A study to investigate the motivational factors that encourage individuals to volunteer at third sector events?

Abstract

This research project has been undertaken due to the increasing need for volunteers within third sector events and to raise awareness of the motivational factors that lead individuals to donate their time without payment. This research will allow the author to identify the motivational needs of a volunteer due to the recent increase in registered charities events being run by volunteers opposed to paid staff. (National Council for Voluntary Organisations, 2016) The importance of this project lies within the authors personal experiences with non-profit organisations when her older brother was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. These experiences have motivated the author to use their experiences, knowledge and passion to work towards aiding organisations with the successful recruitment and retention of volunteers to ensure their work never stops. The purpose of this study is to investigate the motivational factors that encourage individuals to volunteer at third sector events and why they donate their time. The objectives of the study will allow the researcher to study the literature surrounding motivation and volunteer theory to enable qualitative and quantitative research methods to be carried out. This then provided a set of results that can be discussed and analysed to identify the needs of volunteers and their motivation. The recurring theme that became apparent within this study is how Maslow (1943)’s hierarchy has remained a relevant and inspiring theory when it comes to understanding volunteerism. The research methods used to collect the data has showed that when it comes to the needs of a volunteer, they are more interested in the intrinsic factors than the extrinsic. The most popular event to attract volunteering was fund-raising, based on these findings the participants showed a clear interest in charity events they held a personal connection too. The second most popular motivation was to use the opportunities given to further their education and update their CV.