There doesn’t seem to be any clear guidance around how long and in what form you can retain volunteer data – I’d love to know what you think Rob, and what others are doing?
Asked by Russell Cowan
Thanks for this question, Russell.
It’s a long time since I grappled with this question as a Volunteer Manager, probably more than twenty years ago. So the first thing I’d say is that my opinions on this may well be wrong and superseded by more up-to-date practice, guidance and legislation.
If, therefore, anyone else wants to take a crack at a better answer than I give, please do so by leaving a comment.
Back in the day, the guidance I operated under was to retain volunteer data for seven years after they left. If memory serves, this was in line with HR guidance on retaining staff records. And we are talking mainly about hard copy data as we didn’t have Volunteer Management Systems back then.
Since then we have had a raft of data protection legislation, most notably the Volunteer Engagement Professional’s favourite, GDPR. So, I did a quick Google search to see what the latest practice might be.
The best two results I found were on the Gov.UK website and the NCVO’s website.
The former seems to be a volunteer privacy notice related to Natural England’s work. On the site they state:
Natural England keeps personal data for:
2 years after your volunteering role ends
7 years if your personal data relates to a formal complaint or a reported health and safety incident.
If you’re interested in volunteering, Natural England will keep your details on file for up to 6 months. If there’s not a role immediately available, Natural England will remove them.
Given this is on a UK Government website, I’d put some faith in this being pretty sound guidance.
The NCVO website has lots of guidance around volunteering and data protection. The section on volunteer records states that “There are no clear guidelines about how long volunteer records should be kept.“ It then sets out guidance on volunteer records related to DBS checks as well as work in regulated environments, such as settings overseen by the Care Quality Commission.
Interestingly, NCVO also mentions the “Limitation Act 1980“ in regard to Health and Safety legislation, advising as to how long information should be kept should claims be brought against an individual or organisation for personal injury or other matters. You can find out more here.
Nothing I have found makes any comment about the form that volunteer data is held in though. Perhaps because whether it’s paper or digital matters less than how long it’s kept and how securely it is stored? I don’t know.
So, Russell, it seems there is no easy answer to your query, but I hope the information provided is of value.
Now it’s over to you.
How would you answer Russell’s question?
Leave a comment with your ideas and don’t forget to ask your own question by emailing Rob now — rob@robjacksonconsulting.com, with the subject line “Ask Rob Anything“