INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR VOLUNTEER EFFORT

IAVE - the International Association of Volunteer Effort - is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to enable leaders of volunteering worldwide to stand in solidarity with one another to promote, strengthen and celebrate volunteering in the many ways it happens throughout the world. Working with a distinctive global perspective, IAVE is the only international NGO that brings together leaders of volunteering - in corporations, in countries, and at large - to support their growth and impact so their activities can achieve progress toward solving society’s pressing problems.

For 50 years, IAVE has advocated for the fundamental importance of volunteering as vital to creating a fair, peaceful and compassionate world. IAVE’s biennial World Volunteer Conference, begun in 1970, is the only sustained convening of volunteer leaders throughout the world. This event creates a vital space within which to affirm a global culture of volunteering and the importance of volunteers to enhancing social cohesion. Our Global Network for Volunteer Leaders brings together some 70 leaders of in-country volunteer organizations to help strengthen, expand and advocate for volunteer efforts.

IAVE regularly joins forces with other organizations that involve volunteers, including the United Nations Volunteers, the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies, United Way Worldwide, Points of Light, Volunteer Groups Alliance, and Volunteer Service Overseas.