Overlooking an International Movement in Volunteerism? Understanding Citizen Involvement in Volunteer Centers

Abstract

Volunteer centers, also known internationally as ‘volunteer bureaus’ or ‘voluntary action centers’, are ‘community organizations that help to stimulate and coordinate local voluntary action’ (Brudney, 2005, p. 77). Thousands of volunteer centers exist worldwide (International Association for Volunteer Effort, 2009; Bos, 2014), involving millions of people in volunteering (Points of Light Foundation, 2005). Bos (2014, p. 17) reports that a total of about 2,000 volunteer centers operate in the United States (365), Denmark (75), England (324), Finland (37), Germany (322), Italy (415 local front offices), the Netherlands (238), and Norway (275) alone. Volunteer centers provide public services and mobilize volunteers whom they place in organizations that need them in the community. They are operated by nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations as well as by national, regional, and local governments. It seems that new structures of the participatory state are emerging.