by Ruth Leonard, Chair of Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM)
Volunteers’ Week is always a moment to celebrate the people who give their time, skills and energy so generously. But in this International Volunteer Year 2026, it is also a moment to reflect on something more: whether our practices truly enable volunteers to live their values in action.
Volunteering is often described as “the backbone of our community,” yet too often we frame it through tasks, outputs, and metrics. The UN’s IVY 2026 messages remind us that volunteering is far more than a service activity. It describes volunteering as holding “deep cultural and social significance”. It fosters “solidarity, civic engagement, and a sense of belonging.” This recognises that volunteering is a way that people express who they are, what they believe, and the kind of communities they want to help create.
Volunteers act from deeply held values — compassion, justice, reciprocity, curiosity, community. Values shape why people get involved, how they participate and the meaning they make. When we design volunteer involvement that respects autonomy and agency, we respect the volunteer as a whole person. Not just a means to deliver a service.
This Volunteers’ Week, ask yourself: Do our practices make space for volunteers’ values to be expressed?
Organisational values only matter to volunteers if they can feel them. Our values show up in how we welcome people, how we communicate, how we make decisions and how we treat one another. Values shape trust, psychological safety and belonging — the foundations of meaningful involvement.
So think about: Do volunteers experience our values in every interaction they have with us?
The UN highlights that around 70% of volunteering worldwide is informal, rooted in neighbourliness, mutual aid and spontaneous acts of care. The IVY 2026 messages emphasise that volunteering is “embedded in traditions and values across cultures and plays a vital role in strengthening solidarity, civic engagement and community resilience. This is volunteering in its purest form: people responding to one another because they feel connected, responsible and part of something shared.
So, we must design processes that flex, not constrain. Systems that support community-led volunteering rather than control it. We need to recognise community-led action as legitimate and powerful. Our role as those who involve volunteers is not to control this energy of action but to enable it.
When we start with the volunteer’s values — not just organisational needs — we create deeper, richer relationships. Designing flexible, volunteer-centred systems, enables volunteers to get involved easily and meaningfully. Respecting the community values volunteers bring with them, strengthens the social fabric we all depend on.
AVM Anniversary
Firday 5 June is AVM’s 19th anniversary, so let’s celebrate by reflecting on how our practices can move towards amplifying volunteers’ dignity, agency and belonging.
Volunteering is where values become visible. When our volunteer management practice aligns with those values, we don’t just support volunteers — we strengthen the communities we all belong to.
