Why do you volunteer your time?

Answer

E. Gil Clary, Mark Snyder, and Arthur A. Stukas
Volunteers' Motivations: Findings from a National Survey
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Dec 1996; 25: 485 - 505. Volunteers give their time for many reasons, ranging from self interest to altruism.
Note that that different motivational patterns are associated with different types of volunteering activities and with different demographic groups. The implications of this are that it is difficult to answer the question on ‘what are the motivations to volunteer’ that cuts across these situations and demographic characteristics. For example, students and retired people volunteer for very different reasons. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Two good references for motivation on volunteering try the following articles.

EG Clary, M Snyder -The Motivations to Volunteer: Theoretical and Practical Considerations - Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1999E.

Gil Clary, Mark Snyder, and Arthur A. Stukas
Volunteers' Motivations: Findings from a National Survey
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Dec 1996; 25: 485 - 505.

Two theories to consider are:
1. Expectancy motivation theory suggests that three factors affect volunteering behavior: (a) the need for achievement, which is defined as the capacity for taking pride in accomplishment; (b) the need for affiliation, defined as the concern for one’s relationships with others; and (c) the need for power, or wanting to have an influence or impact on others.

2. Maslow’s theory suggests that volunteering is not just a way to serve society as an end in itself (i.e., altruistic motivation) but is a means for nurturing self-actualized human beings. This theory reinforces the egoistic aspect of volunteer work in that people are motivated by unmet needs

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