How do you make the impact of volunteers visible? The V-force meter from the Flemish Support Centre for Volunteer Work
Vlaams Steunpunt Vrijwilligerswerk
How do you make the impact of volunteers visible? Route 2030, together with the Flemish Volunteer Support Centre, developed the V-krachtmeter, a tool that helps organizations discover the contribution of their volunteers to the SDGs.
Volunteers are an indispensable force in our society. They connect people, support organizations, and contribute to social change. However, their impact often remains difficult to see or measure.
With an eye on the International Year of Volunteering 2026, the Flemish Support Centre for Volunteering wanted to develop a tool to help organizations make that impact more tangible. Together with Route 2030, the V-krachtmeter was created: a simple online tool that allows organizations to discover how volunteers contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .
Volunteers and the SDGs: an often invisible impact
Volunteering touches upon many themes of the SDG agenda: social inclusion, well-being, education, poverty reduction, and strong communities.
However, that impact is rarely systematically mapped. Organizations often know that volunteers make a difference, but find it difficult to clearly articulate or make it visible.
Therefore, the question arose: How can organizations discover in an accessible way what impact volunteers achieve?
The V-force meter: making impact visible in 15 minutes
The V-force meter is an online tool that helps organizations explore the contribution of their volunteers to the SDGs.
In approximately 15 minutes, organizations answer a series of statements. Based on those answers, they gain insight into:
where their volunteers are already making a strong impact today
which SDG themes are already present in their volunteer work
where opportunities still lie to further strengthen that impact
Important: the tool is not an evaluation of how sustainable an organization is . The goal is not to assign a score, but to create awareness regarding the societal value of volunteering .
Co-creation as a foundation
The development of the tool took place via a co-creative process . Together with the Flemish Support Centre for Volunteer Work, we worked step by step on the content, structure, and user experience of the tool.
By combining expertise in volunteering with methodologies regarding impact measurement and SDG thinking, an instrument was created that is both practical and substantively well-founded .
As client Eva puts it:
“We clicked with Route2030 immediately. The concept of co-creation turned out not to be an empty slogan but was put into practice from A to Z, which requires dedication from the parties but resulted in the desired outcome. Professional and patient. It was a fantastic experience.” - Eva Hambach, Director of the Flemish Support Centre for Volunteer Work
An instrument for International Volunteering Year 2026
The V-force meter is part of the preparation for International Volunteering Year 2026. This year aims to make the role and impact of volunteers extra visible worldwide.
The tool helps organizations to:
to reflect on the societal value of volunteer work
to discover the link with the SDGs
to open the conversation within their organization about impact
In this way, volunteer work is not only appreciated, but also deployed more consciously and strategically .
Making impact visible starts with insight
Volunteers make a difference every day, often without this being explicitly acknowledged. Tools such as the V-force meter help organizations to better understand that difference and make it visible.
Because impact begins with insight. And when organizations understand where their volunteers make a powerful contribution, space is created to strengthen that impact even further.
👉 Curious about the impact volunteers make in your organization? Discover the V-krachtmeter here: https://www.vlaanderenvrijwilligt.be/ivy2026/v-krachtmeter/
👉 Do you also want to develop a tool that makes impact visible?
Route 2030 guides organizations in developing impact tools, dashboards, and methodologies that bring together strategy, data, and user experience. Contact us here.