Committee Matters

The Volunteer Development Agency has launched the results of a major piece of research called ‘Committee Matters' - an assessment of the characteristics, training needs and role of voluntary management committees in Northern Ireland. The Agency commissioned NICVA to carry out the research, overseen by a research reference group representative of the voluntary, community and public sectors.

The research, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, indicates that most people join management committees because of their commitment to the cause, and most are over the age of 45 years old. Individuals under the age of 25 years are very much under-represented, making up only 3% of the current committee population. The research indicates that the two most important training and support needs are ‘roles and responsibilities' and ‘legal responsibilities/issues'.

The most important message to emerge from the research is that ‘size matters' and greatly affects the characteristics and role of management committees. For instance, larger organisations tend to be more structured, make more use of sub-committees, have more people involved on the committee and are more likely to have a budget for committee training and development. Smaller organisations tend to have more formalised election processes, but face more difficulties recruiting new members.
The management committees of the smaller organisations were found to have less access to support compared to larger organisations.

It is clear from the research that support services and guidance for voluntary management committees should more accurately reflect the diversity amongst committees, not just size, but also stage of development and activity of the organisation. This includes more appropriate support resources specifically targeted and made more accessible to smaller organisations with an income under £100,000.

A six-page summary report of ‘Committee Matters' including recommendations aimed at policy makers, funders, training providers and the wider voluntary and community is available from the Volunteer Development Agency. Over the next few months the Agency will be considering how to respond to the recommendations in the report. A new project, Investing in Building Active Communities through Governance, will develop and support work in this area. Already new courses have been designed as part of the Agency's annual training programme.

To download a copy of the report visit the Volunteer Development Agency's website.