Youth give more time but prefer casual volunteering
Young people (aged 15-24) do volunteer, and they give more hours than the population average.
Dr Johann Go gave a webinar on 19 May which was a deep dive into youth volunteering arising from the State of the Decade of Volunteering report.
He said while fewer young people volunteer (45.8%), compared to the total population (53.0%); those volunteering through organisations gave more hours each month 18.4, compared to 15.5 hours population-wide.
Most and least popular areas to volunteer
The most popular areas for young people to volunteer were: sports and recreation, religious/ spiritual, and social services. They had lower participation in environmental conservation and community development areas.
Webinar participants were surprised by the lower interest in environmental causes, but agreed there were barriers to participation such as distance to travel, time, and some established organisations being less welcoming to young or diverse people.
Sze-En Watts from the Social Impact Studio at Otago University said students enjoyed environmental volunteering opportunities, pitched as “good deed and a feed”, which were low-pressure, casual days with transport provided.
Flexible, casual volunteering preferred
Youth volunteers prefer flexible, casual volunteering patterns and are more likely to have higher turnover rates. When seeking volunteer roles, they are more likely to seek value alignment with organisations.
Word of mouth or direct invites from family and friends remain the primary method for learning about volunteering opportunities.
Johann said larger established organisations shouldn’t be afraid to innovate and adjust their models to attract and retain young people.