Opinion: Schools, families and the future of volunteering
This opinion article is one in a series of responses by thought leaders in response to our State of the Decade of Volunteering report. Tania Jones is a PhD candidate and researcher at Victoria University of Wellington.
I want to begin by congratulating Tūao Aotearoa Volunteering New Zealand and the author team on the State of the Decade of Volunteering report. This is a thoughtful, rigorous and generous piece of work that captures both the complexity of the sector and the deep commitment of those within it. It offers invaluable clarity on the state of the sector over time.
Volunteering is evolving
Reading the report through a youth empowerment lens, I was struck by the disconnect it surfaces between national statistics and the lived perceptions of many volunteer-involving organisations. While participation remains strong, the experience on the ground often feels like decline. I see this not as a contradiction, but as clear evidence that volunteering is evolving in healthy ways — becoming more flexible, more informal, and more closely woven into everyday life.
One of the most under-recognised forms of this is volunteering connected to schools. Parents remain one of our largest and most consistent volunteer cohorts, yet their contribution is often invisible, informal, and unevenly supported. These moments of contribution matter not only to schools, but to children themselves. When young people see parents role-modelling volunteering as normal, valued and purposeful, they begin forming their own civic identities long before they begin their own path as volunteers. This is also where early seeds of social entrepreneurship are often planted, as young people observe adults identifying needs, mobilising others, and creating practical responses within their communities.
The power of digital tools to support volunteering
The report’s focus on limited technology uptake is also critical here. Digital tools have enormous potential to support schools and other VIOs to make volunteering easier, more equitable, and more visible, especially for time-poor families. Better systems and further research can help close the perception gap by capturing the full picture of who is contributing and how.
What stayed with me most is the sector’s quiet optimism. Despite structural pressures, the resilience and care remain strong. The opportunity before us is to invest in the systems, practices, and pathways that reflect modern life, and to recognise that the future of volunteering is already taking shape, often closer to home than we realise.