Talk:Volunteering

Notes from article page:

It seems to me that this phrase in the first section is a bit demeaning of the character of volunteers: "There is in most cases a range of opinions about the point at which this service changes from volunteering to something else." Also I thing the classes of volunteers listed is a bit "IT-centric" (limited to techie volunteerism)Boredwiththehype 08:12, 6 December 2006 (UTC)boredwiththehype

I've made changes to the first section - stronger and clearer I hope. I don't think the prominence of the three sections (International, ICT, online) is appropriate and would like to contract them into a section on the 'reach of volunteerism' - that goes into how much impact volunteering has, in which sectors etc... I've also created a link to this page from Wikipedia Favouritesnail 17:28, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm just wondering who's watching the 'volunteer' page and whether there's interest in some collaboration on it to deal with issues raised below and others...Favouritesnail 20:08, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Some thoughts on what could be here:

• Perhaps we could explore why we volunteer?
• A history of volunteering, particularly of the major volunteer organisations.
• A list of volunteer organisations.
  • Service club
  • community emergency response team
  • British Royal National Lifeboat Institution (see Lifeboat and discussion in Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread)

I have created Category:Voluntary organisations - please help expand it by adding articles to the category! Tjwood 22:44, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

• A list of online volunteer projects
  • Debian
  • Wikipedia
  • WorldForge
  • Open Directory Project

I wondered about the opening paragraph. Although it's valid to discuss the different definitions of "volunteer" used by different peoples, it seems contentious to begin that way, without first having introduced the subject in a more general sense. Just my thoughts. --Hiraeth 00:13, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

• • I just came across this article, read the first paragraph, and wondered why such a weak introduction existed for this article. I came to the talk page expecting to see that the introduction had come to be written the way it was so as to dispel some ongoing controversy. This definitely needs to be re-written. I'm adding it to my things to try to get to. Agent 86 18:34, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

I've just made some major changes to what was the mandatory volunteering section which I felt was really confused - and had some uncited, but as far as I know misleading references. I might have a go soon at the comments above on what could be added...--Favouritesnail 18:49, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

• The opening paragraph is misleading. The statement that volunteering happens always within a community context is directly contradicted by later statements in the article about online volunteering, which can happen outside of a community. It needs to be simplified. Right now it is too idealistic. Here's what the Dept. of Labor says about volunteers:

Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organization. [1]

• I also think that some attention needs to be paid to the Motivations heading. Right now, it's hearsay. Unless we get some studies and psychological papers on this, it's not worth the hassle. I really want to see this article look nice. It deserves better from a volunteer-driven organization. Jadeddissonance (talk) 18:11, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

I cannot find any evidence or location of the said article of Westmier and Kahn 1996 217.44.68.242 (talk) 16:48, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

External links

Another link that doesn't come up on dmoz is www.christianvolunteering.org. I don't think that there is a similar page around, so it might be helpful to list.

I recommend adding ICVolunteers, as this international group focuses on, and is probably the point of reference for cross-sector initiatives, as opposed to straight volunteer-matching services. Note particularly their cyber-volunteering and reporting programs. Randyschmieder 07:37, 20 September 2006 (UTC) ICVolunteers.

This article had far too many external links in the EL section. I have removed them and replaced them with a link to the dmoz. This is how it looked before I removed them. The article still has many external links scattered about the article itself. These should be cleaned up at some point as well. --AbsolutDan ^(talk) 03:21, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

The external links to Volunteer agencies seem quite arbitrary. There are at least half-a-dozen different agencies within Australia, yet the only one linked is Youth Challenge whose development outcomes are dubious at best. When I have added a different agency it was deleted, which I understand - I won't add them again, but for some reason they and other country reps remain. If there is a policy of removing external links, can it be honoured more widely? -- Bertsnert

You're right - the lists were unnecessary, especially now that there is a DMOZ link at the end. I've removed all the blatent lists, they're only spam-bait. There's still an excessive amount of external links here though... --AbsolutDan ^(talk) 03:42, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

I added volunteermatch.org because it was not listed on the DMoz list and is, I believer, one of the most commonly used (try typing your zip code in and see how many listings come up). MelissaG

Maybe we should add Idealist.org to the volunteer links; they have international volunteer listings while VolunteerMatch is US-centric? Dave A.

I think we should also add www.onlinevolunteering.org website? It's the #1 portal for online volunteering with focus on development. Konstantinakk 14:40, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

• I just removed two new external links that didn't seem to be discussed or added through consensus. Unless there is some sort of link to a generic global listing of the widest possible scope, I don't really think there are many links, if any, that are appropriate or necessary to illustrate the article. Agent 86 22:25, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

• I recommend adding www.greatnonprofits.org. It's a wonderful non profit organization gathering many volunteer and work opportunities for people wanting to get involved in nonprofits. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iastudilloi (talk • contribs) 18:47, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

• I recomend Volunteer Forum because its the only Global Volunteer Forum that don't have an organization behind = not objective to a single organization, with other words you can talk about everything and all organizations. The site has been up since 2005

Please see the above discussion for the reasons why this link is not approrpiate for this article. Thanks, Gwernol 18:50, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

• I recomend adding www.greatergoodsa.co.za as a link to this site. The organisation is noted for encouraging corporates and the average Joe Soap to volunteer in their communities as well as on their nation volunteering day in SA- Do It Day. Does anyone have any objections to this?

Experience the gift (talk) 11:07, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

The site while good in its own context does not meet the needs of an encyclopedia. It's a "social marketplace" not a source of encyclopedic information about the subject of volunteers or volunteering. It does not appear to meet our guidelines. -- SiobhanHansa 13:10, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

• Perhaps it should be mentioned that the oldest volunteering association in the world is italian, and it is the Misericordia Of Firenze because it was founded in the 13th century. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.10.55.174 (talk) 09:40, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

If there's a reliable source that verifies Misericordia's standing as the oldest voluntary association that would probably be a good bit of history to add to the article. As external links neither the Misericordia nor the blog posting seem appropriate. Links should provide significant additional encyclopedic information about volunteering - those two only really talk about specific orgs. And the blog has a full screen of advertising before you scroll down to any content at all. -- SiobhanHansa 13:29, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Quality Housing and Work Responsibilty Act (QHWRA)

If you live in public housing you know what I'm talking about. I read in a recent article that linked from Idealist.org to a PBS website [[2]]that said that a person between 18-62, isn't disabled, and isn't in school has to do 8 hours of mandatory community service. Here is a link to the a HUD website PDF that explains what QHWRA is [[3]]in detail. I find that this goes with the Mandatory Volunteering section of the article. --Natjo1986 I agree - maybe the best way to go is a list of examples of Mandatory Communtiy Service within that section with a brief note about each: Examples are High School graduation requirements, Service as Punishment for truancy, Court-ordered community service, 'Workfare' (service as a condition of receiving welfare), QHRWA (service as a condition of publicly subsidized housing), Service as a condition of rehabilitation/insurance benefits, obligations through schools and rec programs... all of these are often called 'volunteering' simply because they are community service and don't involved clear 'pay'... feel free to start the list!Favouritesnail 15:39, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Linking websites and agencies section

At the moment this section is just a directory in prose format, and seems to be a sink hole for people adding their own websites to it. I intend deleting it and instead writing something about how the Internet has changed volunteering. I'm going to find some refs (I'm sure I've seen some things on this in journals focused on the voluntary sector). Any comments (or help!) would be appreciated. --Siobhan Hansa 16:55, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Would like to add a link from the Association of Voluntary Service Organizations (AVSO)

Hi there, I would like to add a link from the Association of Voluntary Service Organisations (AVSO). AVSO is an international NGO and a European platform of NGOs offering opportunities for long-term full-time international and/or national voluntary service. Among other things, they lobby the EU institutions and in general, they try to improve the conditions for volunteering.

They also provide information about volunteering opportunities, about NGOs to address, or the European Voluntary Service (EVS).

So I guess that this is a link that belongs here - what is your opinion?

This is their webpage: http://www.avso.org —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Seelayah (talk • contribs) 16:54, 23 February 2007 (UTC).

As I cannot find any objections to my idea, I guess I can take it for an "ok"... :-) Seelayah 14:03, 20 March 2007 (UTC) Looking for FOREIGNER Volunteer as a Teacher based in Sandakan - Abai/Sukau Lodge :lol:

You do not need skills but desire to teach. For a month, volunteers to this beautiful region will have the experience of a lifetime. We will provide free and transportation. For giving a month or more of your time free accommodation and some meals will be supplied. The benefits especially to our staffs they are mainly Malay & Sungai peoples , the ability to speak even a little English and to feel comfortable around foreigners will assure them of a job in tourist rich Kinabatangan. Come and give your time to our Native and have a rewarding holiday stay in Abai & Sukau located at one of the most Longest River - Lower Kinabatangan in Sabah. :arrow: http ://www.freewebs.com/shirechinsabahtravelstation - pls email shirechin@hotmail.com

Linking websites and agencies section

I removed this because it was simply a directory of different organizations that canvassed for volunteers over the Internet. And that's against our policies. It would be great to create an encyclopedic section on the way in which the Internet has changed volunteering, if anyone has any sources please post them here! Thanks -- Siobhan Hansa 23:43, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

May I suggest adding Volunteering England as this does not promote any particular voluntary organisation and gives information about volunteering. --Vince (talk) 16:04, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

References or sources

Why not to change "Notes" for "References" remaining the same content? The difference between references, notes and external links are often small, but tagging acts as "unreferenced" without word "References".Ans-mo 13:43, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

This article is kinda weird

It tells briefly about volunteering, then lists one organization. A couple things are weird about this, such as that some volunteer organizations offer room and board in exchange for service. Also, it should list more famous volunteer organizations like PeaceCorps and GlobalVolunteerNetwork (which in addition to Nepal, has centers in China and Japan). Bulmabriefs144 (talk) 17:09, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

How many volunteers

In Denmark the number of volunteers have been halved during the last 5 years due to a combination of high taxes and general disappointment with the gratitude of effort put in aid to foreign nations as we saw it during the cartoon crisis.

• Interessen for frivilligt arbejde svigter, by Kim Schou, Kristligt Dagblad, April 11 2009

It could be interesting to see if this development is a Danish phenomenon or the 11'th crusade has caused a similar development in other countries as well.
Covergaard (talk) 19:22, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

The term is contested

The term "volunteer" is a hotly contested term, and the article should say so (with an appropriate citation). Go to any online discussion group of volunteer managers and you will see debates about who is and isn't a volunteer. Is someone a volunteer because of their motivation or because they aren't paid? There is no agreement on this question, and the article should say so.

This article needs citations -- so many statements are pure opinion.

Also, the examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States.

I've posted to all the various online discussion groups for both volunteer managers and those who study volunteerism, encouraging them to edit this page and provide citations. I did this both in 2008 and 2009. Maybe I'll try again in 2010. Jcravens42 09:23, 05 January 2010 (UTC-8)

TRY 2011 its the EU year of VOlunteering http://www.eyv2011.eu/ also look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_fire_department and the french pages and you will see there are 2 different views of volunteer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.231.178.239 (talk) 17:27, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Maybe look at tax, insurance and benefit regulations for official definitions ?

ukvf.org.uk oddly starts with French (or Belgian?) definitions. Expenses & subsistence(maybe) OK, but no 'consideration' - pay or 'benefits in kind'!

Is the amateur-professional distinction identical to the volunteer-employee question ?

--195.137.93.171 (talk) 17:30, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Volunteerism ?

This page Volunteering seems to have been created from Volunteerism, and stuff merged from Volunteer. Volunteerism could still be a useful topic, but could either be 'pro' - the ideology or phenomenon - or 'anti' - discrimination against volunteers (like racism or sexism). Neither volunteerism nor motorism is a current UK English usage.--195.137.93.171 (talk) 17:30, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Ah, found the missing link and added it to the top ! Voluntarism (disambiguation)

Ought that to be merged with Volunteer (disambiguation) ?

I guess the English language is pretty broken here - en-us and en-gb are probably irreconcilable !

--195.137.93.171 (talk) 17:30, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Is this global in scope?

It has been suggested that this article is too focussed on the US. I decided to add an external link to Volunteering Australia, but found a note saying all links to individual organisations would be removed! At present there is only one 'External link' (to an American site)! So is there a place for a link such as mine? --Greenmaven (talk) 21:39, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

Considering feedback from other users on this talk page, I tried making major edit in the article. It did seem truly focused on US perspective. It tried cleaning up and adding more global perspective to it. If you have any of your suggestion, you are allowed to make direct but reliable edit to the article. Salman 11:34, 30 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Samsujata (talk • contribs)

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Improvements and Major Edit

I have carried out the improvements and major edit in the article, considering feedback from User:Bulmabriefs144 and other users on this talk page. I have removed the section (Moral Resources, Political Capital and Civil Society), and added Etymology & History instead, which reckons more reliable, referrable and encyclopedic in nature.

I tried finding authentic and reliable online resources to back up my major edit. Anyone, who have feedbacks, edit or any suggestion, are to free to do so. Salman 11:30, 30 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Samsujata (talk • contribs)

Academic research on volunteering in Britain

I've done academic research on the topic of volunteering by asylum seekers and refugees in England, I thought this might be useful as a source for people developing the page. For example the following article: Version of record is here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0896920514526623 An open access version is here: http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26185/ --TomVickers (talk) 14:05, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Women's formal and informal volunteering, and a conceptual overhaul of the page

I think this article needs a section on the importance of women's volunteering in their local communities, particularly 1900-1970. Their activities would include civic organizations such as League of Women Voters, religious organizations, PTAs, etc. Another section should exist on the importance of religion-based volunteering (for the poor and sick,etc.) across the world. The article as it exists seems much too focused, and with too much detail, on international organizations. I would like to see a more conceptual approach for the article overall: what kinds of volunteering exist, with examples of them. Details are only necessary to differentiate volunteer organizations' orientations, or how they changed over time. I may have a go at this editing if other people find my approach of interest. Downtowngal (talk) 17:14, 16 November 2020 (UTC)