Volunteering

Partnership with Volunteer Match

Are you a professional looking for opportunities to volunteer?

Consistent with our objective of advancing and promoting professionalism for the benefit of the community, in June 2005 Professions Australia entered into a partnership with Volunteer Match to deliver more skilled volunteers to the Not for Profit Sector.  The press release announcing this exciting initiative can be accessed here.

Set up in 2001, Volunteer Match was developed by Pro Bono Australia as part of its vision to assist in resourcing Not for Profit organisations in their work.

The Volunteer Match service currently has 2420 registered users from the Not for Profit sector and over 500 opportunities posted online from around Australia.

Volunteer Match provides a personalised service for matching skilled professionals and Not for Profit organisations and is the only national site in Australia dedicated to skilled professional volunteers.

With 24 member associations representing over 400 000 Australian professionals, in a wide range of disciplines. Professions Australia is ideally placed to support this initiative.

An increasing number of professionals are seeking opportunities to volunteer their services, either in their professional capacity or in providing more general support.  A number of professions who are PA members have skills which would be of value to not-for profits, for example, accountants, management consultants, IT, HR and marketing professionals, and building design professionals. 

Volunteer Match provides a personalised on-line service for matching skilled professional volunteers and Not for Profit organisations – it provides assistance to professionals who might wish to volunteer their services but don’t have the contacts or know where to start. The individuals’ privacy is protected and the service attempts to match needs as closely as possible based on individual profiles for every volunteer and organisation.

Professionals seeking to volunteer can search and apply for opportunities through http://www.volunteermatch.com.au/ .  The site also provides useful information for professionals seeking to volunteer.

Pro Bono Australia communicates with an estimated 41,500 individuals within the NFP and allied sectors monthly and is known by most NFPs in Australia through Volunteer Match or one of its publications or newsletters. In 2002, Pro Bono Australia was a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge, a prestigious award recognising innovation in social justice. It is also an Australian leader in the field of providing information about corporate community engagement.

Further information on Pro Bono Australia can be found at http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/ .