Advertisement

Switzerland

  • Siegfried NagelEmail author
  • Markus Lamprecht
  • Torsten Schlesinger
  • Rahel Bürgi
  • Hanspeter Stamm
Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Sports Economics, Management and Policy book series (SEMP, volume 15)

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the meaning and understanding of sports volunteering as well as the voluntary workforce in Switzerland. The term volunteering (“Freiwilligkeit”) is used in Switzerland not only for voluntary, unpaid work but also for donating money or goods. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, volunteering has played an important role in Swiss society and particularly in the Swiss sports system. Current surveys show that nearly one out of five persons of the adult population volunteers regularly in sports clubs, and nearly half of all members do volunteer work in their club. About 10 years ago, there was a reduction of volunteering in sports clubs. However, current figures show that the number of volunteers has increased again, although there is neither a national policy nor a specific program in Switzerland to promote volunteering in general or in sports.

Volunteers in Switzerland pursue altruistic as well as self-oriented motives. Current studies show that several factors are relevant for the satisfaction of volunteers in sports clubs, for example, interesting tasks, material incentives, appreciation and recognition, and support. For volunteers at sports events, the following motives play an important role community involvement, interpersonal contacts, career orientation, personal growth, and extrinsic rewards.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Ammann, H. (2008). Begrifflichkeiten und deren Auswirkungen auf die Forschung am Beispiel des Freiwilligen-Monitors [Terminology and its consequences for research – the example of the volunteering monitor]. In H. Ammann, R. Hasse, M. Jakobs, & G. Riemer-Kafka (Eds.), Freiwilligkeit – Ursprünge, Erscheinungsformen, Perspektiven[Voluntariness – Origins, manifestations, perspectives] (pp. 19–35). Zürich: Seismo.Google Scholar
  2. Bang, H., & Chelladurai, P. (2009). Development and validation of the volunteer motivations scale for international sporting events (VMS-ISE). International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 6(4), 332–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bang, H., & Ross, S. D. (2009). Volunteer motivation and satisfaction. Journal of Venue and Event Management, 1(1), 61–77.Google Scholar
  4. BFS. (2018a). Schweizerische Arbeitskräfteerhebung: Freiwilligenarbeit [Swiss manpower survey: Volunteerism]. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/arbeit-erwerb/unbezahlte-arbeit/freiwilligenarbeit.html. Accessed 29.01.2018.
  5. BFS. (2018b). Starker Rückgang des Bevölkerungswachstums im Jahr 2017 [Strong decline of the population growth in the year 2017]. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung.assetdetail.4782547.html. Accessed 29.01.2018.
  6. Chelladurai, P. (2006). Human resource management in sport and recreation (2nd ed.). Champaign IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
  7. Clary, E. G., Ridge, R. D., Stukas, A. A., Snyder, M., Copeland, J., Haugen, J., et al. (1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1516–1530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Cnaan, R. A., & Goldberg-Glen, R. S. (1991). Measuring motivation to volunteer in human services. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 27(3), 269–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Egli, B., Schlesinger, T., & Nagel, S. (2014). Expectation-based types of volunteers in Swiss sports clubs. Managing Leisure, 19(5), 359–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Farago, P. (Ed.). (2007). Freiwilliges Engagement in der Schweiz [Voluntary engagement in Switzerland] (Reihe “Freiwilligkeit” [Series “Voluntariness”]). Zürich: Seismo.Google Scholar
  11. Farrell, J. M., Johnston, M. E., & Twynam, D. G. (1998). Volunteer motivation, satisfaction, and management at an elite sporting competition. Journal of Sport Management, 12(4), 288–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Finkelstein, M. A. (2008). Volunteer satisfaction and volunteer action: A functional approach. Social Behavior and Personality, 36(1), 9–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Freitag, M. (Ed.). (2014). Das soziale Kaptial der Schweiz [The social capital of Switzerland]. Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung.Google Scholar
  14. Freitag, M., Manatschal, A., Ackermann, K., & Ackermann, M. (2016). Freiwilligen-Monitor Schweiz 2016 [Volunteering monitor Switzerland 2016]. Zürich: Seismo.Google Scholar
  15. Galindo-Kuhn, R., & Guzley, R. M. (2001). The Volunteer Satisfaction Index: Construct definition, measurement, development, and validation. Journal of Social Service Research, 28(1), 45–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Giannoulakis, C., Wang, C. H., & Gray, D. (2007). Measuring volunteer motivation in mega-sporting events. Event Management, 11(4), 191–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Güntert, S. T., Neufein, M., & Wehner, T. (2015). Motives for event volunteering: Extending the functional approach. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44(4), 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Helmig, B., Gmür, M., Bärlocher, C., von Schnurbein, G., Degen, B., Nollert, M., et al. (2017). Switzerland – A liberal outlier for Europe. In L. M. Salamon, S. W. Sokolowski, & M. A. Haddock (Eds.), Explaining civil society development – A social origins approach (pp. 131–142). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
  19. Kim, M., Zhag, J. J., & Connaughton, D. P. (2013). Comparison of volunteer motivations in different youth sport organizations. European Sport Management Quarterly, 10(3), 343–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Lamprecht, M., Bürgi, R., Gebert, A., & Stamm, H. P. (2017). Sportvereine in der Schweiz. Entwicklungen, Herausforderungen, Perspektiven [Sports clubs in Switzerland. Developments, challenges and perspectives]. Magglingen: Federal Office of Sport.Google Scholar
  21. Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H. (2012). Die Schweizer Sportvereine: Strukturen, Leistungen, Herausforderungen [Swiss sports clubs: Structures, services, challenges]. Zürich: Seismo.Google Scholar
  22. Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H. P. (2014). Sport Schweiz 2014: Sportaktivität und Sportinteresse der Schweizer Bevölkerung [Sport Switzerland 2014: Sport activity and sport interest of the Swiss population]. Magglingen: Federal Office of Sport.Google Scholar
  23. Nagel, S., & Adler Zwahlen, J. (2016). Switzerland. In B. Ibsen, G. Nichols, K. Elmose-Østerlund, et al. (Eds.), Sports club policies in Europe: A comparison of the public policy context and historical origins of sports clubs across ten European countries (pp. 86–89). Odense: University of Southern Denmark.Google Scholar
  24. Rehberg, W. (2005). Altruistic individualists: Motivations for international volunteering among young adults in Switzerland. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 16(2), 109–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Schlesinger, T., Egli, B., & Nagel, S. (2013). Continue or terminate? Determinants of long-term volunteering in sports clubs. European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(1), 32–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Schlesinger, T., & Gubler, R. (2016). Motivational profiles of sporting event volunteers. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, 19(10), 1419–1439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Schlesinger, T., Klenk, C., & Nagel, S. (2014). Freiwillige Mitarbeit im Sportverein. Analyse individueller Faktoren und organisationaler Entscheidungen [Volunteering in sports clubs. Analysis of individual factors and organisational decision making]. Zürich: Seismo.Google Scholar
  28. Silverberg, K. E., Marshall, E. K., & Ellis, G. D. (2001). Measuring job satisfaction of volunteers in public parks and recreation. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 19(1), 79–92.Google Scholar
  29. Skille, E. A., & Hanstad, D. V. (2013). Who are they and why do they do it? The habitus of sport event volunteers in Norway Volunteers in the European Handball Championship for Women 2010. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, 16(9), 1135–1148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Spiel, C. (1998). Four methodological approaches to the study of stability and change in development. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 3(2), 8–22.Google Scholar
  31. Stadelmann-Steffen, I., Traunmüller, R., Gundelach, B., & Freitag, M. (2010). Freiwilligen-Monitor Schweiz 2010 [Volunteering monitor Switzerland 2010]. Zürich: Seismo.Google Scholar
  32. Stamm, H., Fischer, A., Nagel, S., & Lamprecht, M. (2015). Sport clubs in Switzerland. In C. Breuer, R. Hoekman, S. Nagel, & H. Van der Werff (Eds.), Sport clubs in Europe. A cross-national comparative perspective (pp. 401–417). New York, Heidelberg, London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Wilson, J. (2000). Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology, 26(1), 215–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Siegfried Nagel
    • 1
    Email author
  • Markus Lamprecht
    • 2
  • Torsten Schlesinger
    • 3
  • Rahel Bürgi
    • 2
  • Hanspeter Stamm
    • 2
  1. 1.University of BernBernSwitzerland
  2. 2.Swiss Observatory for Sport c/o L&S SFB AGZurichSwitzerland
  3. 3.Ruhr University BochumBochumGermany

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options