Recruiting and retaining volunteers is a challenge for any Non-Profit-Organisation. A recent study, done by St. Martin staff Paul Mathubi, shows that intrinsic rewards, like a sense of meaningfulness and progress, prove to be very important for volunteers.
Recruiting and retaining volunteers is a challenge for any Non-Profit-Organization. A recent study, done by St. Martin CSA staff Paul Mathubi, shows that intrinsic rewards, like a sense of meaningfulness and progress, prove to be very important for volunteers.
The study interviewed a number of volunteers about their perceived intrinsic values and the importance they give to them. Intrinsic rewards are the benefits the volunteers get from their engagement that cannot be converted to money. The four main intrinsic rewards include a) A sense of meaningfulness: The volunteer is convinced that his/her support serves a meaningful goal. b) A sense of choice: The volunteer can choose himself/herself what, when and how much he/she wants to contribute. c) A sense of competence. The volunteer can bring in his/her own skills and gifts and also increase them while contributing or serving, and finally, d) A sense of progress: The volunteer can see a clear outcome of his/her activities that lead towards the goal of the organization.
This study finds that these intrinsic values contribute to a high degree to recruiting and retaining volunteers. As one of the key values of St. Martin CSA is voluntarism, we will have to take these findings into account when working with its volunteers.
You can find the full study in the University of Nairobi Research Archive
