Assessing Diversity and Equity in Volunteer Inclusion

From 2022 to 2025, leaders in volunteer engagement gathered to learn and create tools to increase the potential for organizations to build more welcoming spaces and appeal to a greater cross section of volunteers. This Assessing Diversity and Equity in Volunteer Inclusion (ADEVI) project was a multi-faceted investigation of the identities of volunteer administrators and the volunteer engagement journey of organizations they work in. The project's guiding principle was that organizations that are attuned to welcoming all communities will be able to engage a broader cross-section of citizens. With support from AmeriCorps, a team from the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration (CCVA) and Arizona State University (ASU) mobilized a diverse group of professional leaders of volunteers. They collaborated to produce a free toolkit called Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement. Once released, they tested its value in broadening civic engagement across all kinds of social missions.

In its first year, the project focused on collecting information on the field of volunteer administration. This included a survey and focus groups.
In its second year, the project turned towards actionable research with the development of Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement.
In its final year, the project concentrated on disseminating the tools, supporting field partners, adding to the toolkit and seeking feedback.
The team was led by Mark Hager (ASU), Faiza Venzant (CCVA), and Teresa Oswald (ASU).

Is Everyone Welcome? Broadening Volunteer Engagement

Spring 2023 brought what was known as the ADEVI survey. All individuals with an active Certification in Volunteer Administration (CVA) were invited to share information on their personal identities and the orientation of their organizations toward welcoming all communities. Three out of every five CVAs participated in the survey, providing a strong basis for an accurate snapshot of the state of the profession.

Click on the image below for an infographic on the personal identities of CVAs.

Survey

Info Graphic slide from the Assessing Diversity and Equity in Volunteer Inclusion 2023 with a large Read more button with an arrow

Poster Presentation for the 2024 Annual AmeriCorps Research Grantees Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Takeaway: Personal identities can't be described with a few checkbox categories. We learn a lot more by asking people to describe themselves in their own words. Click on the image below to enlarge the poster.

Snapshot of a poster that covers demographics question are easy but personal identities are complicated

Click on the image below for a report on how CVAs perceived inclusiveness in their workplace. We also summarized some themes from the report in a series of articles listed below.

Snapshot for a brief of Is Everyone Welcome a Report Card on Inclusiveness in Volunteer Contexts with a large Red More button with an arrow

How Much Do Community Organizations Know about the Diversity of their Volunteers? by Mark Hager

Training Is Not The Answer, But We Still Need It by Faiza Venzant

Equity Train Roars Into Voluntary Sector by Mark Hager

Decoupling's Threats to Equity Efforts by Teresa Oswald

PODCAST, October 2023: From the Suggestion Box: IS DEAI Still Even Relevant? ADEVI Research Reveals Fascinating Results

PODCAST, February 2024: Curated Conversations: The Cost of Volunteerism

PODCAST, May 2024: Advancing the Profession with Rob Jackson and Faiza Venzant

Theory Meets Data: Method Workshop on Policy-Practice Decoupling of Workgroup Inclusion Leadership Practices by Nara Yoon, Mark Hager and Teresa Oswald

Methodological Report for ADEVI Survey 2023 by Teresa Oswald

During the summer of 2023, we hosted online focus groups with CVAs. We gathered stories about attitudes and experiences around welcoming a broader cross section of volunteers. We held 21 focus groups with 105 CVAs participating. Five CVAs also volunteered as moderators. The research team observed 10 themes and we shared our observations from July to September of that same year:

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall - The Role of Self-Awareness in Equity Work by Faiza Venzant
To Track or Not to Track - That is the Diversity Question by Kelly Rutt
Inequitable: Do We All Have the Same Opportunity to Volunteer by Suzette Major
Building Volunteer Diversity: Intentions ≠ Actions by Teresa Oswald
Other Rows to Hoe: Resource and Mission Limitations on Recruiting Diverse Volunteers by Mark Hager
Do Not Pass Go: Strategic Plans That Don't Move Us Forward by Faiza Venzant
Do We Do Volunteering Differently? Community Engagement Varies By Culture by Kelly Rutt
The Different Lenses of Diversity in Volunteerism by Suzette Major
Broadening the Diversity of Volunteers - out with the Old, in with the New? by Teresa Oswald
Toward Volunteer Diversity: The Need for Training by Mark Hager

Click on the image below for the focus group report, which further summarizes and discusses the content of the focus groups.

Focus Groups

Published in Engage: Challenges to Making Workplaces More Inclusive by Mark Hager (This article is accessible only to subscribers of the Engage Journal.)

Published in Nonprofit Quarterly: How to Build a Truly Inclusive Nonprofit Volunteer Program by Faiza Venzant, CVA and Mark Hager

Methodological Report for ADEVI Focus Groups (2023) by Kelly Rutt

Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement

In the second year of the project, we enacted a research-to-action process that culminated in a free online toolkit. The toolkit aims to promote broader access to volunteerism through more welcoming volunteer administration practices. A group of over 20 CVAs worked collaboratively to research, recommend, and create tools.

The toolkit is hosted with our national partner, Idealist. This effort is led by Jennifer Bennett, CVA.

Once released, the tools were tested with field partners who included LA Works, Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement and San Diego County Parks and Recreation.

PODCAST, August 2024: Volunteer Nation Podcast: Tools for Nonprofits Volunteerism with Faiza Venzant

BLOG, October 2024: Welcoming in Volunteerism: Tools for Meaningful Engagement by Faiza Venzant

BLOG, November 2024: An Interview with Faiza Venzant

PODCAST, December 2024: Equity in Action: Accessibility and Neurodiversity with Sarah Philippe, CVA and Dana Litwin, CVA.

In September of 2025, we hosted a culminating event called Is Everyone Welcome? The Summit.

Poster for Is Everyone Welcome The Summit including an agenda of presentations and headshots of speakers from September 25, 2025

Mark Hager, Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University
Faiza Venzant, CVA, Executive Director, Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration
Teresa Oswald, CNP, Arizona State University