Gen Z Doesn’t Want to Volunteer? Think Again.
Rethinking Volunteer Management
Challenging conventional approaches to leading and supporting volunteers
There is a familiar story doing the rounds: young people don’t want to volunteer.
They are too busy. They want flexibility. They would rather be online. They are less committed to organisations. They want everything on their own terms.
But what if we have the question wrong?
The more useful question may be: Are young people disengaged from volunteering – or are we disengaged from how young people want to contribute? Increasingly, the evidence suggests the latter.
Recent research and reporting from the United States found that many young people are participating in community service, but often through informal, everyday and self-directed acts of contribution rather than traditional volunteering with a nonprofit organisation.
That matters because much of what we call “volunteering” has traditionally been built around an organisational model: find an organisation, apply for a role, commit to regular hours, attend an induction and become part of the volunteer team.
That model still works for many people. But it is not the only way people contribute.
The New Zealand picture
New Zealand's volunteering data tells a similar story.
The 2023 General Social Survey found that 53% of New Zealanders had volunteered during the previous four weeks. At the same time, there has been a shift in how people contribute. The proportion volunteering through an organisation fell from 30.2% in 2021 to 27.6%, while direct volunteering for another person increased from 36% to 40.8%.
The story, therefore, is not simply one of people giving less. It is also about people giving differently.
That distinction is particularly important when we talk about younger people. If our definition of volunteering depends on someone joining an organisation, committing to a regular roster and staying for a defined period, we may be measuring organisational participation rather than the full range of ways young people contribute.
Other research into young people also points towards the importance of flexibility, meaningful contribution and opportunities that connect with young people's own motivations and aspirations.
So perhaps the issue isn't that Gen Z doesn't want to contribute. Perhaps we are still asking them to contribute in ways that make sense to us.
We have known this for a while
At Volunteering Auckland, this question led us to develop Rangatahi Te Mahi Tūao, a support guide for community groups wanting to engage 14–18-year-olds as volunteers.
The guide was developed after conversations with NGOs, community groups and high schools highlighted a different barrier: it wasn't necessarily young people's willingness that was the problem. Organisations themselves were sometimes hesitant to engage people under 18 because they were unsure about legislation, recruitment, retention and safety.
That is an important distinction.
Sometimes we describe young people as “hard to engage” when the real issue is that our organisations aren't yet ready to engage them. The guide therefore asks organisations to look at themselves as well as at the young volunteer.
Are roles clearly defined? Is someone responsible for supporting young volunteers? Is training accessible? Can young people contribute ideas about what they do? Are there opportunities around school holidays and shorter assignments? Is there a way for young volunteers to give feedback?
These are not particularly radical ideas. But they can require organisations to rethink established volunteer practices.
From filling roles to creating opportunities
One of the most useful ideas in Rangatahi Te Mahi Tūao is that finding a good volunteering match is a shared process.
That means starting with the young person, not simply with the vacancy.
A young person might not want to commit to every Tuesday afternoon for six months. They may, however, happily spend a Saturday helping restore a local environment, support a fundraising event during the school holidays, mentor another young person, create digital content or contribute a particular skill to a project.
The guide specifically encourages organisations to offer flexible assignments around school commitments, consider short assignments and school-holiday opportunities, and involve young people in defining their tasks wherever possible.
This doesn't mean organisations should abandon regular volunteering.
Community organisations need reliability. Some roles require training, continuity and commitment. Young people themselves also benefit from opportunities to develop skills and take on responsibility over time.
The challenge is to create more than one pathway into contribution.
Give young people a reason why
Flexibility is only part of the equation. Young people also want to know: Why does this matter?
The Volunteering Auckland guide uses the GIVERS framework to identify six elements that can support volunteer retention: Growth, Impact, Voice, Experience, Recognition and being Socially rewarding.
These are particularly useful when thinking about younger volunteers.
Growth: What will I learn?
Impact: What difference will I make?
Voice: Will my ideas be heard?
Experience: Will this be worthwhile?
Recognition: Will my contribution be noticed?
Social: Will I meet people and feel connected?
None of these questions is uniquely Gen Z. But they are questions organisations should be prepared to answer.
A young person doesn't necessarily need a long-term commitment before they can make a meaningful contribution. They need to see where their contribution fits.
Don't just recruit young people - Give them agency
There is a difference between asking a young person to fill a vacant volunteer role and asking them what they care about, what they can contribute and what kind of experience they are looking for.
The second approach starts with the person rather than the position description.
It also recognises that volunteering can contribute to confidence, leadership, communication, work and life skills, community connection and a greater understanding of others – benefits identified in Rangatahi Te Mahi Tūao.
And there is another important lesson.
Young people don't need to be treated as “future volunteers”.
Young people are volunteers now.
They can contribute to the organisation's mission today. They can bring perspectives that adults may not have. And, when given genuine voice and responsibility, they can help organisations rethink how volunteering itself works.
So, does Gen Z want to volunteer?
Some do. Some don't. And that is true of every generation.
We should be wary of turning “Gen Z” into a single personality type. Young people have different interests, circumstances, cultures, commitments and motivations. But the evidence does challenge the simplistic idea that young people are simply disengaged from volunteering.
Perhaps the bigger challenge is that traditional organisational volunteering is only one expression of service.
If young people are giving their time in more informal, flexible and self-directed ways, organisations can see that as a problem, or as an invitation to innovate.
The question is not simply:
“How do we get young people to volunteer?”
It is:
“How do we create meaningful ways for young people to contribute?”
That shift changes the conversation.
It moves us from asking young people to fit volunteering into an organisational model towards creating volunteering that connects with their realities, motivations and aspirations.
And perhaps that is the real opportunity.
Gen Z may not be walking away from volunteering. They may be showing us what volunteering is becoming.
The question is whether our organisations are ready to meet them there.
References and further reading:
Volunteering Auckland. Rangatahi Te Mahi Tūao: A support guide for community groups to engage youth as volunteers (2022). The guide covers organisational readiness, recruitment, flexible assignments, school-holiday and short-term opportunities, youth voice, safety, motivation and retention.
Volunteering Auckland. A New Generation of Volunteers. Article exploring youth volunteering being driven by a desire for growth, belonging and connection as reported by the Giving in Aotearoa Survey 2026, Community Foundations Aotearoa New Zealand.
Volunteering New Zealand. The ability to change stuff up: Volunteering as a young person within established organisations – research exploring young people's experiences of volunteering within established organisations, Journal of Youth Studies.
Community Research. The impact of volunteering on a young person's life – research commissioned by Student Volunteer Army examining the benefits and impacts of volunteering for young people.
Associated Press. A new poll finds young volunteers embrace informal, everyday acts of service. So do some nonprofits – reporting on recent US research into young people's community service.
