Volunteering Isn't Dying, Our Methods Are.

Global Voices, Local Impact

Chris Wade, England

There’s a quote often attributed to Einstein: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

For decades, I’ve watched the volunteer engagement sector do exactly this.

We wring our hands about falling volunteer rates. We puzzle over how to engage younger generations. We lament the "lack of public commitment".

But what if the problem isn't the public? What if the problem is us?

Volunteering levels are falling in many areas. Yet, we see explosive, spontaneous community action during crises (like COVID) and a deep, latent goodwill waiting to be tapped. The desire to help hasn't vanished. What has vanished is people's tolerance for rigid, outdated, and uninspiring "offers" that don't respect their lives.

If we want to reverse the trend, the onus is on us—the professionals—to stop blaming the audience and start rethinking our actions.

The Great Mismatch: Our 1990s Model in a 2020s World

The world has fundamentally changed, but many volunteering programs haven't.

• Life is Not 9-to-5: The pandemic shattered the traditional workday. People work from home, and blend personal and professional tasks. An aging population means more people are working longer while also juggling grandparent duties or caring for partners. A cost-of-living crisis means many are working extra jobs.
• Our Ask is Too Big: We demand huge time commitments upfront. We insist on long, training courses before a person has had a chance to feel connected to the cause. We hear people are fearful of commitment, yet we lead with it.
• We Choose Control Over Trust: People crave flexibility, agency, and choice. They want to be partners and co-producers. Instead, we offer roles that are controlled, risk-averse, and rigid. We treat volunteers as a "resource to be managed" rather than partners to be empowered.

Are We Genuinely Inclusive, or Just Talking About It?

I've heard colleagues talk about "engaging youth" for my entire career. Yet, I still see roles designed for past generations, marketed through old-fashioned channels.

This isn't just about age. Our sector struggles to engage:

• Disabled people
• People from areas of deprivation
• People from urban communities

Why? Because our marketing is uniform, with little insight into the specific needs and motivations of different audiences. We post stale role descriptions on social media channels devoid of any real, human content. We design one-size-fits-all processes and wonder why one-size-fits-none.

The Failure to Invest and Innovate

We live in an age of incredible technological advancement. Yet, how many organisations have truly invested in enabling volunteers through technology?

We should be using tech to make volunteering seamless: for micro-actions, for flexible scheduling, for building communities, and for easier onboarding. Instead, many programs are still buried in spreadsheets and manual processes that create friction, not flow.

This lack of investment points to a deeper problem: a lack of understanding at the top.
I see too many CEOs and Boards who don't understand the strategic impact of volunteering. I see too few volunteerism professionals successfully making that case. We are not demonstrating our impact in a language (data, stories, strategic value) that leadership understands.

The Only Way Forward is Change

We cannot keep doing things the same way and expect a different result. The latent goodwill in our communities is a massive, untapped asset.

If we want to tap it, we must be the change.

We must be the ones to challenge the rigid systems. We must be the ones to demand investment in technology. We must be the ones to redesign roles for the world we live in today. We must be the ones to treat volunteers as genuine partners.

We must stop asking, "Why don't people want to volunteer?" and start asking "Why don't people want to volunteer with us?”

Helping organisations rethink, modernise, and adapt their volunteer engagement for greater impact is exactly what we explore at the Time for Impact consultancy and on the Time for Impact podcast.

It’s time to stop admiring the problem and start building the solution.