The Volunteering Multiplier Principle

Have you heard of the Volunteering Multiplier Principle?

The Volunteering Multiplier Principle states that changes to the overall level of volunteering lead to a much more significant change for society and the economy.

For example, if the general level of volunteering for the UK increased by 1% the knock-on multiplier effect would lead to a much larger boost to communities and wider society in ways that also benefit the economy. In contrast a 1% decrease would lead to a bigger negative impact on communities, wider society and worsen the economy.

This is almost an extension or extrapolation of my volunteering and cake analogy (apologies if you are already bored of hearing this) where I liken the mistaken perception of volunteering as being the icing of the cake of society, whereas the reality is that volunteering is a key ingredient of the cake itself. If there is no volunteering then the cake will crumble completely. The Volunteering Multiplier Principle implies that increases to volunteering will create a disproportionately much better and bigger cake and decreases to volunteering will make the cake disproportionately worse and smaller.

So how does volunteering have this multiplier effect?
Volunteering has multiplier benefits for the individual as well as for groups or general levels of volunteering in a region or country.

When an individual volunteers, several effects will occur:

(i) The volunteering act benefits a person, community or environment

(ii) The volunteering benefits a community group, charity or other organisation who organised the volunteering, e.g. it helps them to do something they could not otherwise do or do more of something that benefits others

(iii) The act of volunteering benefits the person doing the volunteering, whether is physical or mental health, improving social and professional networks etc.

Therefore, the multiplier is achieved from the volunteering effects of (ii) and (iii).

When assessing the general level of volunteering, i.e. all the individuals who volunteer in a country or region, you get the same outcomes listed above. If this general level of volunteering drops then:

(a) A lower level of volunteering takes place and so there is a drop in support for the community or environment taking place

AND

(b) Lower levels of volunteering means community groups, charities and other organisations are less supported and so can do less or have to stop doing things they want to do to help people, i.e. their capacity drops

(c) Lower levels of volunteering means that fewer people are getting the physical and mental health benefits from volunteering and more people are socially isolated. This has obvious knock-on negative effects with increased demand on health services as well as lower employment and productivity.

However, if the general level of volunteering increases you get the same multiplier effects of (b) and (c) but with a positive impact.

How big is the multiplier effect?
This is an area we need to research more but volunteering experts and practitioners will say it is significant. However, because we do not have measurements or reasonable estimates this multiplier effect is not taken into account when making investments in volunteering (at all levels).

Obviously, the multiplier effect will be smaller or larger in different circumstances and for different volunteer roles. Nevertheless, it does not mean we cannot propose to establish a rule of thumb in the meantime which will redress the inaccurate perception of the importance of volunteering in society.

If we came to accept the Volunteering Multiplier Principle, decision makers in organisations, local, regional and national authorities would be able to confidently invest in volunteering knowing the return on investment will be significantly higher than the outlay.