Motivation

Connected to recruitment, supervision, and recognition, these resources on motivation offer general perspectives on why volunteers do what they do.

Related Topics: Recognition | Recruitment | Supervision
5 Unappreciated Reasons Why Volunteers Quit, Tobi Johnson
Anger Motivates Volunteers as Much as Sympathy, Science Daily
Both Receiving and Giving, Susan J. Ellis
Bribing volunteers: Should we be incentivising people for their time?, Rob Jackson (UK)
A Choice Blend: What volunteers want from organisation and management, Katharine Gaskin
Cultivation and Critique, Claudia Kuric and Sharon Koll, with contributions by Myrl Weinberg, A Roadmap to Managing Volunteer Systems: From Grassroots to National, National Health Council
Decide Needed Roles and Set Recruitment Goals, Gary J. Stern, Moblizing People for Marketing Success, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
Demand Excellence, Dr. Bill Wittich, pp. 43-44, Knowledge Transfer Publishing
Don't Let the History Made by Volunteers Fall through the Cracks of Time, Susan J. Ellis
Don’t Just Recognize Volunteers, Invest in Them…and Yourself, Sheri Wilensky Burke
Encouraging Entrepreneurial Volunteering, Susan J. Ellis
Enough Formal Banquets! Let's Transform Recognition Events, Susan J. Ellis
A Foolproof Tool for Motivating Your Team (and Yourself), Jennifer Dulski
Fueling Volunteer Passion: Empowering Volunteers to Self-Motivate, Sheri Wilensky Burke
Good Intentions Going Nowhere -- Again, Susan J. Ellis
Grow Volunteer-Staff Harmony: Plant New Seeds this Spring, Betsy McFarland
Happiness of Giving: The Intrinsic Value of Giving and Volunteering on the Quality of Life, Michelle R. Wallpe
The Holiday Season: Going Beyond "Feel-Good" Volunteering, Susan J. Ellis
How to Recruit Volunteers Using Social Media
How To Respond to Common Excuses (not to volunteer), Liz O'Donnell, PTO Today
I'll help with that, but don't ask me to lead it!, Susan J. Ellis
It’s Time to Discuss the Complex Relationship of Volunteering and Money, Susan J. Ellis
Keeping Former Volunteers in Our Circle of Good Friends, Susan J. Ellis
Lessening Social Exclusion through Volunteering, Susan J. Ellis
Lessons Learned About Leading Volunteers From a Volunteering Working Mom, Sheri Wilensky Burke
Make New Friends But Keep the Old..., Susan J. Ellis
Marketing Savvy - Our Field's Blind Spot, Susan J. Ellis
The Money Factor in Volunteer Management, Susan J. Ellis
The Moral Obligation of Volunteer Recruitment Promises, Susan J. Ellis
Prepare: Equipping a Volunteer to Serve, Barry Altland, pp. 81-83, Peppertree Press
Reaching Out to International Visitors, Susan J. Ellis
Recruitment Maxims, Susan J. Ellis
Save a Life, Win a Car! When Do Incentives to Volunteer Cross the Line?, Susan J. Ellis
Sending Volunteer Talent Down the Drain, Susan J. Ellis
Should Volunteer Program Managers Be Volunteers, Too?, Susan J. Ellis
Should We Ask Volunteers to Give Money on Top of Time?, Susan J. Ellis
The Spice of Life, Justin Davis Smith, Blog

Commentary on time banking and the "Spice" program in the UK.

Stop Volunteers from Being Their Own Worst Enemies, Susan J. Ellis
The Times They Are a Changin’—Even for Volunteers, Rob Jackson (UK)
Top Signs of Volunteer Burn-out, Lisa Barker (humorous)
A Volunteer Needs a Good Reason for Doing the Task, Helen Little, Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them, pp 37-38, Panacea Press
Volunteer Recruitment Brochures: How to tap into the marketing power of testimonials, Katherine Khalife
Volunteering Trend Watch: What Can We Learn from Looking Back?, Cara Thenot
Volunteers Just Want to Have Fun, Susan J. Ellis
Voluntourism - Pros, Cons, and Possibilities, Susan J. Ellis
What's the Mystery about Motivation?, Susan J. Ellis
When Volunteers Resist Change, Susan J. Ellis
Why Don't People Volunteer?, Evelyn Beck, PTO Today
Why Social Media Is Not the Cure-All for Building Volunteer Engagement, Susan J. Ellis

The following articles on this topic were published in the Engage journal. Previews and some articles are complementary; full articles are available to paid members.

An Organizational Response to the Working Woman
Are Satisfied Volunteers Motivated to Make the Most Contributions?
Baby Boomers in Action! An Initiative in Iowa to Recruit Baby Boomer Volunteers
Bring Out the Extraordinary Through Continuous Improvement
Changing the Focus on Volunteering: An Investigation of Volunteers' Multiple Contributions for a Charitable Organization
Commitment With or Without a Stick of Paid Work: Comparison of Paid and Unpaid Workers in a Nonprofit Organization
Corporate Volunteer Programs: Maximizing Employee Motivation and Minimizing Barriers to Program Participation
Creating a Volunteer Career Ladder: Evolving Volunteers
Deconstructing Engagement: Beyond the Buzzword
Doing Good Deeds for Love: A New Approach to Volunteering and Forging Relationships
Elf Management
Emphasizing the Personal and Professional Benefits of Service: Encouraging Volunteers to Ask, "What's in It for Me?"
Finding and Keeping Volunteers in Sport and Recreation: What the Research Tells Us
From Volunteer to New Career
From Whose Perspective
Helping Volunteers through Stressful Situations
Identifying Promotional Appeals for Targeting Potential Volunteers: An Exploratory Study on Volunteering Motives among Retirees
Integrity - The Guidepost to Volunteer Relationships
Is Volunteering Rewarding in Itself?
Is Volunteering Work or Leisure?
Knowing When to Stop: A Personal Account of a Manager's Efforts to Help Volunteers
Leader as Coach: Sustaining the Engagement of Your Volunteers
Managing Volunteer Conflict in Churches
Mandated Service - The Future of Volunteering?
Membership Recruitment Made Easy
Millennials: Incorrigible or Innovative?
Missing the Point: Asking the Wrong Questions When Researching Volunteering
One Size Does Not Fit All: Four Models of Involving Volunteers in Small Voluntary Organisations
Perspectives on Membership Development
Preparing for Success: Strategies for Training Teenage Volunteers
Public vs. Private Compassion: Colored Ribbons, T-shirts, and SUVs
Race and Formal Volunteering: The Differential Effects of Class and Religion
Raising Volunteers: Involving Children and Their Families
Research on Volunteerism: What Still Needs to be Done?
Retention vs. Attrition: How to Keep Volunteers Coming Back for Years
Satisfaction among Volunteer Dentists: Serving Underprivileged Elderly in Jerusalem
Selecting Goals and Optimizing Personal Resources: Contributions to the Development of Older Adult Volunteers
Short Term Impact, Long Term Opportunities: The Political and Civic Engagement of Young Adults in America
Show, Don't Just Tell: Writing to Inspire, Motivate and Recruit Volunteers
Special Challenges in International vs. Domestic Volunteering
Star Power: Celebrity Support of Charitable Events and Activities
Storytelling in Volunteer Management
Tailoring Your Recruitment Message: How to Use A/B Testing for Maximum Results
The 'T' Word in Volunteer Management: A Creative Approach to Getting Volunteers into Training
The Language of Leadership
The Volunteer's Fantasies: A Challenge to the Volunteer Manager
Time is Money: Time Dollars and the Money is Value Metaphor
To Volunteer or Not to Volunteer
Trailblazers and Troublemakers: Entrepreneurial Volunteers
Training Adults to Work Successfully with Teenage Volunteers, part 2
Using Skills Analysis Techniques for Successful Volunteer Learning
Using the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) to Strengthen Cross-cultural Volunteer Recruitment and Retention
Volunteer as ‘Consumer:’ A Marketing Perspective to Understanding Volunteer Choice
Volunteer Management and The Art of Letting Small Bad Things Happen
Volunteer Recognition: Can You Do It in a Single Day?
Volunteer Retention and Community Service Self-Efficacy
Volunteer Retention and Feelings of Connection
Volunteering an Opinion: Organizational Voice and Volunteer Retention in Nonprofit Organizations
Volunteering, Self-Help, and Citizenship in Later Life: A Literature Review
Volunteers in Hybrid Organisations: A Marginalised Majority?
What Can Organizations Do to Alleviate Volunteer Stress?
When Management Gets in the Way
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?
World Leisure's Volunteerism Commission
By Judy Esmond. An Executive Summary also available. , 2004, pp. 82
From the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, Singapore , 2008, pp. 40

Results of the Abila Donor Engagement Study: "we decided to dig even deeper into donor behavior, to go beyond just engagement, and see what drives donor loyalty, what types of content donors really like to consume, what actions by an organization annoy donors, what role events and volunteering play, and how donors really feel when it comes to an organization spending money on overhead." Lots about Gen X and the connection of volunteering to giving money. 

, 2016, pp. 22

For Disaster Response Volunteers, First Responders and Disaster Planners, by the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD). Also see VOAD's "Disaster Spiritual Care," a statement of principles about spiritual and emotional support of disaster workers. 

, 2013, pp. 64

Produced by Community Brands, YourMembership, and Abila, this study reports on answers given by over 1,000 association members to what they want from their membership and what keeps them renewing.  

, 2017, pp. 23
Assesses factors that increase male volunteering in service programs and offers concrete approaches to overcoming barriers and designing programs that are attractive to males. , 1999
Allison Fine for the Case Foundation. Social Citizens BETA addresses the unique characteristics of Millennials, who have grown up in a digital era, and "are equipped with innovative tools and ideas for bringing about change. This is a paper intended to start a "larger conversation with these 'social citizens, to share new ideas and "challenge perceptions about their approaches to being engaged." , 2013, pp. 65

By Nora L. Silver, based on work done by The Volunteerism Project on volunteering by diverse ethnic/cultural groups. Seven focus groups provided the basis for the book:

  • A Chorus of Voices, African American focus group facilitated by Vicki Clark in Memphis, Tennessee
  • Self-Determination: Messages for Our Native Youth, two American Indian focus groups conducted by Kouslaa Kessler-Mata in Oakland and San Francisco, California
  • Uno Recibe lo que Uno Da: You Get What You Give, Central American focus group conducted in Spanish, facilitated by Coco Mendoza and translated by Gary Wheelock in San Francisco, California
  • Extending the Family, Chinese American focus group conducted by Mae Chao in San Francisco, California
  • Giving Generously, Japanese American focus group conducted by Mami Ishikawa in Berkeley, California
  • Three Continents, Four States, Ten Cities, Korean American focus group facilitated by Debbie Ng in Oakland, California
  • La Gran Familia, Mexican American focus group facilitated by Ramon del Castillo, with simultaneous translation by Patsy Roybal in Denver, Colorado
, 2011, pp. 131
Edited by Andy Fryar, Rob Jackson, and Fraser Dyer. Essays from contributing volunteer managers around the world on attracting the best and most diverse volunteers and then working with them successfully. , 2007, pp. 204
Celebrity Volunteers

Several articles both cautioning about and explaining how to recruit and work with celebrities as volunteers, from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Compassion Fatigue UK
Do your volunteers have to cope with "compassion fatigue"? Get advice, training, and resources at this site that promises volunteers it "will help you get back to being brilliant; so that you can remember why you're doing what you're doing and get back to doing it; making that difference to the people you care for."
 
Convio Connection

Sample articles from free bimonthly newsletter for nonprofits on how to attract constituents, drive action, and build loyalty through online relationship management.

Encouraging Involvement in Community Work

Chapter 7 of the "Community Toolbox," with self-teaching modules on gaining participation by community members.

Fenton Communications

Approaches to advocacy communication campaigns. Click on "resources" from the home page to access their free resources.

PTO Today

Wonderful publication and online resource for parent-teacher organizations -- but with all sorts of useful nuggets for ANY all-volunteer organization.

The Serious Leisure Perspective

Canadian academic William A. Stebbins has devoted his career to studying the connection of leisure to work and volunteering,as well as professional to amateur. The site offers a wealth of materials, including a Digital Library of many articles.

Stronger Together: Recruiting and Working with Ethnocultural Volunteers

Online manual by the Central Volunteer Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton (Canada) about how to make volunteer programs attractive and accessible to ethnic minority volunteers, based on input from program managers with experience.

Tag Lines

Clever phrases for recruiting volunteers into virtual volunteering assignments.

Movie Mondays from 501 Video

"Fun weekly videos to help nonprofits raise money, steward donors, and inspire board members," produced by Chris Davenport with a range of guest presenters.  A new, short video (usually less than 5 minutes) comes out every Monday and you get the link via e-mail. 

Volunteerism: Best platform for personal and professional development

Video of a 2014 TEDxUOttawa talk (11 minutes) by Tuan Nguyen, a young Canadian philanthropist and entrepreneur. Surviving death during his escape after the fall of Viet Nam in 1975, he sees the world from a lens of gratitude and has been the foundation for all his hopes, dreams, and vision. His stories demonstrates how volunteerism (mainly fundraising events) is the best platform for professional and personal development.