Reference Centre on Volunteering

The Red Cross is a volunteer organization. Above all else, volunteers are people with an interest in solidarity and altruistic motivations, a need for social contact and recognition who decide, in return for nothing tangible, to donate part of their time, attitudes and skills to an organization dealing with a series of needs that are attempted to be met through organized voluntary action. These individuals perceive social injustices and specific problems affecting real people, problems that “somebody has to do something about”. But not just that, they also decide to step up in the conviction that they can form part of the solution.

The Non-Governmental or Not-for-Profit Organizations (NGO/NPO) within democratic states have the duty to foster, encourage and boost internal democracy, as well as offer effective access to decision-making.

An added value in the Red Cross is that the organization has not only completely interiorized this need, but has also clearly identified different, yet complementary, routes to make sure that the fact of being a volunteer in our Institution does not necessarily mean engaging exclusively in carrying out voluntary action with third parties in situations of vulnerability. It is clear that a person showing the desire to undertake voluntary action in an organization does so basically to contribute to improving the quality of life of individuals, however, once that person is integrated into the NGO/NPO, it is the duty of the organization to offer him or her different possibilities for internal participation that contribute to personal growth and, of course, also to the advancement of the NGO itself. These three routes mentioned above are participation in activities, participation in the life of the association, and Institutional Participation. The fact that these three routes have been identified is extremely important, as it allows the design of actions aimed at boosting and promoting them systematically.

Participation in activities, generally speaking, is one of the first routes by which volunteers in the Red Cross access decision-making. The ultimate aim of this type of participation is for volunteers to play an active role in the identification of the needs arising in their surroundings, in the formulation or expression of those needs and in the execution and evaluation of the actions undertaken by the organization.

Participation in the life of the association basically focuses on the organization of leisure activities, free time, thing about and fostering the Fundamental Principles, organized mainly by volunteers.

And finally, Institutional Participation, a more formal kind of participation insofar as it is regulated by the rules of the Red Cross.