Measuring the Impossible? Understanding the Long-Term Impact of Volunteering

How do you measure the long-term impacts of volunteering? This is a question we’ve spent considerable time debating over the last six months. Today, we’re delighted to launch a new research report that begins to answer this complex question.

Volunteering is known to support increased engagement, improve skills, employability, and well-being among young people. It plays a crucial role in tackling key social and community issues, contributing to a more inclusive society. There are indications that volunteering could also have a number of longer-term outcomes, such as enhancing employability. However, traditional surveys and exit interviews often fail to capture these effects. Determining the ‘added value’ of volunteering is essential, especially in differentiating young volunteers from their non-volunteering peers.

Working closely with the Institute for Volunteering Research, in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research, and Birkbeck College, we’ve endeavored to measure the long-term outcomes of volunteering. Our approach included a review of literature, interviews with individuals involved in longitudinal studies in the UK and internationally, and deliberative workshops with stakeholders from various sectors, including policy makers and young people. We’ve concluded that longitudinal studies are crucial to building a robust evidence base demonstrating the impact of volunteering on young people’s lives.

In the current economic climate, it’s vital to be pragmatic and devise realistic plans. This approach helps avoid inertia around investing in long-term impact measures and instead builds a commitment towards establishing a research legacy for youth volunteering. A roundtable was held to debate the draft recommendations from this project, attended by representatives from central government, think tanks, research institutions, and other stakeholders. The discussions highlighted some reservations about the complexity and ambition of longitudinal research. However, there was consensus on the necessity to advance the debate and explore research possibilities that benefit both current and future generations.

The research makes two key recommendations. Firstly, to analyze existing longitudinal data on volunteering to shape and improve new questions on volunteering in current studies. Secondly, to engage with existing surveys to add or amend questions about volunteering. Vinspired intends to advance these research recommendations by collaborating with interested partners. For further information about this research, you can read a summary of the project, accompanied by a detailed full report.

Are you interested in getting involved? We welcome collaborators to join us in furthering this crucial area of work and utilizing existing studies.

Measuring the Impossible? Understanding the Long-Term Impact of Volunteering

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