Rethinking "It's Always the Same People"

In this episode of Making a Ruckus, we explore Acts of Service as a volunteer love language — and what it means for leaders of volunteer engagement and volunteer management.

If you've ever said, "It's always the same people who step up," this episode is for you.

Some volunteers express care and commitment through actin. They respond quickly, thrive in urgency, and feel most connected when they are useful. But there's an important distinction between willingness and endless capacity — and many volunteer systems unintentionally reward over-giving.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why urgency activates certain volunteers
• The difference between reliability and resilience in volunteer leadership
• How volunteer engagement systems can reward availability over sustainability
• Signs of burnout in highly reliable volunteers
• Practical strategies for designing volunteer roles without creating dependency

This episode is for volunteer managers, leaders of volunteer engagement, nonprofit leaders, and anyone responsible for volunteer retention and sustainability.

The goal isn't to stop volunteers from stepping up.

It's to ensure stepping up remains a choice — not an expectation.

Be Bold. Stay Curious. Keep making a ruckus.

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.traceyoneillconsulting.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement⁠
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Tracey O'Neill Consulting

In the Season 1 finale of Making a Ruckus, Tracey O’Neill reflects on one of the most overlooked moments in volunteer engagement: what happens when volunteering ends.

Too often, the end of a volunteer role is treated as an administrative exit — rosters updated, keys returned, surveys sent, and relationships quietly closed. But what if this moment holds more possibility than we realise?

In this episode, Tracey explores why the way organisations approach the end of volunteering can either weaken or deepen connection. Drawing on a community-centred lens, she invites listeners to reconsider “exit” and to imagine what becomes possible when relationships are stewarded with care, curiosity, and intention.

This conversation isn’t about expecting lifelong service. It’s about recognising that when people feel welcomed, valued, listened to, and part of meaningful change, their connection doesn’t simply disappear when a role finishes — it evolves.

When volunteering ends, the relationship doesn’t have to.

Stay bold, stay curious — and keep making a ruckus.

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠⁠⁠www.traceyoneillconsulting.com.au⁠⁠⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠⁠⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠Tracey O'Neill Consulting

For our very first interview on Making a Ruckus, I’m joined by someone who has shaped the thinking of volunteer engagement professionals around the world for more than 30 years — Rob Jackson.

In this wide-ranging and deeply energising conversation, we look back at three decades of volunteer engagement:
what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what still desperately needs a rethink.

Rob reflects on the biggest shifts he’s seen — the hopeful ones and the uncomfortable ones — and together we unpack some of the assumptions, biases, and long-running debates that continue to hold our sector back.

We dive into:

• The myths and mental models that refuse to die

• Why some conversations from the 90s are still happening today

• What volunteer involvement could look like if we stopped trying to fit people into outdated boxes

• The risks and possibilities of AI for our field

Rob also reads his powerful reflection Stewards of Hope — a moment that will stay with you long after the episode ends.

And we debut the Ruckus Round, a rapid-fire set of questions that invites Rob to share what he’s rethinking, what he’s wrestling with, and the one ruckus he believes we must still make.

If you’re ready for a conversation that honours where we’ve been and challenges where we’re heading, this episode is for you.

Stay bold, stay curious — and keep making a ruckus.

Mention:

• Rob Jackson Consulting website
• Rob Jackson's podcast; Advancing the Profession
• Rob Jackson Consulting's blog
• Rob's LinkedIn reflection; Stewards of Hope
• Rob's blog post: Three reasons why it's time to stop talking about amateurs and professionals
• Engage Journal
• Rahim Hirji's newsletter, Box of Amazing

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠⁠⁠www.traceyoneillconsulting.com.au⁠⁠⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠⁠⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠Tracey O'Neill Consulting

This year’s International Volunteer Day launches the 2026 UN International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development — and there has never been a more important time to rethink how we recognise and value volunteers.

In this episode, Tracey O’Neill flips the script on traditional volunteer appreciation. Instead of asking “How do we thank volunteers for what they do?”, she asks the bigger question:

“How do we honour who volunteers are — and the strengths they bring that shape culture, community and impact?”

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience, Tracey introduces her Four Pillars of Volunteer Appreciation — Recognition, Reward, Participation and Progression — and explores how leaders of volunteer engagement can move beyond morning teas and certificates to activate strengths, shift systems and influence organisational culture.

She unpacks how Participation and Progression aren’t just ways to value volunteers, but powerful practices that position leaders of volunteer engagement as cultural leaders — shaping belonging, voice, inclusion and leadership across the organisation.

Here’s the shift we’ve been waiting for: seeing volunteer engagement as culture work, not administrative work.

If we want a more inclusive, equitable, community-centred future, then Participation and Progression must sit at the heart of our recognition practices.

If you’re ready to shift from “thank-you strategies” to practices that elevate voice, leadership and belonging, this episode will spark new ways of thinking.

Every contribution matters. Every contribution begins with strengths. And recognition is only the beginning.

Stay bold, stay curious — and keep making a ruckus.

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠⁠www.traceyoneillconsulting.com.au⁠⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠⁠Tracey O'Neill Consulting

For most of my career, I thought I knew exactly what volunteering meant.  

A clear definition.

A neat set of boundaries.

A shared understanding across our sector. 

But the more I paid attention to how people actually show up for each other in community, the messier — and more interesting — the word became.

 In this episode, I explore why volunteering has never had a single agreed definition — not in research, not in practice, and certainly not in everyday community life.

I dig into decades of debate, my own subconscious bias, the rise of consumer language in volunteer engagement, and the shift toward seeing volunteers as citizens rather than customers.

 At its core, I’m realising volunteering is far less about programs, roles, and organisational pathways… and far more about belonging, identity, connection, and our deeply human desire to contribute to something that matters. And once you see volunteering as a human behaviour — not just a sector construct — the old definitions begin to unravel.

 I don’t land on a neat answer in this episode. I’m not sure I want to.

Because the real question I’m sitting with now is:

If volunteering lives in community, not just in organisations... then who gets to define what it means?

 Join me in the messy middle as I rethink one of the most fundamental words in our field… and maybe invite you to rethink it too.

Mentioned:

• Cnaan, Handy & Wadsworth; Defining Who is a Volunteer: Conceptual and Empirical Considerations (1996)
• D.J Cronin; Let's Not Kill Volunteering (2011)
• Andrew Hoffman; Volunteers ARE Consumers — Part 2 (2015)
• Annette Maher; The Evolution of the Volunteering Infrastructure and Volunteering Australia (2015)
• Susan J. Ellis; That Pesky Word Volunteer (2017)
• Laurie Mook; Volunteer as 'Consumer:' A Marketing Perspective to Understanding Volunteer Choice (2020)
• Ruth Leonard; Ethical Considerations Framing Volunteers as Consumers or Citizens (2024)

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠www.traceyoneillconsulting.com.au⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠Tracey O'Neill Consulting

What if volunteers aren’t walking away — they’re just choosing a path that feels right for them?

In Episode 3 of Making a Ruckus, Tracey O’Neill explores the metaphor of Elephant Paths — those natural shortcuts peoplecarve when the “official path” just doesn’t make sense for them. And what these paths tell us about volunteer behaviour today.

Instead of seeing low recruitment conversion or disengagement as a sign that people don’t want to volunteer, Tracey reframes it: people are volunteering — they’re just stepping around the hoops, delays, and rigid processes. They’re choosing paths that feel intuitive, meaningful, flexible — paths that fit with their real life.

You’ll hear:

• Why many people start the journey to volunteer…and then step away
• How delays, friction, rigid processes andmisaligned roles shape these “paths”
• Why informal volunteering isn’t competition —it’s communication
• How Elephant Paths mirror Aboriginal Songlinesand the ancient wisdom of following meaning, not control
• How you can “read the map” volunteers arealready drawing — and design systems people want to walk

This episode will change how you understand disengagement.
It’s not apathy. It’s adaptation.
A quiet—but powerful—signal about where meaning and momentum truly live.

Stay bold. Stay curious. Keep making a ruckus.

Mentioned:

• Tracey's LinkedIn article on Elephant Paths: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-volunteers-tread-own-path-tracey-o-neill-cva-ke01c/

Connect:

• Learn more: www.traceyoneillconsulting.com.au
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: @traceyoneillcva
• Follow on Instagram: @tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: Tracey O'Neill Consulting

What if people still want to volunteer — they just don’t want to do it the way our systems expect them to? In this episode of Making a Ruckus, Tracey O’Neill challenges one of the biggest myths in volunteer engagement: the “recruitment problem.”

We keep hearing it: “No one wants to volunteer anymore.”
But what if that’s not true?

Tracey explores how outdated processes, rigid roles, and under-resourced leadership have created unnecessary barriers — and why the real challenge isn’t recruitment at all, it’s system design.

You’ll hear:

• What the data really says about the shift from formal to informal volunteering.

• Real quotes from sector leaders who are rethinking the future of engagement.

• How volunteer engagement needs a seat at the strategy table.

• Why systems built with community — not for them — are the key to belonging.

• Six practical ways to make volunteering easier, faster, and more human.

Because volunteering doesn’t need fixing — it needs reimagining.

Mentioned:

• Volunteering Victoria 2025 State of Volunteering Report - https://www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au/state-of-volunteering-vic/
• Real comments Tracey's LinkedIn post on the "recruitment myth" - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7373580643009560576/

Connect:

• Learn more: traceyoneill.com.au
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: @traceyoneillcva
• Follow on Instagram: @tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: Tracey O’Neill Consulting

In this episode, Tracey O’Neill launches Making a Ruckus on International Volunteer Managers Day (5 November) — a day that honours the leaders who don’t just manage volunteers but mobilise communities, challenge systems, and create change that truly matters.

The 2025 IVM Day theme, “Be Bold. Make Change.”, isn’t just a slogan — it’s a call to action. Tracey explores what boldness really means in volunteer engagement: not being the loudest voice in the room, but the one brave enough to ask why, to imagine something better, and to centre people and community in every decision.

She shares the story behind her own ruckus — from her first volunteering experiences as a ten-year-old serving lunch on Christmas Day to leading volunteer services in hospitals and national organisations. Tracey reflects on the turning points that shaped her belief that volunteering isn’t about hours, rosters, or checklists, but about connection, belonging, and purpose.

You’ll hear how curiosity and courage led her to re-examine everything she thought she knew about leadership, and how working at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre ignited her vision for a more human, innovative, community-centred approach to volunteering.

Along the way, Tracey honours Roz Valentine — a cherished colleague, fierce advocate for the profession and a true ruckus-maker whose legacy continues to inspire bold leadership and compassion in action.

This episode is both a reflection and an invitation to:

• Be bold enough to question the old systems that no longer serve us.

• Stay curious about what’s possible when we lead with heart.

• And make the kind of noise that moves us forward.

Tracey also shares how she’s been inspired by Adam Grant’s work on curiosity and rethinking — exploring how a mindset of openness can unlock transformation in volunteer engagement and beyond.

Because Making a Ruckus is about exactly that — sparking conversations that challenge what’s always been done, amplifying new ideas, and inspiring leaders to create change that centres people and community.

So, as you listen, consider your own bold next step. What ruckus will you make?

Because volunteering isn’t a task or something we manage — it’s how we live in community. And when we design our systems and experiences with belonging, agency, and purpose at their heart, that’s when the magic happens.

Be bold. Stay curious. Make a ruckus.

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠traceyoneill.com.au⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠Tracey O’Neill Consulting

Volunteering is changing — and so are the people leading it.

Welcome to Making a Ruckus: Rethinking Volunteer Engagement, the podcast shaking up how we think about volunteering, leadership, and community.

This is your space — and ours — for the disruptors, dreamers, and doers daring to rethink what volunteering can be, challenge old systems, and create change that truly matters.

Because making a ruckus isn’t about being loud — it’s about making noise that moves us forward.

I’m Tracey O’Neill — mentor, speaker, trainer, and consultant helping bold leaders transform volunteering into something deeply human and wildly impactful.

After twenty-five years working alongside volunteers, leaders, and organisations, I’ve seen what’s possible when volunteering centres people and community — and the harm it creates when systems forget who it’s really for.

In this podcast, I’ll bring you both sides of the ruckus — bold ideas, stories, and provocations that challenge how we lead and connect. Some weeks it’s me; other weeks, conversations with global change-makers re-imagining belonging, leadership, and impact.

Together, we’ll ask:
Why do we do it this way?
Who benefits?
Whose voices are missing?
And what could we build instead?

If you’re ready to rethink volunteering, re-imagine leadership, and make meaningful noise that moves us forward — you’re in the right place.

Be bold. Stay curious. Keep making a ruckus.

Connect:

• Learn more: ⁠traceyoneill.com.au⁠
• Join the conversation on LinkedIn: ⁠@traceyoneillcva⁠
• Follow on Instagram: ⁠@tracey.volunteerengagement
• Follow on Facebook: ⁠Tracey O’Neill Consulting