Volunteering
The Volunteer Roles Charities Struggle Hardest to Fill
Offers of help cluster heavily around a few visible activities. The persistent shortages are in roles nobody pictures when they…
Volunteering
Time as a donation, and the roles organisations genuinely need filled.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Volunteering
Why One Afternoon of Help Can Cost an Organisation Two Days
Short volunteering placements carry setup costs that fall entirely on the host. Whether they are worth it depends on the type of work involved.
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Volunteering
When Your Day Job Is the Thing a Charity Actually Needs
Professional skills donated well are worth many times the same hours spent sorting boxes. Donated badly, they create work that…
Volunteering
What a Volunteer Coordinator Does All Day
The role sits between people who want to help and work that needs doing, and most of it is not what either side imagines.
Volunteering
Turning Up Every Week Beats Turning Up Once, and the Reason Is Dull
The value of volunteering is dominated by a learning curve and a setup cost. Both reward frequency far more than total hours.
Volunteering
Why Volunteering Starts With Forms, Checks and Waiting
The gap between offering help and doing anything useful is often several weeks. Most of it is legal requirement rather than…
Volunteering
The Corporate Volunteering Day, Honestly Assessed
A team day out at a charity produces real work about half the time. What separates the useful ones from the decorative is decided…
Volunteering
Trusteeship Is Volunteering, and Almost Nobody Calls It That
Charity boards are staffed by unpaid volunteers carrying real legal responsibility. The role is chronically hard to fill partly…
Volunteering
How to Leave a Volunteering Role Without Leaving a Hole
Most volunteers stop by gradually disappearing, which is the most expensive way to go. A managed departure costs an hour and saves…
Volunteering
Volunteering Abroad and the Questions Worth Asking First
Overseas placements range from genuinely skilled long-term work to paid tourism with a charitable veneer. A handful of questions…
Volunteering
The Emotional Load in Frontline Volunteering
Volunteering that involves distress carries a cumulative cost that organisations are expected to manage. Knowing what good support…
Volunteering
Why Some Charities Turn Volunteers Away
Refusing free help looks perverse until you count what accepting it costs. The reasons are almost always capacity, liability or fit.