What are the top three (3) reasons you volunteer? (Select up to 3)
(n=221)

Each respondent was allowed to select up to three responses.  “I care about a particular issue or population” (57%), “I want to help people” (51%), “I want to support my community” (45%), and “I want to support an organization that is important to me” (48%) were the clear favorites.  There was a mixture of broad interests and specific interests in these four most popular responses.  Some respondents were motivated to volunteer because they care about a particular issue or population.  At the same time, others (and, in some cases, the same respondents) had a broad interest in helping “people” and the "community."      

A look at the subgroups within our sample reveals the reasons behind what could be viewed as contradictory responses by the sample.

By Age
By Sex
By Educational Attainment
By Type of Volunteering

Age

• Helping People: Being ages 55+ slightly increased the likelihood that a respondent would volunteer to “help people.”
• Supporting Your Community: On the other hand, being ages 35-54 increased the likelihood that a respondent would volunteer to “support” his/her “community.” 
• Specific Causes and Populations: The younger respondents to our survey were also far more likely to volunteer because they “care about a particular issue or population. 
• Specific Organizations: There was no significant difference between age groups when it came to volunteering to “support an organization that is important to me.”  Percentages were high among all age groups.
• Feeling Good About Oneself: Volunteers ages 65+ were far less likely than younger respondents to volunteer in order to “feel good about myself.”  This data is in agreement with an earlier study that found older adults are the least likely to volunteer for better self-esteem[1].  It also contradicts assumptions that older volunteers need volunteering to maintain a sense of self-worth as they age as a replacement for careers and raising children. 
• Learning New Skills and Knowledge: Age did not affect the likelihood that a respondent would volunteer to “learn new skills or knowledge.”  Between 18%-25% of respondents in each age group chose this option as one of the top three reasons they volunteer.  Focus group conversations also confirmed this finding.  A third of the focus group participants mentioned that they were more likely to volunteer in positions that gave them learning opportunities.  One participant in her late 50s or early 60s summed up this finding: “I’m a lifelong learner; I need to learn something and it has to be challenging; there has to be a learning process that I can adapt to situations.”  

Sex

• Helping People: Male respondents were more likely than women to volunteer “to help people.”
• Specific Causes and Populations: Women were far more likely than men to volunteer in order to support a “specific issue or population.”
• Specific Organizations: Women were far more likely than men to volunteer to “support an organization that is important to me.”
• Feeling Good About Oneself: Men were more likely than women to volunteer to feel “good about myself.”
• Feeling Good About the World: Women were more likely than men to volunteer to “feel good about the world.” 

Educational Attainment

Specific Causes and Populations: Educational attainment did significantly affect the likelihood that a respondent was motivated to volunteer to support a “particular issue or population.”  Respondents with master’s degrees were most likely to volunteer for this reason (66%), followed by doctoral and professional degree holders (54%) and bachelor’s degree holders (45%).

Types of Volunteering

This one cross-tabulation could be a study unto itself.  Motivation to volunteer was remarkably similar across types of volunteer positions.  There are some striking differences, however.  For example, 25% of administrative support volunteers said a motivation to volunteer was whether “there is a volunteer position near my home.”  No more than 12% of respondents in other types of volunteer positions responded similarly.  Governance/Strategic Planning and Organizing/Coordinating volunteers were more likely to serve because they “care about a particular issue or population.”