Tools, frameworks, and research. Free. No email required.
Everything here is open access. Download what you need, use it in your work, share it with your team. We don't gate our resources behind email forms or membership walls. The field gets better when practitioners can find and use the best thinking without friction.
A practitioner-facing overview of the three Keystone Behaviors: Conducting the Brief, Guiding Volunteer Experiences, and Conducting the Debrief. Designed for training contexts and quick reference.
download Download ResourceExplores how empathy breaks down across group boundaries. Examines intergroup empathy bias through three component processes — experience sharing, perspective taking, and empathic concern — and identifies factors at both group and individual levels that contribute to empathic failure. Draws on South African post-apartheid context to suggest strategies for mitigation through reciprocal mutual engagement.
download Download ResourceRW Institute Voyager scripts for briefing and debriefing volunteer experiences. Ready-to-use language for facilitators running the Brief-Guide-Debrief cycle with volunteer groups.
download Download ResourceA sector-wide declaration published by Volunteer Groups Alliance in December 2025. Outlines the structural and philosophical shifts needed for employee volunteering to generate genuine social change rather than optics.
download Download ResourceThe definitive annual benchmark on corporate giving and employee engagement from CECP (Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose). Essential reference data for CSR leaders making the case for program investment and scope.
download Download ResourceElinor Ostrom's foundational paper challenging the 'zero contribution thesis' — the assumption that rational self-interested individuals won't cooperate for collective benefit. Reviews experimental and real-world evidence showing that people do cooperate, and examines how social norms evolve to sustain collective action without external enforcement.
download Download ResourceBibliometric analysis of corporate volunteering research from 1990 to 2015, mapping publication patterns, methodological trends, and the development of the field over 25 years.
download Download ResourceAcademic article tracing the shift in corporate volunteering from charity-based activity toward partnership-oriented social impact. Examines how the relationship between companies and communities has evolved.
download Download ResourceChris Jarvis argues that most corporate volunteer programs are designed for logistics, not for the people doing the volunteering. The talk introduces the core RW principle: if you design volunteer experiences around proximity, briefing, and reflection, you get behavior change, not just participation hours.
download Download ResourceResearch paper examining how employee volunteering builds social capital and contributes to corporate social responsibility outcomes. Connects volunteering program design to organizational-level benefits beyond participation metrics.
download Download ResourceJournal of Management review that organizes employee volunteering research across individual, organizational, and societal levels and proposes a framework for future study. A strong starting point for anyone building a research-informed program.
download Download ResourceSustainability journal article reviewing employee volunteerism concepts and the current state of the field. Provides a conceptual map of how the research community defines and studies corporate volunteering.
download Download ResourceA practical implementation guide from Prosocial World for applying evolutionary science and contextual behavioral science to group design. Foundational reading for anyone building programs grounded in cooperation theory rather than incentive mechanics.
download Download ResourceThe foundational study on prosocial sensemaking in organizations. Employees enabled to act prosocially through giving and volunteering programs respond with increased affective commitment to their employer. The paper provides the empirical base for the business case that transformative volunteering strengthens retention and engagement.
download Download ResourceMichael Norton presents research showing that spending money on others produces measurably greater happiness than spending on yourself. The data extends to workplace giving and volunteering, making the case that prosocial behavior benefits the giver as much as the recipient.
download Download ResourcePlatform connecting over 200,000 organizations with people seeking volunteer opportunities and social-impact careers. A practical starting point for companies building employee volunteer pipelines with community partners already using Idealist.
download Download ResourceAI-powered platform that connects employees with colleagues who hold relevant experience and expertise. A delivery partner in RWI programs focused on knowledge-sharing as a form of prosocial engagement.
download Download ResourceNancy Franz article on moving volunteer administration from transactional task management toward transformative volunteer learning environments. One of the earliest academic treatments of the transactional-transformative distinction in volunteering.
download Download ResourceResearch hub, practitioner tools, and frameworks from David Sloan Wilson's organization applying evolutionary and contextual behavioral science to groups, organizations, and communities. The theoretical backbone for much of RWI's program design.
download Download ResourceVolunteer leader training aid for adapting transformative volunteering practices to online and remote contexts. Covers facilitation techniques, engagement strategies, and how to preserve proximity in virtual settings.
download Download ResourceSystematic literature review on skills-based volunteering examining the intersection of employee volunteering, skills deployment, and human resource outcomes. Useful for CSR leaders evaluating whether skills-based programs produce different results than traditional volunteering.
download Download ResourceDr. Lasana Harris discusses his fMRI research showing that the brain can fail to activate social cognition circuits when encountering people from certain out-groups. His work on dehumanization and re-humanization is central to understanding why the Brief exists and why proximity alone is not enough.
download Download ResourceRealized Worth framework and worksheet for mapping a strategic social impact program structure across vision, supporters, programs, people, and capacity. A practical planning tool for CSR leaders designing or restructuring their programs.
download Download ResourceDaniel Glisczinski connects transformative learning theory with neuroplasticity research, arguing that durable perspective transformation has a biological substrate. Published in the Eighth International Transformative Learning Conference Proceedings (2010). Hosted with permission pending confirmation.
download Download ResourceDavid Eagleman demonstrates that a single word label can determine how much you care about another person in pain. The episode maps the neural mechanics of in-group and out-group formation, directly relevant to understanding why volunteering programs must be designed to cross social boundaries.
download Download ResourceVolunteer leader training aid focused on conducting debriefs as a keystone behavior in transformative volunteering. Covers question design, facilitation moves, and how to turn volunteer experiences into lasting learning.
download Download ResourceNeuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran explains how mirror neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors and form the neural basis of empathy. The talk provides the neuroscience foundation for why proximity and face-to-face contact are the primary design variables in volunteer program effectiveness.
download Download ResourceA Realized Worth framework on how physical and psychological proximity to those we serve drives lasting prosocial behavior change in volunteers. The research case for designing volunteer experiences that close the distance between helper and helped.
download Download ResourceWhy most volunteer programs don't change anyone. The hidden design flaw in corporate volunteering, and the call center study that proves it. The foundational case for proximity as the primary design variable in volunteer program effectiveness.
download Download ResourceThe Brief and Debrief are not optional. How two fifteen-minute windows determine whether volunteering transforms or merely occupies. Detailed guidance on constructing effective Briefs and Debriefs with research backing.
download Download ResourceResearch article introducing the volunteer matrix for positioning volunteer organizations and understanding competitive dynamics in volunteer markets. Useful for nonprofits and companies thinking about how their programs relate to the broader ecosystem.
download Download ResourceA 2019 ERP study complicates the standard narrative about power and empathy. High-power participants show amplified sensory processing, not reduced. The problem is not engagement. The problem is orientation. Includes the neuroscience of the Brief, the distress-compassion circuit distinction, and the dosage problem.
download Download ResourceChris Jarvis explains how volunteering can reprogram the brain's empathy responses toward groups we don't naturally identify with. The conversation covers the neuroscience of the Brief, the role of proximity in breaking barriers, and how a transformative approach produces lasting perspective shifts.
download Download ResourceHow to identify where participants are in their learning journey and design experiences that meet them there. Covers the three orientations, how they shift during an experience, and facilitation moves for each.
download Download ResourceRealized Worth framework explaining the difference between transactional and transformative volunteering and why the mindset shift matters in corporate volunteering. Covers what each approach produces and how to move from one to the other.
download Download ResourceVolunteer leader training aid for teaching the contrast between transactional and transformative volunteering. Designed for use in champion training sessions and program leader onboarding.
download Download ResourceFrequently asked questions about transformative volunteering: what it is, how it differs from traditional corporate volunteering, why it matters for empathy and social impact, and how to get started.
download Download ResourceRealized Worth framework for designing virtual volunteering opportunities around program alignment, partner fit, cause focus, employee outcomes, and employee choice. Built for practitioners adapting in-person programs to remote formats.
download Download ResourceRealized Worth framework describing governance models and structures for employee volunteer leadership networks. Covers roles, responsibilities, and network architectures that scale.
download Download ResourceThe case for treating donors and volunteers as the resource, not just the source of resources. Includes the Tourist-Traveler-Guide framework, the Brief-Guide-Debrief cycle, and the research on prosocial spending that underpins both.
download Download ResourceAll resources in the RWI Library are open access. No paywalls, no gating. We believe the field gets better when the best tools and thinking are available to everyone who needs them.
Get notified when new resources are published
