Predictive Factors of Volunteer Commitment Intentions

Jacquelyn JacobsonTSocW 535

June 3, 2014

Volunteers are individuals who make a conscious decision to work as an unpaid member of an organization without external obligations to remain.

Whether or not a volunteer remains committed to an organization is influenced by non-extrinsic motivating factors◦ Intrinsic needs

Self-efficacy Pride Respect Perceived support Affective relatedness

◦ Job Satisfaction◦ Organization commitment

Literature Overview

Chacon, Vecina, & Davila, 2007

Literature Overview

Corporation for National and Community Service, 2014

Washington State 2012•34.5% of residents volunteer

• In 2012 volunteers contributed254 million hours of service

Volunteer workers allow agencies to staff unskilled positions with unpaid staff allowing allocation of fiscal resources to be distributed to facility management, program development, and compensating skilled positions.

Exploring what retains volunteer workers is important because volunteer turnover can◦ Reduce productivity◦ Induce negative staff moral for paid employees

and volunteers◦ Degenerate rapport with service recipeients ◦ Increase recruitment costs◦ Decrease service quality

Why Important

Indirect Predictors Direct Predictors OutcomeIntrinsic need satisfaction Importance of work Pride Respect Affective Relatedness Self-efficacy Perceived support

•Stated intent to remain

•Job Satisfaction

•Organizational Commitment• Affective Commitment

• Normative Commitment

Actual duration of service

What does the literature say

Independent Variable(s):◦ Intrinsic Needs

Pride, Respect, Importance of work, Affective Relatedness, Self-efficacy, Perceived support

◦ Job Satisfaction◦ Organization Commitment

Dependent Variable(s): ◦ Job satisfaction◦ Organization Commitment◦ Reported volunteer intentions to remain after 3, 6, and

12 months from time of the survey

Current Study

Design and Sampling◦ Exploratory◦ Quantitative data◦ Convenience sample of volunteers presently associated to agency

List-serve After data collection participants who indicated they held a paid

position were removed from the analyzed data Measures

◦ 10 questions related to demographic data◦ 47 questions all of which use ordinal likert-type scales to measue

each item 24 questions related to intrinsic needs 13 questions related to organization commitment 7questions related to job satisfaction 3 questions related to respondent’s intention to remain as a volunteer

at the organization

Methods and Analysis

Data Analysis◦ Multiple bivariate correlation tests◦ Intent to remain was the primary dependent

variable with intrinsic needs, job satisfaction, and organization commitment as the independent variables

◦ I also looked at job satisfaction and organization commitment as dependent variables relative to intrinsic needs and the ‘Intrinsic need’ subscale

Methods and Analysis cont.

43 individuals responded to and completed the survey◦ Of those 3 participants’ results were removed as

they indicated they currently helpd paid positions at the agency

Overall response rate was ~8%

Results

Demographics

30.23%

34.88%

9.30%

25.58%

Age

18-2223-2728-3030+

20.93%

18.60%

13.95%

39.53%

6.98%

Employment Status

Unemployed

Employed less than 20 hours per week

Employed 20-35 hours per week

Employed more than 35 hours per week

Self-employed

44.19%

55.81%

Academic En-rollment Status

Currently Enrolled

Not currently Enrolled

Demographics cont.

Initial motivation for volunteering at ROOTS

Frequency of volunteer shifts

1. Have opportunities for new experiences

2. Self-development3. Gain job experience

related to social services.

4. Have opportunities to meet people and make friends.

5. Learn leadership and interpersonal skills.

14.29%

14.29%

16.67%

38.10%

11.90%

4.76%

How often do you volunteer at Roots

Less than monthly1-2 times per month3-4 times per month)Weekly1-3 times per weekMore than 3 times per week

Results

Statistics

Intrinsic

Needs

Satisfaction

Scale

Organization

Commitment

Scale

Intent to

remain

after 3

months

Intent to

remain

after 6

months

Intent to

remain

after 12

months

N Valid 40 40 40 35 34 33

Missing 0 0 0 5 6 7

Mean 4.3570 5.7571 5.1189 4.4857 4.3529 4.0909

Std. Deviation .37656 1.05535 .87274 .65849 .69117 .84275

Skewness -.158 -2.376 .182 -.928 -.603 -.179

Std. Error of Skewness .374 .374 .374 .398 .403 .409

Correlations

Satisfaction Scale

Organization

Commitment Scale

Intrinsic

Needs 

Satisfaction

Scale

Pearson Correlation 1 .221 .314*  

Sig. (2-tailed) .171 .049  

N 40 40 40  

Organizatio

n

Commitme

nt Scale

Pearson Correlation .221 1 .542**  

Sig. (2-tailed) .171 .000  

N 40 40 40 

Intent to

remain

after 3

months

Pearson Correlation .271 .668** .665**  

Sig. (2-tailed) .115 .000 .000  

N 35 35 35 

Intent to

remain

after 6

months

Pearson Correlation .331 .722** .737**  

Sig. (2-tailed) .056 .000 .000  

N 34 34 34 

Intent to

remain

after 12

months

Pearson Correlation .226 .497** .511**  

Sig. (2-tailed) .205 .003 .002  

N 33 33 33 

Results ContinuedCorrelations

Respect Pride

Perceived

Support Importance of Work Relatedness Self Efficacy 

Satisfact

ion

Scale

Pearson

Correlation

.236 .295 .336* .160 .250 .144 

Sig. (2-tailed) .143 .064 .034 .323 .120 .374  

N 40 40 40 40 40 40  

Organiz

ation

Commit

ment

Scale

Pearson

Correlation

.509** .318* .392* .485** .194 .491**

 

Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .046 .012 .001 .231 .001  

N 40 40 40 40 40 40 

Intent to

remain

after 3

months

Pearson

Correlation

.520** .532** .571** .508** .450** .470** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .001 .000 .002 .007 .004  

N 35 35 35 35 35 35  

Intent to

remain

after 6

months

Pearson

Correlation

.592** .561** .590** .572** .411* .602** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .001 .000 .000 .016 .000  

N 34 34 34 34 34 34  

Intent to

remain

after 12

months

Pearson

Correlation

.483** .312 .473** .301 .367* .360* 

Sig. (2-tailed) .004 .077 .005 .089 .036 .039  

N 33 33 33 33 33 33  

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Focus volunteer retention efforts on aspects that are most significantly related to long-term intentions to continue volunteering◦ Respect◦ Perceived Support

Discuss via qualitative inquiry what do various elements look like or mean to the volunteers

External demographic characteristics may not significantly impact volunteer retentions

Given that the volunteer work being done is direct service these volunteers may have higher initial organization commitment than other populations because of the type of work/direct interaction with service recipients

Implications for Practice and Future Research

Sample Size Geographic distinctions

◦ Volunteer behaviors locally versus other regions or national statistics

Agency specific ◦ Type of work◦ Volunteer population

Initial motivations for volunteering

Limitations

1. Bang, H. (2011). Leader-member exchange in nonprofit sport organizations: The impact on job satisfaction and intention to stay from the perspectives of volunteer leaders and followers. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 22(1), 85-105. doi:10.1002/nml.20042

2. Boezeman, E. J., & Ellemers, N. (2007). Volunteering for charity: Pride, respect, and the commitment of volunteers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 771-785. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.3.771

3. Boezeman, E. J., & Ellemers, N. (2009). Intrinsic need satisfaction and the job attitudes of volunteers versus employees working in a charitable vollunteer organization. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 897-914. doi:10.1348/096317908X383742

4. Chacon, F., Vecina, M. L., & Davila, M. C. (2007). The three-stage model of volunteers' duration of service. Social Behavior and Personality, 35(5), 627-642.

5. Corporation for National and Community Service. (2014). Volunteering and Civic Engagement in Seattle, WA. Retrieved from Volunteering and Civic Life in America: www.volunteeringinamerica.gov

6. Dibou, T. (2012). Thinking about altruism. Studies of Changing Societies, 2(4), 4-27. 7. Laczo, R. M., & Hanisch, K. A. (1999). An examination of behavioral families of organizational

withdrawl in volunteer workers and paid employees. Human Resource Management Review, 9(4), 453-477.

8. Maertz, C. P., Griffeth, R. W., Campbell, N. S., & Allen, D. G. (2007). The effects of perceived organizational support and perceived supervisor support on employee turnover. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28, 1059-1075. doi:10.1002/job.472

9. Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J., & Smith, C. A. (1993). Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of three-component conceptualization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 538-551.

10. Mowday, R. T., Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 224-247.

11. Singer, M. S., & Coffin, T. K. (1996). Cognitive and volitional determinants of job attitudes in a voluntary organization. Journal of social behavior and personality, 11(2), 313-328.

12. Stirling, C., Kilpatrick, S., & Orpin, P. (2011). A psychological contract perspective to the link between non-profit organizations' management practices and volunteer sustainability. Human Resource Development International, 14(3), 321-336. doi:10.1080/136788868.2011.585066

Bibliography