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What Motivates Which Volunteers? Psychographic Heterogeneity Among Volunteers in Australia

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Abstract

Six psychographic segments of volunteers in Australia are constructed on the basis of their volunteering motivations. The resulting segments include “classic volunteers,” whose motivations are threefold: doing something worthwhile; personal satisfaction; and helping others. “Dedicated volunteers” perceive each one of the motives for volunteering as relevant, while “personally involved volunteers” donate time because of someone they know in the organization, most likely their child. “Volunteers for personal satisfaction” and “altruists” primarily wish to help others, and finally, “niche volunteers” typically have fewer and more specific drivers motivating them to donate time, for example, to gain work experience. The segments are externally validated and demonstrate significantly different socio-demographic profiles. Consequently, it seems that motivation-based data-driven market segmentation represents a useful way of gaining insight into heterogeneity amongst volunteers. Such insight can be used by volunteering organizations to more effectively target segments with customized messages.

Résumé

Six segments psychographiques de volontaires en Australie sont construits sur la base de leurs motivations en matière de volontariat. Les segments résultants comprennent les « volontaires classiques » dont les motivations sont triples : faire quelque chose qui en vaille la peine, satisfaction personnelle et altruisme. Les « volontaires dédiés » perçoivent chacun de ces motifs de volontariat comme pertinents, tandis que les « volontaires impliqués personnellement » font le don de leur temps car ils connaissent quelqu’un dans l’organisation, le plus souvent leur enfant. Les « volontaires recherchant une satisfaction personnelle » et les « altruistes » souhaitent principalement aider les autres, et finalement ce qui constitue la « niche des volontaires », typiquement, ont des motivations moindre et plus spécifiques quant au don de leur temps, par exemple, obtenir une expérience de professionnelle. Ces segments sont validés de façon externe et font la démonstration de profils socio-démographiques significativement différents. Par voie de conséquence, il semble que la segmentation basée sur la motivation et les données du marché représente une façon utile de se faire une idée de l’hétérogénéité parmi les volontaires. Une telle idée peut être utilisée par les organisations de volontariat pour cibler de façon plus effective des segments avec des messages personnalisés.

Zusammenfassung

Basierend auf verschiedenen Motivationsgründen zur gemeinnützigen Tätigkeit lassen sich ehrenamtlich Tätige in Australien in sechs psychographische Gruppen einteilen. Die Gruppen schließen „klassische Ehrenamtliche“ ein, deren Motivation drei Gründe haben kann: eine erstrebenswerte Tätigkeit auszuführen, persönliche Befriedigung zu erlangen und anderen zu helfen. „Engagierte Ehrenamtliche“ sehen jeden Beweggrund zur gemeinnützigen Tätigkeit als relevant an, während „persönlich involvierte Ehrenamtliche“ Zeit investieren, da sie jemanden in der Organisation kennen, meistens ihr eigenes Kind. „Ehrenamtliche aus Gründen persönlicher Befriedigung“ und „Altruisten“ möchten in erster Linie anderen helfen. Und letztlich werden „Nischen-Ehrenamtliche“ genannt, die typischerweise weniger und spezifischere Beweggründe haben, ihre Zeit zu widmen, z.B. um Berufserfahrung zu sammeln. Die Einteilungen sind extern bestätigt und demonstrieren bedeutend unterschiedliche soziodemographische Profile. Folglich scheint es, dass sich die motivationsbegründete, datengestützte Marktsegmentation als nützlich erweist, um Erkenntnisse in der Heterogenität unter Ehrenamtlichen zu gewinnen. Organisationen, die aus Ehrenamtlichen bestehen, können diese Erkenntnisse nutzen, um einzelne Gruppen mit entsprechend abgestimmten Botschaften zu erreichen.

Resumen

Se han clasificado los voluntarios australianos en seis segmentos psicográficos en función de sus motivaciones de voluntariado. Estos segmentos son: "voluntarios clásicos", cuyas motivaciones son tres: hacer algo que valga la pena, obtener una satisfacción personal y ayudar a los demás. Los "voluntarios dedicados" consideran importantes todos los motivos que impulsan el voluntariado, mientras que los "voluntarios con intereses personales" dedican su tiempo porque tienen alguna persona en la organización, casi siempre, un hijo. El principal deseo de los "voluntarios por satisfacción personal" y los "altruistas" es ayudar a los demás y, por último, los "voluntarios de posición" suelen tener menos alicientes, aunque más específicos, para dedicar su tiempo a actividades altruistas, por ejemplo, obtener experiencia de trabajo. Los segmentos se han demostrado externamente y demuestran la existencia de importantes diferencias en los perfiles sociodemográficos. En consecuencia, parece que la segmentación de mercado basada en la motivación y apoyada en los datos constituye una forma muy útil de conocer la heterogeneidad existente entre los voluntarios. Esta información pueden aprovecharla las organizaciones de voluntariado para hacer llegar a los segmentos meta mensajes personalizados.

摘要

根据澳大利亚志愿者的志愿动机,可将其心理分为六类。混合类包括“最优秀的志愿者”,他们的志愿行为来自“三重动机”:做些有价值的事、提升个人满足感以及帮助他人。“奉献型志愿者”认为志愿的每一动机彼此相互关联,而“亲自参与型志愿者”则奉献出许多时间,因为他们认识的机构中的某些人(很可能就是他/她们的孩子)。“提升个人满足感的志愿者”和“利他主义者”主要是希望帮助他人,最后,还有“特殊类型志愿者”一般都有着更少、更具体的动机促使其贡献时间,如获得工作经验。这些分类方式得到了外部研究结果的证实,而且各个分类人群都有着各自独特的社会人口统计学特征。由此看来,以动机研究为基础、以数据为依据的分类代表了一种行之有效的方法,可深入了解志愿者之间的区别。志愿者机构可以利用这一调查结果,通过“量身定制”的沟通和宣传方式,有效地打动目标人群。

ملخص

سته أجزاء لدراسه السلوك النفسي للمتطوعين في أستراليا مبنيه على أساس دوافعهم التطوعيه . نتائج الأجزاء يشمل " المتطوعون التقليديون" ، الذين دوافعهم ثلاثيه : يؤودون شيئاً جدير بالإهتمام ؛ الرضا الشخصي ؛ ومساعده الا?خرون . " المتطوعون المتفانون" فهم كل الدوافع ذات الصله للتطوع ، بينما " بصفه شخصيه مشاركه المتطوعين " التبرع بالوقت لأن شخص ما يعرفونه في المنظمه ، في معظم الوقت الإبن / البنت . " متطوعون للإرضاء الشخصي "

و " المحبون للغير" في المقام الأول يتمنون أن يساعدوا الغير ، أخيراً ، "الموضع اللائق للمتطوعون" وعاده ما يكون هناك دوافع أقل و محدده لتحفزهم على التبرع بالوقت ، على سبيل المثال ، لإكتساب خبره عمل . الأجزاء أيدت بشده وتظهر بوضوح إختلاف بالغ الأهميه في ملامح االدراسه الإحصائيه الإجتماعيه . ولذلك ، يبدو أن الدوافع المرتكزه على إنقسام السوق التجاري الذي يدفعه البيانات يستعرض طريقه نافعه لإدراك التباين بين المتطوعين . هذا الإدراك ه ممكن أن يستخدم عن طريق المنظمات التطوعيه لإستهداف الأجزاء بفاعليه أكثر برسائل حسب الطلب .

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the Australian Research Council through the Linkage Grant Scheme (LP0453682) and our industry partner, Bushcare Wollongong, a division of Wollongong City Council. We would particularly like to thank Paul Formosa, Natural Areas Coordinator for Wollongong City Council, for his support and assistance with this project.

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Correspondence to Melanie Randle.

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Dolnicar, S., Randle, M. What Motivates Which Volunteers? Psychographic Heterogeneity Among Volunteers in Australia. Voluntas 18, 135–155 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-007-9037-5

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