In recent years, there has been a growing body of research on the impact of corporate volunteering. And it turns out that it not only creates social value but also delivers demonstrable benefits for both employees and organizations.
We’ve compiled the most important insights and studies for you.
You probably already knew that volunteering makes you feel good. But this is now also firmly backed up by scientific evidence.
Research shows that volunteering is one of the few interventions that actually contributes to employees’ well-being.
The reasons for this include:
Read the University of Oxford’s research here, or the summary by Wereld van Filantropie.
The benefits of volunteering extend beyond personal wellbeing. Research shows that employees who volunteer:
The question remains: how do you apply these insights to your own organisation?
This HR business case from AWVN, NVP and Good Busy sets this out in very concrete terms. The key point is that corporate volunteering has the greatest impact when it is not organised as an isolated activity, but is structurally embedded within your HR policy.
The business case demonstrates how you can link volunteering to the entire employee journey:
In this way, it shifts from something that is done ‘on the side’ to a way of actively building engagement, collaboration and talent retention.
As well as giving their time and attention, corporate volunteers can also put their knowledge to use for charitable organisations. This ‘skill-based volunteering’ offers significant added value not only to the charities but also to the companies themselves. Employees apply their expertise whilst developing their own skills at the same time.
Read the academic review from the *Human Resource Management Review* here.
For HR, employee volunteering has long since ceased to be a mere perk. In this white paper from Vrijwilligerswerk NL, you can see how organisations are using it as a strategic tool.
Among other things, they argue that corporate volunteering contributes to:
Corporate social responsibility ultimately boils down to one question: does it make a difference? This research shows that organisations do indeed benefit from volunteers:
Read the full report here, which we commissioned in 2018, 2020 and 2021.
Not every programme works automatically. Employee motivation is key. In her thesis, Caro Hamacher investigated how internal communication can lead to greater employee participation in corporate volunteering.
You can read the full study here. Would you like to see a summary of the key principles? We’ve highlighted them for you here.
Volunteering is on the rise worldwide.
According to recent reports:
Read the full Better Impact white paper here: State of Volunteer Growth 2026.