The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has commissioned an initiative to make data about volunteering more accessible.
Announced today, the project will be led by the Open Data Institute (ODI) and intends to develop a common standard for data collection across various volunteering platform providers.
Volunteering opportunities are currently advertised across more than 47 brokerage platforms, the announcement states, with information collected in various ways.
The ODI aims to create a shared open standard for data that makes volunteering opportunities discoverable across all platforms.
Its DCMS-backed project will assess current volunteering data and pilot a common standard with infrastructure bodies, community groups and organisations such as the NHS and the Royal Voluntary Service.
Civil society minister Stephanie Peacock said: “Volunteering is at the heart of our communities.
“This open data initiative is a vital first step to breaking down barriers and helping more people find and access opportunities to make a difference.”
The initial phase of the project will run from October 2025 to March 2026.
Co-founded in 2012 by World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, the ODI will work with volunteering platform Do IT and volunteer management solutions provider TeamKinetic on the project.
ODI chief executive Louise Burke said: “The positive impact of volunteering on people’s mental and physical health is well known, not to mention the contribution it makes to community cohesion and society as a whole.
“We’re delighted to be working on this with Do IT and Team Kinetic, and to have the chance to make a difference in another sector.”
According to government research published last December, 16% of adults in England reported regularly volunteering in 2023-34, below levels recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic.
