What it means for employers, and how to respond in practice
By Dewi Thomas, CEO, Employee Volunteering
In 2026, the United Nations is marking the International Year of Volunteers (IVY 2026), bringing global attention to the role volunteers play in supporting communities under pressure.
For employers, this isn’t just a symbolic year or a communications moment. It’s a chance to step back and take a more considered look at the role volunteering already plays through their people, and the value it creates not only in communities, but inside organisations themselves.
After nearly two decades working alongside businesses and charities, one thing has become very clear to me: corporate volunteering works best when it is treated as a serious contribution, not an add-on. When it’s designed thoughtfully, supported properly and recognised with credibility, it becomes a source of strength for communities and for the organisations that enable it.
This article explores what IVY 2026 means in practice, and how employers can use the year to strengthen both social impact and employee experience in a way that lasts.
What is the UN International Year of Volunteers 2026?
IVY 2026 is a global initiative led by the United Nations to recognise volunteerism and the role it plays in building resilient communities.
The UN’s call is simple, but significant:
to see volunteers, support them, and stand with them more deliberately.
It also places volunteering more clearly in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, reinforcing something those of us working in this space already know: volunteer contribution is not informal or incidental. It is a core driver of social progress.
Why does the International Year of Volunteers matter to employers?
Employee volunteering doesn’t happen in isolation from working life. For many people, their ability to volunteer is enabled by their employer through volunteering time policies, flexible working, cultural permission and leadership signals.
At the same time, organisations are operating in a context of sustained pressure. Communities are facing challenges from multiple directions at once:
- public services are stretched, increasing reliance on charities and volunteers
- cost of living pressures are driving greater demand for advice and support
- climate disruption is being felt locally, not abstractly
- rapid technological change, including AI, is creating both opportunity and anxiety
Research from the Charities Aid Foundation shows that only around 25% of UK businesses actively support charities. Yet those that do often provide skills, stability and capacity that would otherwise be unavailable.
From where I sit, IVY 2026 offers employers a timely opportunity to look more closely at how volunteering is enabled, recognised and embedded across the organisation, and whether it reflects the responsibility businesses already carry through their people.
What does corporate volunteering really involve today?
Volunteering is still sometimes imagined as light-touch or occasional. In practice, corporate volunteering often involves applying judgement, skills and emotional energy in situations where support is limited and needs are immediate. Volunteers step in where responsiveness is stretched, where specialist capability is missing, and where people feel overlooked or under pressure.
In well-designed programmes, volunteers aren’t just “helping out”. They are contributing expertise and care in situations where it genuinely matters. They do this not because they are required to, but because they choose to – enabled by employers who create the time, permission and leadership signals that make volunteering part of the wider employment offer.
Recognising that reality matters. When volunteering is understood clearly, organisations are better able to support volunteers properly, design programmes responsibly, and recognise contribution in a way that feels credible rather than tokenistic.
How does volunteering benefit organisations internally?
The primary purpose of volunteering is, and always should be, community impact. But the internal benefits for organisations are well evidenced.
Research from Deloitte consistently shows that purpose-led activity supports engagement, retention and motivation, particularly for early and mid-career employees. A large-scale study from the University of Oxford found that, among common workplace wellbeing interventions, volunteering stood out as the one that genuinely improved employee well-being, boosting a sense of purpose and belonging in ways other aspects did not.
Well-structured volunteering helps to build:
- stronger connections across teams that wouldn’t normally meet, improving collaboration and reducing silos (Deloitte; Gallup)
- confidence and leadership capability developed outside formal roles, often surfacing new talent (Deloitte)
- greater empathy and perspective, which feeds into more inclusive and thoughtful workplace cultures and the benefits of empathetic leadership (SAGE research)
- improved health and wellbeing, as purposeful activity has been linked to reduced stress and a greater sense of belonging (Oxford University wellbeing findings)
- higher levels of employee satisfaction and engagement, particularly where volunteering aligns with personal values (Gallup)
- deeper pride in the organisation, strengthening advocacy and emotional commitment (Deloitte)
- better retention and productivity, as engaged employees are more likely to stay and contribute fully (Gallup; productivity research)
These outcomes don’t happen by accident. They emerge when volunteering is inclusive, well supported and sustained over time – not treated as an occasional activity, but as part of how organisations invest in their people.
Why recognition matters, and what good recognition looks like
Corporate volunteering often sits alongside formal job roles rather than inside them. When contribution isn’t recognised thoughtfully, it can feel disconnected from working life, even when it reflects everything an organisation says it stands for.
From what I’ve seen, effective recognition goes beyond celebration. It takes time to understand what people actually did, what they learned, and why it mattered. It acknowledges challenge as well as success, and effort as well as outcome. It makes space for reflection, not just thanks.
In that sense, recognition becomes a leadership practice rather than a communications exercise. IVY 2026 offers a natural moment for organisations to review how recognition is handled, and whether it truly reflects the responsibility volunteers carry.
What should organisations do differently during IVY 2026?
Rather than treating IVY 2026 as a one-off campaign, many of the organisations we work with are using it as a framework to strengthen what they already do.
In practice, that includes:
- reviewing volunteering policies and accessibility
- aligning programmes more clearly to social priorities and the SDGs
- strengthening measurement and feedback
- increasing leadership understanding and involvement
- investing in tools and partners that reduce friction and improve experience
When recognition is backed by substance, corporate volunteering will continue to deliver value long after IVY 2026 has passed.
How Employee Volunteering is approaching IVY 2026
2026 also marks 20 years of Employee Volunteering. As the International Year of Volunteers unfolds, we’re aligning our own practice closely with its intent, not by doing more activity, but by deepening how volunteering is designed, delivered and experienced.
For us, that means continuing to:
- design volunteering programmes for long-term impact, not one-off moments
- use experienced, trained facilitators to create safe, inclusive and well-run experiences
- expand skills-based and purpose-led volunteering that responds to real community need
- reduce friction through specialist volunteering technology that supports scale and insight
- embed reflection, learning and feedback so programmes improve year on year
This approach is consistent with how Employee Volunteering began: helping organisations deliver volunteering that genuinely works for employees, charities and communities, and that can be sustained well beyond IVY 2026.
A final thought
UN IVY 2026 isn’t about doing more for the sake of it. It’s about doing volunteering better.
For employers, it offers a shared moment to pause, strengthen and recognise the contribution that already exists through their people. When approached thoughtfully, that recognition builds trust, engagement and impact that lasts far beyond a single year.
