Volunteer Supporters Network/Online Meeting 2026/Report
OVERVIEW
The Volunteer Supporters Network (VSN) Annual Meeting 2026, hosted by the Igbo Wikimedians User Group, held virtually from June 4-5, 2026. The event was managed by Chinonso Chidi, and moderated by Lucy Iwuala. The event mainly was held in English, with interpretations in French and Spanish. This was the first annual meeting since becoming a hub and it brought volunteer supporters together to connect, reflect on volunteer work, share experiences, discuss emerging trends in volunteer support, and explore new ways to strengthen collaboration across communities.
The main objectives of this meeting were:
1. To explore and share strategies that leverage emerging technologies to improve volunteer support and adapt to a changing environment.
2. To highlight innovative practices and success stories in volunteer support, encouraging participants to adopt and adapt effective approaches in their communities.
3. To strengthen connections and collaboration among individuals committed to volunteer support.
4. To foster knowledge exchange and capacity building that empowers communities to better support and retain volunteers.
PARTICIPANTS
155 participants registered for the event via the event registration tool. Day one recorded a total of 20 participants comprising only VSN members, liaisons, and the advisory committee. Day two was open to everyone involved in volunteer support and recorded 103 participants.
OUTCOMES
Day 1
The session for day one began with a panel on The VSN Hub pilot: governance structure and services. Sara Thomas presented on the hub structure and services. Justice Okai-Allotey presented on the advisory group and its role. Robert Obiri shared his experience and role as the new node. Sailesh Patnaik (WMF) spoke on Hubs & Structure, the Foundation’s support for Hubs, as well as updates about the current and projected landscape. We then embarked on a 10 minute break. Next, Vic Sfriso presented on challenges, voting and membership criteria, leading the discussion that ensued thereafter.
Day 2
On Day 2 of the annual meeting, Lucy Iwuala and Chinonso Chidi served as co-moderators. It featured a panel sharing insights about volunteer support initiatives across Wikimedia communities. The panelists included Rita from the EduWiki Hub discussing their mentorship programs and educational resources, Cassie from the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Development team presenting Let's Connect's peer-to-peer learning program and plans to localize it across movements, Benedict Udeh sharing experiences from Wiki Mentor Africa and his work with the Wikimedia Foundation's Connection team, and Feliani from Wikimedia ESEAP presenting their regional support services and lessons learned from their first year of operations. The session concluded with a roundtable discussion where panelists Martin from Wikimedia Deutschland, Tania from Wikimedia Mexico, Maju from Wikimedia Argentina, and Robert from Wikimedia Ghana discussed global challenges including declining youth participation, language barriers, AI integration, and volunteer burnout, while sharing strategies their communities use to address these issues.
EVALUATION
After the meeting, we conducted a brief post-event survey to get participants' feedback on topics such as the organization, moderation, and the topics discussed. Fifteen participants responded to the survey.
- 53% were overall very satisfied with the 2026 annual meeting, with 6.7% being neutral.
- 60% agreed that the meeting, to a great extent, helped them learn new strategies, tools, or approaches for supporting volunteers in a changing environment. While 40% agreed but to a moderate extent.
- 87% affirmed that the virtual format was effective for achieving the meeting’s objectives. 13% were neutral about the meeting format. 93% agreed that the time allocated for sessions and discussions was sufficient.
- Over 73% recommended that the VSN prioritizes volunteer retention and engagement. 67% maintain that partnerships and collaborations should continue. 47% suggested priority on training and capacity building, emerging technologies and AI for volunteer support.
LEARNINGS
1. The Hub structure is now central to VSN’s work This was the first annual meeting since VSN became a hub, and Day 1 was dedicated to governance, services, and membership criteria. It shows the network is shifting from informal support to a formalized structure with defined objectives and roles.
2. Virtual format worked, but turnout was uneven 87% of survey respondents said the virtual format was effective and 93% felt session time was sufficient. However, attendance dropped from 155 registrations to 20 on Day 1 and 103 on Day 2. The low Day 1 turnout suggests the closed session for members/liaisons had limited draw compared to the open sessions for Day 2.
3. Partnerships, peer learning and regional models are the main strategy going forward Day 2 panels focused heavily on replicable programs: EduWiki’s mentorship, Let’s Connect’s peer-to-peer model, Wiki Mentor Africa, and ESEAP’s regional programs. The focus on “innovative practices and success stories” as a meeting objective shows VSN is prioritizing adaptation of what already works across communities over building new top-down tools.
4. Volunteer retention and burnout are the top community concerns Over 73% of respondents want VSN to prioritize Volunteer Retention and Engagement next. The Day 2 roundtable also flagged declining youth participation, language barriers, AI integration, and burnout as global challenges. This means capacity building alone isn’t enough, support strategies now need to address sustainability.
5. Post-event feedback was limited but positive Only 15 participants completed the survey, which is a ∼10% response rate. Still, the feedback was strong: 53% were “very satisfied” and 60% said they learned new strategies to a great extent. For future meetings, increasing survey participation would give a more reliable read on impact.