We want your experience of volunteering to be a positive one. Your key contact is the RTPI staff member who will support you in your role, during your time volunteering. If you have any questions or suggestions, they are your first point of contact, however there are other sources of support available via the chair, if relevant, and other staff members such as the Volunteer Project Co-ordinator.

Staff are asked to respect that you are volunteering your time and will have other commitments elsewhere and therefore you need notice to respond and act on any communication.

Similarly, when requesting assistance or information from your key contact, please be mindful that RTPI staff have various work commitments and may not always be able to respond immediately.

It is suggested that for communications, in either direction, they are sent with at least 5 days’ notice.

If you are in doubt as to whether information is confidential or not, please get in touch with your RTPI key contact. See also the Data protection policy in volunteer resources.

Never pass personal details onto a third party. Only members of staff should send out emails and information to RTPI contacts unless other arrangements have been authorised in advance. 

You may be responsible for confidential RTPI information, and you are asked to protect and maintain confidentiality of the Institute, members and other stakeholders. You must not reveal any confidential information relating to the RTPI or any other related body, except in cases where you are authorised or required by law.

As a volunteer you have a key role to play in representing and promoting the RTPI’s mission and support its work to champion planning as a profession through engaging and supporting others.

Due to this, we ask that you protect and uphold the RTPI brand, and if you’re creating anything where you need to use the brand, your key contact will advise you regarding templates and brand guidelines.

Any enquiries from the media should be referred to your key contact and the Communications team.

As a volunteer you will be in the position of representing the RTPI to other members, RTPI staff and the public. As a result, you may be involved in supporting opinions or views when representing the RTPI that contrast with your own opinions or views. If this is the case, volunteers should make the RTPI aware of this and must continue to support the agreed RTPI view, stating that they are acting in the capacity of a volunteer. If a volunteer wishes to present a personal opinion and they are acting on behalf of the RTPI they need to clearly indicate that this is their own, and not the RTPI’s opinion.

Volunteers are encouraged to debate RTPI policy and decisions; however, this must be done in appropriate forums, such as committee meetings. Decisions must be made that are in the best interests of the RTPI.

Volunteers are expected to always act in the best interest of the Institute and not for personal or third-party gain. The reputation of planning is based on public perceptions of fair and transparent conduct by planners who act with integrity, independence, and probity.

A conflict of interest is any situation in which a volunteer’s personal interests or loyalties could, or could be seen to, prevent the volunteer from making a decision only in the best interests of the RTPI.

When encountering potential conflict of interest, volunteers should identify the conflict and report it to the Governance Manager and their RTPI key contact, who may ask them to remove themselves from all discussions and voting on the matter.

Volunteers should not accept gifts or any other item of value from any person or entity as a direct or indirect inducement to provide special treatment to such donor with respect to matters pertaining to the RTPI without fully disclosing such items to the Governance Manager in advance.

Examples of conflicts of interest may include:

• volunteering on a project where the volunteer is already employed or has a commercial interest in the venture, and this may or may not result in personal gain
• engaging in party political activity, supporting a specific campaign, influencing voters to vote for or against a particular party or particular election candidate
• a volunteer being involved in a selection process and a candidate is a friend or relative of the volunteer.

If you are in any doubt, please contact the Governance Manager.

We appreciate the contribution that you make to the work of the RTPI and want you to feel that your time is valued. Volunteers are recognised in a variety of ways, the most meaningful of which is the informal thanks that people receive from their fellow volunteers and local staff. (Volunteer Survey, 2022 findings).

Staff have guidance on recognising volunteers, with the aim of ensuring more consistency when celebrating volunteering. There are still areas planned for development and we’re always happy to hear from you with suggestions.

There will be key points in your volunteer journey where we seek your feedback. For example, after induction to a new role, when checking in with your key contact and on exit. We also run a biennial survey for all volunteers on your broader experience of volunteering.

We believe as a volunteer you are well placed to know what we should do differently or better so your feedback is welcome. If you have any feedback regarding volunteering with the RTPI please let your key contact or the Volunteering Project Co-ordinator know.

If you have concerns about anything related to your volunteering and you do not feel that the issue has been resolved by raising it with your key contact, please refer to the Volunteer Problem Solving Procedure available on the volunteer resources section of the website.