Forum Research Report – COVID-19 and the Future of Volunteering for Development Findings from a study conducted for the International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum)

In mid-2020, Forum launched an ambitious research project to inform the future of volunteering for development post-COVID. A team of researchers  –  Helene Perold, Cliff Allum, Jacob Mati and Benjamin Lough –  have worked with Forum members and volunteering networks to explore our sector’s response to the pandemic, new and emerging volunteering modalities, and the bigger questions of what COVID means for volunteering in development and where we go from here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on volunteering for development, fundamentally disrupting operations, volunteers and communities, programmes, and ways of working. While volunteer involving organisations (VIO) and their partners quickly sought ways of adapting their activities, restrictions on movement and other safety measures required by governments created a climate of uncertainty, challenging programme operations substantially. Even with the wide availability of vaccines drawing ever closer, international volunteer cooperation organisations and other VIOs confront an uncertain future and great challenges.

This research report examines the lessons from the COVID-19 experience in 2020, the emergence of alternative programme models, and the future of volunteering for development. A detailed study was conducted with seven international volunteer cooperation organisations, in addition to the collection of qualitative data (individual and focus group interviews involving 56 participants) and quantitative data through two online surveys – one with VIOs and one with volunteers.

This report is the centrepiece of a three-part research series. It is followed by a report of the findings of surveys of volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations, and a set of detailed case studies of Forum members.