If you feel that you want to learn more about the voluntary sector then this short 8-week course is for you. The course will guide you through some of the distinctive features and values of the voluntary sector, how organisations are funded and involve volunteers and other ‘stakeholders’ in their work. It will also provide you with knowledge and skills you can apply to your own work or volunteering as well as your everyday life. You can progress at your own pace over the 8 weeks; each week will take a minimum of 3 hours of your time.The course features interviews with Martha Lane Fox, the Chancellor of The Open University and a significant figure in the voluntary sector. You will hear Martha talking about her own charity, Go ON UK, as well as her involvement in numerous other voluntary organisations. Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation. The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction and guidance
- Introduction and guidance
- What is a badged course?
- How to get a badge
- Acknowledgements
- Week1Week 1: What is the voluntary sector?
- Introduction
- 1 What is voluntary about the voluntary sector?
- 1.1 Defining the voluntary sector
- 1.2 Social enterprise
- 2 Where did the voluntary sector come from?
- 2.1 Timeline
- 3 What is the voluntary sector’s distinctive value?
- 3.1 Is the voluntary sector distinctive?
- 4 This week’s quiz
- 5 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Values and beliefs
- Introduction
- 1 What are values?
- 1.1 Defining values
- 1.2 Different levels of values
- 2 Personal values
- 2.1 Values and behaviour
- 2.2 Challenges
- 3 Organisational values and vision
- 3.1 Communicating values
- 3.2 Conflicting values
- 4 Values in the voluntary sector
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: Structure and functions of the voluntary sector
- Introduction
- 1 Data about the voluntary sector
- 2 Size of the voluntary sector
- 2.1 Different sizes
- 2.2 The workforce
- 3 Contribution of the voluntary sector to the UK economy
- 4 Types of voluntary activity
- 5 Understanding differences within the voluntary sector
- 5.1 Different data: ‘micro-mapping’
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: Who funds voluntary and community organisations?
- Introduction
- 1 What is funding?
- 2 Looking at funding through annual reports
- 2.1 Further sources of funding information
- 3 Income from individuals
- 4 Income from government
- 4.1 Social value
- 5 Income from other sources
- 6 Funding challenges
- 7 This week’s quiz
- 8 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5: Introducing stakeholders
- Introduction
- 1 Who are stakeholders?
- 1.1 Stakeholders in voluntary organisations
- 2 Stakeholder power and interest
- 2.1 Understanding power
- 3 Working with stakeholders
- 3.1 Managing stakeholders in the voluntary sector
- 4 Communicating with stakeholders
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week6Week 6: Power, engagement and empowerment
- Introduction
- 1 What is power?
- 1.1 Defining power
- 1.2 Your own sources of power
- 2 Who are beneficiaries?
- 3 Engaging and empowering
- 4 Empowering service users
- 4.1 Arnstein’s ladder of participation
- 4.2 Real-world examples
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week7Week 7: The role of volunteering
- Introduction
- 1 What is volunteering?
- 1.1 How many people volunteer?
- 2 What do volunteers do?
- 2.1 Volunteers in specific organisations
- 2.2 Volunteering case studies
- 3 Who volunteers?
- 4 Why volunteer?
- 4.1 Making sense of reasons for volunteering
- 4.2 Further motivations for volunteering
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week8Week 8: Next steps for working and learning in the voluntary sector
- Introduction
- 1 Reviewing your learning
- 1.1 Review and reflection
- 2 Your next steps
- 3 Do you want to volunteer?
- 3.1 Volunteering and employers
- 3.2 Looking for a role
- 3.3 Making the most of your volunteering
- 4 Finding paid work in the voluntary sector
- 4.1 Tips on how to get your first job in the voluntary sector
- 5 Reflective learning
- 5.1 Kolb’s cycle of learning
- 5.2 Get into the habit
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary
- Tell us what you think
- References
- Further reading
- Acknowledgements
