The second session of the 2026 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) Global Webinar Series, held on 16 April 2026, brought together over 600 participants from across sectors and regions. The webinar focused on how to measure the value of volunteerism at individual and community levels. 

Organized by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in collaboration with the Northumbria University Research Consortium, the session focused on presenting a variety of approaches to measuring volunteer impact, drawing on Chapters 4 and 5 of the 2026 SWVR. 

Setting the scene: Why measuring value matters? 

Emiliya Asadova, Team Lead for Evidence at UNV, opened the session by highlighting the need to strengthen the evidence base on volunteerism. Further, in her opening remarks Dr Jessica Faieta, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and member of the SWVR High-Level Advisory Group, stressed that consistent measurement is needed to show how volunteerism contributes to development outcomes with importance to inform policy and funding decisions with regards to volunteerism.  

How volunteerism impact individuals: Skills, health and well-being? 

The roundtable discussion led by Professor Matt Baillie Smith and Dr Bianca Fadel of Northumbria University hosted a range of experts from different regions.  Professor Sarah Mills (UK) and Dr Egidius Kamanyi (Tanzania) presented findings from SWVR Chapter 4 on how volunteering affects skills development and employability, physical and mental health together with confidence and resilience. They noted that volunteering can bring benefits but also risks, including stress and exclusion. Importantly, they highlighted that structured and well-supported volunteering pathways are more likely to translate into tangible labor market outcomes, particularly for young people, and that inclusive design of volunteer opportunities is critical to ensure marginalized groups can access and benefit from these experiences. 

Dr Kamanyi highlighted that measurement must capture both the benefits and risks of volunteering, including less visible outcomes such as well-being, social connection, and potential negative impacts like burnout or exclusion. Professor Mills emphasized that quantitative data should be combined with qualitative insights to reflect actual volunteer experience, noting that mixed-method approaches allow for a more nuanced understanding of how and why volunteering delivers impact. He also stressed that context-sensitive measurement frameworks are essential to account for differences across regions and groups, and that stronger evidence can better inform policies and programmes that maximize positive outcomes for volunteers and communities. 

Can Laos set an example: Measurement at grassroots level? 

Vanna Chomsavanh, from the Association for Promoting Learning and Skills Development for Youth in Community (APLSY) in Laos, presented how local organizations measure volunteer impact. Her organization, working with over 100 youth volunteers, uses participation tracking, interviews and post-assessments. This approach captures both outputs and changes in skills, leadership and community engagement, even with limited resources.  

If we only count hours, do we miss the real economic value? 

Dr Jakub Dostál (Czech Republic), Dr Jacqueline Butcher (Mexico) and Professor Katy Jenkins (UK) examined how volunteering contributes to development outcomes. Dr Dostál explained methods to estimate economic contribution, including the ILO replacement wage approach, noting that “if we only count hours, we miss the real economic value that volunteering generates across sectors.”  
Further, Dr Butcher highlighted volunteer roles in health, education and community support, stressing that “it is not enough to measure what volunteers do - we must understand the outcomes and changes their work creates in people’s lives.” Professor Jenkins focused on inequalities, calling for disaggregated data and inclusive methods, emphasizing that “without disaggregated and context-sensitive data, we risk reinforcing the very inequalities we seek to address.” 

Cynthia Marquez Pugelj, from the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), presented global data from the Scouts for the SDG Mobilization initiative. She showed how volunteer engagement of 112 million volunteers across 164 countries and 2.7 billion service hours is tracked using global indicators, case studies, and digital reporting tools. Her presentation showed that measurements must cover both scale and community-level change.  

Key takeaway 

Speakers agreed on one point: measuring volunteerism must move beyond counting activities to assess impact. This requires combining quantitative and qualitative data, using context-specific tools, and including volunteers in the measurement process. In the most important focus, measurement is needed to ensure volunteer contributions are visible and used in decision-making. Key takeaways also underscored that current data gaps limit the ability of governments to integrate volunteerism into national statistics and policy frameworks, that capturing intangible outcomes such as trust, social cohesion and empowerment is essential, and that standardized yet adaptable frameworks, such as GIVE, can bridge comparability with local relevance. 

The session concluded with strong engagement from participants and a clear focus on the next steps, particularly around strengthening national capacities for measuring volunteerism and aligning approaches with global standards. 

The next webinar will introduce the Global Index of Volunteer Engagement (GIVE), a framework designed to improve how volunteerism is measured across different contexts.