Value of Volunteering Wheel

The Value of Volunteering Wheel illustrates the many benefits of volunteering to building confidence, competence, connections, and community. It also serves as a portal to research that examines the social and economic value to organizations, neighbourhoods, businesses, society-at-large and to volunteers themselves.

By clicking on the different sections within the document or scrolling down, you can explore this field from many angles.

Please share any additional studies with us so that we can keep the wheels turning!

Volunteers

• Wellbeing

  • The Relation of Volunteering and Subsequent Changes in Physical Disability in Older Adults (2017)
  • Association of volunteering with mental well-being: a lifecourse analysis of a national population-based longitudinal study in the UK (2016) 
  • Le bénévolat: créateur de liens sociaux (2015) (only available in French)
  • Social Impact of Volunteerism (2011)
  • Report of the National Seniors Council on Volunteering Among Seniors and Positive and Active Aging (2010)
  • Providing social support may be more beneficial than receiving it: Results from a prospective study of mortality (2003)
  • Les bienfaits de l’implication sociale (only available in French)

• Skill-development

  • Le bénévolat: créateur de liens sociaux (2015) (only available in French)
  • Social Impact of Volunteerism (2011) 
  • Ten Professional Development Benefits of Volunteering (2006)
  • Report of the National Seniors Council on Volunteering Among Seniors and Positive and Active Aging (2010)
  • Le bénévolat de compétences, un impact réel au bénéfice des bénévoles et des associations. (only available in French)
  • L’intégration d’une composante d’expérience communautaire à la formation médicale en milieu francophone minoritaire (2014) (only available in French)

• Sense of belonging

  • L’intégration dans la collectivité des personnes vivant avec un problème de santé mentale (2015) (Only available in French)
  • Volunteering: A catalyst for citizen engagement, social inclusion, and resilient communities (2013)
  • Report of the National Seniors Council on Volunteering Among Seniors and Positive and Active Aging, 2010

• Integrating newcomers

  • Community Cup, We Are a Big Family: Examining Social Inclusion and Acculturation of Newcomers to Canada through a Participatory Sport Event (2015)
  • Pourquoi être bénévole et comment trouver un poste? (2015) (only available in French)
  • Volunteering with Newcomers: The Perspectives of Canadian and Foreign-born Volunteers (2012) 
  • Bénévolat: une clé d’intégration (2012) (only available in French)
  • How Ethnic Congregations Help Immigrants Integrate into Canada (2005)

Organizations

• Capacity

  • Strengthening the Capacity of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations to Serve Canadians (2006) (English Only)
  • Le bénévolat de compétences, un impact réel au bénéfice des bénévoles et des associations (only available in French)

• Access to skills

  • Skills Based Volunteerism: A New Generation of Service (2015) 
  • Le bénévolat de compétences, un impact réel au bénéfice des bénévoles et des associations (only available in French)

• Community engagement

  • Maximizing Capacities of Advanced Education Institutions to Build Social Infrastructure (2017) 
  • L’intégration d’une composante d’expérience communautaire à la formation médicale en milieu francophone minoritaire (2014) (only available in French)

• Diversity

  • L’intégration dans la collectivité des personnes vivant avec un problème de santé mentale (2015) (only available in French)
  • Ex-offenders as Peer Volunteers: Promising Practices for Community-based Programs Research Report (2006) 
  • Diversity in Volunteering (2005)

Businesses

• Attracting talent

  • 2017 Deloitte Volunteerism Study (2017)
  • Putting Purpose to Work: A Study of purpose in the workplace (2017)
  • Recognizing Volunteering in 2017 (2017)
  • The Business Case for Purpose (2017)
  • Cone Communications Employee Engagement Study (2016)
  • Construire ensemble l’engagement associatif des salariés - Guide Entreprises & associations (2016) (only available in French)
  • Illuminating the Signals Job Seekers Receive from an Employer's Community Involvement and Environmental Sustainability Practices: Insights into Why Most Job Seekers Are Attracted, Others Are Indifferent, and a Few Are Repelled (2016)

• Workforce development

  • 2016 Deloitte Impact Survey. Building leadership skills through volunteerism (2016)
  • Construire ensemble l’engagement associatif des salariés - Guide Entreprises & associations (2016) (only available in French)
  • Le bénévolat, facteur de retour à l’emploi. La reconnaissance des compétences bénévoles (2006) (only available in French)

• Employee engagement

  • 2017 Deloitte Volunteerism Study (2017)
  • Putting Purpose to Work: A Study of purpose in the workplace (2017)
  • Recognizing Volunteering in 2017 (2017) 
  • The Business Case for Purpose (2017)
  • Cone Communications Employee Engagement Study (2016)
  • Construire ensemble l’engagement associatif des salariés - Guide Entreprises & associations (2016) (only available in French)
  • The Business Value of Volunteering (2015)
  • Giving Commitment: Employee Support Programs and the Prosocial Sensemaking Process

• Stakeholder relations

  • Canadian Code for Employer-Supported Volunteering (2015)
  • The Business Value of Volunteering (2015)

Neighbourhoods

• Resiliency

  • Volunteering: A Catalyst for Citizen Engagement, Social Inclusion and Resilient Communities (2013)
  • Quels sont les impacts du bénévolat pour la communauté? (only available in French)

• Leadership

  • Getting Wisdom – The transformative Power of Community Service Learning (2010) ​

• Cohesion

  • Social Impact of Volunteerism (2011)
  • Ex-offenders as Peer Volunteers: Promising Practices for Community-based Programs Research Report (2006) 

• Social inclusion

  • L’intégration dans la collectivité des personnes vivant avec un problème de santé mentale (2015) (only available in French)
  • Social Impact of Volunteerism (2011)
  • Rendre compte du movement bénévole au Québec - créateur de liens autant que de biens (2007) (only available in French)​

Society

• Just society

  • 2015. State of the World’s Volunteerism Report – Transforming Governance (2015)
  • Quels sont les impacts du bénévolat pour la communauté? (only available in French)

• Citizen engagement

  • Social Impact of Volunteerism (2011) 
  • Rendre compte du movement bénévole au Québec - créateur de liens autant que de biens (2007) (only available in French)

• Informed public policy

  • Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement (2017)

• Enhanced democracy

  • Social Impact of Volunteerism (2011)
  • Report on the role of volunteering in contributing to economic and social cohesion, (2007/2149(INI))