Understanding the volunteer market: the what, where, who and why of volunteering

Abstract

Although the work of the voluntary sector is growing the number of people volunteering is not increasing at a comparable rate. This paper argues that the key to an organisation"s success in recruiting and retaining its volunteers is to have an understanding of its target group. As a means to developing this understanding this paper reviews the prior research on volunteering and outlines the current situation in the voluntary sector with regard to the donation of time. The review shows that those who volunteer are an extremely diverse group active in a wide variety of contexts. This makes the definition of a volunteer a more complex task than one would expect. It also demonstrates that individuals and organisations may volunteer for reasons other than purely altruistic motives. Finally, the paper identifies gaps in this area of research and presents topics for further research.3

A Tourist Attraction’s Members: Their Motivations, Relations and Roles

“…The members followed the ideology of the tourist attraction to preserve endangered animals yet they extended their wish to preserve to include the place, the manor, the countryside and cultural traditions. Findings show the importance of egoistic motives mainly as social benefits and other non-monetary returns which correspond to other studies of volunteers by Bussell and Forbes (2002) and Steen (2006). As shown in research on sports volunteers, the active members of this study were very proud of their work, the attraction, and the countryside and appreciated belonging to a community.…”

“…Active members receive personal and non-monetary-returns since performing volunteer work may be connected to the need of a member to "feel useful and productive, as well as the need for gaining prestige and enhancing self-esteem" (Steen, 2006, p. 53). Studies by Bussell and Forbes (2002) support the importance of intangible benefits proposing that active members satisfy their social and psychological needs. Studies of museum members indicate that the group of members who value the intangible social benefits is likely to be retired or adult and those who value the tangible benefits tend to be members who have family memberships or those who live nearby (Slater, 2003b).…”

“…Motivations to stay on as an 418 A.K. Olsson active member are connected to factors such as a volunteer-friendly environment, positive relations between paid staff and volunteers, and job characteristics (Bussell & Forbes, 2002). Motivations to stay may also be influenced by "the extent to which volunteers find their work meaningful, feel responsible for the outcomes and perceive recognition and appreciation for their work influences retention" (Steen, 2006, p. 54).…”

“…The active members were committed members and they expressed their strong wish to maintain their relationships; they invested their time and knowledge; they had moral, social and psychological bonds developed over a longer period of time and were emotionally attached to the mission of the tourist attraction. The members stayed on as members for a long period of time since they felt that their volunteer work was meaningful, valuable and appreciated by the tourist attraction and this corresponds to volunteer studies by Bussell and Forbes (2002), Penner (2002) and Steen (2006). This is also in line with the works of Wilson and Musick (1997) who state that active membership can be viewed as "serious leisure" (see Stebbins & Graham, 2004) since it includes the value of useful leisure in contributing to something meaningful yet the opportunity to consume and enjoy the benefits of being a member.…”

“…The active members are important resources and 412 A.K. Olsson as such part of the supported organisations economically as well as socially (Bussell & Forbes, 2002;Jago & Deery, 2002;Prouteau & Wolff, 2008).…”