Volunteering Redefined
It’s time to redesign service around the cause of our time: connection.
Loneliness, isolation, and disconnection are quietly eroding the foundation of our communities. Connection isn’t just a feeling—it’s a public good. And it’s time we treated it like one.
Volunteering is often celebrated as one of the best ways to build connection. But today, the way we serve is changing—more virtual, more transactional, less relational. It’s no longer reliably delivering the connection people crave.
We need to redesign existing service programs to strengthen connection, not to just efficiently complete a task. And we need to expand our definition of service to include service where connection itself is the cause not just the byproduct.
This is the future of civic engagement:
Local. Relational. Bridging.
The Civic Disconnect
Volunteering was once how we came together. It was local, social, and ongoing—neighbors showing up for neighbors to solve problems and strengthen their communities. But over time, service has shifted. Today, it’s more likely to be episodic, virtual, and individual. According to AmeriCorps, 18% of volunteers now serve online, and among those who do volunteer, the average number of hours is falling. Many opportunities involve little to no meaningful human interaction.
The pandemic accelerated these trends. COVID-19 moved much of life online, including how we work and how we serve. At the same time, many companies shifted to remote or hybrid models, becoming less rooted in place. What were once strong drivers of local civic connection—workplaces, corporate volunteer days, team service projects—have become more fragmented and less effective at helping people build real community where they live.
Meanwhile, the need for volunteers is growing—and participation isn’t keeping up. Research from the University of Maryland’s Do Good Institute shows a steady decline in volunteer rates over the past two decades, even as community challenges multiply. And yet, the interest is there. According to Stanford’s Center on Longevity, over 90% of Americans say they want to volunteer—but only one in four actually do.
Challenge of Our Time
Disconnection is the defining challenge of our time—and it’s costing us our health, our democracy, and our future.
Loneliness now affects nearly half of U.S. adults and increases the risk of premature death by 26%. The U.S. Surgeon General warns it poses a health risk equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
But the damage goes further. Trust is collapsing. Only 19% of Americans trust the federal government, down from 73% in 1958. Just 30% believe most people can be trusted. And that erosion of trust fuels polarization, civic disengagement, and social instability.
Even economic opportunity is tied to connection. Harvard research shows that kids who grow up in high-trust, high-connection neighborhoods have significantly better odds of upward mobility—regardless of income.
The Opportunity
We don’t just need more service—we need service that strengthens relationships.
When people come together in ways that are intentional, repeated, and rooted in place, service becomes less transactional and more transformative.
And it’s exactly what people are craving. The 2025 More in Common study found that Americans want opportunities that are local, structured, and relational—spaces where they can connect across lines of difference and feel part of something bigger.
This is our opportunity: to redesign service not only to do good, but to do it in ways that build trust, belonging, and community at the same time.
When we put connection at the center, we don’t lose impact—we multiply it.
Redesigning Service for Connection
Most volunteering models weren’t built to foster connection—they were built to get things done. That is OK for some volunteering but we need a lot more opportunities for service that is also designed to bring people closer together.
It doesn’t require a full reinvention—just a shift in how we structure experiences. Connection-centered service is:
In person – because presence matters
Ongoing – we need to build relationships and that doesn’t happen in a single event
Intentional – opening and closing with shared check-ins and reflection
Mutual – less about helping “them” and more about building “us”
These are small changes—but they make a big difference. They turn volunteering into a space for deeper relationships, stronger communities, and greater meaning.
To make this shift at scale, we need to equip volunteer managers, program leads, and civic leaders with the tools to design for connection. That means training not just in logistics, but in facilitation, relational rituals, and inclusive gathering practices. When they’re empowered to lead differently, the culture of service shifts—creating spaces that are welcoming, sustaining, and built to last.
Embracing Connection-Based Service
Across the country, people are already doing the work of rebuilding community. They’re hosting potlucks, organizing block parties, leading running clubs, starting book groups, running neighborhood associations, and gathering neighbors around shared interests.
These acts may not look like traditional volunteering—but they are powerful forms of civic service. They foster belonging, build local trust, and create the kind of resilient, pluralistic communities we need. They just happen to exist outside formal systems.
It’s time to recognize and support these informal connectors as the civic leaders they are and formally recognize them as part of the volunteering community.
With the right support—light structure, peer community, and training in connection-centered design—these efforts can become a scalable force for civic renewal. And millions more people can see a path into service that feels joyful, sustainable, and rooted in their everyday lives.
This is volunteering, redefined. And it may be our greatest untapped civic resource.
Employee Volunteering
Workplaces have long encouraged volunteering as a way to give back. But today, it can be much more than that. In an era of hybrid work, isolation, and declining trust, volunteering is one of the most powerful ways to support employee well-being and rebuild community—from the inside out.
That begins with seeing what’s already there. Many employees are organizing book clubs, leading walking groups, throwing block parties, or welcoming new neighbors—not as part of a corporate initiative, but because they care about where they live. These acts of everyday service are easy to overlook—but they’re exactly what our communities need more of.
Employers have an opportunity to do three things:
1. Redesign volunteer opportunities to focus on connection.
Encourage in-person, recurring, small-group experiences that help employees build deeper relationships with one another and with the communities they serve. Volunteering becomes more impactful when it creates space for trust and belonging to grow.
2. Recognize and celebrate employee connection-builders.
Many employees are already creating culture and community beyond their roles—within teams and in their neighborhoods. Spotlighting and supporting this informal leadership strengthens morale and signals that connection matters.
3. Invest in systems of support.
Provide time, funding, training, and recognition so more employees can step into these roles. This might include microgrants for block parties, facilitation training, or flexible volunteer hours that allow connection-based service to thrive.
This is what employees are asking for: purposeful ways to connect, contribute, and belong. And frankly, we can’t rebuild the social fabric of this country without companies embracing their role and empowering their people to be the change—at work, at home, and in their communities.
Community Service Organizations
This is a moment of opportunity. As trust declines and communities fragment, nonprofits are uniquely positioned to help reverse the trend—not just through what they deliver, but how they engage.
Volunteers don’t just want to contribute—they want to connect. That means we need to evolve how we think about service, and design it with intention.
Here’s how nonprofits can help lead the way:
Infuse connection into your existing volunteer programs.
Add small, intentional moments that build community—social time, shared meals, rituals, or keeping volunteers together across shifts. These low-cost shifts can deepen engagement without changing your entire model.Design new experiences with connection at the center.
When creating or revamping programs, treat relationship-building as a goal. Train staff and volunteers in group dynamics, inclusive practices, and the art of hosting—not just task coordination.Help build what doesn’t yet exist.
We need new organizations whose mission is connection itself—designed to bring people together through neighborhood gatherings, shared rituals, and civic hospitality. These groups will be critical infrastructure in the movement to rebuild trust and belonging.
When service creates connection, it doesn’t just meet a need—it grows a movement.