See what you are too close to see
Volunteering can look like a small part of the operation while carrying a large part of what the organisation delivers. From the inside, it’s hard to see how much depends on it or where the risk sits. We bring an outside view: 20+ years in volunteer leadership and seven years consulting across 60+ organisations, from community groups to state government. We help leaders see what’s really going on, where risk and dependency sit and where to invest.
Start with a conversationWe help you decide what to protect, strengthen, redesign or stop. Your team does the work with us, so the capability stays when we step back. Compliance that depends on a consultant is not compliance.
We work with councils, government, health services, not-for-profits and peak bodies across Australia and New Zealand.
In their words
“I highly recommend Christine Spiers for her valuable support in strengthening our volunteer management processes at Mornington Peninsula Shire. Christine’s expertise, collaborative approach and tailored solutions helped us streamline onboarding, enhance resources for people leaders and build internal capability. Christine brought professionalism, clarity and genuine care to the project, leaving a lasting impact on our program.”
Lucy Willis, Employment Pathways Lead, Mornington Peninsula Shire
“Christine led a project commissioned by government to assess business and philanthropy in the context of volunteering in Victoria. Christine’s strategic thinking and her stakeholder engagement skills were critical for this work. The work is an important contribution to the development of a Victorian Volunteer Strategy.”
Josephine Beer, Manager Volunteering, Victorian Department of Health
Many clients return for new projects. Warrnambool City Council first engaged us to coach a staff member developing their volunteer strategy. They came back for a process improvement project benchmarked against the National Standards, then again for Better Impact coaching and training.
Who you’ll work with
I’m Christine Spiers, a volunteer engagement strategist and Director of Flutterbye. I started volunteering at 14, every Sunday until I was 18. At 25, I volunteered in Thailand and came home knowing I couldn’t go back to graphic design. It wasn’t a career pivot. It was a values decision. I’ve worked in the volunteering sector ever since, building volunteer programs and the systems that make them work.
I care about organisations where volunteers are treated as partners and where the program runs without one person carrying it.
I trained formally in process improvement, change management and community engagement because volunteer programs are too important to leave to intuition alone. They need rigour.
- Volunteer administration: Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA)
- Process improvement: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
- Change management: Certified Practising Change Manager (Prosci)
- Community engagement: Certificate of Engagement with Engagement Institute (formerly IAP2)
- Training and assessment: Training and Assessment qualification
- Better Impact: Independent Certified Better Impact Consultant and Better Impact Partner
I don’t receive commission or referral payments from Better Impact. My advice is independent.
I’ve presented at Volunteering Victoria and Volunteering New Zealand conferences and contributed to global sector publications including Engage Journal.
Volunteering is still part of my own life. I donate plasma through Red Cross, give time at my children’s school and volunteer at their toy library. I’ve spent a lot of my life on the other side of the systems I now help organisations build.
If you’re weighing a restructure, a new system or a review, let’s talk first.
Start with a conversation
Why we’re called Flutterbye
Small changes to strategy, systems and support count for more than they seem to. A clearer process removes friction. A well-designed role improves the experience for everyone. Often, those changes aren’t enormous. They’re practical and they start working early.
When my daughter was two, she couldn’t say “butterfly”. She called them “flutter-byes”. The name stayed because it captures what we believe: small, well-chosen actions can set larger change in motion. Flutterbye is the butterfly effect at work in a volunteer program: finding the right flutter and turning it into lasting impact.
Acknowledgement of Country
Flutterbye is based on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country in Melbourne’s north. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and true sovereigns of this land. We pay our respects to their ancestors and Elders and honour their continuing connection to Country.
Volunteering works best when people feel valued and respected and know they belong. Caring for community and Country has been practised on this land for tens of thousands of years. We are grateful to learn and work here.
We also acknowledge Traditional Owners wherever we work in Australia and tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Not sure which problem you have?
If the data doesn’t add up, the same issues keep coming back or leadership can’t see what’s happening, let’s talk.
You’ll leave with a clearer view of where the pressure is coming from and whether you need us at all.