The Volunteers We Don't Count

Understanding the Rise of Informal Volunteering

When we think about volunteering, we often picture organised activities.

A volunteer signs up through an organisation, completes an application form, attends an induction, and takes on a defined role. Their contribution is recorded, measured, and reported.

But a significant amount of volunteerint serveg happens outside these systems.

The recent Giving in Aotearoa New Zealand survey by Community Foundations Aotearoa New Zealand highlights the importance of what is often called informal volunteering. The research found that 35% of respondents were volunteering informally—helping neighbours, supporting whānau, organising activities in their community, assisting friends, or responding to local needs without being connected to a formal organisation.

These people may never complete a volunteer registration form.

They may not hold a volunteer title.

Their contribution may never appear in annual reports, funding applications, or volunteer statistics.

Yet they are volunteering.

And they are making a significant contribution to community wellbeing.

What Is Informal Volunteering?
Informal volunteering occurs when people willingly give their time, skills, knowledge, or support to help others without being part of a formal volunteer programme.

Examples include:
• Checking on an elderly neighbour.
• Driving someone to appointments.
• Organising a neighbourhood event.
• Supporting a community Facebook group.
• Helping with a school activity.
• Assisting whānau members during difficult times.
• Organising a street clean-up.
• Looking after children for friends or relatives.

These contributions are often flexible, relationship-based, and responsive to immediate community needs.

They happen because people see a need and decide to act.

Why Informal Volunteering Matters
Informal volunteering is often invisible, but it plays a vital role in creating resilient communities.

In many cases, it is the first response when challenges arise.

People rarely wait for an organisation to intervene when a neighbour needs help, when someone is isolated, or when a community issue requires attention.
Instead, local people step forward.

This type of volunteering builds social connections, strengthens trust, and creates the networks that communities rely on during times of change or crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic provided numerous examples of this. Across Aotearoa, people organised food deliveries, welfare checks, neighbourhood support groups, and practical assistance long before many formal systems could respond.

The pandemic demonstrated that communities already possess enormous capacity to support themselves.

The challenge is recognising and nurturing that capacity.

Why People Choose Informal Volunteering
For many people, informal volunteering feels more natural than joining an organisation.

It offers:
Flexibility: People can contribute when and how they are able, without committing to regular shifts or formal responsibilities.
Immediate Impact: Informal volunteers often see the results of their actions directly. They know who they are helping and can witness the difference they make.
Personal Connection: Many informal volunteering activities happen within existing relationships and communities.
Lower Barriers: There are no application forms, interviews, inductions, or role descriptions. People can simply help.

For some individuals, particularly those with limited time or competing commitments, informal volunteering may be the most accessible way to contribute.

A Challenge for Community Organisations
Traditionally, volunteer-involving organisations have focused on recruiting people into structured roles.

This approach remains important and necessary.

However, the survey findings suggest organisations should also consider how they support people who want to contribute outside formal systems.

The question is shifting from:
"How do we recruit more volunteers?"
to
"How do we support more people to contribute to their communities?"

These are not always the same thing.

How Community Houses and Community Centres Can Help
Community Houses and Community Centres are uniquely positioned to support informal volunteering because they are often deeply embedded within local neighbourhoods.

Rather than trying to formalise every activity, they can act as enablers.
This might include:
• Providing meeting spaces for community-led initiatives.
• Offering noticeboards and communication channels.
• Connecting people with similar interests.
• Supporting neighbourhood projects with resources or advice.
• Hosting community conversations that identify local needs and solutions

The goal is not necessarily to manage every volunteer activity but to help community members organise themselves.

The Role of Conservation Groups
Many conservation groups already benefit from a mix of formal and informal participation.

People often care for local reserves, remove weeds, plant native trees, monitor wildlife, or participate in clean-up activities without wanting an ongoing volunteer role.

Conservation organisations can support this by:
• Creating drop-in opportunities.
• Providing tools and resources.
• Sharing practical information.
• Encouraging neighbourhood-led environmental projects.
• Recognising community-led contributions.

Not everyone wants to join a committee. Many simply want to contribute to the places they care about.

What Local Councils Can Do
Councils increasingly recognise the importance of community-led development and local participation.

Supporting informal volunteering can be an effective way to strengthen community resilience.

This may involve:
• Small grants for neighbourhood initiatives.
• Access to community spaces.
• Simplified approval processes for local projects.
• Training and capability-building opportunities.
• Celebrating local community leadership.

Sometimes the most valuable role a council can play is removing barriers rather than creating programmes.

How Volunteer Centres Can Support Informal Volunteering
Volunteer Centres have traditionally focused on connecting volunteers with organisations.

This remains a core function, but there may be opportunities to broaden the conversation.

Volunteer Centres can:
• Promote awareness of informal volunteering.
• Share stories of community-led action.
• Provide resources on community organising.
• Support grassroots groups that are not yet formal organisations.
• Help communities build confidence to address local challenges.

Importantly, Volunteer Centres can help shift the narrative that volunteering only counts when it happens through a registered organisation.

Recognising the Volunteers We Don't Measure
One of the biggest challenges with informal volunteering is that it often goes uncounted.

Funders, policymakers, and organisations naturally focus on what can be measured. Yet some of the most important acts of volunteering never appear in statistics.

• The neighbour who checks in every week.
• The parent who organises a local activity.
• The resident who keeps a community garden thriving.
• The whānau member providing ongoing support.

These contributions create social capital, strengthen relationships, and help communities flourish.

The Giving in Aotearoa New Zealand survey reminds us that volunteering is much bigger than formal programmes and organisational structures.

If 35% of people are contributing through informal volunteering, then supporting community participation means looking beyond volunteer roles and registration systems.volunteering is much bigger than formal programmes and organisational structures.

The future of volunteering may not be about formalising every contribution.
Instead, it may be about creating the conditions that allow people to help one another, organise locally, and strengthen the communities they already care about.

Because sometimes the most powerful volunteering happens without a role title, a name badge, or a registration form.

References:
• Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ/BERL Giving in Aotearoa NZ research (2026)

• Volunteering NZ State of The Decade of Volunteering - The past, present and future of Volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand - A comprehensive review of the the previous decade of reports 2015 to 2025.