On International Volunteer Day (IVD), the world pays tribute to volunteers worldwide who dedicate their time and effort to worthy causes throughout the year. It’s also a popular day for teams and individuals to come together and give back to their communities.
Getting together and volunteering as a team has a far larger impact than it might seem. Team volunteering and corporate giving benefit our communities while providing several perks for individual organizations.
These benefits range from employee engagement to overall brand awareness and more. The best part? There are countless simple ways to get started by advocating for and organizing a volunteering day.
In this guide, we’ll explore a bit more about International Volunteer Day. We’ll then touch on how it helps your company and ways to get involved this December and year-round.
International Volunteer Day 101: A Quick Overview
Let’s kick off this guide with a quick overview of this annual observance before digging into our favorite International Volunteer Day activities.
When Is International Volunteer Day?
December 5th marks the annual observance of IVD.
That means that this year’s observance—International Volunteer Day 2025—will happen on Friday, December 5th.
What Is International Volunteer Day?
International Volunteer Day, also known as Global Volunteer Day or Global Volunteering Day, is an annual observance dedicated to volunteerism around the world.
This day serves as an opportunity for volunteers and volunteer organizations to celebrate their accomplishments, promote their work, encourage government support, and inspire others to join their efforts.
Global Volunteering Day is also a day to thank volunteers and nonprofit organizations for all their hard work and dedication throughout the year. It’s a perfect volunteering day for companies and employees to honor that hard work by joining in and giving back.
What’s the History of International Volunteer Day?
In 1985, the United Nations designated IVD as a mandated observance where volunteers are acknowledged and the spirit of volunteerism is promoted at local, national, and international levels.
It has evolved, becoming a bigger event every year—it’s currently celebrated by more than 100 countries annually.
Together, these countries celebrate the act of volunteering witnessed all around the world and in every culture. Estimates place the number of yearly volunteers worldwide at a staggering 1 billion people, with 75 million of those volunteers residing in the US.
Why Do We Celebrate International Volunteer Day?
International Volunteer Day marks a time for organizations to raise awareness of the contributions they make to their communities, but that’s not the only reason we celebrate. The world comes together to celebrate Global Volunteering Day to:
- Recognize Volunteers: The celebration honors volunteers who give their time and efforts to make a difference in their communities and the world.
- Promote Volunteerism: IVD encourages more people to engage in service to their communities.
- Strengthen Communities: This observance highlights how volunteerism improves society.
- Show Global Solidarity: IVD showcases the global unity in humanitarian and development efforts.
- Inspire Action: The celebration motivates individuals and organizations to support social causes and volunteer organizations.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these benefits to further highlight why IVD is an important observance.
Strengthening local and international communities
Many nonprofits and organizations rely on volunteer efforts to support their causes. In fact, there is a handful of nonprofits that don’t have paid staff and are run entirely by volunteers.
Without them, they’re unable to do the important work that has such an impact on both local and international communities.
Initiatives like Paint Soles for Souls, Operation Cancer Care, Helping Hands, and The Do Good Bus, among many other charitable programs, make local communities better, safer, and a happier place to live for all.
Helping people meet others with similar values
Whether you are having a volunteering day by yourself or alongside your team at work, it opens the door to meeting people with similar values.
For example, within your company, you might connect with someone on a level you never expected based on their shared passion for a certain cause.
Creating a ripple effect to encourage others to volunteer
Whether you’re building beds for animals in the shelter, cleaning up your local park, or making donations to a food pantry, volunteering is inspiring.
If you volunteer, please share your experience! You might be surprised to find others who want to join you for your next volunteering day.
How Do International Volunteer Day Activities Benefit Companies?
Employee volunteering benefits societies, companies, and staff—everyone stands to gain when companies and teams donate their time and resources.
Here are just some of the many benefits employers stand to gain by taking time for volunteering and corporate social responsibility activities:
- Increased brand recognition and customer loyalty
- Improved company reputation and public trust
- Better capital growth and bottom line
- Invigorated employee engagement
- Higher employee retention rates and employee loyalty
How Can You Celebrate International Volunteer Day 2025?
The best way to celebrate Global Volunteer Day as an organization and team is by dedicating the day to volunteering and encouraging others to get involved.
You can encourage your team to make time for a volunteer day, where you can all come together and do something fun while supporting an important cause.
Here are some of our favorite International Volunteer Day activities and ideas to get you started.
1. Donate To a Local or International Organization
The best thing about a volunteering day is that you can’t go wrong if you’re supporting a worthy cause. There are many different nonprofits and organizations that always need support.
For example, you might host a blood drive, collect books to donate, build a Little Free Library, or sponsor a wheelchair.
Trust us, there’s something for every team.
2. Host a Donation Station Event To Get Others Involved
If you want to plan a larger volunteering day for your team or company, it’s often best to get help putting the event together.
With the Donation Station, you get to focus on giving back while we take care of the rest. This is charitable giving, made easy. You choose what kind of organization you want to support, and we handle the planning.
During the event, your team will work together to make personalized donation bags for an organization of your choice.
3. Host a Clothing Drive at Work
This is another International Volunteering Day activity anyone can do—after all, most of us have clothes we no longer wear stored away in our closets.
Especially during the winter, clothing donations are a necessity. Why not organize a day at work, say December 5th, to bring in clothing to be donated?
At the end of the day, you can drop off all the items at your local Goodwill, Volunteers of America, or another local organization.
If you want to make this idea pull double duty so you can reap the benefits of team building, check out Corporate Project Runway.
4. Build Bikes To Donate To Local Children’s Organizations
At TeamBonding, we’ve been doing the Charity Bike Build for over 15 years, and it’s a favorite with almost all of our facilitators. We’re talking thousands of bikes and happy kids, and hundreds of stronger teams.
This program inspires teams as they work to assemble the bikes, leaving them with a sense of purpose when they see the direct impact they’ve made.
5. Ride the Do Good Bus To a Volunteer Location With Your Team
Giving back to your community always feels good. But you know what feels even better? Getting out into that community while you’re giving back!
On the Do Good Bus, you and your team will work side-by-side on projects at the causes you’re supporting, forging authentic connections while you make a direct community impact and learn more about the cause.
6. Write Letters and Cards for Those In Need
Another simple way to go about a volunteering day with your team is by creating cards and writing letters for those in need.
A few example causes could be cancer patients, domestic violence survivors, or those in nursing homes. A nice note letting someone know you’re there for them can make all the difference in their lives.
7. Build Care Packages for Military Personnel
Another way to celebrate IVD is by assembling care packages to donate to U.S. military personnel at overseas bases or stateside hospitals.
Your special gifts will make a huge impact, both for them and your team. You can also build care packages for cancer patients, students, or the homeless.
8. Build Doggie Wheelchairs
This is a super popular Global Volunteer Day activity—Mission ImPAWssible encourages CSR and engages the animal lovers on your team.
During this program, you and your team will unite to build pet wheelchairs to be donated internationally to animals in need. Your team’s efforts will empower one another and give pets a second chance to live their lives without limits.
9. Help Others Access Clean Water
With our Clean Water Connection filter build, you and your team will engage in a meaningful, hands-on experience that helps communities around the world by giving them access to clean water.
Your team will build relationships, purpose, and passion as you work together to assemble life-giving water filters for those in need.
10. Get Active With a Scavenger Hunt
Why not celebrate IVD with a charitable scavenger hunt? With Go Give, your group will complete GPS-triggered challenges that positively impact your chosen project.
You can also opt for the Healthcare Heroes scavenger hunt to give back to the dedicated healthcare workers in your community.
11. Donate Shoes To Children In Need
With our Soles for Souls program, you and your team will decorate new TOMS shoes, which are donated to South American children in need.
On an episode of our Team Building Saves The World Podcast, Uniting Teams for Global Good, we had a chat with Michael Cipoletti, Founder of FNE International—a charity to which we donate the shoes from this program.
Here’s a bit of what he had to say about their impact:
“We’ve distributed thousands of shoes between Nicaragua, Peru, Dominican Republic, to folks that in some cases don’t have shoes, in other cases have shoes, but maybe need a better pair of shoes.”
Check out the whole episode to learn more about the good they’re doing! Michael shared some really inspiring stories about their organization that are perfect for Global Volunteering Day.
12. Put Books In the Hands Of Children
We briefly mentioned our Little Team Library program earlier, but this is one’s always a hit with our facilitators and clients, so it deserves special mention before we wrap up!
Your team will build and decorate Little Free Library® kits, craft children’s books using AI, and spread the joy of reading to kids in your community.
We had the pleasure of talking to Scot Wirth, Director of Operations at Little Free Library, on an episode of our Team Building Saves The World Podcast, Tiny Libraries, Huge Impact.
“It’s all volunteer-led,” explained Scot. “It’s all driven by the individuals who choose to do this. We have public library systems that have their own network of Little Free Libraries. We have civic organizations that have their own networks of Little Free Libraries.
“What we’ve found through our steward surveys is that putting one of these boxes up creates a greater sense of community for people living in that area. You might meet new people or find a good book that you’ve never read before, and it doesn’t cost you anything!”
We highly suggest giving the whole episode a listen! Scot shared a lot of heartwarming stories during our conversation.
Get Started Planning Your International Volunteer Day at Work
There are countless ways your team can honor International Volunteer Day. Start with a cause that means something to your team and company, and go from there!
At TeamBonding, we have decades of experience with events like these—everyone here is passionate about giving back. We also have a ton of options to choose from!
“We have tech in our volunteer programs,” explains our Director of CSR, Baylee Goldstein. “We have trivia in our volunteer programs. We have fun in our volunteer programs, but then we also always have that impact element.
“Whatever you choose, it’s just this amazing customizable experience! And we’re not a company that started a year ago—we started 30 years ago, and we’re worldwide.”
If you need help planning the perfect volunteering day, contact us to learn more about our charitable programs, how we can tailor them to your needs, and the ways we can help you give back.
