Understanding Volunteer Motivation: Moving from Learning to Action

Will Andresen

Community Resource Development Educator

Research Question

What motivates volunteers to apply learning to affect change in their community organizations?

Background

UW-Extension works with community leaders to "transform communities in powerful and long-lasting ways." One way this is achieved is through the logic model, a signature pedagogy with UW-Extension. Like the ripple effect, the logic model proposes that short-term changes in learning lead to mid-term changes in action which lead to long-term changes in conditions.

This research is designed to understand what motivates adult learners to apply short-term changes in learning to mid-term changes in action to affect long-term organizational and community transformation.

Research Methods

A survey was completed by 299 graduates of 12 UW-Extension leadership programs. Respondents conducted the Volunteer Functions Inventory (Clary, et. al., 1998), ranking the importance of 30 possible reasons to volunteer (from 1 to 5 with 5 being high). Each possible reason fell into six broad functions:

• Values: To express or act on important values
• Understanding: To learn more about the world or to exercise unused skills
• Esteem: To grow and develop psychologically
• Career: To gain career-related experience
• Social: To strengthen social relationships
• Protective: To reduce negative feelings or to address personal problems

Respondents also self-reported the level of difference they have made in their organizations as a result of their learning. Analysis of variance was used to identify the most significant difference in volunteer motivations between those affecting high levels of change ("high achievers") and those affecting low levels of change ("low achievers"). The higher the level of variance the greater the difference between the two groups (with a variance of 0.3 generally considered significant).

Research Findings

Motivations to Volunteer: The most often cited motivations to volunteer focused on the Values function:

• "I feel it is important to help others"
• "I am genuinely concerned about the particular group I am serving"
• "I can do something for a cause that is important to me"

Difference Between High and Low Achievers: The most significant difference (variance) between high and low achievers centered on the Esteem and Protect functions, with high achievers much more likely to be motivated to volunteer in order to address their own needs:

• "No matter how bad I've been feeling, volunteering helps me to forget about it"
• "Volunteering makes me feel better about myself"
• "Volunteering makes me feel important"
• "Volunteering makes me feel needed"

Conclusions

Most volunteers are motivated by the Values function. However, the biggest difference between high and low achievers relates to the Esteem and Protect functions. In general, the higher a motivation is rated, the less it differs between high and low achievers. Most volunteers are motivated to serve the needs of others, but volunteers who affect the most change are also motivated to serve their own needs.

Implications

Two implications emerge. First, to recruit volunteers most likely to affect organizational change, it may be helpful to understand their motivations to volunteer. And second, to retain volunteers, it may be helpful to create environments where volunteers feel that their own needs are being addressed.

These implications suggest how Extension educators can recruit and retain volunteers willing to move from short-term changes in learning to mid-term changes in action to create the desired ripple effect of change in Wisconsin organizations and communities.