Volunteering is defined as any action in which one individual, team or organization willingly gives their time to help another person, group or institution. It is debatable whether these advantages can include monetary compensation. Some scholars claim that remunerated labor is not genuinely voluntary (Smith 1994), while others believe that those who want to work in low-paying occupations, with an objective of assisting others, should be regarded as “quasi-volunteers” (Smith 1982). The inclusion of some relation to intentions in the concept of volunteering is also subject to dispute. Some people believe that volunteering is defined by a desire to serve others. Others argue that volunteering entails working for a “public” good, without regard to motivation (Clary and Snyder 1999). This behavioral approach is consistent with the new perspective on volunteering as a productive activity, because volunteering is defined as creating products and services at a lower-than-market rate, with no consideration of the motives for participation (Wilson 2000).

Volunteering is one of a larger group of actions intended to assist others. Volunteerism is often proactive rather than reactive, unlike the impulsive assistance offered to an attack victim, where it is important to determine whether or not to intervene quickly, and the contact is short and frequently disorganized. It necessitates a time and effort investment. Caring is commonly connected to one’s emotional work on behalf of family and friends, whereas volunteering is more organized and public (Snyder and Omoto 1992). There are a few clear distinctions between these activities: the care connection implies a level of work that is absent from volunteering. Most of the social engagement that is correctly termed volunteering is merely caring in the broadest sense.

Volunteering is not an objective in and of itself; instead, it is an action that positively impacts the community. In the conventional perspective on volunteering, it is assumed that it is motivated only by compassion. According to a more modern perspective, people volunteer to create a beneficial outcome for both society and themselves (Wilson 2012).

Volunteer labor is clearly not paid labor, but the associated statement in the Volunteer Rights declaration that contributors should not be out of budget due to their volunteering activities might cause some misunderstanding (Smith 1994). Volunteers may still be paid fixed fees or charitable donations based on the amount spent on their voluntary work. When volunteering abroad, they may be compensated for expenditures made on behalf of the organization for which they serve or receive a small living allowance.

Volunteering is distinguished from civic responsibilities and other unpaid work by its freedom of choice. Volunteering relies on the active participation of individuals who appreciate the chance to be involved or via non-profit organizations that serve the community (Snyder et al. 2004).

Regardless of socioeconomic class, cultural origin, education, gender or age, every person has the right to speak up and contribute to their community (Derryberry et al. 2009). Volunteering allows a wide variety of individuals to express this right by providing them with chances to participate with and influence their community, even if they do not choose or are unable to use more official routes of participation or advocacy (Smith et al. 2010).

Volunteering serves a larger societal function than simply providing services, and it is critical that it not be utilized to offer cheap employment or prop up collapsing social structures. Individual volunteers’ labor in providing services to others is a means to promote equality, not an aim in itself. Volunteering values are incompatible with involvement in groups (such as racist or white supremacist organizations) that seek to divide the community or prejudice or exclude other particular groups (Derryberry et al. 2009).

Research shows that the relations between social motivations and satisfaction, between social motivations and the emotional exhaustion of volunteers and between growth motivation and satisfaction and the emotional exhaustion of volunteers are moderated by the age of the volunteers (Aranda et al. 2019). Altruistic factors were found to be a motivator when people volunteered to help those with disabilities, and they considered “doing good” as their greatest reward. The research interestingly found that people refer to endogenous motivations when describing their own motivations towards volunteering, while they refer to more exogenous motivations when encouraging others to take up volunteering (Janus and Misiorek 2019). Positive volunteering experiences, such as a desire for interest, social connection, growth of self, recognition and support, have also been found to be drive volunteerism (Same et al. 2020). Volunteering behavior and the mediating role of voluntary motivation were directly and indirectly affected, respectively, by the psychological capital of the volunteers (Xu et al. 2021).

Volunteers play an important role in emergency circumstances (natural disasters or man-made crises such as conflicts or war), attempting to minimize the harm caused by the occurrence (Fernandez et al. 2006). A huge percentage of volunteers have organized other volunteers who enter the volunteering arena via volunteer groups in such situations. Others are self-motivated volunteers who show up on their own. Unlike organized volunteers, who are prepared for serving in ordinary settings, spontaneous volunteers have not been given any previous training for emergency scenarios and are only trained while working in the field (Whitehead and Smith 2013).

Individuals’ contributions in emergency and catastrophe management have been well recorded in disaster studies. The common belief is that disasters create disruption and disarray, with populations becoming helpless, panicked or engaged in antisocial activities such as looting. Individuals and groups, on the other hand, have been observed to become more connected than in “normal” times, frequently cooperating to tackle disaster-related obstacles (Scanlon et al. 2014). In particular, a sociological study has shed light on collective behavior and organizational reactions to emergencies and disasters.

During the current pandemic, three types of volunteering were identified—formal volunteering, social action volunteering and neighborhood volunteering (Mak and Fancourt 2021). People who were more connected with their communities displayed greater intentions to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wang et al. 2021). Community identification was found to be positively related to volunteering during COVID-19 and indirectly related to volunteers providing pandemic-related emotional support (Vignoles et al. 2021; Stevenson et al. 2021). Recent research to ascertain the satisfaction with informal volunteering during the COVID-19 crisis on a Swiss online volunteering platform found that volunteering satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic was driven by the fulfilment of distinct volunteer motives and platform support (Trautwein et al. 2020).

Millennials, unlike previous generations, who sought advancement, authority and jurisdiction, place a greater emphasis on association and success. Millennials are particularly keen to join tribes—communities of people who share the same experiences and ideals—frequently via volunteer work. Social networks play an important role in the communities of millennials and have been proven to be more effective tribal motivators than real-world encounters (Why Tribes Are the New Segmentation 2022). The majority of millennials learn about issues and groups through social networks and communicate with them via Twitter, Facebook or e-mail on their cell phones. Micro-volunteering has become a popular way for millennials to become involved. It enables people to participate in small, simple, crowd-sourced ways that only require a few minutes of their time. Micro-volunteering is most typically done through social media posting (e.g., “liking” posts, re-tweeting messages). Millennials engaging at this level are more likely to engage in one-time volunteer activities than group volunteering, and finally leadership roles (Millennial Impact Report 2017), despite being at the end of the volunteer continuum. Micro-volunteering is well-suited to millennials, who face greater challenges in balancing work and family life, compared with previous generations (Twaronite 2015). An empirical study by McLean (2018) indicated that millennials are more compelled than other generations to search for causes such as education, healthcare and the environment as they often feel that they resonate with their ideas.

Globally, women take on most volunteering tasks, at approximately 58% (Krause and Rainville 2018). However, according to a recent empirical study by Gray and Stevenson (2020), their share in volunteering has increased, especially when looking at informal volunteering only. Since volunteering is accomplished by and between individuals, there are significant differences in the ways in which men and women engage in volunteering activities. It often varies in the amount of time spent, type of work done and levels of responsibility between individuals of different genders (Krause and Rainville 2018). However, despite these arguments, undisputable research studies show that females are always more likely to volunteer in social and health services than men, especially in the provision of unpaid care tasks beyond the household (Titus et al. 2017).

On the other hand, men are more likely to volunteer in political, economic and scientific fields than women. According to Gray and Stevenson (2020), the underlying differences are not natural occurrences or rather due to a lack of effort from societies concerned with volunteering activities. In contrast, they could be mirroring existing social norms and structural inequalities in most communities worldwide. Therefore, to achieve a gender balance in volunteering, individuals require more extensive, systemic changes rather than concentrating on encouraging more women to volunteer (Krause and Rainville 2018).

To understand how volunteers might assist communities in becoming more resilient, it is necessary to consider how different groups within a community view volunteerism and resilience. Applying a gender perspective to volunteering for social sustainability is vital, especially when women volunteer more than men across the world (57% and 43%, respectively) (SWVR 2018).

One of the more well-known advantages of volunteering is the positive impact that it has on the community. Volunteers who are not compensated are frequently the connection that ties a society together. Volunteering helps to connect with the community while also helping to improve it (Dekker and Halman 2003). Even modest acts of kindness may make a significant difference in the lives of individuals, wildlife and organizations in need.

Committing to a common activity together is one of the most acceptable ways to meet new people and enhance current friendships. Volunteering also improves links to the community and expands the support network by connecting others with similar interests, facilitating access to local resources and providing enjoyable and meaningful activities.

Some individuals are naturally extroverted, while others are introverted and find it challenging to meet new people. Volunteering means practicing and building social skills by allowing one to meet others with similar interests regularly.

Volunteer service engagement has been linked to improved mental and physical health (McDougle et al. 2014), self-esteem (Morrow-Howell et al. 2003), life satisfaction (Thoits and Hewitt 2001), decreased depressive symptoms (Morrow-Howell et al. 2003), happiness (Musick and Wilson 2003), psychological discomfort (Thoits and Hewitt 2001), mortality and functional incapacity (Konrath et al. 2012). Volunteering’s medical benefits are not due to self-selection favoritism. Recent longitudinal research found no evidence of reverse causation, wherein volunteering was associated with improved health in the long run but not the other way around. What is yet unknown about the link between volunteering and health outcomes is whether volunteering has cumulative effects on health and what type of volunteering is best for developing volunteer health benefits (McDougle et al. 2014). In terms of the relationship between volunteering and health, the role accumulation approach supports the idea that a volunteer who participates in a variety of volunteer activities at the same time will improve his or her health the most (Morrow-Howell et al. 2003). According to the explanation, role-related social advantages, resources, supporting networks, coping skills, life purpose and gratitude amassed via several prosocial roles can be directly favorable to diverse health outcomes.