Volunteering and Social Development : A Background Paper for Discussion at an Expert Group Meeting New York by Justin Davis - October 1999

Section 4: Issues and Challenges for Volunteering
Globalization
32. Volunteering is coming under pressure from the forces of globalization. In the countries of the industrialized North there is concern that volunteering is in decline, fuelled by a reduction in religious attachment, the break-up of traditional communities, and an increase in individualism. In the developing world concern has been expressed that economic retrenchment and cuts in public services are placing an intolerable burden on volunteers in community groups and mutual aid associations. In many countries the entry of more women into the paid labour market threatens to reduce the availability of volunteers, particularly in the care field (although most studies suggest men and women volunteer at roughly equal levels); while a decline in civic involvement among young people has raised fears for the future of volunteering and focused attention on the need to educate young people in the values of citizenship.

33. Not all trends, however, are working against volunteering. The ageing of the population common to many parts of the world is increasing the burden on volunteer care services but it is also opening up new opportunities for voluntary work among the new and increasingly active Third Age. Although developments in communication technology run the risk of reducing social interaction still further, they also open up new opportunities for voluntary activity. The Internet has proved to be a powerful resource for community and campaigning groups in the spread of ideas and the mobilization of recruits. As the 1999 Human Development Report commented: 'Socially excluded and minority groups have created cybercommunities to find strength in on-line unity and fight the silence on abuses of their rights' (UNDP, 1999). And the spread of global information technology opens up new opportunities for home-based involvement in volunteering for groups such as the disabled who were previously excluded from participation.

34. Other new forms of volunteering are taking shape. One of the most interesting is service credit, or time-dollar schemes, in which people who take part in voluntary activity are 'paid' in time donated by other volunteers. There are now over 200 such schemes in the United States and the idea is attracting attention in many other countries, including Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany. Many of the schemes are highly sophisticated with a central computer system registering every 'time dollar' earned and spent and providing participants with regular accounts. Advocates for such schemes point to their value in building social capital and in challenging traditional stereotypes of volunteering as charity by the explicit emphasis on exchange and reciprocity. Governments can support the development of such schemes by exempting them from taxation and by enabling participants to use their 'time credits' to purchase services such as health care or continuing education. The AmeriCorps programme of voluntary service in the United States already allows for the use of 'time dollars' to pay off student loans.

In Washington DC the law firm Holland and Knight developed a time dollar project under its pro bono programme. Legal services were provided to a local community on a range of issues, from unfreezing grant money and closing crack houses to keeping open the neighborhood school. In total they had billed the equivalent of $230,000 in time dollars. The bill was paid off by the voluntary work of the local residents who took part in a range of activities including providing a night escort service for older people and tutoring for school children.

Relations with the State
35. Theories of market or government failure suggest that volunteers will step in to fill any gaps left by the withdrawal of business or the state. This has raised the concern that governments might be tempted to cut back on public spending in the knowledge that volunteers will pick up the pieces. Volunteers have long played a role in developing new services in response to human need - the hospice movement and the development of services for those with HIV and AIDS - being two recent examples. But there is little evidence to support the notion that volunteering will thrive in the absence of the state. Indeed the opposite appears to be the case. Volunteering benefits from a healthy public sector. Rather than substituting for public services volunteering complements and feeds off them. As Robert Putnam has concluded: 'Social capital works through and with State's and markets, not in place of them'.

36. Volunteering is a cost effective way of providing a range of social and welfare services. But it is not cost free. To flourish it requires an effective infrastructure, both at national and local level, to help mobilize support and match volunteers to appropriate organizations and tasks. Governments have a role to play in funding this infrastructure. Following the Great Hanshin/Awaji Earthquake in Japan in 1995, when over one million volunteers flocked to the Kobe region to help with the relief operation, the Japanese Government embarked upon a series of measures to build on the explosion of public interest in volunteering, including a strengthening of the infrastructure and a new legislative framework.

37. In a number of countries governments have adopted or supported specific programmes and campaigns to promote volunteering. Examples include the Give Five campaign in the United States, the Imagine Campaign in Canada, the Active Community Initiative in the United Kingdom, the MIRA programme in Mexico and the National Volunteer Development Scheme in Nepal.

In Mexico in 1994 the Centro Mexicano para la Filantropia launched the MIRA programme (translated as 'look out for others') to increase the number of donors and volunteers. A key goal was to increase public awareness about philanthropy and project a more positive image of volunteering and giving. Links were made with the national media and business and a 'Friends of MIRA' group of well-known figures from the world of TV, sport and business was established to champion the cause. Recognition was given to active 'MIRA Citizens' who gave at least one hour of volunteer time per week or 1% of their income.

38. As well as supporting volunteering governments should give it space to breathe. They should avoid the temptation to try and take it over for their own ends. Volunteering as an essential element of good governance and civic society requires a separation from the state. Whilst volunteering brings significant benefits to society in terms of social integration and economic advance it also serves the vital function of safeguarding citizen liberty from an over-powerful executive. Volunteering can thus come into conflict with the state. But if governments are to reap the benefits from volunteering they must also be prepared to live with the potential for confrontation. In the United Kingdom the Labour Government has recently signed a Compact with voluntary and community organizations which recognizes the essential independence of the sector and of the right of volunteers to advocate for change (Home Office, 1998); while in Canada the government and the voluntary sector has come together in a series of 'Joint Tables' to produce a strategy for developing and strengthening voluntary agencies and volunteering (Government of Canada/Voluntary Sector Joint Initiative, 1999).

Relations with the Market
39. Studies have demonstrated a link between volunteering and employability. For those in search of paid employment volunteering can boost self-confidence, provide access to workplace networks and provide an opportunity for the development of specific marketable skills. Volunteering can also lead to the creation of new jobs by developing services which are later taken over by the state and turned into paid jobs. For example, the innovative response from volunteers worldwide to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has led to the creation of thousands of jobs in the public and private health sectors.

40. In recent years the private sector has begun to take an interest in volunteering. Both as part of a broader community investment strategy and as a means of staff development, businesses have been developing schemes to support their staff in voluntary activities in the community. Such schemes take on a variety of forms. Some employers provide time-off with pay for their staff to volunteer; others provide financial support or assistance in kind (for example, transportation or photocopying facilities) to facilitate community involvement. Some employers organize a company volunteering scheme; others prefer to recognize and support existing staff involvement. Whatever the precise model, evidence suggests that employer-supported volunteering increases staff skills and morale and enhances the standing of business within the local community.

In 1981 the Osaka Gas Company Ltd, the main gas supplier in the Kansai region of Japan, launched an employer-supported volunteering programme under the name of 'Chiisa na Tomoshibi' or 'Tiny lamplight'. The company promoted the scheme through newsletters and posters and new recruits were introduced to the scheme as part of their induction. Two leave systems were devised: one allowing staff to take from one to 12 months off as 'voluntary service leave', and a second allowing for up to 10 days of 'community service leave'. After a slow start, with just 400 staff involved in its first year of operation the scheme expanded rapidly, so that by 1994 a staggering 13,500 employees were involved as volunteers. The scheme has since been expanded to encompass both retired staff and the families of employees.

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