69% of Wellingtonians Don’t Have Time to Volunteer

Research released today by SEEK Volunteer, New Zealand’s first national online marketplace where people can connect with volunteer opportunities, reveals that just 19 per cent of working Kiwis in the Wellington region currently volunteer, with 69 per cent of those that don’t blaming lack of time for their inactivity.

It seems there has been a decline in volunteering activity in Wellington with 38 per cent saying that they have previously volunteered, while current volunteering levels are half that.

“Our research found that 80 per cent of Kiwis agree that relative to other nations we have a culture that values and encourages volunteering. What we would like to see is our actual participation levels matching the perception,” states Amanda Robinson, Head of SEEK Volunteer.

“One in four Wellingtonians state that they don’t know how to get involved in volunteering opportunities and a significant 69 per cent say they don’t have time. We hope that by centralising volunteer opportunities on to SEEK, which is easily accessible online via desktop and mobile, people can more easily connect with opportunities. ”.

Interestingly, there are already 113 volunteering opportunities in the Wellington area on www.seekvolunteer.co.nz. Seven of these opportunities are for Animal Welfare volunteers, which research shows is Wellingtonians favourite cause to support. The roles available include dog walkers and cat caregivers.

Ms Robinson suspects that Kiwis might be surprised when they see the breadth of opportunities that are on SEEK Volunteer.

“People tend to have a very traditional view of what volunteering is but I think Kiwi’s would be pleasantly surprised about how varied the volunteering needs are. Currently we have opportunities that range from strawberry planters, to newsletter editors to food rescuers – all different skill sets and all different levels of time investment”.

The benefits of volunteering can be felt community wide with 86 per cent of Kiwis agreeing that it makes for a better, stronger community. In addition, there are some great personal benefits such as broadening your skill set, gaining tangible experience, meeting new people, improved self-esteem, and it can even positively influence the outcome of a job interview.

While people’s intentions may be good, they often don’t know how to go about getting involved, SEEK Volunteer aims to make accessing opportunities a simple and intuitive process.

“The technology that sits behind the employment marketplace seek.co.nz which makes it so user friendly and effective in connecting people to jobs has been applied to the SEEK Volunteer site. People can easily refine and filter through the opportunities based on what is close to their home or work, how much or how little time they have available and what causes they’re interested in,” adds Ms Robinson.

This week SEEK Volunteer officially launches in New Zealand with Hon. Jo Goodhew, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector officiating at formalities in Wellington this Thursday 25th June, perfectly timed during National Volunteer Week.

SEEK Volunteer is a volunteering enabler, acting as a conduit between not-for-profit and community organisations and Kiwis who want to volunteer. Working closely with volunteering organisations throughout New Zealand, they have delved into the needs of the sector to learn how best to support them to increase exposure and attract more volunteers. The answer is www.seekvolunteer.co.nz.

ENDS

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