In celebration of International Volunteer Managers Day, we are inviting Leaders of Volunteers across Victoria to share their experiences as volunteering professionals. In this article, Tracey O’Neill challenges us to shake up the future of volunteer engagement.
Every day, you help your organisation live its mission through people, relationships, and community action. You translate strategy into connection and purpose into impact.
Yet too often, your expertise — the deep understanding of what drives belonging and change — goes untapped at the strategic table.
This International Volunteer Managers Day, it’s time to change that. It’s time to be bold, make change, and make a ruckus.
Be Bold.
You already know that volunteer engagement is more than hours logged, or roles filled. You see how volunteering builds trust, strengthens wellbeing, and connects people to purpose.
You want to make sure the community and volunteers have a say, but you’re not always sure how to make that work in practice.
You’re asked to measure and communicate impact, yet the tools and data don’t always exist.
You can see that your organisation’s culture treats volunteering as transactional, not transformational — and you want to shift it.
And sometimes, you’re still finding your own confidence in rooms where your role is misunderstood and undervalued.
Still, you keep showing up. You turn intent into action, and action into impact. That’s bold leadership!
Be bold:
- Name what isn’t working — out loud, in the rooms where decisions are made.
- Say the things everyone’s avoiding — especially when silence keeps volunteers, staff or communities stuck.
- Bring your community insights into conversations about strategy and impact.
Because your expertise doesn’t belong on the sidelines — it belongs at the centre of change.
Make Change.
Being bold is the first step. The next is using that courage to reshape how your organisation engages with its community.
You’re not just managing programs – you’re building the architecture of belonging.
You’re designing pathways that invite people to contribute, connect, and care.
And when you do it intentionally, volunteer engagement becomes not just a function, but a force for mission, impact, and trust.
Make change:
- Develop a volunteer engagement strategy that connects directly to your organisation’s purpose.
- Shift conversations from “helping” to “co-creating,” amplifying community voices and removing barriers so people can lead change with you.
- Move beyond measuring hours — tell the story of how volunteering changes lives, systems, and communities.
- Model the culture you want to see: inclusive, curious, and community-centred.
Change doesn’t always start at the top. Sometimes, it starts with one brave voice — yours — showing what’s possible when volunteering is led with purpose and strategy.
Make a Ruckus.
Leadership in volunteer engagement has always been about people and purpose. But purpose without courage changes nothing.
Ruckus-makers know that waiting for permission only keeps broken systems intact. They ask the hard questions, spark uncomfortable conversations, and push boundaries that need pushing.
Because disruption isn’t chaos — it’s the sound of progress being made. It’s the act of clearing space for something better to grow.
Make a Ruckus.
- Speak up when “how we’ve always done it” stops serving people.
- Share stories that make communities feel seen and help leaders and funders rethink what impact really looks like — stories that shift perspective and power.
- Create noise about what’s working — and speak up about what needs to change.
Because the future of volunteering won’t be built quietly.
It will be built by bold leaders who connect courage with community, data with humanity, and systems with people.
This International Volunteer Managers Day, don’t just celebrate your role — claim your influence. You are shaping how people connect, contribute, and belong.
Be Bold. Make Change. Make a Ruckus.
The future of volunteer engagement starts with you.
Tracey O’Neill
Tracey O’Neill Consulting
Tracey is a bold voice for the future of volunteering. Through Tracey O’Neill Consulting, she helps leaders reimagine volunteer engagement as a catalyst for connection, impact, and community-led change.
She is also the host of the new podcast Making a Ruckus, launching this International Volunteer Managers Day, exploring how bold leaders are rethinking volunteering, leadership, and community.
Interested in learning more?
Check out Tracey’s upcoming workshop – ‘Permission Not Required: From Experts to Influence‘ – where she will guide leaders of volunteer engagement through practical, real-world strategies for shaping decisions, amplifying volunteer voices, and strengthening their leadership presence.
About Voices of Volunteering
This is a space for members and stakeholders from the volunteering sector to share their experiences, reflections and insights from their work building and strengthening communities across Victoria.
If you would like to contribute, we’d love to hear from you! Contact [email protected] to express your interest.
