Volunteering trends that defined the post pandemic world & beyond
3 mins read
Volunteerism is constantly evolving. While the number of individuals and groups volunteering across the world has steadily increased over the past decade, there has been a concurrent shift in the way people volunteer, and the way organisations think about volunteering. For example, the Search Volume Index graph of the subject ‘Virtual Volunteering’ on the Google Trends website offers an interesting insight; it displays consistent fluctuations in the number of subject based search queries between 2016-20, followed by an immediate, steep rise in civic interest around virtual volunteering opportunities in the wake of the worldwide lockdown that was announced during March 2020.
Source: Google Trends ‘Virtual Volunteering’ Interest over Time, 2016-Present
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world, and its effects are bound to last. Here are some of the factors that corporates, nonprofits and other stakeholders in the social impact ecosystem should consider while preparing for the next phase of volunteerism.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, and technology has changed the way we volunteer. A McKinsey report published in July 2021 found that the pandemic has sped up digitization by 3-7 years, owing to large productivity gains. With businesses adapting and growing digitally at an exponentially faster pace than the social impact sector, corporate organisations and professionals are now looking beyond traditional philanthropic activities and exploring different styles of volunteering. Among the array of corporate giving programs, virtual volunteering has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing corporate employee engagement opportunities, with nonprofits simultaneously seeking a way to bridge the digital divide by bringing in the skills and knowledge that companies can offer.
Volunteers are time-strapped. Short term engagements can pave the way.
Virtual volunteering has made it significantly easier and convenient for skilled professionals to support their communities. Yet, corporate employees today are looking to contribute more efficiently by investing a lesser number of hours online and engaging on shorter term assignments. This has given rise to new models of volunteering, such as ‘micro-volunteering’, ‘schedule bound business coaching’, or even the ‘single day of service’. These models have proved successful for nonprofits and companies that invest the time needed in advance of the day to prepare a realistic scope of work, form the right team of volunteers, and design virtual events that allow for various forms of gathering information and generating solutions.
Flexibility is the key factor to successfully engaging volunteers and driving change. While organisational preparedness is crucial to the success of skilled virtual volunteering programs, adopting a flexible program management and employee engagement approach can encourage volunteers to become involved at all levels of the organisation, appropriate to their skill set and experiences. Embracing diverse leadership styles and an external perspective can drive the development of innovative, impactful and community oriented solutions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an economic and human catastrophe, fundamentally changing the way we exist. Yet, despite the complete upheaval of daily life during the initial outbreak of the global crisis, people were able to respond to their communities by finding new and unique ways to support those in dire need of emergency relief.
Now, as the world moves towards more hybrid, futuristic models of operating, our volunteering ways will continue to develop and evolve. What becomes increasingly evident and absolute is that this evolution will be built on a universal, individual-informed vision of what organizations and people will need in order to sustain and succeed.
~ Social Lens is a socially aligned consulting company. To know more about CSV programs at Social Lens and our virtual volunteering platform VolunteeRISE, write to us at contact@slens.co. ~
