International Volunteer Day 2026: Saturday, Dec. 5, in the UN Year of Volunteers

International Volunteer Day (IVD) is Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026, according to the United Nations (UN), which says the day “is celebrated on 5 December every year.” In 2026 it also lands at the close of the UN’s International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. Below are the U.S. volunteering figures, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules on volunteer expenses, where to find a role and a free one-page planning sheet.

What is International Volunteer Day and what is the 2026 theme?

The UN page says the day “started as an international observance mandated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985.” It names the “International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development” and cites the General Assembly resolution numbered 78/127. The UN Volunteers knowledge portal reported on June 18, 2025, that the General Assembly “has officially designated 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development.” The global launch of the year was on Dec. 5, 2025, so this Dec. 5 closes it.

The 2026 theme is not yet announced. The 2025 theme was “Every Contribution Matters.”

How many Americans volunteer?

The U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps published their volunteering figures on Nov. 19, 2024. They cover September 2022 to September 2023.

Measure	Figure	Survey period	Source
Formal volunteers, age 16 and up	75.7 million (28.3% of the population)	Sept. 2022 to Sept. 2023	Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, Nov. 19, 2024
Hours served by formal volunteers	4.99 billion (estimated)	Sept. 2022 to Sept. 2023	Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, Nov. 19, 2024
Value contributed	Over $167.2 billion	Sept. 2022 to Sept. 2023	Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, Nov. 19, 2024

“Formally volunteered” means through an organization, in the Census Bureau’s wording.

What can you deduct for volunteering?

IRS Publication 526 (2025 edition) covers charitable contributions. It draws a line between your time and your costs:

Item	Deductible?	What the IRS says (2025 edition)
Value of your time or services	No	You cannot deduct “the value of your time or services”
Unreimbursed expenses directly connected with volunteering	Yes, for a qualified organization	Such expenses may be deducted
Car mileage by the standard rate	Yes, under the same rule	“You can use a standard mileage rate of 14 cents a mile”

The rate above comes from the 2025 edition; check the current publication before you file. Keep a log of hours and miles. Our GivingTuesday 2026 tax deduction and charity check covers giving money rather than time.

Where can you find volunteer opportunities near you?

VolunteerMatch is now part of Idealist; volunteermatch.org redirects to Idealist’s VolunteerMatch page, where you can search by keyword, skill or interest within a radius. Volunteer.gov is a federal volunteer listing site, and AmeriCorps has a volunteer page at americorps.gov. We could not read that page, so we do not describe it here.

What weekday is International Volunteer Day through 2031?

The date is fixed at Dec. 5. The weekdays are our calculation.

Year	Date	Weekday
2026	Dec. 5	Saturday
2027	Dec. 5	Sunday
2028	Dec. 5	Tuesday
2029	Dec. 5	Wednesday
2030	Dec. 5	Thursday
2031	Dec. 5	Friday

Mark it on the December 2026 printable calendar or the printable yearly calendar. Another awareness day that week, on Dec. 1, has its own story. For an observance earlier in the season, see World Toilet Day on Nov. 19.

What does the free volunteer day sheet include?

The one-page sheet has four tick-box steps for planning a shift, the Dec. 5 date, the 2025 IRS mileage rate and a note that the value of your time is not deductible. It leaves space to write the cause and organization you pick. Sources are the UN, the Census Bureau, the IRS and Idealist, listed below.