International Volunteer Day 2026 is on Saturday

About International Volunteer Day

Volunteering covers a wide range of unpaid work: running a youth sports team, sorting donations at a food bank, helping after a disaster, mentoring students or serving overseas with a development program. Much of it is informal, such as checking on neighbors or helping out at a place of worship. The day recognizes all of it, and governments and organizations use it to thank volunteers, recruit new ones and show how unpaid work supports health, education and community life.

The UN General Assembly established the day in resolution 40/212 of December 17, 1985, under its full title, the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development. The resolution invited governments to observe it every December 5 and to raise awareness of what volunteer service contributes, at home and abroad. In 2002, resolution 57/106 asked the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme to make sure the day reached its full potential, and UNV leads the global campaign today.

The UN has also given volunteering whole years. Resolution 52/17 proclaimed 2001 the International Year of Volunteers. Resolution A/RES/78/127 later proclaimed 2026 the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, which the UN launched on International Volunteer Day 2025 under the theme "Every Contribution Matters." The UN links volunteering to the Sustainable Development Goals, which run to 2030.

Sources: United Nations: International Volunteer Day, United Nations: International Volunteer Day background and resolutions, United Nations Volunteers (UNV). How we check dates.

How to mark International Volunteer Day

• Sign up for a one-time shift at a food bank, shelter, animal rescue or community garden to see if it suits you.
• Offer a professional skill, such as accounting, design, translation or tutoring, to a small nonprofit that can't afford to pay for it.
• Thank a volunteer you know, such as a coach, a firefighter in a volunteer department or a hospital helper.
• Look for online or remote volunteering if you have limited time or mobility.
• Ask your employer whether it offers paid volunteer time, and organize a team volunteer day if it does.

International Volunteer Day dates