You’ve seen the news. An 85 year old volunteer attacked and robbed while packing up equipment. Things being thrown at volunteers by angry clients. Volunteers afraid to come in for their shifts. And those are just the ones that made the news. I have a friend who was recently punched by a client in a homeless shelter. Things are getting scary out there, and we as leaders need to take action toward ensuring volunteer safety.
Despite the fact that we are here because we want to make the world a better place, not everyone sees things the same way. Political rhetoric seems to be dividing us faster than we can heal the breaches, and extremist behaviour is becoming normalised. Threats and violence toward organisations, staff and volunteers are on the rise, and too many organisations are still thinking it won’t happen to them.
A survey by Carleton University’s Charity Insights Canada Project indicates that nearly half of the Canadian charities and nonprofits surveyed have experienced some form of threat in the past couple years. Threats aimed at specific staff or volunteers sits about 16% of survey respondents. Harassment (verbal, written and online) at around 45%, and intimidation at 13%. Again, these are only those that have been reported.
Volunteers are particularly at risk.
Front-line volunteers often interact directly with members of the public who may be upset, under stress or dealing with addiction or other issues. They frequently have less training than paid staff, and sometimes are in facilities with limited security measures in place. And, according to the survey, only 16% of organisations feel they are “very prepared” to deal with these threats, with clear policies, training and response protocols.
And that’s scary, too. It makes me wonder, considering how few organisations have clear reporting or response procedures, how many of those who said that they haven’t had threats understand that hostile emails, angry phone calls, and social media slandering are threats, and protocols need to be in place to deal with them.
Whether you’ve been threatened or not, be prepared.
It may not seem urgent, but organisations reported spending significant staff and leadership time managing incidents, as well as increased stress, burnout and turnover. Many also reported difficulty recruiting or retaining volunteers or board members as a direct result. Some even said that they’ve had to reduce or eliminate programming because of it.
The survey doesn’t indicate why so many organisations don’t have policies or protocols in place, but I suspect it comes down to one or a combination of three things: not knowing what to put into them, a lack of time to put them together or simply thinking that “that won’t happen to us.”
Let’s look at each one.
What to put in place for ensuring volunteer safety.
- First, an overarching policy that clearly states what actions or comments should be considered a threat, what the reporting and response procedures are for each, and who is responsible for each stage of the process.
- A review of the security measures in place at any on-site locations, both for personnel (staff and volunteers) and material goods. What doors are unlocked and unmonitored during the day? Do personnel work alone and when? How are cash or drugs accessed. Right down to making sure that the parking lot is well lit.
- Volunteer and staff training on the specific steps to report threats, and what response to expect.
- Staff training on the response protocols so that if a threat happens, the reaction is smooth and swift.
- Finally, an emotional support mechanism for after an incident. After all, a threat doesn’t have to become physical to leave someone shaken.
Where do you find the time?
In our sector, time always seems to be the resource in most limited supply – even more than money! But putting together a policy and procedures for ensuring volunteer safety does need to be a priority. And it doesn’t need to take as much time as you might think. Partly because I’ve done some of the work for you!
On the Resources page of my website, I’ve put up a policy template for dealing with threats that you can download and adjust to fit your situation. It won’t do everything for you, and it ought to be reviewed by your legal team, but it will at least cover the basics and make it easier for you to get started. If you have any questions about it, reach out and I’ll help you through it. And if you have any suggestions to improve it, let me know!! I want it to be as useful as possible.
If you’re still thinking that you don’t need to worry about this, you’re wrong.
Even if your organisation has never had a threat in the past, that’s no guarantee that it won’t receive one in the future. And it’s far better to have a plan in place that you never use, than not to have one when you need it.
Putting together threat protocols isn’t about being paranoid. The survey found that many organisations started building response plans only after having had an incident, or realising how common it’s become. I recommend you take the proactive approach.
