Canada Volunteerism Initiative - Final Report
Appendix C:
Executive Summary: An Environmental Scan on Volunteering and
Improving Volunteering
Submitted by:
Michael Hall
Katie Davidman
A-J McKechnie
Fleur Leslie
June 2001*
© Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, 2001
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This environmental scan reviews existing research on public attitudes and opinions about volunteering and reports on the results of a small number of key informant interviews with volunteers and individuals from voluntary organizations, businesses and governments. It outlines current strengths in volunteering, suggests areas for improvement and identifies current gaps in our information about volunteering. The scan reveals that there is only a limited amount of recent public opinion research about volunteering and volunteerism in Canada. Most research has focused on the perceived importance of volunteering and the barriers and motivations to volunteering.
There is little research that examines the views of voluntary organizations, business or government about volunteering and volunteerism.
The main findings from the environmental scan are summarized below according to the following five themes: the Perceived Role and Value of Volunteers and Volunteering; Current Trends Affecting Volunteering and Volunteers; Understanding Motivations and Barriers to Volunteering; Satisfaction with Volunteering and Perceived Benefits; and Approaches to Improving Volunteering. For each theme we first present our findings from the scan of existing research. Next we summarize the results of the key informant interviews.
1. The Perceived Role and Value of Volunteers and Volunteering
The Research
- The available research reveals that Canadians, including the general public, volunteers, voluntary organizations, corporations and governments think volunteering is important and valuable to Canadian society.
- Volunteering appears to be considered a valuable activity that provides benefits to volunteers and to the organizations that rely on volunteers.
- Canadians have a high level of trust in volunteers.
- Almost two-thirds of Canadians aged 18 to 35 expect to volunteer at some point in their lives. In 1997, almost one-third of Canadians volunteered.
- Volunteering is seen as a way to improve communities.
- There appears to be corporate support for volunteering.
- Perceptions about whether activities should be characterized as volunteering depend upon the perceived costs and benefits of the activity to the participant.
- There are concerns about volunteerism replacing paid workers; volunteer liability (expressed particularly with regard to sitting on boards of directors) and worries about the qualifications of volunteers.
Key Informants
- Key informants indicate that volunteering is important and that the work of most volunteer groups and many public departments would not be possible without them.
- Some indicated that Canadians may be concerned about volunteers replacing paid workers.
- Volunteers may not be valued by the organizations in which they serve and by society at large.
2. Current Trends Affecting Volunteering and Volunteers
The Research
- Although the numbers of volunteers increased between 1987 and 1997, the trends create some cause for concern about the health of volunteering in Canada. Only one-third of Canadians volunteer, and about 8% of volunteers contribute 72% of all volunteer hours.
- Research on the demand for volunteers is very limited. In 1993, there were three volunteers to every paid worker in the charitable sector. Some evidence suggests that social service agencies need more volunteers than they can find.
- Voluntary sector organizations may be facing challenges in effectively utilizing existing volunteers because of a lack of volunteer management capacity.
- There appears to be a need for recruitment practices to become more sophisticated to respond to a more diverse population of potential volunteers.
Key Informants
- Trends most commonly cited by key informants were the time pressures faced by volunteers, the demand for specific skills in volunteers, and the use of volunteering as a source of skill development.
- Some key informants suggest that volunteers are looking for new ways of volunteering (e.g., family volunteering), have greater expectations of volunteer experiences and are becoming more selective in their choice of volunteer activities.
- Voluntary organizations have an increasing need to develop management skills to recruit, train and retain volunteers.
- Voluntary sector respondents report having to deal with more intensive screening and risk management around the use of volunteers.
- Volunteering in rural areas may be threatened by the demise of smaller voluntary organizations.
- Changing demographics such as the loss of active senior volunteers, the lack of young volunteers, and an increasing number of volunteers whose first language is not English, were identified as posing challenges for voluntary organizations.
- Mandatory volunteering is considered to be a negative experience by many volunteers because it often requires volunteers to do work that is unfulfilling and it has the potential to undermine future volunteering. However, some respondents identified this as a potentially valuable approach to encouraging volunteering.
- The majority of key informants identified a need for more volunteers.
- Some volunteers believe there is a need for better utilization of existing volunteers.
3. Understanding Motivations and Barriers to Volunteering
The Research
- Belief in a cause and the opportunity to use one's skills are the top motivators for volunteers.
- Time scarcity is cited as the biggest barrier to volunteering. The reasons behind this have been less well researched. There is some evidence that employer support to volunteering can help to alleviate this barrier.
- Many people initially get involved in volunteering because someone approached them from an organization, suggesting that the recruitment activities of voluntary organizations are an important determinant of rates of volunteering.
Key Informants
- Some key informants identified the expenses of volunteering as a barrier.
- Poorly designed and managed volunteer programs were identified as a factor that impedes the recruitment and retention of volunteers.
- The lack of knowledge about volunteer opportunities may be a barrier.
- The need for people to be asked to volunteer may be a factor impeding volunteering.
- Language and literacy skills may serve as a barrier for newer Canadians.
- The undervalued nature of volunteering also may be a barrier.
4. Satisfaction with Volunteering and Perceived Benefits
The Research
- There has been very little research about the quality of volunteer experiences or volunteer satisfaction. That which has been done suggests that volunteers enjoy helping others and about half are satisfied with their experiences (over another third are somewhat satisfied).
- Volunteers have been found to earn more wages at subsequent jobs than non-volunteers.
Key Informants
- Volunteers report gaining a variety of skills from their activities.
- Volunteers appear to be satisfied with their volunteer experiences.
- Key informants also identified some negative aspects of volunteering. These include a lack of respect for volunteers, ineffective volunteer management, too much bureaucracy, and a lack of role clarity between paid and unpaid staff.
5. Approaches to Improving Volunteering
The Research
In terms of future research and action, eight areas of further investigation emerge from the review of the research literature. These include research on:
- The image that Canadians have of volunteering to inform outreach and recruitment strategies.
- The nature of demand for volunteers.
- The rewards and satisfactions associated with volunteering.
- The impact of demographic and social change for volunteering and volunteer management.
- Volunteer management and related capacity needs of voluntary organizations.
- The social and economic value of volunteering to volunteers, the community, and government.
- Employer-supported volunteering and how it can most effectively support volunteering in Canada.
- The impact of mandatory community placements on volunteering, and measures to address concerns that voluntary sector organizations have around liability, confidentiality and accountability issues, in order to mitigate the effect these have on recruiting and effectively using volunteers.
Key Informants
Key informants predominantly felt that governments have a role to play in improving volunteering by providing better financial support to voluntary organizations to enable them to more effectively use volunteers. Other suggestions for government included:
- Providing expertise, working to improve awareness of the sector
- Providing more recognition for the contribution of volunteers
- Supporting government employee volunteers
- Providing tax incentives for volunteering
Business was also seen to have a role in improving volunteering by proactively supporting their employees' volunteer activities. Many key informants identified the value of improved volunteer training and management for improving volunteering. Some respondents identified the importance of recognizing the needs of rural and Aboriginal peoples.
The environmental scan reveals that Canadians generally appear to value volunteering. However, volunteerism in Canada appears to be facing a number of challenges. There are some areas where the research, despite being limited, reveals fairly consistent messages that are reinforced by the key informant interviews. For example, there appears to be a need for improved volunteer management capacity within voluntary organizations.
In
many other areas, however, there is need for additional research to guide any anticipated action. For example, any effort to recruit additional volunteers would be assisted by research that showed, among other things: how volunteering is perceived by different segments of the population; the rewards people seek from their volunteer experiences; and the current need or demand for volunteers. The design of a strategy for improving volunteering and volunteerism in Canada may, therefore, benefit from additional targeted research.
