Is volunteering a doomed activity? Where will the volunteers of the future come from? What will motivate them? What might volunteering look like in the future? What forms might volunteering take (eg corporate volunteering, time-limited or project-based etc)? These are all questions which need to be considered in understanding the drivers of volunteering.

The Future of Volunteering is an innovative project which will, for the first time in the world, use narrative research processes, tools and proprietary software Sensemaker  developed by Cognitive Edge to explore an issue of critical public policy. The key objectives of the project are to develop an understanding of policy issues and implications given the changes in demographics and patterns of volunteering , as well as guidance for those organisations funding and managing volunteers. The initial focus is New South Wales (Australia), however there is already interest from other states and countries to replicate the project.

The project is funded by the Department of Disability Ageing and Home Care (NSW), via New South Wales Meals on Wheels. It is supported by the Minister for Ageing, Disability and Home Care (Minster Keneally), the Minster for Volunteering (Minister Burney) , and Premier and Cabinet, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as well as peak organisations in the community care sector. The Society of Organisational Learning Australia and Cognitive Edge are providing the software and facilitation expertise. (SOLA is the learning partner for Cognitive Edge in Asia Pacific).

We now are at the stage where we are launching the survey that will be used to collect approximately 10,000 stories. The survey will be open for a period of four weeks. The more publicity we can get about this survey the better. It is open for anyone to contribute, but the focus will initially be on NSW based input.

Any organisation or individual with experience in volunteering or managing volunteers is encouraged to participate in this programme. The more stories we are able to collect, the greater the pool of stories that can be used to identify themes and patterns around volunteering. Post the collection of stories, we will be holding three workshops to make sense of the themes and patterns that will emerge. Request: Please pass this onto anyone you know who has volunteered or has an interest in volunteering.