Volunteering in Malaysia

Some might spend their Saturday feeding the needy at a soup kitchen. Others might volunteer their time building awareness using social media... Malaysia came in rather low in the World Giving Index where we are ranked 76th of 153 countries. 

Volunteering and activism have enjoyed a great deal of attention in Malaysia but as Generation Me has turned into Generation We, do the numbers match the perception? In conjunction with International Volunteer Day, Dec 5th, Do Something Good is releasing the results on the first survey of the state of volunteering in Malaysia called Volunteering in Malaysia: The Big Picture.

Do Something Good found that the total number of volunteers in Malaysia is small in comparison to the population size. For every 1,000 Malaysians, there are 7 registered volunteers. While the total number of registered volunteers in Malaysia is projected at about 135,000, it makes up less than 1% of the 20.5 million Malaysians aged above 15.

Volunteering in Malaysia: The Big Picture studied 17 of Malaysia’s top volunteering organisations and several online volunteering platforms to build a view of the state of volunteering in Malaysia. The survey focused on unpaid volunteers working with registered non-religious and non-political organisations.

Another key concern that emerged in the survey was the engagement level of volunteers. While the survey included 30,215 registered volunteers, it found that slightly less than 30% (8,856) of volunteers were actively engaged in volunteering with their organisations. While many supported volunteering either through Facebook likes or by being registered as a volunteer only a fraction took the time to volunteer.

Do Something Good is an online volunteering platform that connects NGOs to volunteers. A community-driven initiative, it is also the official volunteering platform for Urbanscapes 2012, and is used by a number of Malaysia’s top volunteering organisations, such as Teach for Malaysia, Dignity For Children, and SPCA.