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VOLUNTEERING/WHY?
source: www.lse.ac.uk/collections/
CCS/pdf/CSWP_10_web.pdf
www.cev.be/facts&figures.htm
www.statcan.ca/english/
freepub/71-542-XIE/71-542-
XIE00001.pdf
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The decision to contribute time to groups and organisations in the charitable or non-profit sector is a complex one, and is influenced by a variety of factors... - altruistic motives include notions of: - solidarity for the poor; - compassion for those in need; - identifying with suffering people; and - giving hope and dignity to the disadvantaged;
- instrumental motives are: - to gain new experience and new skills; - something worthwhile to do in spare time; - to meet people; and - personal satisfaction;
- finally, obligation motives are: - moral, religious duty; - contribute to local community; - to repay debt; and - political duty to bring about change.
To better understand why individuals volunteer, and why some individuals volunteer more time than others, we compare here the findings of several surveys carried out across the world…- in Canada, according to the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP), almost all volunteers (95%) agreed that the reason they volunteer is to help a cause they believe in; 81% volunteered because they wanted to put their skills and experience to use; 69% because they had been personally affected by the cause the organisation supports, 57% were attracted to voluntary service because they saw it as an opportunity to explore their strengths. Finally, 23% volunteered because they wanted to improve their job opportunities;
- 55% of Canadian younger volunteers (aged 15 to 24) indicated this last as a major reason for volunteering. While 14% of volunteers agreed that their volunteering activities had at some point helped them to obtain employment, a greater percentage (24%) of those aged 15 to 24 were likely to agree. Many employed volunteers believe that volunteering gives them a chance to learn skills that can be applied directly to their jobs (37%, up from 34% in 1997); this belief was also more frequently reported by 15 to 24-year-olds (49%, up from 46% in 1997);
- according to Ferrand (1992), 71% of volunteers in Belgium contribute their time in order to: - defend a cause; - help society; - be useful. In Flanders, the VRIND Survey (2000) showed that, for 25-44 year olds, making friends and doing an interesting activity were the top two motivations for volunteering. In 2004, the Association pour le Volontariat provided the following figures (percentages have been ‘rounded off’) regarding volunteer motivations that they received from the volunteers that they directly support. Those surveyed said they volunteered: to give help (27%); to be useful (18%); to use their skills (15%); to get professional experience (14%); to meet people (10%); to give free time (7%); to defend a cause (4%); to give meaning to their life (4%); (1)
- studies of volunteering in France have revealed that people who volunteer hope, through volunteering, to increase their self-confidence, make new friends, be involved and better themselves (socially and professionally). Many volunteers have also said that they have, through volunteering, a better understanding of their local community. According to France Bénévolat, volunteers’ motivations have hardly changed between 1996 and 2002; (2)
- in Poland, the main reasons to volunteer indicated by respondents to a population survey in 2004 are moral, religious and political motivations (89.4%). These are followed by the ‘pleasure of performing voluntary work’ (76.1%), and the belief that voluntary engagement increases reciprocity (70.1%). Less popular is to volunteer as an act of gratitude for received help (31.5%); (3)
- in Spain, according to a study of voluntary entities conducted by Marbán and Rodríguez Cabrero in 1999, the main motivations of volunteers are related to personal satisfaction (38%), moral obligation (33%) and the possibility of getting experience, training, and acquiring skills (28%); (4)
- United Kingdom: encouragement by parents and schools are significant factors in young people deciding to volunteer. As with other groups, a stable neighbourhood, family and relationships and good social networks are associated with volunteering amongst young people. In terms of volunteers’ personal motivations for volunteering, a mixture of altruistic reasons and self-interested reasons, for example skills development feature highly, the latter more prominently among young people; (5)
- in Australia, according to 2000 official statistics, the leading two reasons given for doing voluntary work were to help others or the community (47%) and to gain personal satisfaction (43%). Related to both of these responses might be the desire to do something worthwhile, given as a reason for volunteering by 30%. Some people saw their voluntary work as stemming naturally from involvement in an organisation: 31% gave personal or family involvement as a reason. This might be a reason offered by those who undertook tasks for their church, sports team, or their child's school, for example. Others related their voluntary work to religious beliefs (12%). As well as general personal satisfaction, some specific benefits of involvement for volunteers were given as reasons. These were social contact (18%), to use skills or experience (13%), to be active (11%), to learn new skills (7%) and to gain work experience (4%). (6)
(1) [ www.cev.be/Documents/Facts&Figures_Belgium.pdf]
(2) [ www.cev.be/Documents/Facts&Figures_France.pdf]
(3) [ www.cev.be/Documents/FactsFiguresPoland.pdf]
(4) [ www.cev.be/Documents/Facts&Figures_Spain.pdf]
(5) [ www.cev.be/Documents/Facts%20and%20Figures%20UK%20updated.pdf]
(6) [ www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca
25682000192af2/3b2cb13f064b4b25ca256bcd00827305!OpenDocument]
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