Volume 5. Issue 3. 2025.
Editorial Preface
The main topic of the third issue of the fifth volume of the online journal Önkéntes Szemle is informal volunteering and community self-organization. Informal volunteering is also considered an "under-researched" topic in the international volunteering literature. This statement is even more true when considering the main topics and directions of Hungarian volunteering research. However, as the three theoretical studies show, it is not uninteresting to view informal volunteering - whether from a social, civil-nonprofit or (local) community-building perspective - as something that: on the one hand, plays a mediating role between households and the nonprofit sector, on the other hand, is a recruitment base for civil-nonprofit organizations, and thirdly, can be the organizing force of (local) communities by being a mode of participation with a specific social logic and motivational base. Community self-organizations based on informal volunteering are also very difficult to capture at the level of case studies, since by their nature there are hardly any participants who could look at them from a descriptive and interpretative perspective. This can also be attributed to the fact that we were able to publish fewer case studies than usual in this issue, although we had an agreement with the authors for three additional case studies. At the same time, we hope that the presentation and analysis of two different types of extremely interesting self-organization will compensate our readers. In the methodological section, we deal with one of the most important elements of volunteer management, recruitment, discussing the topic from a new perspective. We recommend this methodological case study to all those civil-nonprofit organization leaders and volunteer coordinators who are open to a more complex approach and application of volunteer management methods. Finally, it is a strange coincidence that the study that examined the participation of residents of the Visegrad countries in formal and informal volunteering was published in the summer. The review section presents the results of this study.
"Invisible" volunteering – new perspectives on interpreting informal volunteering
Anna Mária Bartal
"The aim of this study is to open up new perspectives for the interpretation of informal volunteering, – based on the results of analyses of informal volunteering, – that go beyond simplified interpretations that merely emphasise the lack of formality."
Informal local communities in rural Hungary
Tamás Ragadics
"Informal initiatives in Hungary are often driven by key players holding formal positions in the settlement. Formal organizations can be effective if they are built on active informal networks."
Self-directed participation or a disadvantaged variant of formal volunteering? – Characteristics of informal volunteering based on data from "Volunteering in Hungary 2023"
Miklós Gyorgyovich – Éva Vass
"According to our results, informal volunteering is not merely an "incomplete" alternative to formal volunteering, but a mode of participation with a specific social logic and motivational structure, which reflects the relevant imprint of the historical and cultural characteristics of Hungarian society."
Mothers' informal community organisation in a suburban settlement – The story of a "Mum club"
Elvira Koltay – Gyorgyovich
"The results show that community resilience, organizational responses to generational differentiation, and the incorporation of digital infrastructure are key factors in long-term survival. The example of the Mama club illustrates how an informal group with religious roots can become a significant local social organizing force in an urbanizing agglomeration area."
What is beyond the choice and the invitation? – recommendations for a demand- and supply-side approach to volunteer recruitment based on the literature
Réka Nagy – Anna Mária Bartal
"We want to provide new, practical aspects for Hungarian volunteer management practice with a complex approach to recruitment formulated from an organizational perspective."
The story of a women entrepreneurial community: "Nő a TÉT"
Fruzsina Jámbor – Szilvia Gaál
"The case study also aims to shed light on how a grassroots women's community can generate real social and economic change in a local community, while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century."
