Professional Advocacy
One of the most important roles of any professional association is to
define, interpret and promote the profession it represents. There
are several ways in which AVA addresses professional advocacy:
Positioning the Profession
is a multi-year initiative to influence how the role of volunteer
administrators is perceived and to build the case for supporting the
effective management of volunteer resources at all levels. Begun in 1998, publications and tools
are continuously being developed for use by practitioners and other
key constituencies.
As part of International Year of Volunteers 2001,
AVA convened an international working group to draft a global definition
of volunteer management. Representatives from 12 countries, AVA and
IAVE worked together for two days to produce the Universal Declaration on the Profession of
Leading and Managing Volunteers
. This document
was subsequently adopted by the AVA board of directors and
disseminated throughout the world. You are encouraged to use this Declaration
as an advocacy tool to help articulate the value and universal
implications of the work you do with volunteers. (Available in English,
Spanish, and French)
Professional Ethics is another aspect of
our work that can influence the level of respect we acquire from peers,
volunteers, supervisors and community leaders. AVA has established
the ethical principles
for the field, and offers several
publications and products related to professional ethics in volunteer administration. AVA
Association for Volunteer Administration - Advocacy
How can AVA and individuals respond in a timely,
thoughtful and effective manner to issues affecting the profession of
volunteer resource management? AVA has developed a Response Protocol
to provide direction on
how the association will react to issues at the local, regional national
and international levels, as well as how to respond to the media and other
organizations asking for official statements. A Local Issues Response Kit
will also be available soon for use by AVA members, other individuals, and
local networks of professionals.
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