Volunteering

Act of freely giving time and labor

"Volunteer" redirects here. For other uses, see Volunteer (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with military volunteering, which is usually paid and/or compensated.

Volunteers at the Vilnius Marathon Volunteers sweep the boardwalk in Brooklyn after the 2012 Hurricane Sandy Semi-professional volunteering: Trained lifeguards of the German DLRG, the largest voluntary water rescue organization in the world, patrolling a public bathing area of a lake in Munich

Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service.[1][2] Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve on an as-needed basis, such as in response to a natural disaster.

## Etymology and history

[edit]

The verb was first recorded in 1755. It was derived from the noun volunteer, in c. 1600, "one who offers himself for military service," from the Middle French voluntaire.[3] In the non-military sense, the word was first recorded during the 1630s. The word volunteering has more recent usage—still predominantly military—coinciding with the phrase community service.[3][4] In a military context, a volunteer army is a military body whose soldiers have chosen to enlist, as opposed to having been conscripted. Such volunteers do not work "for free" and are given regular pay.

### 19th century

[edit]

During this time, America experienced the Great Awakening. People became aware of the disadvantaged and realized the cause for movement against slavery.[5] In 1851, the first YMCA in the United States was started, followed seven years later by the first YWCA. During the American Civil War, women volunteered their time to sew supplies for the soldiers and the "Angel of the Battlefield" Clara Barton and a team of volunteers began providing aid to servicemen. Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and began mobilizing volunteers for disaster relief operations, including relief for victims of the Johnstown Flood in 1889.

### 20th and 21st centuries

[edit]

Volunteers from around the world came to Ithaca, Queensland to address an influenza epidemic through the Women's Emergency Corps (later the Women's Volunteer Reserve) in July 1919.

The Salvation Army is one of the oldest and largest organizations working for disadvantaged people. Though it is a charity organization, it has organized a number of volunteering programs since its inception.[6] Prior to the 19th century, few formal charitable organizations existed to assist people in need.

In the first few decades of the 20th century, several volunteer organizations were founded, including the Rotary International, Kiwanis International, Association of Junior Leagues International, and Lions Clubs International.

The Great Depression saw one of the first large-scale efforts to coordinate volunteering for a specific need in the US. During World War II, thousands of volunteer offices supervised the volunteers who helped with the many needs of the military and the home front, including collecting supplies, entertaining soldiers on leave, and caring for the injured.[6]

After World War II, people shifted the focus of their altruistic passions to other areas, including helping the poor and volunteering overseas. A major development was the Peace Corps in the United States in 1960. When President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a War on Poverty in 1964, volunteer opportunities started to expand and continued into the next few decades. The process for finding volunteer work became more formalized, with more volunteer centers forming and new ways to find work appearing on the World Wide Web through organizations like JustServe and AmeriCorps.[6][7]

John F. Kennedy greets volunteers on 28 August 1961

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (in 2012), about 64.5 million Americans, or 26.5 percent of the adult population, gave 7.9 billion hours of volunteer service worth $175 billion. This calculates at about 125–150 hours per year or 3 hours per week at a rate of $22 per hour. Volunteer hours in the UK are similar; the data for other countries is unavailable.

## Types

[edit]

### Volunteering as utilized by service learning programs

[edit]

Many schools on all education levels offer service-learning programs, which allow students to serve the community through volunteering while earning educational credit.[8] According to Alexander Astin in the foreword to Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? by Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles, Jr., "...we promote more wide-spread adoption of service-learning in higher education because we see it as a powerful means of preparing students to become more caring and responsible parents and citizens and of helping colleges and universities to make good on their pledge to 'serve society.'"[9] When describing service learning, the Medical Education at Harvard says, "Service learning unites academic study and volunteer community service in mutually reinforcing ways. ...service learning is characterized by a relationship of partnership: the student learns from the service agency and from the community and, in return, gives energy, intelligence, commitment, time and skills to address human and community needs."[8] Volunteering in service learning seems to have the result of engaging both mind and heart, thus providing a more powerful learning experience; according to Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles, it succeeds by the fact that it "...fosters student development by capturing student interest..."[9]: 1–2, 8 More recent scholarship has found shortcomings in the early assumptions of mutual benefit, since early studies were interested in educational benefits rather than community outcomes. An Indiana study found that the nonprofit agencies hosting student service-learners do not report a positive impact on service capacity, although service-learners do help to increase agency visibility.[10] In the end, service-learning must follow other principles of effective volunteer management such as screening, training, and supervising.[editorializing]

### Skills-based volunteering

[edit]

Skills-based volunteering is leveraging the specialized skills and the talents of individuals to strengthen the infrastructure of nonprofits, helping them build and sustain their capacity to successfully achieve their missions.[11] This is in contrast to traditional volunteering, where volunteers do something other than their professional work.[12] The average hour of traditional volunteering is valued by the Independent Sector at between $18–20 an hour.[13] Skills-based volunteering is valued at $40–500 an hour, depending on the market value of the time.[14][failed verification]

### Virtual volunteering

[edit]

Further information: Virtual volunteering

Also called e-volunteering or online volunteering, virtual volunteering is a volunteer who completes tasks, in whole or in part, offsite from the organization being assisted. They use the Internet and a home, school, telecenter or work computer, or other Internet-connected device, such as a PDA or smartphone. Virtual volunteering is also known as cyber service, telementoring, and teletutoring, as well as various other names. Virtual volunteering is similar to remote work, except that instead of online employees who are paid, these are online volunteers who are not paid.[15][16] Contributing to free and open source software projects or editing Wikipedia are examples of virtual volunteering.[17]

### Micro-volunteering

[edit]

Further information: Micro-volunteering

Micro-volunteering is a task performed via an internet-connected device. An individual typically does this task in small, un-paid increments of time. Micro-volunteering is distinct from "virtual volunteering" in that it typically does not require the individual volunteer to go through an application process, screening process, or training period.[18][19]

### Environmental volunteering

[edit]

Further information: Environmental volunteering

Environmental volunteering refers to the volunteers who contribute towards environmental management or conservation. Volunteers conduct a range of activities including environmental monitoring, ecological restoration such as re-vegetation and weed removal, protecting endangered animals, and educating others about the natural environment.[20]

### Volunteering in an emergency

[edit]

Volunteers assist survivors at the Houston Astrodome following Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.

Volunteering often plays a pivotal role in the recovery effort following natural disasters, such as tsunamis, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and earthquakes. For example, the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in Japan was a watershed moment, bringing in many first-time volunteers for earthquake response. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami attracted a large number of volunteers worldwide, deployed by non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and the United Nations.[21][22]

During the 2012 hurricane Sandy emergency, Occupy Sandy volunteers formed a laterally organized rapid-response team that provided much needed help during and after the storm, from food to shelter to reconstruction. It is an example of mutualism at work, pooling resources and assistance and leveraging social media.

### Volunteering in schools

[edit]

Resource poor schools around the world rely on government support or on efforts from volunteers and private donations, in order to run effectively. In some countries, whenever the economy is down, the need for volunteers and resources increases greatly.[23] School systems offer many volunteer opportunities with minimal requirements. Whether one is a high school or TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) graduate or college student, most schools require just voluntary and selfless effort.[24]

Much like the benefits of any type of volunteering there are great rewards for the volunteer, student, and school. In addition to intangible rewards, volunteers can add relevant experience to their resumes. Volunteers who travel to assist may learn foreign culture and language. "Volunteering can give the students the sufficient experience in order to support and strengthen their CVs and resumes."[25]

Volunteering in schools can be an additional teaching guide for the students and help to fill the gap of local teachers. Cultural and language exchange during teaching and other school activities can be the most essential learning experience for both students and volunteers.[24]

### Corporate volunteering

[edit]

Further information: Volunteer grant

Benefacto, a volunteering brokerage, describe corporate volunteering as "Companies giving their employees an allowance of paid time off annually, which they use to volunteer at a charity of their choice."[26]

A majority of the companies at the Fortune 500 allow their employees to volunteer during work hours. These formalized Employee Volunteering Programs (EVPs), also called Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV), are regarded as a part of the companies' sustainability efforts and their social responsibility activities.[27] About 40% of Fortune 500 companies provide monetary donations, also known as volunteer grants, to nonprofits as a way to recognize employees who dedicate significant amounts of time to volunteering in the community.[28]

According to the information from VolunteerMatch, a service that provides Employee Volunteering Program solutions, the key drivers for companies that produce and manage EVPs are building brand awareness and affinity, strengthening trust and loyalty among consumers, enhancing corporate image and reputation, improving employee retention, increasing employee productivity and loyalty, and providing an effective vehicle to reach strategic goals.[29]

In April 2015, David Cameron pledged to give all UK workers employed by companies with more 250 staff mandatory three days' paid volunteering leave, which if implemented will generate an extra 360 million volunteering hours a year.[30]

### Community volunteer work

[edit]

Volunteers fit new windows at the Sumac Centre in Nottingham, England, UK.

Community volunteering, in the US called "community service", refers globally to those who work to improve their local community. This activity commonly occurs through not for profit organizations, local governments and churches; but also encompasses ad-hoc or informal groups such as recreational sports teams.[31]

### Social volunteering or welfare volunteering

[edit]

In some European countries government organisations and non-government organisations provide auxiliary positions for a certain period in institutions like hospitals, schools, memorial sites and welfare institutions. The difference to other types of volunteering is that there are strict legal regulations, what organisation is allowed to engage volunteers and about the period a volunteer is allowed to work in a voluntary position. Due to that fact, the volunteer is getting a limited amount as a pocket money from the government. Organizations having the biggest manpower in Europe are the Voluntary social year (German: Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr), with more than 50.000 volunteers per year, and the Federal volunteers service (German: Bundesfreiwilligendienst), with about 30.000 to 40.000 volunteers per year.[32][33][34]

### Volunteering at major sporting events

[edit]

25,000 volunteers worked at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. They supported the organisers in more than 20 functional areas: meeting guests, assisting navigation, organising the opening and closing ceremonies, organising food outlets, etc. Volunteer applications were open to any nationals of Russia and other countries. The Sochi 2014 Organising Committee received about 200,000 applications, 8 applicants per place. Volunteers received training over the course of more than a year at 26 volunteer centres in 17 cities across Russia. The majority of participants were between 17 and 22 years old. At the same time, 3000 applications were submitted from people over 55 years old. Some of them worked as volunteers during the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. It was the first experience with such a large-scale volunteer program in the contemporary Russia.

The FIFA World Cup in 2018 was supported by 17,040 volunteers of the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee.[35]

### Medical Volunteering

[edit]

Volunteering in the context of delivering medical care is referred to as medical volunteering. In general, medical volunteering has been lauded as a "ethical responsibility to aid the needy. The activities are often offered by both for profit and not for profit associations. Medical volunteers typically participate in unpaid medical volunteer programs in hospitals, clinics, and underserved areas. Typically, these regions are in underdeveloped nations or nations battling natural disasters, sickness, or violence. These activities typically involves volunteer physicians and nurses. Dental volunteering is a part of medical volunteering which predominantly focused on dental care.[36]

### Seva

[edit]

In Hinduism, seva means selfless service and is often associated with karma yoga, disciplined action, and bhakti yoga, disciplined devotion. Seva is also connected to other Sanskrit concepts such as dāna (gift giving), karunā (compassion), and preman (kindness). Seva is also performed as a form of ego-transcending spiritual practise known as Sadhana, and plays a large role in modern Hinduism. This is because a key concept in Hinduism is liberation (Moksha) from the cycle of births and deaths (Saṃsāra), and sadhana is the effort one makes to strive for liberation, highlighting the importance of service to others.[37]

In Sikhism, the word seva also means "to worship, to adore, to pay homage through the act of love." In the writings of Sikh gurus, these two meanings of seva (service and worship) have been merged. Seva is expected to be a labour of love performed without desire and intention, and with humility.[37]

## Volunteer days, weeks and years

[edit]

Designated days, weeks and years observed by a country or as designated by the United Nations to encourage volunteering / community service

* Global Youth Service Day
* International Volunteer Day
* International Year of Volunteers
* Join Hands Day
* Mandela Day
* MLK Day of service
* Mitzvah Day
* Random Acts of Kindness Day
* Sewa Day
* Make A Difference Day
* World Kindness Day

## Political view

[edit]

Further information: Gift economy

Modern societies share a common value of people helping each other; not only do volunteer acts assist others, but they also benefit the volunteering individual on a personal level.[38] Despite having similar objectives, tension can arise between volunteers and state-provided services. In order to curtail this tension, most countries develop policies and enact legislation to clarify the roles and relationships among governmental stakeholders and their voluntary counterparts; this regulation identifies and allocates the necessary legal, social, administrative, and financial support of each party. This is particularly necessary when some voluntary activities are seen as a challenge to the authority of the state (e.g., on 29 January 2001, President Bush cautioned that volunteer groups should supplement—not replace—government agencies' work).[39]

Volunteering that benefits the state but challenges paid counterparts angers labor unions that represent those who are paid for their volunteer work; this is particularly seen in combination departments, such as volunteer fire departments.

### Difficulties in cross-national aid

[edit]

See also: International volunteering

Difficulties in the cross-national aid model of volunteering can arise when it is applied across national borders. The presence of volunteers who are sent from one state to another can be viewed as a breach of sovereignty and showing a lack of respect towards the national government of the proposed recipients. Thus, motivations are important when states negotiate offers to send aid and when these proposals are accepted, particularly if donors may postpone assistance or stop it altogether. Three types of conditionality have evolved:

1. Financial accountability: Transparency in funding management to ensure that what is done by the volunteers is properly targeted
2. Policy reform: Governmental request that developing countries adopt certain social, economic, or environmental policies; often, the most controversial relate to the privatization of services traditionally offered by the state
3. Development objectives: Asking developing countries to adjust specific time-bound economic objectives

Some international volunteer organizations define their primary mission as being altruistic: to fight poverty and improve the living standards of people in the developing world, (e.g. Voluntary Services Overseas has almost 2,000 skilled professionals working as volunteers to pass on their expertise to local people so that the volunteers' skills remain long after they return home). When these organizations work in partnership with governments, the results can be impressive. However, when other organizations or individual First World governments support the work of volunteer groups, there can be questions as to whether the organizations' or governments' real motives are poverty alleviation. Instead, a focus on creating wealth for some of the poor or developing policies intended to benefit the donor states is sometimes reported.[40] Many low-income countries' economies suffer from industrialization without prosperity and investment without growth. One reason for this is that development assistance guides many Third World governments to pursue development policies that have been wasteful, ill-conceived, or unproductive; some of these policies have been so destructive that the economies could not have been sustained without outside support.[41]

Indeed, some offers of aid have distorted the general spirit of volunteering, treating local voluntary action as contributions in kind, i.e., existing conditions requiring the modification of local people's behavior in order for them to earn the right to donors' charity. This can be seen as patronizing and offensive to the recipients because the aid expressly serves the policy aims of the donors rather than the needs of the recipients.

## Moral resources, political capital and civil society

[edit]

Some files for helping people in a volunteers station in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China

Based on a case study in China, Xu and Ngai (2011) revealed that the developing grassroots volunteerism can be an enclave among various organizations and may be able to work toward the development of civil society in the developing countries. The researchers developed a "Moral Resources and Political Capital" approach to examine the contributions of volunteerism in promoting the civil society. Moral resource means the available morals could be chosen by NGOs. Political capital means the capital that will improve or enhance the NGOs' status, possession or access in the existing political system.[42]

Moreover, Xu and Ngai (2011) distinguished two types of Moral Resources: Moral Resource-I and Moral Resource-II (ibid).

1. Moral Resource I: Inspired by Immanuel Kant's (1998 [1787]) argument of "What ought I to do," Moral Resource-I will encourage the NGOs' confidence and then have the courage to act and conquer difficulties by way of answering and confirming the question of "What ought I to do."[43]
2. Moral Resource II: given that Adorno (2000) recognizes that moral or immoral tropes are socially determined, Moral Resource-II refers to the morals that are well accepted by the given society.[44]

Thanks to the intellectual heritage of Blau and Duncan (1967), two types of political capital were identified:

1. Political Capital-I refers to the political capital mainly ascribed to the status that the NGO inherited throughout history (e.g., the CYL).
2. Political Capital-II refers to the Political Capital that the NGOs earned through their hard efforts.[45]

Obviously, "Moral resource-I itself contains the self-determination that gives participants confidence in the ethical beliefs they have chosen",[46] almost any organizations may have Moral Resource-I, while not all of them have the societal recognized Moral Resource-II. However, the voluntary service organizations predominantly occupy Moral Resource-II because a sense of moral superiority makes it possible that for parties with different values, goals and cultures to work together in promoting the promotion of volunteering. Thus the voluntary service organizations are likely to win the trust and support of the masses as well as the government more easily than will the organizations whose morals are not accepted by mainstream society. In other words, Moral Resource II helps the grassroots organizations with little Political Capital I to win Political Capital-II, which is a crucial factor for their survival and growth in developing countries such as China. Therefore, the voluntary service realm could be an enclave of the development of civil society in the developing nations.[42]

## Potential benefits of volunteering

[edit]

### Academic

[edit]

Further information: Service-learning § Effects

Volunteering for community service as part of a college curriculum (service-learning) provides opportunities for students to surround themselves with new people which helps them learn how to work together as a group, improve teamwork and relational skills, reduce stereotypes, and increases appreciation of other cultures.[9] Students participating in service-learning programs are shown to have more positive attitudes toward self, attitudes toward school and learning, civic engagement, social skills, and academic performance.[47][48] They are also more likely to complete their degree.[49][50]

### Longevity

[edit]

Volunteers are observed to have a reduced mortality risk compared to non-volunteers.[51] Therefore, the various types of work as a volunteer and psychological effects of such altruistic work may produce enough side-effects to contribute to a longer and more fulfilling life. A systematic review shows that adults over age of 65 years who volunteer may experience improved physical and mental health and potentially reduced mortality.[52]

### Mental health

[edit]

A worldwide survey was conducted in a study, suggesting that people who experience the highest levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of close relationships and volunteer work.[53] In comparison, charity in the form of monetary donations, which is another form of altruism (volunteering being one of them) is also known to have a similar effect.[54][55] Another study finds that helping others is associated with higher levels of mental health, above and beyond the benefits of receiving help.[56] This is true across age groups. Observational evidence indicates that volunteering helps improve the mental health of adolescents.[57] Moreover, on the subject of service-learning, undergraduate students who volunteered 1 to 9 hours per week were less likely to feel depressed than students who did not volunteer.[58] Among people aged 65 years old or above, volunteering may reduce the risk of depression.[52]

Volunteering in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake was found to build social capital, increasing the social connectedness of individuals as well as community wellbeing. The researchers suggested healthcare professionals could prescribe volunteering to improve the health of individuals.[59]

## Statistics

[edit]

In the United States, statistics on volunteering have historically been limited, according to volunteerism expert Susan J. Ellis.[60] In 2013, the U.S. Current Population Survey included a volunteering supplement which produced statistics on volunteering.[61]

## Barriers to volunteering

[edit]

The UK's National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has identified reluctance to enter into an ongoing commitment and work, study and other competing personal activities as barriers affecting willingness to volunteer.[62] The Scout Association in the UK also recognises that finance and accessibility can also act as barriers.[63]

## Criticisms

[edit]

In the 1960s, Ivan Illich offered an analysis of the role of American volunteers in Mexico in his speech entitled "To Hell With Good Intentions". His concerns, along with those of critics such as Paulo Freire and Edward Said, revolve around the notion of altruism as an extension of Christian missionary ideology. In addition, he mentions the sense of responsibility/obligation as a factor, which drives the concept of noblesse oblige—first developed by the French aristocracy as a moral duty derived from their wealth. Simply stated, these apprehensions propose the extension of power and authority over indigenous cultures around the world. Recent critiques of volunteering come from Westmier and Kahn (1996) and bell hooks (née Gloria Watkins) (2004). Also, Georgeou (2012) has critiqued the impact of neoliberalism on international aid volunteering.

The field of the medical tourism (referring to volunteers who travel overseas to deliver medical care) has recently attracted negative criticism when compared to the alternative notion of sustainable capacities, i.e., work done in the context of long-term, locally-run, and foreign-supported infrastructures. A preponderance of this criticism appears largely in scientific and peer-reviewed literature.[64][65][66] Recently, media outlets with more general readerships have published such criticisms as well.[67] This type of volunteering is pejoratively referred to as "medical voluntourism".[68]

Another problem noted with volunteering is that it can be used to replace low paid entry positions. This can act to decrease social mobility, with only those capable of affording to work without payment able to gain the experience.[69] Trade unions in the United Kingdom (UK) have warned that long term volunteering is a form of exploitation, used by charities to avoid minimum wage legislation.[70] Some sectors now expect candidates for paid roles to have undergone significant periods of volunteer experience whether relevant to the role or not, setting up 'Volunteer Credentialism'.[71]

Volunteers can be exposed to stressful situations and attitudes, which can cause them to suffer from burnout which in turn reduces their activism and overall well-being.[72] There is also a clear evidence that volunteering can become a moral obligation that prompts feelings of guilt when not performed.[73]

## See also

[edit]

* Association for Leaders in Volunteer Engagement (AL!VE)
* Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA)
* Avocation
* Community service
* Crossing guard
* European Solidarity Corps
* Federal volunteers service
* Helping behavior
* Intentional living
* International volunteering
* List of volunteer awards
* Micro-volunteering
* Mutual aid
* Peace Corps
* Pro bono
* Prosocial behavior
* Subbotnik
* Scout leader
* Technisches Hilfswerk (THW)
* Unpaid work
* Volunteer health practitioner
* Voluntary social year

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Wilson, John (2000). "Volunteering". Annual Review of Sociology. 26 (26): 215. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.215.
2. ^ "Benefits of Volunteering". Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. "volunteer". Online Etymology Dictionary.
4. ^ "Volunteer- what's in a word?". Jocote.org. 23 December 2010. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010.
5. ^ "Early Antislavery". nps.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
6. ^ a b c Warburton, Jeni; Oppenheimer, Melanie (2000). Volunteers and Volunteering. The Federation Press. ISBN 1-86287-376-3.
7. ^ "Mormons' JustServe helps helpers find places to, well, help". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
8. ^ a b "Service Learning". Medical Education at Harvard. Harvard College. 2010.
9. ^ a b c Janet Eyler (1999), Where's the learning in service-learning?, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, ISBN 0787944831
10. ^ Gazley, B., L. Littlepage, T. Bennett. 2012. What about the host agency? Nonprofit perspectives on community-based student learning and volunteering. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(6): 1029-1050.
11. ^ "Need of skills based volunteering for Non-Profit activities". National Service Resources.
12. ^ Steimel, Sarah (1 February 2018). "Skills-Based Volunteering as Both Work and Not Work: A Tension-Centered Examination of Constructions of "Volunteer"". VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 29 (1): 133–143\. doi:10.1007/s11266-017-9859-8. ISSN 1573-7888. S2CID 151874029.
13. ^ "Personal Development through Volunteering – Google Hangout | i to I". Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
14. ^ "Skills based volunteering". Independent Sector.
15. ^ "Online Volunteering". UN Volunteers. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
16. ^ "Virtual Volunteering Resources". Service Leader. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
17. ^ Feng, Vincent Xuan; Leong, Tuck Wah (28 November 2017). "Digital meaning". Proceedings of the 29th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction. OZCHI '17. New York, NY, US: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 366–370\. doi:10.1145/3152771.3156138. ISBN 978-1-4503-5379-3. S2CID 9250571.
18. ^ Fritz, Joanne. "Micro-Volunteering via Mobile Phones – Using Spare Time to Micro-Volunteer". About.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009.
19. ^ "Micro Volunteering – Changing The World in Just Your Pyjamas!". I-volunteer.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
20. ^ "Environmental Volunteer Work". PeaceCorps. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
21. ^ "USGS Tsunami 2004 Summary". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
22. ^ Power, Matthew (April 2005). "The Tsunami Volunteers". National Geographic Adventure Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
23. ^ "The Economy's Impact on Back to School". Great Schools. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
24. ^ a b "Volunteer teaching effort can help students to learn better in schools" (PDF). School Mental Health Project. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
25. ^ "Why include volunteering on your CV". Volunteer Centre Tower Hamlets. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
26. ^ Darlington, Ben (9 February 2016). "What is Corporate Volunteering?". Benefacto.
27. ^ "Mapping Success in Employee Volunteering – The Drivers of Effectiveness for Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs and Fortune 500 Performance (2009)". Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
28. ^ "Fortune 500's monetary donation programs for voluntary service". Qgiv.com. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
29. ^ "Does Employee Volunteerism Work?". VolunteerMatch.org. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010.
30. ^ "Three days' Paid Volunteering Leave: Conservative Manifesto Pledge Updates". Benefacto. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
31. ^ Winfield, Mark (21 May 2013). The Essential Volunteer Handbook. FriesenPress. ISBN 978-1-4602-1583-8. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015.
32. ^ "It's time to do the right thing" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
33. ^ "Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr". FSJ – Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2019.
34. ^ "PRO FSJ |". pro-fsj.de. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
35. ^ "Чемпионат мира по футболу FIFA 2018 в России™ – Новости – Победители конкурса "Наследие волонтерской программы ЧМ-2018" награждены в "Сколково" – FIFA.com" (in Russian). FIFA. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
36. ^ Holmgren, C.; Benzian, H. (June 2011). "Dental volunteering – a time for reflection and a time for change". British Dental Journal. 210 (11): 513–516\. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2011.426. ISSN 1476-5373. PMID 21660012. S2CID 25475844.
37. ^ a b Jacobs, Stephen (24 June 2010). Hinduism Today. London; New York: A&C Black. p. 43\. ISBN 978-0-8264-3065-6. OCLC 466343867.
38. ^ http://www.picketnews.com/archiveDetail.asp?cID=3&id=8327|publisher=Picket News
39. ^ Bush Announces Faith-Based Initiative[permanent dead link]
40. ^ Noble, Joy; Johnston, Fiona (2001). Volunteering Visions. Federation Press. ISBN 978-1-86287-404-6.
41. ^ "Aid, taxation, and development: analytical perspectives on aid effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa". World Bank. 28 February 1998. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
42. ^ a b Xu, Y; Ngai, N. P. (2011). "Moral Resources and Political Capital: Theorizing the Relationship Between Voluntary Service Organizations and the Development of Civil Society in China". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 40 (2): 247–269\. doi:10.1177/0899764009340229. S2CID 154058761. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
43. ^ Kant, I. (1998). Critique of pure reason (John Meiklejohn, trans.). Raleigh, NC: Alex Catalogue.
44. ^ Adorno, T. (2000). Problems of moral philosophy (T. Schroder, Ed. & R. Livingstone, Trans.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
45. ^ Blau, P. M., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American occupational structure. New York: Wiley.
46. ^ Xu, Y; Ngai, N. P. (2011). "Moral Resources and Political Capital: Theorizing the Relationship Between Voluntary Service Organizations and the Development of Civil Society in China". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 40 (2): 260. doi:10.1177/0899764009340229. S2CID 154058761. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
47. ^ Celio, Christine I.; Durlak, Joseph; Dymnicki, Allison (1 September 2011). "A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Service-Learning on Students". Journal of Experiential Education. 34 (2): 164–181\. doi:10.1177/105382591103400205. S2CID 11537949.
48. ^ Boru, Nese (June 2017). "The Effects of Service Learning and Volunteerism Activities on University Students in Turkey" (PDF). Journal of Education and Training Studies. 5 (6): 146–166\. doi:10.11114/jets.v5i6.2405.
49. ^ Astin, A.W. (1992). What Matters in College: Four Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
50. ^ Pascarella and Terenzini, E.T. and P.T. (1991). How College Affects Students: Findings and Insights from Twenty Years of Research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
51. ^ Ayalon, Liat (2008). "Volunteering as a predictor of all-cause mortality: what aspects of volunteering really matter?". International Psychogeriatrics. 20 (5): 1000–1013\. doi:10.1017/S1041610208007096. PMID 18397546. S2CID 19529297.
52. ^ a b Filges, Trine; Siren, Anu; Fridberg, Torben; Nielsen, Bjørn C. V. (2020). "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: a systematic review". Campbell Systematic Reviews. 16 (4): e1124. doi:10.1002/cl2.1124. ISSN 1891-1803. PMC 8356337. PMID 37016617.
53. ^ Oishi, Shigehiro; Diener, Ed; Lucas, Richard E. (1 December 2007). "The Optimum Level of Well-Being: Can People Be Too Happy?". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2 (4): 346–360\. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00048.x. PMID 26151972. S2CID 17932140.
54. ^ Aknin, LB; Barrington-Leigh, CP; Dunn, EW; Helliwell, JF; Burns, J; Biswas-Diener, R; Kemeza, I; Nyende, P; Ashton-James, CE; Norton, MI (2013). "Prosocial spending and well-being: Cross-cultural evidence for a psychological universal" (PDF). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 104 (4): 635–652\. doi:10.1037/a0031578. PMID 23421360. S2CID 5403883.
55. ^ Dunn, E. W.; Aknin, L. B.; Norton, M. I. (21 March 2008). "Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness". Science. 319 (5870): 1687–1688\. Bibcode:2008Sci...319.1687D. doi:10.1126/science.1150952. PMID 18356530. S2CID 29589887.
56. ^ Schwartz, Carolyn; Meisenhelder, Janice Bell; Ma, Yunsheng; Reed, George (2003). "Altruistic Social Interest Behaviors Are Associated With Better Mental Health". Psychosomatic Medicine. 65 (5): 778–785\. doi:10.1097/01.PSY.0000079378.39062.D4. PMID 14508020. S2CID 20644442.
57. ^ Ballard, P.J.; Daniel, S.S.; Anderson, G.; Nicolotti, L.; Caballero Quinones, E.; Koehler, A.N. (2021). "Incorporating Volunteering Into Treatment for Depression Among Adolescents: Developmental and Clinical Considerations". Frontiers in Psychology. 12: 1581. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.642910. PMC 8131855. PMID 34025511.
58. ^ Lederer, Alyssa M.; Autry, Dana M.; Day, Carol R. T.; Oswalt, Sara B. (18 August 2015). "The Impact of Work and Volunteer Hours on the Health of Undergraduate Students". Journal of American College Health. 63 (6): 403–408\. doi:10.1080/07448481.2015.1015028. PMID 25692931. S2CID 205583711.
59. ^ Vannier, Clémence; Mulligan, Hilda; Wilkinson, Amanda; Elder, Susie; Malik, Ambika; Morrish, Daniel; Campbell, Malcolm; Kingham, Simon; Epton, Michael (2021). "Strengthening community connection and personal well-being through volunteering in New Zealand". Health & Social Care in the Community. 29 (6): 1971–1979\. doi:10.1111/hsc.13340. ISSN 0966-0410. PMID 34089274.
60. ^ "Wouldn't It Be Nice to Really Know | Energize: Volunteer Management Resources for Directors of Volunteers". energizeinc.com. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
61. ^ "National Veteran Corps". volunteeringinamerica.gov. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
62. ^ National Council for Voluntary Organisations, 7\. Barriers and enablers to volunteering, from the NCVO's 2013 "Time Well Spent" survey, published on 27 June 2023, accessed on 30 May 2025
63. ^ The Scout Association, Policy, Organisation and Rules, Spring 2025 edition, section 3.1.1.2, accessed on 30 May 2024
64. ^ Bezruchka, S. (2000). Medical Tourism as Medical Harm to the Third World: Why? For Whom? Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 11, 77–78.
65. ^ Roberts, M. (2006). Duffle Bag Medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association, 295, 1491–1492.
66. ^ Pinto, A.D., & Upshur, R.E.G. (2009). Global Health Ethics for Students. Developing World Bioethics, 9, 1–10.
67. ^ "Think looking after turtles in Costa Rica for three weeks is good for your CV? Think again". The Conversation. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
68. ^ McLennan, Sharon (1 April 2014). "Medical voluntourism in Honduras: 'Helping' the poor?". Progress in Development Studies. 14 (2): 163–179\. doi:10.1177/1464993413517789. ISSN 1464-9934. S2CID 144772758.
69. ^ McGuinness, F.; Ward, M. (2017). State of the Nation Report by the Social Mobility Commission (PDF) (Report).
70. ^ Trade Union Congress (TUV) (2018) Guide to Internships. Accessed online at: https://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace-guidance/internships
71. ^ Walker, Mark (2018). "'Own Transport Preferred': Potential problems with long-term volunteering and internships". ECOS.
72. ^ Konieczny, Piotr (1 January 2018), "Volunteer Retention, Burnout and Dropout in Online Voluntary Organizations: Stress, Conflict and Retirement of Wikipedians", Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, vol. 42, Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 199–219, doi:10.1108/s0163-786x20180000042008, ISBN 978-1-78756-895-2, S2CID 155122668, retrieved 29 April 2021
73. ^ Gill MJ. (2021) Understanding the Spread of Sustained Employee Volunteering: How Volunteers Influence Their Coworkers' Moral Identity Work. Journal of Management.

* Geiser, Ch.; Okun, M. A.; Grano, C. (2014). "Who is motivated to volunteer? A latent profile analysis linking volunteer motivation to frequency of volunteering". Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling. 56(1). pp. 3–24.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Georgeou, Nichole (2012). Neoliberalism, Development, and Aid Volunteering. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415809153.

## External links

[edit]

Look up volunteering in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Category:National Volunteer Week

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Volunteering.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Volunteering.

* Volunteerism and legislation: a Guidance Note Inter-Parliamentary Union, United Nations Volunteers, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2004

* v
* t
* e

Charitable giving and practices

Main topics|

* Alms
* Altruism
* Charity (practice)
* Compassion
* Donation
* Empathy
* Fundraising
* Humanity (virtue)
* Philanthropy
* Volunteering

Types of charitable
organizations|

* Charitable trust / Registered charity
* Foundation
* Private
* Crowdfunding
* Mutual-benefit nonprofit corporation
* Non-governmental organization
* International
* Nonprofit organization
* Public-benefit nonprofit corporation
* Service club
* Social enterprise
* Religious corporation
* Voluntary association

Charity and religion|

* Charity (Christian virtue)
* Dāna
* Tithe
* Tzedakah
* Sadaqah
* Zakat

Charity evaluation|

* Aid effectiveness
* Animal Charity Evaluators
* Candid
* Charity assessment
* Charity Navigator
* CharityWatch
* Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis
* GiveWell
* Giving Multiplier
* Giving What We Can
* GreatNonprofits

Further topics|

* Alternative giving
* Benefit concert
* Caffè sospeso
* Charity fraud
* Charity / thrift / op shop
* Click-to-donate site
* Drive
* Donor-advised fund
* Donor intent
* Earning to give
* Effective altruism
* Psychological barriers
* Ethics of philanthropy
* List of charitable foundations
* wealthiest
* Master of Nonprofit Organizations
* Matching funds
* Telethon
* Visiting the sick
* Voluntary sector
* Volunteer grant
* Wall of kindness
* Warm-glow giving

* v
* t
* e

Employment

Classifications|

* Academic tenure
* Casual
* Contingent work
* Full-time job
* Gig worker
* Job sharing
* Part-time job
* Self-employment
* Side job
* Skilled worker
* Journeyman
* Technician
* Tradesperson
* Independent contractor
* Labour hire
* Temporary work
* Laborer
* Wage labour

Hiring|

* Application
* Background check
* Business networking
* Cover letter
* Curriculum vitae
* Drug testing
* Employment contract
* Employment counsellor
* Executive search
* list
* Induction programme
* Job fair
* Job fraud
* Job hunting
* Job interview
* Letter of recommendation
* Onboarding
* Overqualification
* Person–environment fit
* Personality–job fit theory
* Personality hire
* Probation
* Realistic job preview
* Recruitment
* Résumé
* Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates
* Underemployment
* Work-at-home scheme

Roles|

* Cooperative
* Employee
* Employer
* Internship
* Job
* Labour hire
* Permanent employment
* Supervisor
* Volunteering

Working class|

* Blue-collar
* Green-collar
* Grey-collar
* Pink-collar
* Precariat
* White-collar
* Red-collar
* New-collar
* No-collar
* Orange-collar
* Scarlet-collar
* Black-collar
* Gold-collar

Career and training|

* Apprenticeship
* Artisan
* Master craftsman
* Avocation
* Career assessment
* Career counseling
* Career development
* Coaching
* Creative class
* Education
* Continuing education
* E-learning
* Employability
* Further education
* Graduate school
* Induction training
* Knowledge worker
* Licensure
* Lifelong learning
* Overspecialization
* Practice-based professional learning
* Professional association
* Professional certification
* Professional development
* Professional school
* Reflective practice
* Retraining
* Vocational education
* Vocational school
* Vocational university
* Mentorship
* Occupational Outlook Handbook
* Practice firm
* Profession
* Operator
* Professional
* Tradesman
* Vocation

Attendance|

* Break
* Break room
* Career break
* Furlough
* Gap year
* Leave of absence
* Long service leave
* No call, no show
* Sabbatical
* Sick leave
* Time clock

Schedules|

* 35-hour workweek
* Four-day week
* Eight-hour day
* 996 working hour system
* Flextime
* On-call
* Overtime
* Remote work
* Six-hour day
* Shift work
* Working time
* Workweek and weekend

Wages and salaries|

* Global labor arbitrage
* Income bracket
* Income tax
* Living wage
* Maximum wage
* National average salary
* World
* Europe
* Minimum wage
* Canada
* Hong Kong
* Europe
* United States
* Progressive wage
* Singapore
* Overtime rate
* Paid time off
* Performance-related pay
* Salary cap
* Wage compression
* Working poor

Benefits|

* Annual leave
* Casual Friday
* Child care
* Disability insurance
* Health insurance
* Life insurance
* Marriage leave
* Parental leave
* Pension
* By country
* Sick leave
* United States
* Take-home vehicle

Safety and health|

* Crunch
* Epilepsy and employment
* Human factors and ergonomics
* Karoshi
* List of countries by rate of fatal workplace accidents
* Occupational burnout
* Occupational disease
* Occupational exposure limit
* Occupational health psychology
* Occupational injury
* Occupational noise
* Occupational stress
* Personal protective equipment
* Repetitive strain injury
* Right to sit
* United States
* Sick building syndrome
* Work accident
* Occupational fatality
* Workers' compensation
* Workers' right to access the toilet
* Workplace health promotion
* Workplace phobia
* Workplace wellness

Equal opportunity|

* Affirmative action
* Equal pay for equal work
* Gender pay gap
* Glass ceiling

Infractions|

* Corporate collapses and scandals
* Accounting scandals
* Control fraud
* Corporate behaviour
* Corporate crime
* Discrimination
* Exploitation of labour
* Dress code
* Employee handbook
* Employee monitoring
* Evaluation
* Labour law
* Sexual harassment
* Sleeping while on duty
* Wage theft
* Whistleblower
* Workplace bullying
* Workplace harassment
* Workplace incivility

Willingness|

* Boreout
* Careerism
* Civil conscription
* Conscription
* Critique of work
* Dead-end job
* Job satisfaction
* McJob
* Organizational commitment
* Refusal of work
* Slavery
* Bonded labour
* Human trafficking
* Labour camp
* Penal labour
* Peonage
* Truck wages
* Unfree labour
* Wage slavery
* Work ethic
* Work–life interface
* Downshifting
* Slow living
* Workaholic

Termination|

* At-will employment
* Dismissal
* Banishment room
* Constructive dismissal
* Wrongful dismissal
* Employee offboarding
* Exit interview
* Layoff
* Notice period
* Pink slip
* Resignation
* Letter of resignation
* Restructuring
* Retirement
* Mandatory retirement
* Retirement age
* Retirement planning
* Severance package
* Golden handshake
* Golden parachute
* Turnover

Unemployment|

* Barriers to entry
* Discouraged worker
* Economic depression
* Great Depression
* Long Depression
* Frictional unemployment
* Full employment
* Graduate unemployment
* Involuntary unemployment
* Jobless recovery
* Phillips curve
* Recession
* Great Recession
* Job losses caused by the Great Recession
* Lists of recessions
* Recession-proof job
* Reserve army of labour
* Structural unemployment
* Technological unemployment
* Types of unemployment
* Unemployment benefits
* Unemployment Convention, 1919
* Unemployment extension
* List of countries by unemployment rate
* Employment-to-population ratio
* List
* Wage curve
* Youth unemployment

Public programs|

* Workfare
* Unemployment insurance
* Make-work job
* Job creation program
* Job creation index
* Job guarantee
* Employer of last resort
* Guaranteed minimum income
* Right to work
* Historical:
* U.S.A.:
* Civil Works Administration
* Works Progress Administration

Comprehensive Employment and Training Act

See also|

* Bullshit job
* Busy work
* Credentialism and educational inflation
* Emotional labor
* Evil corporation
* Going postal
* Kiss up kick down
* Labor rights
* Make-work job
* Narcissism in the workplace
* Post-work society
* Presenteeism
* Psychopathy in the workplace
* Sunday scaries
* Slow movement (culture)
* Toxic leader
* Toxic workplace
* Workhouse

See also templates

* Aspects of corporations
* Aspects of jobs
* Aspects of occupations
* Aspects of organizations
* Aspects of workplaces
* Corporate titles
* Critique of work
* Organized labor

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany
* United States
* 2
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Czech Republic
* Latvia
* Israel
* 2

|

*[c.]: circa
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template