milestones of their task? How confident do they feel about their task? | Level of digital skills, level of creativity, experience in digital content creation, number of tasks | Self-evaluation, quiz, one-on-one interviews |
| Periodic Assessment | What is their progress? How many milestones have they reached? What is the quality of their work? How many initiatives did they take? How do they evaluate themselves? | Number of posts, impact of posts, outreach of posts, improvement of skills | Practical assignment, peer-review, mentorship, self-assessment |
| Final Assessment | What are the results of their work? Did they deliver on time and in good quality? What are their key-achievements? Do they feel more competent? Would you engage them in more (even more complex) tasks? | Number of posts, comparison of numbers prior to their assignment | Portfolio review, self-assessment, one-on-one interview, group assessment |
A. Internal recognition
The EU has already established “Youthpass” as a recognition instrument developed for the projects realised in the European youth programmes. Through the Youthpass certificate, participation in such projects can be recognised as an educational experience and a period of non-formal and informal learning. Youthpass foresees a process applied throughout the project life-cycle to support the learning of participants. It also serves as a strategy that improves the recognition of non-formal learning in Europe (more info and links in the previous section). Use this established structure to provide additional European recognition to the work of your e-volunteers and motivate them even further to stay engaged and enhance their involvement in your organizations work.
Check out some Youthpass Certificate Examples!
On the same page, the Council of Europe offers volunteer time recognition (VTR) in projects supported by the European Youth Foundation, as a way of valuing the time that the volunteers spend in project activities of NGOs as a source of co-funding in projects. Check out how!
But this is not all! For sure, your organization cooperates with a wide range of stakeholders – authorities, CSOs, educational institutions, even private enterprises and the business sector. Encourage them to offer recognition for the time your e-volunteers offer in joint projects and initiatives by issuing co-signed certificates, endorsing them for their skills or even offering recommendation letters that could be of great value for young people in their career development!
Find more resources for this process offered by the Centre for European Volunteering.
TIP!
Want to check what’s up in your country regarding recognition of (e-)volunteering? Check out the official webpage of the European Commission about national policies.