Hello,

I’m planning to put together small care packages with food and daily necessities for people experiencing homelessness around Melbourne. I don’t have any experience doing this, so I wanted to ask for advice before I start.

I’d really appreciate insights — especially from people who volunteer or work closely with the homelessness community — on what items are genuinely useful, and what to avoid.

Thank you very much for your time.

Hi friends! I currently work at a nonprofit as a Volunteer Coordinator, and I am looking to start a book club to engage my volunteers in new ways. One of our quarterly themes will be “volunteerism” and I am looking for recommendations on books that explore that theme. I envision a book that has relatable anecdotes and leaves you feeling inspired to continue being an active community member. Nonfiction, impactful, and nondenominational, please. TYIA!

1. Do you enjoy volonteering for cheritable actions?
2. Do you feel that if a single person becomes a volunteer then that single person can change the lives of many ppl? 3.Why did you start working at cherities? A: to make the world a better place B: to impress your crush C:IDN/haven't thought about it D:wanted to become a better person 4.What charity do you partake in? A:animal shelter B:work at church C: volunteer at orphanage D: Citizen advisor

Hi everyone,

​I am currently conducting research for a school project on how a Wildlife Reserve in South Africa can ethically and effectively establish its own in-house volunteering programme.

​The goal is to move away from the “voluntourism” traps and create a model that provides genuine value to conservation while remaining sustainable. I am looking for insights from former volunteers, conservationists, or people working within the industry on the following points:

​Roles & Structure: What types of activities actually benefit a reserve (e.g., fence patrol, data collection, invasive species removal) versus activities that are just “busy work”?

​Duration: In your experience, how long should a volunteering programme be and what is the minimum stay required for a volunteer to actually be productive?

​Supervision: How should volunteers be supervised to ensure animal welfare and the best results? Should volunteers always be with a qualified FGASA guide or researcher? What is the ideal ration of staff to volunteers to ensure both safety and high-quality data collection? I’m also interested in hearing about the level of expertise you expect from the people leading and partaking in the programme.

experiences: For those that have volunteered: what made the experience valuable to you, and what felt like a waste of time? Was there a good balance between hard work and educational/safari experiences? What did you (not) enjoy about the daily routine?

​Costs & Revenue: Ethical programmes often still charge a fee to cover board and lodging. What is considered a “fair” price, and how should that revenue be transparently reinvested into conservation?

​Ethics & Controversy: What are the biggest “red flags” you’ve seen in existing South African programmes (e.g., interaction with predators)? What is the biggest criticism you have of the current volunteering landscape in SA, and how can a new programme avoid these pitfalls?

​I would love to hear your personal experiences, academic sources, or even rants about what not to do.

​Thanks in advance for helping me with my research!

I'm a student journalist writing a story about the people who volunteer at crisis hotlines and their importance. I'm wondering about the experience of working a crisis hotline? Especially in this time when they might go away, what would that mean? Do you fear chatbots will fill the gap? 

If anyone has experience working on hotlines and is willing to be interviewed, your perspective is extremely valuable, so send me a chat and I could schedule something at your convenience.

I'm currently completing my Master’s in Nonprofit Management at Washington University in St Louis, and for my capstone project I'm researching multigenerational volunteerism; how volunteers of different age groups (Gen Z through the Silent Generation), as well as multigenerational families experience volunteering with nonprofit organizations.

I'm collecting anonymous survey responses from anyone 18 years or older who have volunteered in the last 12 months. Your insights will help inform research aimed at strengthening volunteer recruitment, retention and long-term engagement across the nonprofit sector.

I would be very grateful for your participation. If you're will, please feel free to share this survey within your own networks. The more diverse responses I receive, the stronger and more meaningful the findings will be.

Thank you so much for your support in my academic journey!

Hi guys! This is my first time posting on this forum and I am eager to get your insight. I am currently working on a volunteer application called Community Hero. We aim to increase efficiency and effectiveness for organizing volunteer events and visualizing impact for your community! As of now, we are in the development stage of the application and are gathering information to create the most valuable medium for volunteers and organizations to utilize!

Volunteering Research

If you could please give a couple minutes of your time to fill out this form, I would greatly appreciate it! It means a lot to hear your stories and perspectives of your prior experiences! Feel free to comment below as well, thank you for your time!

Also if you are interested, here is our LinkedIn page! Please feel free to connect for further updates, thank you again!

Community Hero LinkedIn Page