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Why People Give Their Time

February 1, 1998

The public is quite able to identify pure volunteers from less pure; a fact which should give pause to any administration contemplating the introduction of taxpayer-funded incentives such as paid time off to foster greater volunteerism. Perhaps more relevant to the recruitment and retention of volunteers are the personal motives. An article in the December 1996 said six such motives were to: While the humanitarian and altruistic motive plays the greatest role in separating volunteers from non-volunteers, other motives often play a role in determining what field volunteers enter. The article recommends that organizations seeking to initiate or expand volunteer programs "assess the motivations that are important to current volunteers or . . . construct a motivational profile associated with their type of volunteer." STORY END

ome volunteers may be purer than others, according to an article in the September 1996 Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. The individual who freely volunteers for no remuneration under a structured program aimed to benefit strangers is the classic, pure volunteer. Less pure, but considered volunteers nonetheless, are people who:

As students are compelled to provide service as a condition of graduation.
Receive payment for some of their expenses or receive less than full remuneration.
Set the terms and conditions of their service.
Provide their service to family, friends or themselves.

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

Act on humanitarian or altruistic values.
Increase one's knowledge of the world.
Enhance self-esteem.
Gain career skills (more common among young volunteers).
Be with people.
Assuage inner conflicts or anxieties.

Nonprofit Quarterly

Finally, those who doubt whether volunteerism accomplishes anything beyond self-satisfaction should consider a November 1995 study by Public/Private Ventures of Philadelphia for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, a mentoring program for at-risk children and teen-agers. The study found that, when compared to a control group over 18 months, Little Brothers and Little Sisters:

Were 46 percent less likely to start using drugs.
Were 27 percent less likely to start drinking alcohol.
Were one-third less likely to hit someone.
Skipped half as many days of school (while registering modest gains in grades).
Had better relations with their parents and peers.

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