What is the relationship between activism and volunteering?

Volunteering is a way for people to develop meaningful relationships within a social group and can lead to the building of social capital, from which both individuals and the wider group can benefit in the form of enhanced well-being. This study aimed to explore and describe the impact of volunteering on the volunteer coordinators and volunteers themselves in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch, New Zealand, an area particularly impacted by the devastating earthquakes in the period 2010/2011. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with volunteer coordinators and volunteers (n=35; 16 men, 19 women) from November 2018 to mid-January 2019. Thematic analysis of data highlighted a key theme of Creating and strengthening valued community connections, with subthemes of Personal growth, Community connections and Role of coordination. The key theme illustrated how formal volunteering created effort and opportunities towards the strengthening of personal and community connectedness. Our study demonstrates the importance of social connection for both individual and community well-being, emphasises the important role of "champions" in facilitating the building of bridging and bonding relationships between individuals and communities, and suggests a role for healthcare professionals to prescribe volunteering as a way to improve individual health and well-being outcomes.

Does participating in neighborhood-focused activism confer different benefits than volunteering? The engagement of community members in neighborhood civic life has been identified as an important component of safe and healthy communities. Research on community engagement has encompassed voluntary associations, volunteering, as well as participation in neighborhood activism. A diverse set of research suggests that there are psychological and social benefits to community engagement, but also suggests that there are differences between forms of participation. In order to understand these differences, I examine the relationship of both volunteerism and neighborhood activism to psychosocial outcomes using survey data from a neighborhood-based sample of Chicago residents (n=3105). Findings suggest that activism is different-activists have higher neighborhood and personal mastery than those who only volunteer. Participation in neighborhood activism is also associated with an increased likelihood of contact with local officials and social ties in the neighborhood.

Empirical studies of volunteering assume that the similar individuals are drawn equally to different kinds of volunteer-using organizations. The purpose of this article is to explore the demographic predictors of volunteering for several types of advocacy-related organizations, including political parties, labor and business organizations, immigrant/refugee-serving groups, civic organizations, and environmental/animal organizations. Data from the Current Population Survey’s volunteering supplement (pooled 2006–2012) indicate that the demographic profiles of volunteers drawn to advocacy-related organizations differ in specific ways from the demographic profile of those volunteering for other types of organizations. In particular, veterans are more likely than non-veterans to volunteer for political/advocacy groups and civic organizations. Being a minority veteran is associated with volunteering for immigrant organizations and environmental/animal-related organizations. Foreign-born individuals—both US citizens and non-citizens—are more likely to volunteer for immigrant/refugee organizations than the native born. The demographic profiles of volunteers for advocacy-related organizations vary in some ways from the demographic profiles of those who volunteer for service delivery organizations.

Corporate volunteering (CV) is on the rise with several firms actively supporting and sponsoring social/community development activities, investing their key asset: employees, beyond mere donations. Most often, volunteering activities do need high levels of commitment and involvement of their employees to realise the purpose of volunteering activities. Although, employee's involvement is fundamental for CV, attraction, and sustenance of their participation is a long-standing challenge for the organisations. Hence, a systematic inquiry into the dynamic nature of drivers of employee participation in corporate volunteering is necessitated to understand the phenomenon of employee volunteering. We seek to explore and propose some of the key drivers of employee support for CV. Further, we inquire some of the volunteering experiences/challenges and organisational outcomes aiding insights into employee sustained involvement and support for volunteering initiatives. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications.

Volunteering refers to an action or activities that are performed freely, without the expectation of payment or other material gain, and which benefit both the volunteers and the community they are serving, whether they are official or informal, carried out alone or in groups. Environmental considerations are one of the factors that influence student interest in volunteer work. In the context of this study, the environment refers to people surrounding students who have an impact on their participation in volunteer activities. There are two objectives in this study: to determine who the key players are that affect student involvement in volunteering and to investigate how environmental factors relate to student involvement in volunteering. In this study, 400 students from three public universities who participate in volunteer work participated in a face-to-face survey for this quantitative study (UM, UKM and UPM). Based on the names of the membership of the chosen association, Kelab Penyayang (UPM and UKM), and the Universiti Malaya Volunteer Secretariat (UM), the sample was randomly chosen. The study's findings indicate that friends and teaching staff (etc. teacher or lecturers) have the greatest influence on student volunteer involvement in charitable endeavours. While there is a relatively strong and significant correlation between environmental factors and student volunteering (r = 0.44, sig = 0.00). The findings of this study will likely serve as a guide for those who want to help students develop a culture of volunteering.

"Volunteer participation" refers to free engagement in activities that benefit someone or something else. Volunteering can produce many benefits for individuals and communities. However, current research examining volunteer participation often excludes diverse viewpoints on what constitutes volunteering, particularly the perspectives of North American Indigenous youth. This oversight may result from researchers' conceptualization and measurement of volunteering from a Western perspective. Utilizing data from the Healing Pathways (HP) project, a longitudinal, community-based participatory study in partnership with eight Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada, we provide a detailed description of volunteer participation and community and cultural engagement. Overall, we employ a community cultural wealth lens to emphasize the various strengths and sources of resilience that these communities possess. At the same time, we encourage scholars and the wider society to broaden their views of volunteering, community involvement, and giving back.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) volunteers engage in service to social service organizations as a form of sociopolitical involvement, activism, and connection to the LGBTQ and broader communities. This study explored LGBTQ motivations for volunteerism, assessed using the Volunteer Functions Inventory, which measures the reason why people volunteer, including improving social ties, enhancing altruistic values, and gaining greater understanding of the needs of the community served by the social service organization. Using an exploratory design with an American and Canadian convenience sample of LGBTQ-identified volunteers (N = 179), findings of the study showed the desire for socialization and a better understanding of the target community were the strongest predictors of attrition for these volunteers. Future research recruiting LGBTQ volunteers of more diverse social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and emerging forms of volunteering, such as virtual volunteering, will help strengthen understanding of LGBTQ volunteerism as a means of community engagement.

This article introduces the special issue of the Journal of Civil Society on ‘volunteering and social activism’. We think research and the scholarly debate on civil society for too long have ignored important research questions that start at the crossroads of the ideal types of the ‘altruistic volunteer’ and the ‘political activist’. Behind the idea of pulling together a special issue was an ambition to open up an avenue for research and dialogue between two research traditions that, in our opinion, have had too little inspiring effect on each other. The special issue includes four articles that all raise important challenges to the impression of volunteering and social activism as separate and disconnected forms of civic engagement.

Volunteering in major sporting events has become a trend, for sports volunteers are considered one of the most valuable human resources to the event. This study intended to establish a structural model that describes the role of engagement on the relationship between motivation and future volunteering intention in a sporting event. It aimed to provide implications for organizers and volunteer coordinators to effectively retain experienced volunteers and motivate them to engage in future events. The participants of the study were the 168 sport event volunteers at the 30th SEA Games – Clark Cluster. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling to test the causal relationships of the variables. The study found that skill enrichment, privileges of volunteering, and social enrichment positively influenced volunteer engagement, while community contribution, skill enrichment, positive life experiences, and volunteer engagement positively influenced intention to volunteer in the future. The study concluded that volunteer engagement has no mediating role between motivation and future volunteering intention. Sport event organizers must manage volunteers by satisfying their personal and social needs toward volunteering and providing moral support through proper work design, efficient training, and an inclusive working environment to keep them engaged and committed in sustaining their volunteering act.

Research shows that military service is linked with political engagement, such as voting. This connection is strongest for minorities. The authors explore the relationship between military service and volunteering. They conclude that military service helps overcome barriers to volunteering by socializing people with civic responsibility norms, by providing social resources and skills that compensate for the lack of personal resources, and by making veterans aware of opportunities to volunteer as well as asking them to do so. Military service is positively related to volunteering among blacks and Hispanics. Married veterans are more likely to volunteer than nonveterans. Veterans who served during wartime are more likely to volunteer than those who served in peacetime.