Get Involved IoIC, The Institute of Internal Communication

Volunteering is a fantastic and rewarding opportunity to learn new skills, make connections, and be part of valuable conversations – come and join us!

Our volunteers play a vital role in our success, providing valuable activities, resources, and input into our work as an Institute. We are owned by our members and as a not-for-profit organisation our volunteers help us reach our goals, deliver great membership experiences and influence the future of internal communication.

The bigger our community, the bigger our impact.

We have volunteers from across the profession representing a range of organisations from public and private sector plus agencies and freelancers. If you’d like to get involved with the IoIC, there are a range of opportunities to do so for all our members. From helping to support and deliver a range of activities to include our regional and career stage networks, to our ambassadors raising the profile of the profession to attract future talent, or as an advisor to input into our work in driving internal communication of the highest standards.

Whatever topic of interest or activity you would like to contribute to, there is an opportunity for you.

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What’s in it for you?

There are many benefits to volunteering and in return for your passion and involvement you will have the opportunity to:

Connect with like-minded peers: You will be part of our valuable volunteer community where you will meet and work with other IC professionals. Not only will you make valuable connections you will also have the opportunity to be part of conversations and activities that will help advance your IC practice.

Develop your skills: You will have the opportunity to develop your skills from writing, facilitating, speaking and event organisation, to name a few. Volunteering also counts towards IoIC CPD and you can build valuable points to record and demonstrate your achievements to your employer.

Influence the agenda: As part of our volunteer community you will have opportunity to influence the work of the IoIC and also help create content and resources that supports the learning and development of our profession. Volunteers help us to deliver our mission to promote the impact of internal communication on organisations and working lives.

What can you get involved in?

While we already have a variety of ways for you to participate, we are always open to innovation, and we would love your input around new ideas and activities you would like to see developed.

To give you an idea of what this looks like in practice we have detailed below some of volunteer roles and expectations.

Networks

Taking on role to lead a network or become actively involved in organising activities for that network. You can see the networks we currently have volunteer support for here.

We are also keen to expand our networks so if you would like to be part of leading a new network for your career stage we would be delighted to hear from you.

Activities: Depending on the network agenda you could get involved in arranging a programme of events, provide updates to the network members, generate and respond to online discussions.
Commitment: We anticipate you’ll spend an average of 1-2 hours per week but this will vary according to your role and what events and activities the network has going on.
Where: Local to your place of work/home or you are 'at' the relevant career stage
Requirements. IoIC Member (any grade for regions, experience/a particular grade for a career stage network).

Ambassadors

Being an #IChoseIC Ambassador is not only an engaging, rewarding and interesting experience, but also an opportunity to encourage and support the next generation of internal comms professionals. Ambassadors are called upon to support various events and initiatives to encourage new and diverse talent to join the internal communication profession.

Activities: Passionately advocate for the profession and be open to speaking at events and supporting initiatives such as mentoring and driving opportunities.
Promote: Proactively spread the #IChoseIC message and support the Institute to make connections and reach a wider pool of people.
Commitment: As professionals of internal communication, we understand that your career will take priority and as such have flexible levels of commitment for our ambassadors. Based on your availability, we ask for a minimum of social media sharing key information or initiatives, and taking part in at least one of our ‘events’ per year. Responsibilities are regularly reviewed and expectations further explained upon joining.
Where: Depending on the activity you may be asked to speak at virtual and in person events to include careers fairs.
Requirements: IoIC Member (any grade).

Advisory Boards*

Advisory board volunteers provide input, oversight, and feedback across our activities to include professional development, content and ethics.

Commitment: Attend up to 4 x advisory board meetings per year and depending on outcomes input into follow up communications and consultations
Where: All meetings are held virtually.
Requirements: IoIC Member (any grade).

*Please be aware our Advisory Boards are currently at capacity, when vacancies occur we will advertise to members

Tell us how you would like to get involved

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, please do complete the form below. We’re continuously looking to expand our community and we’re very happy to arrange informal conversations for anyone who wants to find out more.

We look forward to hearing from you and hopefully welcoming you to our enthusiastic team of volunteers!

Complete the get involved form

You need to be an IoIC member to complete this form.

Volunteering for the IoIC has pushed me out of my comfort zone and given me skills I didn’t even contemplate when I said yes to being part of the FutureNet committee. I’ve run networking events, spoken at a conference (still can’t quite believe I managed that one) and had the opportunity to interview some real IC gurus on webinars. I guess what I’m saying is that: yes volunteering is good for the body you’re doing it for but, more selfishly, it’s good for you too!

Rebecca Leonard

FutureNet member

Being a board director of the IoIC is both a privilege and a pleasure. I’m incredibly passionate about continued professional development and I think the IoIC does a great job in supporting IC professionals as they develop their careers. I enjoy being part of the team that provides unrivalled professional support to the internal comms industry. And I highly recommend becoming an IoIC volunteer to anyone with a passion for great internal comms; not only will you get a lot from it personally, you’ll be giving something back to the industry we’re all so passionate about.

Andrew Harvey

Governance Group and Board Director

Through my IoIC membership I have been fortunate to experience being a mentor, an ambassador, a content contributor and now a leader of my regional network committee. All of these things have been incredibly rewarding.

Melanie Hinds

Network Lead - IoIC Central