Opinion: Why adaptation matters for the future of volunteering in Aotearoa
This opinion article is one in a series of responses by thought leaders in response to our State of the Decade of Volunteering report. Angela Wallace is the Volunteering Services Manager at SociaLink working to grow and support volunteering across the Western Bay of Plenty.
As a manager of a volunteer centre, I’m often asked how I think volunteering is faring in our busy and pressured world. There are very real challenges: the rising cost of living, people juggling multiple jobs, growing individualism, and increasing social isolation.
And yet, despite all of this, I believe volunteering in Aotearoa is not only holding steady – it is thriving. More than that, volunteering offers us a pathway through many of the challenges we face as communities today. It is one of the ways we pull together, working shoulder to shoulder for something bigger than ourselves.
With 2026 designated as the International Volunteer Year, Volunteering New Zealand’s State of the Decade of Volunteering report gives us timely and valuable way markers. It helps us understand what hasc hanged, what has endured, and where we need to focus our collective effort if volunteering is to remain strong, visible, and valued into the future.
Here’s what stands out to me.
Volunteering is strong
The Decade report shows that more people are volunteering in Aotearoa than ever before. While individuals may be contributing fewer hours on average, more people are giving small but regular amounts of time.
The recent International Volunteer Day theme, Every Contribution Counts, could not be more fitting. When volunteering is spread across more people, the benefits ripple outwards.
Each volunteer connects with a cause. They build relationships and friendships. They rub shoulders with people who can be very different from themselves. They gain skills, confidence, and insight – and invite others to join them in the mahi.
The impact is wide-reaching: stronger social connections, greater understanding of difference and diversity, and increased social cohesion across communities. And of course, there is the immediate and tangible benefit of the volunteer work itself for the organisations and causes being supported.
People want to play a meaningful part in their community
The report confirms what many of us see every day: volunteers are motivated by purpose. Today’s volunteers seek opportunities that align with their values, fit around their lives, and allow them to use or grow their skills.
When people care about their communities, communities thrive. While many volunteers may no longer be able to commit to long-term, regular roles, they are still deeply willing to give their time and energy when the opportunity feels meaningful and manageable.
This is where storytelling matters. Clearly communicating the purpose and impact of volunteer roles is key to engaging and retaining volunteers. When someone understands how their fortnightly two hours contributes to positive change, they are far more likely to keep coming back.
Take the volunteer at a local animal shelter. Much of their time may be spent cleaning cages and washing blankets, yet they return week after week because they know their effort helps animals feel safe, cared for, and ready for rehoming. That connection to purpose makes all the difference.
Adaptation is essential
This brings us to a clear challenge for volunteer-involving organisations: we must adapt.
As the Decade report reminds us, “The strength of Aotearoa New Zealand’s voluntary sector lies not only in its history, but in its capacity to adapt and innovate”.
The spirit of volunteering remains a cornerstone of community life in Aotearoa, but the ways people choose to volunteer – how, when, and why – are changing. Our roles, systems, and expectations need to reflect the realities of modern life.
We need to ask ourselves:
- How are we adapting our volunteer roles to meet the needs of today's volunteers?
- How are our practices becoming more flexible, responsive and welcoming for people who are time-poor, mobile, digitally savvy, and keen to contribute in purposeful ways?
The task ahead is not to recreate volunteering as it once was, but to recognise and support what it is becoming. The energy, care, and willingness are still here. The question is whether our institutions and practices are evolving to meet them.
We continue to value and appreciate the volunteers who form the civic core – those who give regularly, often for many hours, and stay connected to organisations for years. At the same time, the data tells us this group is shrinking as our population ages. We’re also becoming a more diverse and multicultural society. To sustain volunteering into the future, our approach must evolve, meeting new generations of volunteers where they are.
In this International Volunteer Year 2026, I feel genuinely encouraged by the commitment I see across our community sector: people stepping up to support those who are struggling, welcoming newcomers, and acting as kaitiaki for our whānau and whenua.
Volunteering has the power to bring people together, to repair what has been broken, and to build something stronger than the sum of its parts. There is a place for everyone who wants to show aroha to their community through volunteering.
He waka eke noa – we are all in this together.
Pick up a paddle! Let’s forge ahead in our waka.