Professional Career Pathway Survey

Career Pathways in Volunteer Engagement

 AL!VE is proud to present Career Pathways in Volunteer Engagement, a comprehensive job-leveling initiative designed to map out the career progression and competencies needed for professionals in the volunteer engagement field. This project addresses a critical issue: the lack of clear information and structured career journeys, which has led many talented individuals to leave the field in search of other advancement opportunities. Recognizing the need for clarity and structure, the AL!VE Board of Directors announced the job-leveling project at the 2022 annual meeting. In 2023, AL!VE conducted an extensive survey of the field, gathering insights from nearly 500 volunteer engagement professionals. Preliminary findings were shared at AL!VE's 2023 Annual Meeting.

Purpose

Career Pathways in Volunteer Engagement serves as a valuable resource for both individuals and organizations, providing a roadmap for career progression in the volunteer engagement profession. It outlines various job levels and the competencies and skills required for each, supporting individual and organizational advocacy and promoting the professionalization of the field.


For Organizations

  • Determine right level and job title for the job responsibilities necessary for the role
  • Show career progression and growth for volunteer engagement roles
  • Provide training and development opportunities for volunteer engagement professionals

For Individuals

  • Understand the various levels and progression for volunteer engagement professionals
  • Recognize competencies necessary for each career level and job title
  • Develop career plan for growing in future competencies to move into larger volunteer engagement roles

For AL!VE 

Advocate & provide rationale for creating a Department of Labor job code for the Volunteer Engagement Professional in the Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.  Learn more here (link coming soon).






    Key Findings

     

     


    Competency & Duties Framework

    Key findings from the report have been organized into a Competency & Duties Framework. Find more information in the following materials.


    Learn More

    Want to keep apprised?  Join our mailing list.

    Let's Do This! 

    Attend our webinar August 1 at 3 PM Eastern explaining our next steps with the Department of Labor to advocate for our profession.  Register for  for August 1 (view the recording from this page). 

    Then, join our initiative to recognize volunteer engagement professionals by advocating for an official occupational code with the Department of Labor- Bureau of Labor Statistics. Learn more and how to advocate  by commenting here

    Comments are accepted until August 12 by 11:59 AM, 2024.

    Bookmark this page, or join our mailing list to keep apprised.




    Review the Points of Light Presentation

    AL!VE shared results of the initiative at the 2024 Points of Light conference.


    Download and review the slides to learn more about the Career Pathways in Volunteer Engagement.

    Download


    View the AL!VE Academy Webinar

    AL!VE presented the Career Pathways for the Volunteer Engagement Professional in June. 


    You can view the 1 hour presentation below.

    Watch