Revolutionary Leadership for 21st-Century Volunteering

Two and a half years after the emergence of COVID-19, the world has changed in many ways. Some things about today’s life would have been completely unimaginable in December 2019. To assume that volunteering is immune from this massive wave of change would be naive at best and foolhardy at worst.  

In this Engage feature, author and volunteer management expert Martin J. Cowling argues that COVID-19 has accelerated a shift in volunteering that was already happening. Combined with COVID-19, Cowling writes that “the change has become seismic. We have seen a massive shock in volunteering numbers in nations across the world.” Cowling declares that our models of volunteering from the 20th century are no longer "fit for purpose" in the 21st century as he calls for radical, revolutionary change. Provocative, engaging and filled with examples, Cowling’s thesis will hopefully lead to new thinking and new action. As he cautions, “Read it if you dare.”