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Do occupations matter in motivations to volunteer?

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Abstract

People are largely heterogeneous when it comes to their motivations to volunteer. Previous research explained this heterogeneity by individual predispositions and contextual factors. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which peoples’ occupations can explain differences in their volunteering motivations. Our empirical analysis relies upon 7,725 open texts written by volunteers living in France about why they wish to volunteer. Our results reveal that providing resources and skills is a significant motivation to volunteer, all occupations combined. However, altruistic and social motives differ between occupations. After eliciting these results for each occupation, we discuss their implications for NPO’s volunteer management.

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Data Availability

Our MoU with our partner Tous Bénévoles prevents us from sharing the data openly but it is available for replicability uses only upon request from the corresponding author.

Notes

  1. Cf. https://www.tousbenevoles.org.

  2. For less educated people, a large pool of potential volunteers, altruistic motives are a significant driver of volunteering, at least in the case of France.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been carried out with the association Tous Bénévoles.

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  1. Université Paris-Saclay, Univ Evry, IMT-BS, LITEM, 91025, Évry-Courcouronnes, France

    Muge Ozman & Cédric Gossart

  2. IMT Atlantique, LEGO/Marsouin, 29238, Brest, France

    Nicolas Jullien

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  1. Muge Ozman
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Ozman, M., Gossart, C. & Jullien, N. Do occupations matter in motivations to volunteer?. Int Rev Public Nonprofit Mark (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-023-00394-2

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