74% OF UKRAINIANS JOINED VOLUNTEERING AFTER FEBRUARY 24, 2022: SURVEY RESULTS
In early December 2023, the Ukrainian Volunteer Service (UVS) and U-Report launched a Volunteer Resilience poll involving 4621 young volunteers to learn about the volunteer sentiment of the population working in the public sector.
The main goal of the study was to understand the number of proactive Ukrainians who are involved in volunteer work today, what activities they choose, and whether they feel exhausted and tired.
36% of respondents indicated that they were engaged in volunteering several times, and 26% did it on a regular basis. 12% reported one-time volunteering. 27% were not involved in such activities.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, thousands of people have joined the volunteer movement for the first time. Among those who have just started volunteering are many teenagers and young people eager to be helpful, the loved ones of defenders who are trying to support them, as well as employees of local government bodies who have taken on the coordination of aid in their communities.
Most of these people want to help people as effectively as possible.
Yet, they lack support and a friendly community of people who can provide advice and guidance at the beginning of their volunteer journey. We have found that the main obstacles to volunteering include a lack of understanding of how and where to engage in meaningful activities, emotional exhaustion and unpreparedness to face people’s struggles, and seeking quick results not always possible with volunteering. At the same time, we see that the volunteers have a lot of resilience and determination to keep going,” says Anna Bondarenko, head and founder of the Ukrainian Volunteer Service.
30% of respondents stated that they did not experience burnout. 26% had faced it personally and saw its signs among other volunteers. 23% had personal experience of burnout, and 21% noticed a similar problem among other volunteers.
59% of respondents have enough energy to help others, but they feel that it is decreasing or running out. 25% feel strong enough to take care of themselves and others. 16% said they did not have the energy to help others.
“The first thing I recommend is to give yourself time to rest. It’s important to be realistic about your energy level, as everyone has their own limits. Moreover, when you feel the lack of energy, you need to make time for quality rest. Secondly, I suggest tracking the result of your work, because when we continuously support others, we forget to notice our personal impact. At such moments, it is important to stop and take a “helicopter view.” Recall how many people received help, how many shipments were made, etc. Remember the words of gratitude from those who received your support.
It is also important to concentrate your efforts. So, you can choose only one area that you are good at and want to continue working in. By investing all your energy in one area, you will contribute to the effectiveness of your work and protect yourself from burnout,” says Olena Vuzka, Head of National Programs at the Ukrainian Volunteer Service.
It is important for volunteers to find support and resources to continue supporting others and avoid burnout. One such resource is the Volunteer Platform. Here, you can find volunteer opportunities in various areas or suggest your own volunteer initiative.