Volunteer Wellington

What Volunteer Wellington does

Volunteer Wellington is a New Zealand nonprofit volunteer centre founded in 1992, operating as a single legal entity with three regional offices covering Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), Te Awa Kairangi (Hutt Valley), and Te Puna Tautokotia (Porirua). Its core function is to connect individuals seeking volunteer opportunities with the region's community organisations that need volunteer labour, alongside providing advisory, mentoring, training, and capacity-building services to those community organisations. The organisation supports more than 300 community organisations and engages over 4,000 individuals in volunteer opportunities annually.

The organisation's core product is a searchable web-based volunteer opportunity database filterable by category, location, and keyword, supplemented by the Corporate Volunteering programme that links employers with community organisations. Additional programme lines include Te Aka Tūao (a kaupapa Māori-grounded networking hui in the Hutt Valley), the Youth Impact Programme (engaging rangatahi through volunteering), the MSD Programme coaching job seekers into volunteering placements, the tūao membership tier for Kaupapa Māori and Mana Whenua organisations, and the Community Film Challenge. Technology is conventional: a website platform for listings, a database for matching, and the InFoodle newsletter system. No AI, API, or proprietary technical features are disclosed.

The revenue model is donation- and grant-based rather than transactional. Volunteer Wellington is funded through donations (one-off and recurring, including via the Givealittle platform), grants from government bodies and local councils, and corporate partnerships, particularly through the corporate volunteering programme. All services to volunteers and community organisations are provided free of charge. The organisation is governed by a volunteer board chaired by a Victoria University of Wellington professor, with trustees drawn from DLA Piper, NZ Customs Service, KPMG, and Spark Health, and operates with part-time staff supplemented by internal volunteers.

Name

Volunteer Wellington

Legal name

Volunteer Wellington

Website

https://volunteerwellington.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Volunteer Wellington is a nonprofit volunteer centre connecting individuals with volunteer opportunities across the Wellington region, supporting 300+ community organisations through a searchable online platform, corporate volunteering programme, and free advisory services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Volunteer Centre Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ)

Keywords

• Volunteer matching services
• Community sector support
• Nonprofit volunteer centre
• Corporate volunteering programs
• Youth community engagement

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: One-off and regular donations from individuals and supporters. Accepts bank transfers and cash. Givealittle online donation platform used.
2. Grants and Funding: Funding from government bodies, local councils, and philanthropic organizations to support operations and programmes.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporate employers for employee volunteering programmes and sponsorships.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Volunteer Wellington operates as a regional volunteer centre connecting individuals seeking volunteer opportunities with more than 300 community organisations across Wellington, Porirua, and Hutt Valley. Services include a searchable volunteer opportunity database, personalised volunteer advising, training and professional development for community groups, corporate volunteering coordination for employers, the Youth Impact Programme for rangatahi, the MSD coaching programme for job seekers, and the Te Aka Tūao networking hui. All direct services are provided free to volunteers and member community organisations.

Product overview

Volunteer Wellington operates as a volunteer centre network connecting individuals with volunteer opportunities across the Wellington region. The organisation consists of three branches—Volunteer Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara), Volunteer Hutt (Te Awa Kairangi), and Volunteer Porirua (Te Puna Tautokotia)—that operate as one unified organisation. Its core product is the Volunteer Opportunity Matching service, which provides a searchable database connecting volunteers with organisations. Supporting products include the Corporate Volunteering Programme for employer engagement, Te Aka Tūao for community networking in Hutt Valley, the Youth Impact Programme for rangatahi engagement, the MSD Programme coaching job seekers into volunteering, the Tūao Membership Tier for Kaupapa Māori organisations, and the Community Film Challenge for creative community storytelling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Volunteer Opportunity Matching Connects individuals with volunteer opportunities across Wellington, Porirua, and Hutt Valley through a searchable database with keyword and category filtering. Free for individuals and community organisations.
• Corporate Volunteering Programme Connects employers around the Wellington Region with the organisation's network of community organisations for corporate volunteer days and longer-term employee volunteering programmes.
• Te Aka Tūao A regular gathering for people working and volunteering in nonprofit organisations across Te Awa Kairangi, providing a space to connect, share stories, learn together, and build relationships grounded in kaupapa Māori values of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga.
• Youth Impact Programme Empowers rangatahi (young people) through volunteering and supports community organisations to be more youth-friendly, with dedicated staff coordinating youth engagement across the region.
• MSD Programme (Ministry of Social Development) Volunteer coaching and placement programme supporting job seekers to connect with meaningful volunteering opportunities, with dedicated volunteer coaches based in Lower Hutt and Porirua.
• Tūao Membership Tier A membership tier introduced in 2025 that invites Kaupapa Māori and Mana Whenua organisations to access Volunteer Wellington membership offerings free of charge.
• Community Film Challenge A competition bringing together charities, filmmakers, and local creatives to tell stories that strengthen communities through film.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supporting 300+ community organisations annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• WestpacminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2003First corporate volunteer partner (2003) - employees volunteered through VW coordination. Westpac viewed VW as vital for corporate social responsibility.
• GivealittleminorOthersOnline fundraising platform used for processing donations to Volunteer Wellington. Provides accessible giving mechanism for supporters.
• Volunteering New ZealandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational peak body for volunteering that Volunteer Wellington works closely with for sector leadership and advocacy.
• Wellington City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government partner providing support and collaboration for volunteer sector development in Wellington region.
• Porirua City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government partner supporting volunteer sector development in Porirua region.
• Hutt City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government partner supporting Volunteer Hutt operations and community programmes.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Volunteering New Zealand: National peak body for volunteering in New Zealand and a direct strategic partner of Volunteer Wellington. Comparable as the umbrella sector organisation advocating for and supporting volunteer centres across the country.
• Volunteer Canterbury: Canterbury region's volunteer centre connecting volunteers with community organisations. Comparable as a regionally-focused volunteer intermediary offering similar opportunity-matching, corporate volunteering, and organisational capacity-building services.
• Volunteering Waikato: Waikato region's volunteer centre. Comparable as another NZ regional volunteer hub with similar mission, audience, and grant/donation funding mix.
• Volunteer Auckland: Auckland's regional volunteer centre operating a similar volunteer-matching and community-organisation support model. Directly comparable in service mix, target customers (volunteers and nonprofits), and nonprofit funding structure.

Broad incumbents

• ComVoices: Coalition of national community and voluntary sector organisations in New Zealand. Comparable as a sector-support and advocacy umbrella that VW engages with for collective advocacy on volunteering infrastructure funding.
• VolunteerMatch: Long-standing US-based online volunteer matching platform. Comparable as a higher-scale incumbent in volunteer intermediation, illustrating both the addressable model and the competitive threat from digital-first players.
• Salvation Army New Zealand: One of VW's largest community-organisation members and a major user of volunteer labour in NZ. Comparable in mission area (social services delivered via volunteer-powered programmes) and as a key VW partner organisation.

Emerging players

• Giving Force / Doer.do: Volunteer and skills-based giving platform. Comparable as a digital-native entrant into volunteer matching and corporate volunteering — represents the long-term competitive direction VW may face if it does not evolve its technology layer.
• Do Good (formerly SEEK Volunteer): Tech-enabled volunteer matching platform operating in Australia. Comparable as a digital volunteer intermediary serving nonprofits and individuals, representing the scalable platform model VW could evolve toward.

Regional players

• Wellington City Mission: Wellington-based social services nonprofit and former employer of several VW staff. Comparable as a regionally focused community-services nonprofit in the same Wellington ecosystem that both receives volunteers via VW and shares talent with it.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/volunteer-wellington

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Volunteer Wellington