Resources

Report

Learning from the Field: Insights & Recommendations for Volunteer Centres in Alberta

This is a summary of early findings from Learning from the Field: Insights & Recommendations for Volunteer Centres in Alberta. The full report is coming Spring 2026.

Over two years, Volunteer Alberta studied how volunteer centres support local volunteering, community connection, and civic participation across the province. This research highlights how volunteer centres and volunteer-engaging organizations have adapted in recent years amid increased demand for services and shifts in volunteer participation. Findings indicate a renewed focus on volunteer engagement and strengthening local volunteer infrastructure, alongside ongoing sustainability considerations related to chronic underfunding.

Report

Pension Planning in the Non-Profit Sector: Current Gaps and Future Dreams

Our new report unpacks the financial realities facing non-profits and offers actionable strategies for sustainable retirement planning.

Report

Bringing Meaning to the Volunteer Experience: Insights on What Motivates, Sustains and Challenges Volunteers

What motivates people to participate in different volunteering activities? What challenges do they face? What keeps them volunteering? 

This insights report explores the motivations, benefits, challenges, and supports that shape volunteer participation. Based on responses from over 800 volunteers, this report centers how highly engaged individuals and volunteers define, experience, and reflect on volunteering—in their own words. 

Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, policymaker, or volunteer yourself, we hope this report deepens your understanding of what makes volunteer experiences meaningful. 

Report

Crisis or continuity?: Insights and Opportunities to Reinvigorate Volunteering

This report, a collaborative effort between InWithForward and Volunteer Alberta, comes from our (Re)Engaged: Volunteerism From the Ground Up research initiative. We dug into the current, evolving nature of contribution using qualitative research methods, especially ethnographic interviews with individuals across Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Fairview. This report offers some paradigmatic shifts in how we frame and understand the value of volunteering, and identifies five actionable insights.

Report

Declining Rates of Volunteerism in Alberta and the Increasing Threat to Rural Municipalities

A 2024 report produced by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the University of Alberta’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (ACSRC) to on the state of volunteerism in rural Alberta. The research used 27 in-depth 1:1 interviews with various individuals with knowledge of volunteerism in rural Alberta as the data source, such as reeves, CAOs and a few nonprofit representatives. The report discusses the declining rates of volunteerism, the associated threat to rural communities, and recommendations for addressing these trends.

Report

Flowing Fridays (Un)learning Brief #2 (2024)

This second (un)learning brief builds on the first by reviewing what we found in our initial exploration of the connection between rest and well-being, and the resulting modification to the experiment. We share our (un)learnings and provide a closer look at the design methodologies and grounding principles that guided us in our journey.

Report

National Volunteer Action Strategy: Its Time

A 2023 report by Volunteer Canada advocating for the development of a National Volunteer Action Strategy, as well as a call to action for the sector. Currently, Volunteer Canada is assessing the feasibility of building this National Action Strategy. From the report, a National Action Strategy is essential to unify all of Canada to work toward a shared vision for inclusive participation and volunteering that recognizes, amplifies, promotes and supports the many different ways Canadians work together to build strong, inclusive and connected communities.

Report

Flowing Fridays (Un)Learning Brief #1 (2023)

In the summer of 2022, we started experimenting with the concepts of four-day work week, no-meeting days, and focus time. This brief shares our journey to explore those conditions to create more, space, time, and energy for our team to focus on wellbeing using data from surveys and external research.

Video

Changing the Conversation: Research, Surprising Findings, and the Volunteer Screening Program

During 2022, the Volunteer Screening Program (VSP) conducted various evaluations and research activities to deepen our understanding of Alberta’s volunteer screening and engagement practices and the shifting landscape that has occurred since 2017. This included identifying shared understanding, gaps in knowledge, and drawing connections between the lived experiences of the volunteers and the organizations that engage them. From these evaluative conversations, we have identified evolving good practices and issues to consider further.

Report

Changing the Conversation: Research, Surprising Findings, and the Volunteer Screening Program (Report)

During 2022, the Volunteer Screening Program conducted various evaluations and research activities to deepen our understanding of Alberta’s volunteer screening and engagement practices. This included identifying shared understanding, gaps in knowledge, and drawing connections between the lived experiences of the volunteers and the organizations that engage them. From these evaluative conversations, we have identified evolving good practices and issues to consider further.

This report details our approach, methods, analysis, and dives into what was asked and what was heard from our various evaluations and research activities, including focus groups and large benchmark surveys.