Over the summer, the IFoAs management board has introduced a new volunteer expenses policy.
Over the summer, the IFoA's management board has introduced a new volunteer expenses policy.
You can view this policy on our website, via the link below. This new policy is a principle-based approach. At the heart of this policy is the following: we ask our volunteers (and all who support the IFoA including executive staff) to stop and consider the following before agreeing to incur a charge: "Does the expense represent value for money for members and is there a budget from which this can be taken?" All expenses must be approved before they are incurred, to allow for effective budgeting.
In line with our diversity strategy, we want to move away from volunteers meeting round a table in one of our offices. We want to widen our opportunities to all members and to encourage more interaction and engagement to take place, using collaborative tools including video conferencing, Skype, conference calls and, of course, email. A collaborative tools pilot is simultaneously being introduced by the digital team. This will not only allow more members to get involved but will also save members time - avoiding unnecessary travelling time. Of course, we recognise that there are times when someone physically has to be in a location to undertake their volunteer role/task, and that is absolutely fine and justifiable.
The policy is flexible. It's great to meet face to face to build rapport with people, but we would encourage you to keep it to a practical level - perhaps once a year.
If you would like to find out more about this new policy and how to use it, you can do so in a number of ways:
l View an informative video by Alan Whalley, chair of the management board, at bit.ly/29MbqGl
l View the policy, which is located in our Volunteer Induction Pack (VIP), at bit.ly/29DzTc1
l Speak with your key executive staff contact.
During September we are running two training sessions.
These lunchtime drop-in sessions are primarily to give our volunteer chairs and deputy chairs the opportunity to ask questions and find out a bit more. You can dial in to these Q&A sessions or, if you are going to be in London or Edinburgh, you can attend in person.
Details of these free sessions are available from [email protected]