State of the Decade of Volunteering report launched

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State of the Decade of Volunteering report launched

Our latest report State of the Decade of Volunteering provides a comprehensive review of volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past ten years.

It was launched on Tuesday 24th of March by Minister Louise Upston at the BNZ Partners Centre, Wellington. The event included a panel discussion facilitated by Steven Moe – ParryField Lawyers with:

  • Amanda Reid, BERL
  • Matthew Williams , JBWere
  • Professor Karen Smith , Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
  • Ethan Tauevihi‑Kahika, Volunteering New Zealand Board member.

The report author Dr Johann Go will be giving webinars about the report next month:

  • 7 May, online launch and highlights of the report
  • 19 May, deep dive and insights about youth volunteering.


Michelle Kitney, VNZ Chief Executive says, “Quality data and insights are crucial for understanding how people are volunteering, and how organisations are responding. With the pressures on the community and voluntary sector, we must adapt to remain vital and relevant.”

Misty Sansom, VNZ Board Chair says. "Here's the thing I keep coming back to: we have good data now. We know what's happening. The question that matters is whether we're ready to act on what the data tells us - particularly around funding for volunteering infrastructure, protecting volunteering data in the census changes, and adjusting to the changing nature of volunteering.

Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering

"It's also the International Year of the Volunteer, and we're using it to build our advocacy goals. If you work with volunteers or care about the infrastructure that supports them, we'd love to hear what you think matters most," Misty says.

A survey about a Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering, which went live at the report launch, has already had 70 responses.

Volunteers, leaders of volunteers, and organisation leaders are all contributing their ideas through the survey.

Some ideas to improve volunteering include:

  • Make volunteer vetting processes more joined up e.g. a volunteer passport
  • Funding for organisations to reimburse volunteers e.g. for petrol
  • A way to record volunteer efforts that they can use e.g. hours, qualifications, achievements
  • More data/research to show the value of volunteering in NZ

 “We welcome all ideas to enable us to better advocate for greater recognition of volunteering. Government, funders, community organisations and volunteers can all help shape the future for volunteering,” Michelle says.

Find out more on The State of the Decade of Volunteering report page.

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