RC3 Collaborative project on Research & Volunteering
Over the past three years, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Research Consortium (RC3) and the IFRC Volunteering Alliance have been working on a collaborative project aimed at:
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Bringing all knowledge and expertise on volunteering created by members of the RCRC movement together to capitalize and move forward,
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Supporting the development of a strong volunteering research culture,
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Promoting evidence-based volunteering development and management practices within the movement
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To achieve these objectives, members of the RC3 have been working on three key resources: a Database, a Sourcebook, and a Global Event - The RC3 Long Night of Research.
The first step of this project consisted in conducting a review of research reports, studies, and academic papers about volunteering produced by the RCRC movement (i.e., RC3 members, RCRC Reference Centres, and National Societies) and on RCRC volunteers. This was done through conducting interviews with RC3 members and sharing an online survey with members of the IFRC Volunteering Alliance to collect national societies' research on volunteering. This literature review allowed to identify and collect 60 resources.
A SharePoint was created to centralize these resources and is now accessible on the IFRC Volunteering Alliance Webpage.
Reference Guide on Volunteering Research
In addition to the database, the RC3 and the Volunteering Alliance have been working on centralizing some essential academic readings on volunteering. To this end, they have partnered with Northumbria University’s Centre for Global Development to create a comprehensible introductory guide to research on volunteering.
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Rather than an exhaustive and systematic mapping of all existing research on volunteering, this document includes a selection of key resources for practitioners and volunteers to engage in reflections around their volunteering practices and strategies. It includes resources in English, Spanish and French and is organized in relation to strategic thematic areas and IFRC's geographical regions of work.