International Association For Volunteer Effort

IAVE THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR VOLUNTEER EFFORT IS RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS THE PRIMARY GLOBAL LEADERSHIP ORGANIZATION FOR VOLUNTEERING. OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE A MORE JUST AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD BY ENABLING THE LEADERS, ORGANIZATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTS THAT EMPOWER VOLUNTEERS.

WE FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT VOLUNTEERING THROUGH RESEARCH AND ORGANIZED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND ACTIVELY SHARE THAT KNOWLEDGE. IN 2020, WE WERE IMMERSED IN TWO MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS. THE GOAL OF THE FIRST WAS TO CREATE A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP ROLE PLAYED BY MEMBERS OF OUR GLOBAL NETWORK OF VOLUNTEERING LEADERSHIP (GNVL) IN RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THEIR COUNTRIES. THE RESEARCH WAS DESIGNED TO INCREASE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THEIR WORK AND TO PROVIDE DATA THAT CAN BE DEVELOPED INTO INFORMATION AND TRAINING TO SUPPORT THEIR FUTURE ROLE AND PRACTICE INCLUDING RESPONSE TO COMMUNITY CRISIS. THE SECOND WAS A FOLLOW ON TO THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE GLOBAL RESEARCH ON CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING, DONE BY IAVE IN 2010-11. WHEN COMPLETED, THE STUDY WILL HAVE INTERVIEWED 70+ COMPANIES ACROSS THE WORLD, COMPLETED STATE OF HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING IN EACH MAJOR REGION OF THE WORLD, AND LOOKED IN DEPTH AT HOW THE FIELD IS EVOLVING IN RESPONSE TO CHANGING EXPECTATIONS OF SOCIETY AND THE WORKFORCE ABOUT HOW COMPANIES WILL RESPOND TO CRITICAL CHALLENGES FACING THE WORLD.FROM MARCH THROUGH JUNE, IAVE PRODUCED A SERIES OF 18 VIRTUAL SESSIONS TO HELP VOLUNTEERS AND VOLUNTEER INVOLVING ORGANIZATIONS RESPOND TO COVID-19 AND THE CHALLENGES IT PRESENTED. WORKING GLOBALLY WITH PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND EXPERTS IN THE FIELD, THESE SESSIONS ADDRESSED KEY PANDEMIC-RELATED ISSUES IN THE VOLUNTEER SECTOR, HIGHLIGHTING BEST PRACTICES AND INSPIRATIONAL EXAMPLES OF RESILIENCE, ADAPTABILITY AND SOLIDARITY DURING THIS UNPRECEDENTED TIME. IN TOTAL WE WELCOMED 1,537 UNIQUE ATTENDEES FROM 116 COUNTRIES, WITH REPRESENTATION FROM ALL REGIONS OF THE WORLD AND ALL SECTORS. PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED AN AVERAGE OF 2 SESSIONS. ACROSS THE SERIES, WE FEATURED PRESENTATIONS FROM 28 ORGANIZATIONS AND COMPANIES.TAKEN TOGETHER, THESE ACTIVITIES HAVE FURTHER POSITIONED IAVES ROLE AS A CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND THOUGHT LEADER IN THE GLOBAL VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY.

NETWORK DEVELOPMENT AND MOBILIZATIONIAVE CREATES AND SUSTAINS NETWORKS OF LIKE-MINDED STAKEHOLDERS AND MEMBERS IN ORDER TO STRENGTHEN OUR SHARED CAPACITY TO PURSUE OUR MISSION.IN 2020, IAVE LAUNCHED THE FIRST-OF-ITS KIND GLOBAL NETWORK OF VOLUNTEERING LEADERSHIP (GNVL). THUS FAR, 71 NATIONAL LEADERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS FOR VOLUNTEERING (NLOS) FROM AFRICA, ASIA PACIFIC, LATIN AMERICA, THE ARAB NATIONS, EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA HAVE JOINED GNVL.AS PART OF THE GNVL, IAVE:-ESTABLISHED A COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND WHICH PROVIDED MICRO-GRANTS TO NLOS TO ENHANCE VOLUNTEER-LED PREPAREDNESS, CONTAINMENT AND RECOVERY ACTIVITIES IN MOZAMBIQUE, RWANDA, SIERRA LEONE, TOGO, GEORGIA, NIGER, ZIMBABWE, AND PERU.-FEATURED 10 GNVL MEMBERS IN OUR COVID WEBINAR SERIES, ALLOWING THEM TO SHARE INNOVATIONS IN HOW THEY ENGAGED VOLUNTEERS TO RESPOND TO THE PANDEMIC TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE OF OVER 4,500.-COLLABORATED WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR VOLUNTEERING IN DEVELOPMENT, EXPOSING NLOS TO TWO AREAS OF THE FORUMS GLOBAL STANDARD FOR VOLUNTEERING FOR DEVELOPMENT: IMPROVING VOLUNTEERING OUTCOMES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND INCREASING CLIMATE CHANGE VOLUNTEERING. -AWARDED $50,000 IN FUNDING TO TWO GNVLS THROUGH AN IDEATHON CO-HOSTED BY EMIRATES FOUNDATION. -DEVELOPED A LEADERSHIP MENTORING PROGRAM TO GAIN SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH COLLEAGUES OF THE VOLUNTEERING FIELD GLOBALLY. IAVES GLOBAL CORPORATE VOLUNTEER COUNCIL (GCVC) IS THE ONLY GLOBAL LEADERSHIP NETWORK FOR COMPANIES SHARING A COMMITMENT TO ENGAGING THEIR WORKFORCE AS VOLUNTEERS IN THE COMMUNITIES WHERE THEY LIVE AND WORK THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. GCVC HELPS ITS MEMBERS ADVANCE THEIR GLOBAL EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS, AS WELL AS EXCEL IN TAKING ON THE CHALLENGES OF A COMPLEX AND EVER-CHANGING WORLD. GCVC MEMBERS MET VIRTUALLY TEN TIMES DURING 2020, IN ADDITION TO PARTICIPATING IN SEVERAL OF IAVES COVID-19 WEBINARS. MEMBER RESPONSES TO COVID-19 WERE COLLECTED AND SHARED, AND A MEMBER DATABASE OF VIRTUAL VOLUNTEER PLATFORMS WAS DEVELOPED.

CONVENINGS: WE BRING TOGETHER, IN PERSON AND ONLINE, LEADERS IN VOLUNTEERING TO DISCUSS, DEBATE AND DEEPEN OUR SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF VOLUNTEERING AND ITS POTENTIAL AS A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD. UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO THE COVID PANDEMIC, WE WERE FORCED TO POSTPONE OUR SCHEDULED 2020 WORLD VOLUNTEER CONFERENCE SCHEDULED TO BE HELD IN ABU DHABI IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EMIRATES FOUNDATION, OUR HOST ORGANIZATION. IT NOW WILL BE HELD IN THE LAST QUARTER OF 2022.IN LIEU OF THAT, WE AND THE EMIRATES FOUNDATION PARTNERED TO HOLD THE VERY FIRST VOLUNTEERING TO BUILD RESILIENCE VIRTUAL IDEATHON. THIS IDEA-BASED HACKATHON BROUGHT TOGETHER NEARLY 300 VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS FROM 81 COUNTRIES TO PRODUCE THE BEST THINKING TO ADVANCE VOLUNTEERING IN THE MEDICAL SECTOR, VOLUNTEERING FOR MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT AND VOLUNTEERING TO SUPPORT THE VULNERABLE. THE EVENT INVOLVED 24 TEAMS OF HACKERS WHO PUT FORWARD PROPOSALS OUTLINING ACTIONABLE AND SCALABLE SOLUTIONS ACROSS ALL THREE THEMES. PRIZES OF $25,000 WERE AWARDED TO THE WINNING TEAMS IN EACH OF THE THREE TOPIC AREAS.