Standard E9 Explained

Why is it important to evaluate the impact and contributions of your organization’s volunteers and volunteer program? Evaluating your organization’s volunteer program allows you to measure the impact of volunteers within your organization and to determine whether you are meeting the program’s goals.¹ It also helps you to track the quality of volunteers’ experiences and to uncover aspects of your volunteer program that may need improvement.¹ Evaluating your volunteer program provides for informed decision making and facilitates the growth and development of your program.¹

Evaluations of volunteer programs should review the program’s goals and objectives, collect feedback from volunteers and clients, and use qualitative and quantitative data to review the impact of volunteer involvement in your organization.²

From "Accreditation Preparation Workbook Section E: Volunteer Involvement,"  Katharine Zywert, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo at the University of Waterloo, 2013.

1. 62 “Evaluating Your Volunteer Programme,” Volunteering Good Practice Guide, Volunteer Center, Brighton and Hove, 2009.
2. 65 “The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement: Values, Guiding Principles, and Standards of Practice,” Volunteer Canada, 2012.