/ Research
New Publication: Covid-19 Volunteering
After the start of the corona pandemic in Switzerland, it quickly became clear that many people wanted to volunteer to help people from risk groups. And yet: great caution is required, when dealing with these people, so that they do not run the risk of being infected. For this reason, volunteer work was often organized via online platforms that brought helpers and recipients together.
Researchers from the CEPS, the University of Freiburg/Brsg. and the ZHAW Winterthur have now investigated the significance of online platforms for volunteer work. The analysis of 565 volunteers on the Amigos.ch platform of Migros and ProSenectute shows that the online platform channels the oversupply of helpfulness and thus reduces false expectations. On the other hand, the platform provides an information function on health and safety aspects, which has a positive effect on the satisfaction of helpers.
The article was published in the scientific journal Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ): https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020964595 (subject to fees)