There is surprisingly little current, public data on how New Zealanders actually volunteer. We know roughly how many people give their time, but not the things that would actually help the sector: what stops people doing more, how they find opportunities in the first place, and what they get back from it. So we're asking.
Today we've opened **The State of Volunteering in Aotearoa 2026** — a short, anonymous survey that takes about two minutes. Take it here.
What it asks
The survey is built around the UN's GIVE framework — the four dimensions of volunteering value: individual, societal, economic, and enabling. So instead of only counting hours, it asks about the things that are usually invisible:
- The single biggest barrier stopping you volunteering more. - How you actually find opportunities — word of mouth, social media, a charity's own site, or not at all. - What volunteering gives you: skills, connection, purpose, wellbeing. - And it turns your hours into an estimated economic contribution, using the ILO replacement-cost method and Stats NZ's median wage of $31.61 an hour.
You'll see your own GIVE snapshot the moment you finish.
Why now
2026 is the UN's International Year of Volunteers — only the second in twenty-five years. It's the right moment to make the case for the sector with real numbers rather than anecdotes. Volunteering in Aotearoa is chronically undercounted and undervalued; good data is how you make the invisible visible.
What happens next
The survey is open now and closes at the end of October. We'll publish the national results — and email them to anyone who opts in — in November. No account needed, and you're anonymous unless you ask us for the results.