Many of us are familiar with new trends emerging in the volunteering landscape; trends such as the rise of cause-based and episodic volunteering, the push for greater flexibility, and more meaningful volunteering roles.

Article by Jessie Harman, 2021-23 Rotary International Director

Another trend, starting to feature in the research, is the rise of ‘kit culture’ – think packing meal kits for the homeless or writing advocacy letters to petition government.

Kit culture refers to the practice of providing quick and easy ‘pre-packaged’ volunteering solutions which enable mainly younger people to express their social conscience in ways that are consistent with their busy, modern, ‘right-now’ lives. And while the trend may be newly reported, kit culture volunteering itself has been around for quite some time – think, the student armies that pop up spontaneously and the successful ‘meal packing event’ organised by (then) District 9800 Governor Amanda Wendt as part of the recent Rotary International Convention in Melbourne.

‘Packaging up’ some of our meaningful volunteering activities may be another way that Rotary clubs can regularly engage with younger volunteers, maybe not as members, but rather as a pathway to membership further down the track.

However, for kit culture to be effective, clubs also need to have the right marketing, communication, registration, and supervision processes wrapped around these opportunities. Technology, social media, and a bit of ‘youthful savvy’ will likely hold the key.

For Rotary to have a future in this region, we need to continue to adapt and leverage these changing volunteer trends; capitalising on the rise of ‘kit culture’ may need to be part of our toolkit of solutions.