Time Well Spent: A national survey on the volunteer experience

Volunteering context

What do people do when they volunteer?

• Volunteers are most likely to be involved in range of activities, most commonly relating to events (39%), administration (28%) and getting others involved (27%).
• Volunteers from lower socioeconomic groups are less likely to undertake activities that involve organising and leading, for example being a trustee or member of a committee (15% C2DE vs 23% ABC1).
• Women are less likely than men to be involved in representative roles, such as representing the organisation at meetings or events (28% vs 22%).

Where do they volunteer?

• People mainly volunteer locally, in their own neighbourhoods (81%) and most commonly in community spaces (eg community hall) (35%) although volunteering also happens at home (26%) and ‘on the go’ (eg via phone or laptop) (16%).

When do they volunteer?

• 10% of recent volunteers give time through employer-supported volunteering, reflecting relatively low levels of awareness generally for this type of volunteering.

Who do they volunteer for?

• 42% of recent volunteers first got involved with the main organisation they volunteer five or more years ago, suggesting many have a long-standing relationship with their organisation.
• These organisations are more likely to be recreational or leisure groups (20%), local community or neighbourhood groups (20%) or health, disability and social welfare organisations (18%).
• Most are civil society organisations (67%), but a significant minority (17%) are public sector organisations.
• In these organisations, volunteering is organised by an unpaid coordinator or no one specifically (45% and 18%), rather than by a paid member of staff (28%).

How do they volunteer?

• Among recent volunteers, volunteering on a regular basis is most common (48%) but around a quarter (23%) exclusively volunteer as part of a one-off activity or dip in and out of activities.
• Two-thirds of volunteers say they are always or often alongside other volunteers when volunteering.
• Their volunteering is more likely to involve a mix of online and offline activities (57%) than one or the other. Very few volunteer exclusively online (6%).
• Disabled people are more likely to volunteer online than non-disabled people.

Getting started

• The most common reason for volunteering is wanting to benefit others (42%), although practical factors like having spare time also play a part for many.
• Motivations vary both by different demographics (eg gaining skills and career development ranked much higher among those aged 18–24 than other age groups), and by who they volunteer for and how their volunteering is organised.
• Most volunteers go through an entry process that is largely informal (43%). Formal processes are more common when activities involve safeguarding risks.

It explores what they are doing, when, where it takes place, who for and how. Where there are notable findings in relation to lapsed volunteers (those who volunteered in the last three years but not in the last year), these are highlighted.

4.2.1 What do people do when they volunteer?

Activities relating to events, administration and getting others involved are most common.

As shown in Figure 13, organising or helping to run events was the most popular type of volunteering activity (39%) followed by helping with secretarial/administration or clerical work (28%). Raising money or taking part in sponsored events and getting other people involved in the organisation were also among the more common activities (27%).

Many are involved in multiple volunteering activities, especially frequent volunteers.

Of those who could recall the types of volunteering activities they undertook, around a third (34%) were involved in one activity, meaning most undertook a number of different activities within the same organisation.

Those who were frequent volunteers (ie gave time at least once a month) were more likely to be involved in multiple types of activity than occasional volunteers (who volunteered less than once a month). For example 56% of frequent volunteers were involved in three or more activities, compared with 24% of occasional volunteers.

Frequent and occasional volunteers get involved in different types of activity.

Some activities were much more likely to be undertaken by frequent volunteers than occasional volunteers such as:

leading a group/being a trustee, handling money and representing the group – with low proportions of occasional volunteers listing these activities (see Figure 13). This is likely to be because these activities require a certain level or type of time commitment.

The most common activities among occasional volunteers were organising, helping to run an event (27%) and raising money or taking part in sponsored events (25%) – activities suited to more sporadic or even one-off involvement. These activities were also common among lapsed volunteers (who had volunteered in the last three years, but not recently). This is likely to be explained by the higher proportion of occasional volunteers among the lapsed group.

There are some notable differences by demographics in the types of activities undertaken.

Organising or helping to run an activity or event was the most common activity across all groups, however there was some variation in participation across other activities.

• Volunteers from lower socio-economic groups are less likely to undertake activities that involve leading or organising.

Those from ABC1 social grades were more likely to do certain activities than C2DE social grades, with the largest differences observed for organising or helping run an activity or event (42% vs 33%), helping with administration or secretarial work (31% vs 21%) and leading an organisation or being a trustee or member of a committee (23% vs 15%).

• Older volunteers were more likely to be involved in administration and management roles.

Those over 65 were most likely (than other age groups) to be helping with secretarial or administration (35%), leading an organisation or being a trustee or member of a committee (27%) and handling money (19%). This is likely to be explained primarily by the higher proportion of older volunteers who volunteer frequently and are from a higher social grade.

One of the more common activities among the youngest age group (18–24) was befriending and mentoring, which around one in five (23%) of this age group were involved in; this ranked lower among other age groups.

• Women are less likely to be in representative roles.

Women were more likely to have organised/helped run an activity or event than men (42% vs 35%) and provided other practical help, such as helping out at school (24% vs 20%).

Men were more likely than women to have represented the organisation they volunteer for at meetings or events (28% vs 22%), given advice, information or counselling to people (25% vs 19%) or campaigned on behalf of the organisation (21% vs 16%). They were also more likely to have led an organisation or been a trustee or member of a committee (22% vs 19%) and provided transport (17% vs 13%).

These variations indicate that there may be some imbalances in relation to who is doing certain activities, as well as who is participating overall, as highlighted in section 3.

4.2.2 Where do they volunteer?

A large majority of volunteers give their time locally, especially older volunteers.

Figure 14 shows that eight in ten (81%) recent volunteers said that their volunteering takes place within their own neighbourhood, a number which rises for frequent volunteers (86%).

A quarter of volunteers participated outside of their neighbourhood but still in the UK. A very small proportion (3%) volunteered outside of the UK.

Older age groups were more likely to volunteer in their own neighbourhoods (88% of those aged 55+) than those aged under 55, the biggest contrast being with 25–34 year-olds (69%).

Volunteers aged 25–34, on the other hand, were the most likely to give time outside their neighbourhood (36%) or outside the UK (6%).

Volunteering most commonly takes place in community spaces or the organisation’s premises.

Volunteering happens in a variety of different places and spaces. Among recent volunteers, four in ten (42%) said they carried out their volunteering in more than one place.

The most common places were community spaces such as community halls (35%) followed by the organisation’s offices or premises (32%).

Around a quarter (26%) said that their volunteering took place in their own homes.

This was more common among older (34% of 55+) than younger (16% of 18–34) volunteers. ‘On the go’ volunteering (eg on their phone/ laptop) was selected by 16% of volunteers, among the different ways they were volunteering.

4.2.3 When do they volunteer?

Volunteering organised by employers or undertaken during working hours is not common.

Half (50%) of volunteers were working for an employer at the time of their volunteering. Of these, the vast majority (82%) said they volunteered for their main organisation outside of their work hours and this was not organised by their employer (Figure 16).

Only a small proportion volunteered during work hours, either organised by their employer (5%) or more commonly not organised by their employer (10%).

Employer-organised volunteering activities outside work hours were participated in by 7%.

Those who volunteered in one of these ways (ie any employer-supported volunteering) made up 10% of recent volunteers.^[1] Our findings show that volunteers giving time in this way were most likely to be in the 25–34 (22%) or 35–44 age groups (20%).

4.2.4 Who do they volunteer for?

Most people volunteer for local organisations.

Figure 18 shows that the majority of recent volunteers gave time to organisations operating at a local level (58%). Around a third (32%) volunteered for an organisation operating at a national level and one in five (19%) for an organisation operating regionally. Volunteering for organisations operating internationally was least common (14%).

People who volunteered for an organisation that operated at multiple levels were most likely to say that its main focus was local (52%).

Frequent volunteers were more likely than occasional volunteers to volunteer for an organisation operating locally (61% vs 54%) or an organisation operating internationally (15% vs 10%). Occasional volunteers in turn were more likely to volunteer for organisations operating nationally (35% vs 31%).

Many volunteers have a longstanding relationship with the organisation.

Figure 19 shows that 42% had first been involved with the organisation they volunteered with five or more years ago. A much smaller proportion (15%) had first got involved with them recently (in the last year). Across different age groups, 25–34 year-olds (26%) were most likely to have first got involved in the last year.

Volunteers are most likely to support leisure organisations or community groups.

Figure 20 shows the most common causes or areas people volunteered for (they could select more than one) are hobbies/recreation/arts/ social clubs (20%), local community or neighbourhood groups (20%) and health/disability and social welfare (18%).

Areas or causes varied by age and gender but less so across other demographic groups.

• The most common areas or causes differed across age groups. For example among 18–24 year-olds hobbies, recreation, arts and social clubs ranked highest by far (32%), whereas for 35–44 year-olds children’s education or schools (20%) and youth or children’s activities outside of school (19%) were most common. Volunteers aged 55 and over were most likely to volunteer for local community or neighbourhood groups (26%) and were more likely than all age groups under 55 to be involved in groups or organisations that support older people (21%).
• Men and women broadly supported similar causes. However some notable differences included that women were more likely than men to volunteer in children’s education or schools (16% vs 10%) and youth or children’s activities outside of school (16% vs 12%). Men were more likely to be involved in sports or exercise (20% vs 11%), which was the most common cause among male volunteers. They were also more likely to be involved in politics (13% vs 6%).

There are fewer differences in the areas or causes that people volunteer for by other demographic groups, including social grade, level of educational qualifications and ethnicity.

However, it is important to note that BAME volunteers were more likely to volunteer for religious causes than white volunteers (19% and 10% respectively). This reinforces the finding that BAME people were more likely to cite their religious belief as a factor in their decision to volunteer (see section 4.3.1).

Volunteering for civil society is most common.

Around two-thirds (67%) of recent volunteers had volunteered for civil society organisations (eg charity, voluntary organisation, community groups^[4]), with 17% volunteering in the public sector and 10% in the private sector (Figure 21, see appendix for sector definitions). This is in line with previous research, which cited similar proportions.29

Volunteers are not always able to identify the sector, especially those who say they volunteer for private sector organisations.

Of recent volunteers, 7% said they do not know in which sector their volunteering took place. The youngest age group of 18–24 year-olds are the age group most likely to say they don’t know (13% of 18–24s). Further analysis revealed that some volunteers do not correctly identify the sector of their organisations. This was more common among those who reported volunteering for a private sector organisation but named national charities.

Among these volunteers there was also a higher proportion who responded ‘don’t know’ to naming their organisation (separate to those who said they preferred not to say).

Caution should therefore be taken when interpreting the data relating to private sector volunteers. As a result, the report focuses on differences primarily between those volunteering for civil society organisations and those volunteering for public sector organisations.

There were some differences in participation by age and by areas or causes.

These are summarised in Table 1.

Volunteers in civil society organisations are more likely to give time frequently than public sector volunteers.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of volunteers gave their time to civil society organisations frequently (i.e. at least once a month), contrasting with 59% of public sector volunteers (Figure 22). It should be noted, however, that this was still higher than among those who volunteered occasionally for public sector organisations (34%).

The majority of volunteers give time to organisations without a paid volunteer coordinator.

Volunteers were asked whether the person organising and coordinating their volunteering was paid or unpaid or if there was no one specifically responsible for doing this.^[5]

Around three in ten (28%) volunteers said they were organised by a paid coordinator (Figure 23). A larger proportion were volunteering for organisations where volunteers were organised by an unpaid coordinator (45%).

For around one in five (18%), there was no specific person whose responsibility it was to organise and coordinate volunteers. There were 9% who said they did not know how volunteers were coordinated.

Being organised by an unpaid coordinator was most common across all age groups, but volunteers over 65 years old were the most likely to volunteer for an organisation with no one specifically responsible for coordinating (24%).

There were some variations by sector and area or cause.

These are summarised in Table 2.

4.2.5 How do they volunteer?

People volunteer in a range of ways, though most commonly on a regular basis.

As shown in Figure 24, volunteers most commonly said they took part in volunteering activities on a regular basis (48%).

However, a significant proportion also reported volunteering as part of a one-off activity or event (27%), dipping in and out of activities (28%) and volunteering as part of an ongoing project (27%). Over a third (39%) volunteered in more than one way.

23% of volunteers said they volunteered exclusively as part of a one-off activity or dipped in and out.

This indicates that volunteers are commonly participating in short-term (or ‘episodic’) volunteering (ie volunteering that is limited in time).

This type of volunteering is not new but has been associated with the rise of the more ‘reflexive’ volunteer who, due to the circumstances of their lives, prefers to get involved in a more ad-hoc way and will more readily change the organisation they volunteer with and the volunteering they do.^[6]

Volunteering takes place mostly alongside others.

A minority of 9% said they were rarely or never alongside other volunteers when volunteering, contrasted with two-thirds of volunteers (66%) who said they were always or often with others. This was particularly the case among frequent volunteers (74%).

Those volunteering ‘on the go’, in their home or at others’ homes were more likely to volunteer rarely or never alongside others than those volunteering in other locations, but they were still more likely to be volunteering with others than alone.

The role of digital in volunteering is a mixed picture.

Volunteers were asked whether the activities they carried out as part of their volunteering involved being online (examples were provided, such as starting an e-petition, updating a website, responding to emails, etc). Figure 25 shows there was a spectrum of online usage but more people reported some kind of online interaction than none at all (63% vs 35%). However, it was rare for volunteering to be undertaken exclusively online (6%).

Those aged over 55 were least likely to volunteer exclusively online, with 3% of this age group volunteering in this way, but otherwise there were few differences across age groups.

Disabled volunteers are more likely to be volunteering online than non-disabled volunteers.

Disabled people were more likely to volunteer exclusively online (10%) than non-disabled people (4%), and this was even higher among those whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot because of a health problem or disability (16%).

Disabled volunteers were also more likely to be often or very often online, indicating that online volunteering may be providing a means for disabled people to get involved.

Those volunteering exclusively online were more likely to have started giving time recently.

Volunteers who had got involved with the organisation in the last 12 months were more likely to have volunteered exclusively online than those who had started volunteering longer ago (11% vs 5%).

Whilst the findings cannot ascertain whether this kind of volunteering will increase in the future, it suggests that more of these opportunities might attract new volunteers to organisations. Other evidence showing that exclusive online volunteering is an area that is likely to expand in the future,^[7] supported by the growth of areas such as citizen science.

The largest proportion of volunteers undertake activities relating to their volunteering through a mix of online and offline.

Almost six in ten volunteers (57%) reported volunteering through a mixture of both online and offline (ie excluding those who were volunteering either exclusively or never online).

This is likely to reflect the fact that people may be using digital tools and devices as part of the administration of their volunteering (for instance writing emails to other volunteers to make arrangements or putting themselves on an online rota) as well as carrying volunteering activities online as part of their role.

In some cases, it may also reflect the different activities volunteers are involved in – as highlighted in section 4.2.1.

Other research has shown that that volunteering online or ‘virtual volunteering’ can offer new opportunities and provide existing volunteers an additional way to help an organisation or cause they are already involved with.^[8]

Occasional volunteers were more likely to be offline than frequent volunteers.

Of those who volunteer occasionally (ie less than once a month), 43% said that they were ‘never’ online, compared with 32% of frequent volunteers.

This is likely to relate to the types of activities they are undertaking (involvement in activities relating to events, for example, were most common) as well as the fact that they are less likely to be doing multiple activities compared with frequent volunteers (see section 4.2.5).

This highlights that whilst digital opportunities may increase, there is still a sizeable proportion of volunteers who are not getting involved through digital means.

4.3.1 Why do they volunteer?

Volunteers get involved for a range of reasons, but it is most commonly to benefit others.

Volunteers were asked for the most important reasons why they had first started volunteering. The motivations were wide ranging, and many were driven by a mix of different reasons (Figure 26).

The most common reason overall for getting involved was wanting to improve things or help people (42%). This mirrors findings from the 2017/18 Community Life Survey (DCMS, 2018), which also reports this as the most common motivation for volunteering.

Having a personal connection with a particular cause or particular organisation also ranked highly, as did being motivated by a need in the community or to use their existing skills.

Practical factors like having spare time also play a role in getting involved.

Having the spare time was the second highest-rated reason overall for starting to volunteer (38%) (Figure 26). This was, however, less prominent among those working full time (24%) compared with other work statuses, especially those who were retired (55%).

For over a quarter of volunteers (28%), it was prompted by someone else asking them to help. Only a small proportion – one in ten (10%) – reported ‘feeling like there was no one else available’ as one of their primary reasons for getting involved.

Motivations varied by demographics, reflecting individual priorities, life stage and context.

The highest ranked motivations remained consistent across all groups, but there were some variations. Examples include the following.

• Gaining skills and doing it for one’s career was a low priority, except for those aged 18–24. Overall, a higher proportion of people were motivated by using existing skills (28%) than gaining them (17%). Doing it for one’s career or to get a qualification (6%) was among the lowest motivators for volunteering.

The exception, however, was among those aged 18–24; gaining skills was more of a priority for them than using skills (37% vs 26%) and was on a par with wanting to improve things or help people (36%).

In addition, around one in five of this age group (22%) were motivated by their career or qualifications, a significantly higher proportion than any other age group.

• The social aspect of volunteering was more of a motivation for certain age groups and for women. Overall, around one in five (21%) volunteers started volunteering to meet people or make new friends. Across the different age groups, those aged 18–24 and 65–74 were most likely to be motivated by this reason (both 25%). Women were also more likely to volunteer for this reason than men (23% vs 18%).
• BME volunteers were more likely to volunteer because it was part of their religious belief than white volunteers (21% vs 14%). Similar findings have been reported in other studies, which highlight religious belief as an important motivation amongst BME groups.^[9]

People’s motivations for getting involved also varied according to context.

Examples of variations by contexts included the following.

• Occasional volunteers were more likely than frequent volunteers to start volunteering because their friends or family were already involved (17% vs 12%) or because it was connected to the needs of family or friends (16% vs 11%).
• There were some differences in motivations among public sector volunteers and those volunteering for civil society organisations. For example public sector volunteers were more likely than those giving time to civil society organisations to volunteer because it was connected with the needs of their family or friends (18% vs 11%) and less likely to volunteer because they wanted to meet people or make friends (13% vs 23%).
• Those volunteering in organisations with an unpaid coordinator or no coordinator were more likely to start volunteering for a range of reasons, including because someone had asked them to help (33% unpaid coordinator and 29% no coordinator vs 23% paid coordinator), the organisation was important to them (42% unpaid coordinator and 40% no coordinator vs 32% paid coordinator) and they felt no one else was available (12% unpaid coordinator and 15% no coordinator vs 5% paid coordinator).
• On the other hand, volunteers with a paid coordinator were more likely to have started because they wanted to gain skills (25% paid coordinator vs 16% unpaid coordinator and 10% no coordinator) and get on in their career (12% paid coordinator vs 4% unpaid coordinator and 2% no coordinator).

Identifying this mix of different motivations, both altruistic (desire to do something for others) and those that benefit themselves (instrumental), is important.

However, we should also bear in mind that individuals’ motivations change over time and we need to look at motivations alongside other factors when we want to understand why people get involved. We need to consider context as well as the triggers that get them started and the resources needed to volunteer.

Previous research showed that the drivers of participation (personal motivations and triggers) are tempered by people’s access to practical resources (eg time, money, health and access to transport), learnt resources (eg skills, knowledge and experience) and felt resources (eg confidence and sense of efficacy).^[10]

4.3.2 How do they get started with volunteering?

Respondents were presented with a list of different entry points they may have gone through and information and resources they may have been given (see Figure 27); these included both informal and formal information and resources.

For most, there are few processes to getting into volunteering.

Almost a quarter (23%) said they had gone through or experienced none of the processes listed. Of those who had, over half had undergone one or two processes (58%); those who had undergone five or more were a minority (16%).

It was more common for volunteers to have gone through informal processes (eg 43% informal chat) or received general information (eg 35% information about the organisation and/or role) than formal processes such as assessments (10%), criminal record or other background checks (20%) or role descriptions (13%).

However, this varies according to type of organisation and volunteering activities.

The number and formality of the entry processes or information provided varied by how people were volunteering and who they were volunteering for.

• Those volunteering more frequently (at least once a month) were more likely to have had a more extensive entry journey: of those who had undergone an entry process, 19% of those who had volunteered frequently had undergone five or more processes, compared with 7% of those who had volunteered occasionally (less frequently than once a month).
• Those giving time to organisations where volunteers were informally organised were more likely to have not gone through any processes than in organisations where there was a paid volunteer coordinator (44% of organisations with no coordinator and 25% of organisations with an unpaid coordinator vs 9% of organisations with a paid coordinator).
• Those in certain areas or causes, or those doing specific types of activities where volunteers were more likely to be working with vulnerable people and safeguarding issues, were more likely to have gone through multiple (and more formal) processes.

This included those volunteering in areas such as children and young people, older people, health, disability and social welfare, safety and first aid, and justice and human rights, and undertaking activities such as visiting people, befriending and mentoring, and giving advice, information or counselling.

• Finally, across the different sectors, those volunteering for public sector organisations were more likely than those giving time to civil society organisations to have gone through some of the more formal processes such as reference checks (19% vs 15%), criminal record/other background checks (30% vs 20%) and role descriptions (18% vs 13%).

However, behind these common features lies a more complex reality. The findings highlight the dynamic and multiple ways people get involved, with volunteers combining different types of activity, locations, causes, organisation and levels of involvement. The shape of their involvement reflects their lifestyles, values and priorities, which can vary both between individuals and over an individual’s lifetime (Brodie et al, 2011).

In the following section (section 5), we explore the volunteer experience in more detail. These findings on ‘what, where, when, who for, how and why’ people volunteer provide context for this and draw our attention to the multitude of volunteer journeys that this covers and the complexity this brings for volunteer-involving organisations.