International Volunteer Managers Day

A manager is a person who needs to lead and develop a group of people, which may seem easy, but is not.

Universally, people recognize the contribution of volunteers who are involved in just about every aspect of service delivery in all walks of life. However, volunteering does not succeed in a vacuum. That is why we celebrate International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMD) every year on November 5.

Let’s recognize and celebrate the contribution of volunteer managers! Universally, people recognize the contribution of volunteers – in sport, health, emergency services, faith communities and the environmental lobby. In fact, volunteers are involved in just about every aspect of service delivery in all walks of life.

International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMDay) was founded and observed for the first time in 1999. The push for IVMDay was led by American Nan Hawthorn who helped form a committee to explore a day recognising the work of Volunteer Managers. IVMDay was developed in order to bring recognition to individual Managers of Volunteers and their roles in the mobilisation and support of the world’s volunteers.

Up until 2005, IVMDay shared its day of celebration with International Volunteers Day on December 5.

In 2006, the IVMDay International Supporters Group was formed. This group of key leaders and organisations from around the world are helping to spread the word about IVMDay.

IVMDay moved to its own day in 2006 and was celebrated initially on November 1 (a clash with key dates in Europe saw a final shift to the day’s current date of November 5 in 2008).