Hardly any other topic has stimulated more research on volunteering than the question of what motivates volunteers and keeps them committed to their engagement. This chapter first presents an established approach to classifying and measuring the diverse motives for volunteering. Subsequently, this approach is extended and reflected on from the perspective of self-determination theory.

2.1 The Functional Approach

Clary et al. (1998) applied the so-called functional approach to the analysis of volunteer work. Inspired by research on the functions that are served by attitudes, they shed light on the multi-faceted motivational foundations of volunteer work. What psychological functions can volunteer work fulfill? Their findings describe the following six motivational functions:

  • Values: Volunteers can express their own values through voluntary work; those values typically related to solidarity and humanitarian concerns (example statement: “I can do something for a cause that is important to me”).

  • Understanding: Volunteer work provides the opportunity to gain experience, acquire new skills, and become a competent actor in a certain domain; understanding oneself better also falls into this category (example: “I can explore my strengths”).

  • Career: The professional career can be promoted by volunteer work, be it through networking or the usefulness of volunteering as an attractive asset listed in one’s CV (example: “Volunteering will help me to succeed in my chosen profession”).

  • Social: Performing volunteer work might reflect the expectations of important others; through their involvement, volunteers might signal their integration into that group of family and friends (example: “People I am close to want me to volunteer”).

  • Enhancement: Volunteer work can increase one’s self-esteem; as a volunteer, you feel needed (example: “My volunteering makes me feel better about myself”).

  • Protective: Volunteer work may protect from negatively experienced feelings and can offer distraction from worries (example: “No matter how bad I have been feeling, volunteering helps me to forget about it”).

To record these functions of volunteer work, Clary et al. (1998) developed a corresponding measurement instrument in the form of a questionnaire: the Volunteer Functions Inventory. With five statements per function, volunteers rate the importance of this aspect in motivating their own voluntary work. The Volunteer Functions Inventory is not only suitable for comparative research (between countries or different types of volunteer work), but can also be used in practice, for example, to gain an overview of the motives of volunteers within an organization. Studies that have used the Volunteer Functions Inventory report that the values and understanding function accurately represents respondents’ motivations for volunteering (e.g., Oostlander et al., 2014a).

Key to the functional approach to volunteerism is the assumption that different people can perform the same volunteer work and still hold fundamentally diverse motivations for the respective activity. One person may volunteer to visit hospital patients in order to support lonely people and thus express personal values. For another person, this commitment may be linked primarily to an ambition to work at that hospital in the future. Furthermore, volunteer work can fulfill several independent psychological functions simultaneously for the same person. Expressing humanitarian concerns while also being interested in acquiring skills and gaining a new perspective on things is certainly no contradiction at all.

The functionalist perspective on volunteer work offers ideas on how to keep volunteers committed to their activity. The benefits associated with volunteer work should match the respective motivational functions expressed by the volunteers (Stukas et al., 2009). Volunteer managers, for example, who acknowledge the volunteers’ tasks and efforts in a document that can be added to a résumé, provide a clear match for the career function.

2.2 Extensions of the Functional Approach

The value function, as measured by the Volunteer Functions Inventory, is clearly aligned with the values of solidarity and compassion for people in need. Numerous organizations in which volunteers are active pursue the goal of changing the root causes (e.g., political and social conditions) of suffering and need. Fighting for social justice can be a strong motive for volunteering in human rights organizations, for example. For this reason, Jiranek et al. (2015) propose the social justice function as an extension of the functional approach. It can be empirically demonstrated that this motivational function, in addition to the already established functions of the Volunteer Functions Inventory, explains volunteers’ intention to continue their engagement (Jiranek et al., 2013).

A second example of how to extend the functional approach comes from a significantly different area of volunteer work. Some volunteering activities offer immediate and attractive opportunities to experience something extraordinary that is not possible in other areas of life. People who volunteer for a major international event such as the Olympic Games or soccer championships, for example, experience this unique or rare event first-hand, take part in the action and get an exclusive look behind the scenes of the event. In other words, the activity itself has a high reward value for people who are interested in the subject area in question. Güntert et al. (2015) describe this motive for volunteering as an experiential function and show that for volunteers for whom this experiential function is very important, tasks providing autonomy in decision-making are particularly important and satisfying.

These are only two examples of extensions to the functional approach. Adding or refining some of the original six functions suggested by Clary et al. (1998) does not challenge the basic tenets of that framework. Rather, such extensions illustrate that volunteer work may serve a remarkably wide range of functions. This multiplicity of functions can be addressed by volunteer managers to fine-tune the volunteer task and “tailor” benefits to attract and retain a diverse group of volunteers.

2.3 A Self-Determination Theory Perspective on Volunteer Motives

For each person, volunteering may serve multiple functions simultaneously. This key functionalist notion, however, does not imply that all volunteer motives show similarly strong associations with important outcomes. A study by Stukas et al. (2016) demonstrated that self-oriented motives and other-oriented motives were differentially associated with volunteers’ satisfaction and sustained volunteering. Most importantly, the value function—the motive to volunteer in order to express one’s values of solidarity and humanity—correlates more strongly with the satisfaction, the intention to continue the commitment, and also the health of the volunteers than functions that focus on increasing self-esteem or direct personal benefit. To shed light on these correlational patterns, self-determination theory can be used as a framework to interpret the quality of motivation that is inherent in various types of volunteer functions. Some types of motivation go hand in hand with the experience of freedom, volition, and self-determination, while other motives are associated with the experience of being controlled, under pressure, and alien to one’s true self.

The core idea of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Gagné & Deci, 2005; Güntert, 2015) is to take a qualitative perspective on motivation beyond a simple quantitative one. Different people can show similarly strong effort when performing a task, but still experience disparate emotions. One volunteer confronted with a challenge might experience freedom, choice, and flow while solving this problem. Another person might show similar diligence and effort, but may lack the experience of joy and volition completely and instead be driven by pressure from outside or by the fear that their self-worth is at stake.

Self-determination theory differentiates between self-determined and controlled types of motivation. Figure 2.1 links the different types of motivation to the experience of either self-determination or control. The quality of these types of motivation is described using examples from the context of volunteering:

  • Intrinsic motivation represents the prototype of self-determined motivation. Performing the activity is rewarding in itself. Intrinsic motivation refers to the search for optimal challenge and personal growth. Volunteers who are interested in and want to learn more about a specific topic show intrinsic motivation. They are absorbed in the activity and may experience flow (cf. Csikszentmihályi, 1990). No rewards or punishments are needed; the simple joy in the activity is sufficient to sustain the effort. Some fundamental aspects of volunteer work increase the likelihood that intrinsic motivation is experienced. Volunteers choose organizations and tasks based on their interest and talent. If they were to experience excessive demands, volunteers can probably adjust their involvement more easily than paid employees who make their living out of a similar type of work.

  • Identified regulation of extrinsic motivation is a second type of self-determined motivation characterized by the experience of freedom and choice. Labeling intrinsic motivation as the prototype of self-determination does not imply that extrinsic motivation is, by default, associated with pressure, control, and alienation. Behavior that is extrinsically motivated is instrumental to some goal that is clearly separated from the activity itself. Extrinsically motivated activities are often not, per se, interesting or fun. An example from the volunteer context illustrates the conceptual difference. Volunteers supporting an animal shelter might take on the task of walking dogs on a regular basis; for many people, this volunteer task will be rewarding in itself as they enjoy the company of a dog. The same volunteers might also help clean the cages at the animal shelter; for most people, this strenuous and dirty work will not be experienced as fun and interesting, but rather as important and useful for a goal beyond the activity itself, that is, to keep the animals healthy and attractive for adoption. If a person fully understands the importance of a task and identifies with the respective values, the regulation of that behavior is endorsed by one’s core sense of self.

  • Introjected regulation of extrinsic motivation represents a controlled type of motivation. The activity is not fully supported by the person’s core sense of self, but rather regulated by feelings of guilt, shame, or the need to please other people. Volunteers who continue their engagement not because of strong identification with the goals and values, but rather because they do not want to miss the attention or cannot distance themselves from expectations, experience this quality of motivation.

  • External regulation of extrinsic motivation represents the most controlled type of motivation. The behavior is regulated by rewards or punishments that are external to the activity and often under the control of other people. In the context of volunteering, this quality of motivation may be observed when volunteers mainly focus on tangible benefits such as boosting their career using a prestigious voluntary role.

Fig. 2.1
figure 1

Four types of motivation according to self-determination theory

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The four types of motivation described by self-determination theory are differentially related to volunteer outcomes. Table 2.1 shows, for three different samples, the correlations between the four qualities of motivation and various indicators of successful volunteering.

Table 2.1 Correlations between types of motivation and indicators of successful volunteering
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Overall, self-determined types of motivation—that is, intrinsic motivation and identified regulation of extrinsic motivation—are more strongly related than are controlled types of motivation to favorable outcomes. In a longitudinal study by Güntert and Wehner (2015), self-determined motivation was positively associated with both general and organization-specific role identities of volunteers several months later. This finding is in line with self-determination theory’s assumption that the self-determined quality of motivation is both an expression and a prerequisite of personal growth and an integrated sense of self.

Using the framework of self-determination theory, the findings of Stukas et al. (2016) can be revisited. Volunteers’ motives, as described by the functional approach were differentially related to favorable volunteer outcomes. As illustrated in Fig. 2.2, the four qualities of self-determined vs. controlled motivation presented in Fig. 2.1 can be systematically linked to the six motivational functions—i.e., volunteers’ motives—described by Clary et al. (1998):

  • Values: The motive to express one’s values through volunteering is clearly aligned with identified regulation’s focus on endorsing values.

  • Understanding: The learning opportunities as a motive for volunteering are linked to the element of curiosity inherent in intrinsic motivation.

  • Career: Boosting one’s career through volunteering puts emphasis on the usefulness of that activity; the external evaluation of one’s performance as a volunteer might trigger the experience of external regulation and control.

  • Social: The concern about other people’s expectations as a motive for volunteering clearly links to controlled types of motivation.

  • Enhancement: This volunteer function can be associated with both controlled and self-determined types of motivation. Self-worth contingencies (e.g., being proud) can be linked to introjected regulation; however, enjoying the company of others (e.g., making friends) is associated with intrinsic motivation.

  • Protective: This motive is associated with the usefulness of volunteering to address negative emotions; similarly to the enhancement function, this motive is linked to self-worth contingencies and, thus, to controlled types of motivation.

Fig. 2.2
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Linking four types of motivation according to self-determination theory to six motives according to the functional approach

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Taken together, the concept of self-determination not only describes a relevant aspect of the volunteer experience, but also explains the differential impact of various motives as described by the functional approach (see also Güntert et al., 2016).