Despite unprecedented recent expansion of international volunteering and service (IVS), there has been relatively little research on impacts. This paper proposes a conceptual model for impact research based on existing research evidence published in English. The model suggests that outcomes for host communities, volunteers, and sending communities vary depending on individual and institutional attributes and capacity. How institutions structure and leverage individual capacity influences who participates and how they serve, and shapes the impact of volunteer action. The conceptual model provides directions for future research.Résumé En dépit de l'expansion sans précédent du VI (Volontariat international), il y a eu relativement peu de recherches sur ses impacts. Cet article propose un modèle conceptuel sur la recherche d'impact se basant sur la preuve de recherches existantes publiées en anglais. Le modèle suggère que les résultats pour les communautés hôtes, les volontaires et les communautés envoyées varient selon les attributs et la capacité des individus et des institutions. La façon dont la structure des institutions et les influences sur la capacité des individus, influence ceux qui participent et la façon dont ils servent et donnent forme à l'impact de l'action volontaire. Le modèle conceptuel fournit des perspectives pour de futures recherches.Zusammenfassung Trotz der jüngsten beispiellosen Ausweitung von internationalem freiwilligem Dienst (IVS) gibt es relativ wenig Forschung über dessen Auswirkung. Dieser Artikel stellt ein Denkmodell für die Erforschung von Auswirkungen basierend auf bestehender, in Englisch publizierter Forschungsevidenz vor. Das Modell legt nahe, dass Folgen für Aufnahmegemeinschaften, Freiwillige und Sendegemeinschaften von individuellen und institutionellen Attributen und Leistungsvermögen abhängen. Wie Institutionen individuelles Leistungsvermögen strukturieren und vorteilhaft einsetzen, beeinflusst wer teilnimmt, wie der Dienst abgeleistet wird und die Auswirkung der Freiwilligenarbeit. Das Denkmodell gibt Anleitung für zukünftige Forschung.Resumen A pesar de la reciente proliferación de los servicios voluntarios internacionales, las investigaciones realizadas para estudiar sus repercusiones son relativamente pocas. Este trabajo propone un modelo conceptual para investigar las repercusiones en función de las pruebas existentes publicadas en lengua inglesa. El modelo sugiere que los resultados de las comunidades de acogida, los voluntarios y las comunidades de emigración varían dependiendo de las características y las capacidades, tanto de las personas como de las instituciones. La forma en que las instituciones estructuran y aprovechan la capacidad de las personas determina quién participa y cómo prestan sus servicios, lo que confirma las repercusiones de la acción voluntaria. El modelo conceptual ofrece asimismo pautas para futuras investigaciones.

International voluntary service (IVS) has a significant and growing presence worldwide. IVS is a policy and program tool used for international development aid, humanitarian relief, and promotion of international understanding. In the last century, forms of IVS have proliferated, while research on scope, effectiveness, and impacts has lagged behind. We propose a typology that addresses duration, nature of service, and degree of "internationality." Further, we identify IVS networks and support organizations that bolster the capacity of IVS sending and hosting organizations, and in this process create large and little recognized international institutions of cooperation. Building on the typology, we suggest program, policy, and research implications to advance knowledge of the role of IVS, its role in global civil society, and impacts it may have on human conditions and cross-cultural understanding.

Using in-depth interviews, we explored civic engagement that included volunteering through religious organizations, neighboring, involvement in children's activities, and contributing. The sample consisted of 84 lowincome, low-wealth families. Findings indicate that although people of limited resources may be engaged, they face substantial challenges to active engagement. Data are suggestive of a modified life cycle theory, a resource or ''stakeholding'' theory, and institutional theories regarding challenges to engagement. In the context of the study's limitations, implications are discussed for measurement, research, and interventions.

What is the role of stipends as an institutional facilitator in volunteer civic service? By examining the relationship of stipend receipt to volunteer diversity, time commitment, and perceived benefits from a longitudinal study of older adults serving in Experience Corps, this article assesses stipend status relative to volunteer sociodemographic characteristics, motivations, intensity and duration of time served, and volunteers’ self‐reported benefits. The findings underscore how stipends may promote participant diversity. In particular, stipended older adult volunteers serve for longer periods of time, but their motivations for serving do not differ. Stipended volunteers report higher perceived benefits than nonstipended volunteers. The results suggest that stipends may leverage wider inclusion, increase retention, and contribute to other benefits, but additional research is needed using more controlled and comparative designs.

Previous research suggests that international volunteer service may have both positive and negative effects on host organizations. Applying a capacity-building perspective, this study uses semistructured interviews to ask staff in hosting organizations to identify the main outcomes of short-term volunteer service. These views were compared with perspectives of staff from matched organizations that do not host international volunteers. Findings suggest that international volunteers may increase organizational capacity by supplying extra hands, providing technical and professional skills, contributing tangible resources, and enhancing intercultural understanding. Volunteers may also challenge organizations as they absorb staff time and resources. Staff members from both types of organizations identify individual and institutional variables that may affect the quality of these outcomes, including volunteers' language capacity and the intensity of the service placement.We acknowledge the Ford Foundation for providing support for this research.