HART RESEARCH P e t e r D ASSOTESCIA Research Findings March 2004
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Overwhelmingly female (84% women, 16% men); Highly educated (57% have at least a college degree), and of the 39% who do not have a degree, half are under age 18; Young (50% are under age 30, only 32% are age 40 or older); and Diverse (58% are Caucasian, 11% are African American, 10% are Hispanic). Potential Volunteers: A Demographic Profile VolunteerMatch site users are:
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Potential Volunteers: Motives For Volunteering I Compared to other things you do in your life, how important to you is your volunteer work? One of the most important things in my life Very important Somewhat important Not very important 68% highly important The more frequently that Potentials volunteer, the more likely they are to say that volunteering is important in their life.
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Which of the following is the most important reason why you volunteer? To help others/feel like I’ve made a difference To be involved/feel connected to my community To contribute to a cause that I care about To use my skills in a productive way To develop skills, knowledge, experience To meet people, make new friends/acquaintances To fulfill a community service requirement Potential Volunteers: Motives For Volunteering II By 60% to 40%, Potentials prefer to volunteer with others rather than on their own; this is especially true of younger volunteers.
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Which two/three of these volunteering areas most interest you? Children/youth Animals Homeless/housing Education/literacy Advocacy/human rights Community Arts/culture Hunger Environment Women Health/medicine Crisis support Seniors Potential Volunteers: Areas Of Volunteering Interest
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for How often do you volunteer? Three times a year or less Four to 11 times a year Potential Volunteers: Wide Spectrum Of Volunteering Behavior How many hours per visit do you volunteer? One to three times a month One or two hours Under an hour Three or four hours Five or more hours Once a week or more
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Potential Volunteers: Expanding The Pool Of Potential Volunteers I had not volunteered before using VolunteerMatch I had volunteered before
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Potential Volunteers: Using The VolunteerMatch Site How often do you use VolunteerMatch? At least two or three times a month Once a month Four to 11 times a year One to three times a year
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for How many volunteer opportunities do you generally respond to before finding the right place to volunteer? One Four to six Potential Volunteers: Finding A Match III Two or three Seven or more
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for How satisfied have you been with your experiences volunteering with organizations you found through VolunteerMatch? Potential Volunteers: Satisfaction With Volunteer Experiences December 2003May % 14% 59% 41%
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for 63% of volunteers say that half or more of their volunteer activity in the past year has been with an organization they found through VM. 61% of volunteers report that they have become regular, ongoing volunteers at an organization they found through VM. 19% report that they have become members of an organization they found through VM, and 25% report having taken on another role (e.g., donor, board member) in the organization. Potential Volunteers: Making Their Mark Through VM
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Potential Volunteers: Impact Of Service 86% 79% VM makes it easier for me to find volunteer opptys I am more satisfied with VM than other online services of volunteer info I am more likely to find satisfying volunteer rela- tionship because of VM I am more likely to volunteer because of VM 86% 82%
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Nonprofits: The Challenge Of Recruiting Volunteers I Which of the following challenges keep your organization from making greater use of volunteers? Finding people who can commit enough time Finding people whose schedules match our needs Finding people with the skills and abilities we need Cost of training and managing volunteers Cost of recruiting volunteers Limited organizational commitment to volunteer programs
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Nonprofits: The Challenge Of Recruiting Volunteers II Most useful volunteer recruiting strategies Word of mouth Our Web site Internet recruiting services Live presentations to groups Events Newspaper ads Local volunteer center Relationship with local corporations Direct mail Radio/TV ads 71% 45% 37% 33% 29% 17% 15% 8%
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Nonprofits: Engaging Volunteers On average, what proportion of the people who respond are you able to engage as volunteers? 50% to 100% of the people 20% to 49% of the people None of the people 10% to 19% of the people 1% to 9% of the people
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Nonprofits: Satisfaction With VolunteerMatch Volunteers How satisfied have you been with the quality of volunteers you have recruited through VolunteerMatch? Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Very/somewhat dissatisfied
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for Nonprofits: Valuing Internet Services 92% 85% 68% Provides a valuable service to us Has helped us reach out/ recruit volunteers we wouldn’t have found Makes it easier for us to find the right volunteers Has helped us find the volunteers we need Has allowed us to free up valuable resources 85% 79%
HART RESEARCH P e t e r D ASSOTESCIA Research Findings March 2004