Volunteering Our understanding of volunteering is that:

• Volunteering is always a matter of choice and is done of the volunteers’ own free will and without coercion.
• Volunteering is a legitimate way in which citizens can participate in the activities of their community.
• Volunteering benefits both the community and the volunteer and gives people a sense of ownership of their local community.
• Voluntary work is unpaid.
• Volunteering is a vehicle for individuals or groups to address human, environmental and social needs.

We believe that:

• Volunteers should be treated with respect and dignity.
• Everyone should have an equal opportunity to volunteer.
  Volunteering should respect the rights, dignity and culture of others.
• Everyone should have a positive experience of volunteering.
• Volunteering should be a “win – win” situation for both the volunteer and the organisation.

Therefore, we are committed to:

• Promoting the value of volunteering to all sectors of the local community.
• Offering a service that will be inclusive, accessible and high quality.
• Serving as best we can every volunteer who accesses our service and ensuring that volunteers are the focus of our work.
• Resourcing and supporting volunteers to make informed choices about volunteering, maintaining relevant, up-to-date information on volunteering opportunities.
• Developing new opportunities and projects involving volunteers in their local community
• Referring volunteers to a wide range of community and voluntary projects across all sectors of the community.
• Working with organisations so that they can achieve best practice principles in volunteer management.
• Ensuring that volunteers do not replace paid workers nor constitute a threat to the job security of paid workers.
• Promoting the principles of equity and participation within the volunteer sector.
• Raising the profile of volunteering in organisations, government and the community in general.

Donegal Volunteer Centre is a project delivered by Donegal Local Development CLG which is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. DLDC is governed by a Board of Directors whose membership is in keeping with the Irish “social partnership” model. The Board of Directors is the ultimate decision making body within the organisation with representatives from the community and voluntary sector, social partners, statutory agencies and public representatives to devise and implement solutions to the disadvantage experienced in Donegal. In addition to annual independent financial audit the Partnership is subject to Internal Audits by each of its funders.

Volunteer Ireland, Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services are independent of Government, political parties and interest groups. As such, we maintain ideological and political neutrality. Our mission is to promote the value of volunteering and increase the range and quality of volunteering in Ireland. Any organisation wishing to recruit volunteers may do so through our online database, I-VOL, once they meet the terms and conditions of I-VOL. The advertising of a volunteer opportunity on behalf of an organisation does not imply any endorsement of the aims and objectives of the organisation. We believe that volunteering should be accessible and inclusive. Our role is to ensure that anyone who wants to volunteer can volunteer.