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This article aims to explore the nature of do-it-yourself (DIY) impact measurement tools used in the voluntary sector, using a contextual inquiry approach. This is an understudied area of research, knowledge that would be considerably valuable for practitioners in the sector who wish to create their own DIY impact measurement tool. Semi-structured interviews and observation sessions are used to explore an example of a DIY impact measurement tool, the processes of its creation and operation, and how it has been shaped, from the perspective of a UK environmental charity. The study identifies how and why the tool was created as well as which resources are being used to build it. Findings show that the functionality and requirements of the DIY impact measurement tool are mostly shaped by the charity’s social, cultural and organisational characteristics.

This paper reports on the findings of a research project delivered in collaboration with the UK environmental charity, The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), which evaluated the applicability and effectiveness of user-centred design (UCD) methods to assist voluntary organisations designing impact measurement tools. The findings indicate that there is scope for these methods to be applied more broadly within the voluntary sector, in particular by organisations wanting to critically examine their existing impact measurement practices, or by those seeking to develop and implement approaches to monitoring and evaluation that are more user-centred.

This article examines whether there is an association between engaging in environmental volunteering activities and pro-environmental behavioural change. Utilising self-reported surveys, the article explores the potential impact that environmental volunteering has on people’s pro-environmental behaviours over time, using The Conservation Volunteers’ two volunteering programmes – Green Gyms® and Action Teams – as a comparative case study. The findings show a positive association between environmental volunteering activities and a person’s self-reported pro-environmental behaviours over time. Further, volunteers presented improved impact across almost all of the eight pro-environmental behaviours measured, with differences observed between the two volunteering programmes as well as sociodemographic groupings.