Estimating the scale and magnitude of volunteering worldwide

Background Paper 1 - Estimating the Scope and Magnitude of Volunteerism Worldwide with National Data is one of several working papers commissioned by the UNV to inform the 2011 State of the World’s Volunteering Report . This paper is currently being upated for the SWVR 2018.

The purpose of the paper was to:
  • Identify, review and compare existing data on formal and informal voluntary activity at national level, paying specific attention to the results from key international surveys;
  • Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of available data sources on volunteering worldwide;
  • Discuss volunteerism measurements issues and suggest accurate and valid volunteerism indices for future use.