Glossary

Whether you're a volunteer or volunteer coordinator, you may encounter a variety of terms used across the Be Collective platform and the broader volunteering community.

To make your experience a little easier, whether as a volunteer or volunteer manager, we've provided a list of common terms and definitions below:

Opportunity

A volunteer's job, assignment or task. This can be configured as a single shift, a multiple-shift ongoing role, a single task or set of tasks with a deadline. Alternatively, time commitments can be determined at a later date based on the availability of approved volunteers.

Group

Any organisation using Be Collective to provide, promote or report on volunteering opportunities. These can include non-profit and community groups, volunteer resource centres, private sector businesses, local municipalities and government departments.

Event

Any event under which multiple volunteer opportunities can be listed. Events can include fun runs, working bees, conferences, training sessions, festivals and much more.

Article

A news article which can be posted to Be Collective by a group administrator, with a call to action button leading readers to a related volunteer opportunity.

Articles can be used to promote volunteer roles, recognise volunteers, draw attention to community needs or celebrate successful initiatives.

Member

A person who has joined a group. This person may be a volunteer, a group administrator, a volunteer coordinator, an employee of the company/organisation represented by the group or simply a Be Collective user who wishes to be kept up to date on opportunities and updates posted by the group.

Members do not need to be active Be Collective users - members can also be added or imported by groups without a Be Collective account for reporting purposes.

Partnership

A connection made between groups on the Be Collective platform. Partnered organisations can share each other's volunteer opportunities and de-identified data on volunteer activity.

Partnering with community groups can be particularly useful for councils and volunteer resource centres in gathering data on local volunteer activity and monitoring social impact of programs and initiatives.

Community groups, meanwhile, can benefit from a partnership with a council or volunteer resource centre sharing their opportunities with a broader audience.

Endorsement

An endorsement is how an organisation can lend support to a volunteer opportunity posted by one of their partner organisations. Often, the endorser is acting on behalf of a council, volunteer resource centre or business; the endorsee often represents a non-profit or community group.

By endorsing an opportunity, the endorsing group shares the opportunity with its members, expanding the audience of the opportunity.

Individual Profile

The individual profile is where your personal details can be entered and edited.

A public version of your profile – listing only your personal summary, causes and skills – can be viewed by groups searching for potential volunteers if your profile is set to Public.

Group Profile

The group profile is where the details of your organisation can be entered or edited.

A public version of your group profile – listing your organisation's summary, insurance details and recently posted opportunities – can be viewed by group members and, if set to public, other Be Collective members.

Dashboard

The dashboard is the default screen you are taken to after logging in to Be Collective. Here, you can see a snapshot of your volunteering activity and, if you're a group administrator, the groups and events you manage.

Social Record

A volunteer record populated with volunteer activity completed, logged and verified through Be Collective.

Social Records can be used to populate a Social Resume. This can also include testimonials from organisations, as well as skills and qualifications gained elsewhere and entered by the volunteer. Social Resumes can be used to supplement professional resumes in applying for paid employment and tertiary study.

Overview of the role

A passage of text describing in detail what is expected by a volunteer for a particular opportunity and how their work can contribute to the organisation's mission. This section should encourage and inform the volunteer so they can apply to the opportunity with confidence. This can include details such as time commitments and organisation background.

This appears on the opportunity search page with each result.

Tasks and responsibilities

An itemised list of the specific tasks and responsibilities a volunteer will be responsibile for as part of an opportunity.

Skills

The specific professional skills and qualities a volunteer requires to apply for an opportunity, or will develop through an opportunity; for instance, volunteering at an animal shelter could develop skills in veterinary care or animal handling.

Causes

The area(s) an organisation aims to address with their activities; for instance, an animal shelter's principal cause would generally be animal welfare.

Social credits

An optional credit system, whereby groups can offer volunteers credits for their work which can then be redeemed for rewards of the group's choice.

Rewards are specific to groups, not opportunities – this means volunteers can earn social currency across any opportunity offered or endorsed by the group offering rewards.

Credit

A unit of social currency earned by a volunteer working on an opportunity with credits assigned to it.

The group offering the reward stipulates the number of credits to be redeemed in exchange for a reward, once earned by a volunteer.

Shift

A specific date and time when a volunteer is needed. An opportunity can contain multiple shifts, and a shift can be assigned to multiple volunteers.

Flexible schedule

A volunteer role with a set deadline and time commitment but no specific dates, e.g. 3 hours per week until 14 April. This can be particularly for virtual volunteer roles in areas such as design and database development.

Volunteer brief

A document provided to volunteers assigned to an opportunity in advance of their shift. This can include details such as dress code, directions, where to meet, safety information and more. Documents, such as forms to be completed and handed in by the volunteer, can also be attached to a volunteer brief.

The volunteer brief and any attachments are sent automatically through Be Collective before the opportunity begins.

Timesheet

A log of a volunteer's hours based on the shift(s) they been assigned to. Timesheets are automatically generated by Be Collective but can be amended before approval by a group administrator if necessary, e.g. if a volunteer works beyond their allotted hours.

Timesheets are automatically approved after seven days if they aren't approved by a group administrator.

Notification

An alert message bringing your attention to an event that concerns you as a Be Collective user, e.g. an accepted application to an opportunity or group

Police Check

A background check carried out by the police, relevant agency of government or broker. Police Checks are required for many volunteer opportunities and can be applied for at any time. Police checks can be known by other names depending on location, such as police certificate.

Opportunities requiring a police check will generally allow time for a volunteer to apply for a police check after applying for an opportunity; some larger organisations may also cover application costs.

Application processes can differ by country/state of residence.

Working with Children Check

An Australian background check for those working or volunteering in child-related work, where criminal backgrounds of applicants are assessed specifically for risks posed to children. Working with Children Checks are legislated by each individual Australian state/territory.

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance provides cover for costs from legal action if an entity – usually an organisation, but it can also be taken out by contractors or building owners – are found liable for death or injury, loss or damage of property, or economic loss resulting from their negligence.

Volunteer accident insurance

Volunteer accident insurance protects an organisation’s volunteer workforce for any medical costs associated with an accidental injury incurred while working on behalf of the organisation.

An organisation’s employees are covered under Workers Compensation, but its volunteers are not.

An organisation does not require volunteer accident insurance if they endorse volunteering opportunities for their employees which are managed by other organisations.

Auspice

Auspice agreements are often used to help smaller community organisations to access funding for their activities through other, larger organisations.

On Be Collective, smaller organisations which cannot fund insurance premiums themselves can indicate if they are insured under an auspice agreement with a larger organisation.

In an auspice agreement, the entity seeking support is known as the auspicee and the entity providing support – in this case – funding insurance policies – as the auspicor.

For Australian volunteers and organisations, more information on auspice agreements can be found on the NFP Law auspicing guide

Volunteer Resource Centre (VRC)

An organisation, often established with government funding, set up to encourage volunteering as an activity and support community groups with volunteer recruitment, retention and management.

Volunteer-Involving Organisation (VIO)

An organisation directly offering opportunities to volunteers.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

A business practice which incorporates sustainable development and community engagement into a company's business model, with a view to making a positive impact on society. This can take a variety of forms, from volunteering and environmental initiatives to philanthropy.

Social Prescribing

A practice whereby health professionals refer patients to support in the community, often in the form of volunteering, in order to improve their health and wellbeing.