In spite of the increasingly recognised role of volunteering as a catalyst for social and economic development, many inefficiencies affect its impact and undermine its potential. This is confirmed by the direct knowledge of partners and, most importantly, well captured by final report VEU, EC-DG EAC, 2010 that clearly identifies in capacity limitations a main constraint for volunteering as a whole. In addition, partners carried out extensive primary and secondary research to confirm that at present there are no available means of outlining the professional profiles of volunteering; mechanisms to properly pinpoint and identify specific capacity needs of VAs; adequate mechanisms to promptly provide tailored capacity building solutions to VAs.

REVEAL is designed to timely respond to the fact that volunteers carry out many managerial and organisational activities for which require specific training VEU, EC-DG EAC, 2010.

REVEAL develops mechanisms, tools and training courses to build and strengthen the capacity of VAs to improve efficiency, maximise impact of volunteering within and outside their organisations, build their resources and improve long-term sustainability. Hence, the innovation of REVEAL is in the main deliverables of the project, specifically:

• self-assessment tool for volunteer managers/coordinators that involve and support volunteers to test their level of knowledge and aspirations and to identify the most appropriate training solutions to bridge this gap
• tailored training courses that respond to the gaps identified
• interactive platform for the users.

In sum, REVEAL is innovative as it ensures that volunteers’ training is consistently done on a structured basis. As volunteering is getting more popular, volunteers’ demands are increasing in terms of experience, training and support. Host organisations should pay close attention to the way they meet these expectations.