AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION IN CREDIT UNIONS: INFORMING VOLUNTEER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics 82:3 2011 pp. 253–275

AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION INCREDIT UNIONS: INFORMING VOLUNTEER

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

byAnne Marie WARD

University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UKand

Donal G. MCKILLOP*Queen’s University Management School, Northern Ireland, UK

ABSTRACT: Volunteer recruitment and retention is a problem that most creditunions experience. Research suggests that knowledge of volunteer motivation caninform volunteer management strategies. This paper uses a survey approach todetermine whether current volunteers in credit unions in Northern Ireland are moremotivated by the actual act of volunteering, by the output from the volunteeringactivity (including altruism) or because the volunteering activity increases theirhuman capital value. Altruistic reasons are found to be the most influential, withthe act of volunteering also scoring highly. This knowledge should inform volunteerrecruitment programmes and internal appraisal processes as management canreinforce messages that provide positive feedback to volunteers on the social benefitsbeing achieved by the credit union. This will further motivate current volunteers,ensuring retention. When motivation was analyzed by volunteer characteristics wefound that older volunteers, retired volunteers and volunteers who are less educatedare more motivated in their role. There was little evidence that individuals volunteerto improve their human capital worth.

Keywords: credit unions, volunteerism, motivation, altruism

JEL classification: D64

Un examen de la motivacion del voluntariado en las cooperativas decredito: informacion para la gestion de los recursos del voluntariado

El reclutamiento y el mantenimiento del voluntariado es un problema que tienenla mayor parte de las cooperativas de credito. La investigacion sugiere que conocerla motivacion de los voluntarios puede ser util para las estrategias de gestion delvoluntariado. El artıculo se basa en una encuesta realizada para determinar si losvoluntarios actualmente ocupados en las cooperativas de credito en Irlanda del Norte

* Email: [email protected];. [email protected]

C© 2011 The AuthorsAnnals of Public and Cooperative Economics C© 2011 CIRIEC. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road,Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA, MA 02148, USA

254 ANNE MARIE WARD AND DONAL G. MCKILLOP

estan motivados por el simple hecho de ser voluntarios, por el resultado de su actividadde voluntariado (altruismo y compromiso) o porque la actividad benevola aumentael valor de su capital humano. Las razones altruistas son las que tienen una mayorinfluencia y el acto de voluntariado obtiene tambien una puntuacion elevada. Estosresultados deberıan ser utilizados en los programas de reclutamiento de voluntariosy en los procesos de evaluacion interna, puesto que la gerencia puede reforzar losmensajes que proporcionen a los voluntarios una retroalimentacion positiva sobrelos beneficios sociales alcanzados por la cooperativa de credito. Esto reforzara lamotivacion de los voluntarios actuales, garantizando su estabilidad. El analisis delas caracterısticas del voluntariado muestra que los voluntarios de mayor edad, losjubilados y los de menor nivel de estudios son los que estan mas motivados. Ha habidopocas pruebas de que los individuos sean voluntarios para mejorar el valor de sucapital humano.

Eine Untersuchung der Motivation Ehrenamtlicher inKreditgenossenschaften: Information fur den Umgang des

Managements mit der Ressource ehrenamtlich Tatige

Rekrutierung und Erhaltung der Mitwirkung Ehrenamtlicher sind ein Problem, dassich in den meisten Kreditgenossenschaften stellt. Forschungsergebnisse legen nahe,dass Kenntnis uber die Motivation Ehrenamtlicher eine Grundlage fur Manage-mentstrategien in Bezug auf Ehrenamtliche sein kann. In diesem Beitrag wird eineUmfragemethode angewandt, mit der sich feststellen lasst, ob derzeitige Ehrenamtlichein Kreditgenossenschaften in Nordirland mehr motiviert sind durch den tatsachlichenAkt des ehrenamtlichen Tatigseins, durch den Output aus der ehrenamtlichenTatigkeit (einschließlich Altruismus) oder weil die ehrenamtliche Tatigkeit den Wertihres Humankapitals erhoht. Altruistische Grunde haben sich als am wichtigstenherausgestellt, aber der Akt des ehrenamtlichen Tatigseins hat ebenfalls einen hohenStellenwert. Diese Kenntnis sollte Einfluss haben auf Programme zur RekrutierungEhrenamtlicher und auf interne Beurteilungsprozesse, indem das Management Mel-dungen Nachdruck verleiht, die den Ehrenamtlichen ein positives Feedback hin-sichtlich des sozialen Nutzens geben, der durch die Kreditgenossenschaft erzielt wird.Dies wird außerdem die derzeitigen Ehrenamtlichen motivieren, wodurch sichergestelltwird, dass sie ihre Tatigkeit fortsetzen. Als die Motivation bezuglich Charakteristikader Ehrenamtlichen analysiert wurde, stellte sich heraus, dass altere Ehrenamtliche,im Ruhestand befindliche Ehrenamtliche und Ehrenamtliche mit geringerer Bildungin ihrer Rolle starker motiviert sind. Nur wenig Evidenz gab es dafur, dass Individuenehrenamtlich tatig sind, um den Wert ihres Humankapitals zu erhohen.

Un examen de la motivation des benevoles dans les cooperatives decredit: Information pour la gestion des ressources benevoles

Le recrutement et le maintien de benevoles est un probleme que rencontrent la plupartdes cooperatives de credit. La recherche suggere que connaıtre la motivation des volon-taires peut etre utile pour les strategies de gestion des benevoles. L’article se base sur

C© 2011 The AuthorsAnnals of Public and Cooperative Economics C© 2011 CIRIEC

AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION IN CREDIT UNIONS 255

une enquete pour determiner si les benevoles actuellement occupes dans les cooperativesde credit en Irlande du Nord sont motives par le simple fait d’etre benevole, parle resultat de l’activite de benevolat (altruisme y compris) ou parce que l’activitebenevole augmente la valeur de leur capital humain. Les raisons altruistes sont ellesqui ont le plus d’influence, et l’acte de benevolat obtient aussi un score eleve. Cesresultats devraient etre utilises dans les programmes de recrutement de benevoles et lesprocessus d’evaluation interne puisque le management peut renforcer des messages quifournissent aux benevoles des feedback positifs sur les benefices sociaux atteints par lacooperative de credit. Cela renforcera la motivation des benevoles actuels, garantissantleur stabilite. L’analyse des caracteristiques des benevoles a montre que les benevolesplus ages, les benevoles retraites et les benevoles les moins scolarises sont davantagemotives. Il y a avait peu de preuves que les individus soient volontaires pour ameliorerla valeur de leur capital humain.

1 Introduction

Credit unions are member-owned, non-profit financial organizations that providelow cost banking services to their members and typically pursue social objectives.The credit union sector is a worldwide movement: 54,000 credit unions operate in97 countries and the movement provides financial products for over 186 millionpeople and reported net assets of $1.194 trillion by the end of 2007 (WOCCU 2008).The credit union sector in Northern Ireland (NI) is employed as the test base inthis paper. There are 177 credit unions in NI, with 23.59% of the adult populationbelonging to a credit union (McKillop et al. 2011). Worldwide credit unions pursuea self-help philosophy and all are governed by a volunteer board of directors whoare elected by the membership from the membership1 (WOCCU 2002). In addition,many credit unions in Northern Ireland are totally reliant on volunteers for alltheir operational activities2 (Ward and McKillop 2006). Recruiting and retainingvolunteers is increasingly becoming a critical issue for the sector. Regulators andresearchers highlight volunteer recruitment and retention as a limiting factor in thedevelopment of the sector in NI (Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment2003).

While our findings are specific to the movement in NI, they also have amuch more general resonance. Credit unions worldwide are relatively homogenousin their operational structures and modus operandi and in almost all movements,volunteer recruitment and retention is a crucial issue. For example, Credit UnionNational Association (CUNA), a US trade association suggests that the recruitmentof volunteers, particularly to the board of directors, has always been an issue for UScredit unions (CUNA website 2009). Current debate in Canada and the US centres

1 Volunteering to the board of directors involves high-level decision making that isconcerned with the strategy and governance of the credit union (Ward and McKillop 2010).2 Volunteering for operational duties (such as cashier or loan officer) is task oriented,clearly defined and directed by others (Ward and McKillop 2010).



round the issue of whether board members should receive remuneration. In theRepublic of Ireland (ROI) John O’Halloran, then the Registrar for credit unions, notedthat obtaining volunteers in today’s affluent society is very difficult (Tangwall 2004)and Jones (1999) noted that 86% of community credit unions in Great Britain (GB)reported that volunteer burnout was restricting their growth. McKillop et al. (2011)highlighted difficulty in the recruitment of volunteers as being a reason for creditunions failing or merging with other credit unions in GB.

The recruitment and retention of volunteers is a problem faced by many non-profit organizations (NPOs) (Jager et al. 2009, Ward and McKillop 2010) and NPOscompete with each other for limited volunteer resources (Bussell and Forbes 2002,Reicken et al. 1994). In the case of credit unions the problem is accentuated asthe potential pool of volunteers is restricted by the requirement that volunteers bemembers. In addition, members must belong to a common bond. This means that theymust have a common interest such as living in a particular area, being a member ofa particular organization, or working for a particular employer.

Prior research on volunteer recruitment and management in NPOs suggeststhat having a better understanding of current volunteer profile and motivation canimprove volunteer recruitment and retention strategies. Dolnicar and Randle (2007)recommend a market segment approach, which identifies homogenous subgroups ofpotential volunteers using predefined criterion, to improve volunteer recruitmentstrategies. Stukas et al. (2009) suggest that matching volunteer motivations andorganization type, volunteer activities and volunteer position, should improve volun-teer recruitment and retention. Our study provides information on the motivation ofvolunteers in credit unions and discusses the results under three broad categories:motivation from the act of volunteering; motivation to volunteer to improve the valueof the volunteer’s human capital; and/or motivation to keep the service availablefor use by others (the output from the volunteering activity). The latter motivationincludes altruistic reasons. Altruism is argued to underpin all volunteer activity(Faircloth 2005). According to Keller (2007) ‘An act that is altruistic is the one doneout of regard for others rather than for self-interest’.

Anderson (2003) and Tidwell (2005) consider that the choice to remain in avolunteering role is associated with the ‘connect’ that volunteers feel they havewith the organization. Therefore, our results are further analyzed according to thevolunteer characteristics: gender, age, employment status and education. This shouldassist credit union management when approaching a particular profile of volunteeras they will better know which type of motivations are typically more attractive.The motivation to volunteer is also examined according to credit union size, lengthof service and by the function performed by volunteers within credit unions.

The paper is structured as follows. The next section justifies the approachused to capture and categorize volunteer motivation according to the respectivemicro-economic models. The subsequent section summarizes the data, describes thecharacteristics of the sample and sets out hypotheses on the expected relationshipsbetween volunteer motivation and volunteer characteristics, volunteer role and creditunion size. An evaluation of the results is provided in the penultimate section andfinally conclusions are outlined.



2 Model and measurement of motivation

Motivation is a difficult construct to understand and hence model as it isinfluenced by human nature. Human nature is very complex as a wide rangeof potential motivations are possible. To cater for this, a reductionist paradigmapproach is adopted in this paper. This approach tries to identify a small numberof key motivations (see table 1, 17 have been identified from prior literature) whichare assumed to account for a large proportion of volunteers’ particular actions.Action, in this case the act of volunteering, is normally as a result of a variety ofdifferent motivations (Shields 2009) and this study is trying to identify the mostdominant influences that are relevant for volunteers in credit unions. As such the17 individual motivations are categorized and explained according to the type ofmotivation (ie motivation from the act of volunteering, motivation from the outputof the volunteering activity and motivation from enhanced human capital value thatresults from the volunteering activity).

Table 1 – Survey questions to determine the key motivations underlying volunteering,mapped to classification of motivation.

Survey question Type of motivation

A I get satisfaction from volunteering Act (enjoyment)B I volunteer because the role is interesting Act (interest)C Volunteering makes me happy Act (enjoyment)D I volunteer because I like to keep busy Act (enjoyment)E I get to meet people and enjoy the social interaction Act (social)F I volunteer because I know many of the other members Act (social)G I am gaining an educational experience Human capital (material-egotistic)H By volunteering I am raising my profile in the community Human capital (egotistic)I I am gaining practical experience towards paid employment Human capital (material - egotistic)J I am doing something worthwhile Output (altruistic)K It is a great opportunity to help those in more need in the locality Output (altruistic)L I am contributing to a better society Output (altruistic)M I am ensuring that credit union services are available in the future Output (altruistic)N The credit union would have difficulty getting replacement volunteers Output (need)O The credit union is benefiting from my expertise Output (need)P I volunteer because I have done so in the past, or my family have Output (moral duty)Q It is expected of me by my family/friends Output (moral duty)R Other (explain. . .)

This information could be useful for management when managing volunteerresources as volunteers with particular motivations can be matched to particularroles (Stukas et al. 2009). Tschirhart et al. (2001) argues that having knowledgeof volunteer goals/motivations can help management address satisfaction problems,which will improve retention rates. For example if a volunteer has indicated that theyare motivated by the act of volunteering, then a social role should be selected for thatindividual or where a volunteer identifies that they are interested in the outcomes ofthe volunteering activity (altruistic motives) then they could become part of the creditcommittee. This more informed resource allocation may improve volunteer retention.3

3 Highly motivated volunteers need to be carefully managed as Stukas et al. (2009)found that these volunteers, though finding the volunteer role fulfilling, exciting, interesting,



Related to this, Bussell and Forbes (2006) argue that organizations should developstrategies to achieve an enduring bond between the volunteer and the organizationso that the volunteer remains with the organization on a long-term basis. Hence it isimportant to reassess volunteer motives periodically.

The questions used in the survey to capture the three types of motivation areoutlined in table 1. To capture motivation from the act of volunteering six questions(see questions A to F in table 1) are categorized into three areas: enjoyment; interest;and social interaction. Similar questions were asked in previous studies on volunteermotivation (see for example: Degli Antoni 2009, Stukas et al. 2009, Ziemek 2006,Hibbert et al. 2003, Schmid 2002, Frey 1997, Clary et al. 1996, Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen 1991, Deci and Ryan 1985).

It is also argued that individuals volunteer because they increase their capitalworth. They may gain market experience, knowledge (Menchik and Weisbrod 1987),or may even use their volunteering experience to signal aspects of their ability andpersonality to prospective employers (Ziemek 2006). Three questions (see questionsG to I in table 1) are asked to determine if an individual is volunteering becausethey see it as investing in themselves. Similar questions were used or discussed byStukas et al. (2009), Hackl et al. (2007), Ziemek (2006), Peterson (2004), Govekar andGovekar (2002), Thoitts and Hewitt (2001), Clary et al. (1996), Wymer et al. (1996),Schiff (1990) and are cited in Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991).

The next eight questions examine the influence of output on the motivation tovolunteer. The first four questions capture the influence of altruism (see questionsJ to M in table 1). Similar questions were used in prior studies including Ziemek(2006) and Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991). Altruism is regarded as being the ‘ideal’motivation for volunteering (Delgi Antoni 2009) and as such these questions aresubject to upward measurement bias in particular. Smith (1981) suggests that whenasked, individuals are likely to provide ‘socio-culturally accepted norms’ as answersand Pearce (1993) questions the reliability of motives provided by volunteers due tothis ‘social-desirability’ bias. It is difficult to identify if this bias has taken place andwe can only interpret the result with the awareness of this possibility. Indeed, mostprevious studies on volunteer motivation find that altruism is typically a dominantmotivation underlying the act of volunteering (see for example, Ziemek 2006, Faircloth2005, Anderson 2003, Schmid 2002, Roy and Ziemek 2000, Frey 1997, Winniford et al.1997 and Unger 1991).

The final four questions (questions N to Q in table 1) refer to the importanceof need and moral duty on the motivation to volunteer. Similar questions used inprior studies are cited in Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991) (see also Anderson, 2003).Schiff (1990) posits that individuals volunteer because they want the organization tosurvive, grow and to have its products available for use by others. Individuals whovolunteer for these reasons are likely to stop volunteering if someone else was to

enjoyable and rewarding also found the role to be frustrating, emotionally draining anddisappointing. They concluded that these volunteers have the highest expectations in terms offeedback from the recipients of their volunteer activity. Therefore, credit union managers needto ensure that sufficient procedures are in place to ensure that volunteers are appropriatelyappreciated by the board and that members are made aware of the social good that thevolunteers are performing.



agree to volunteer in their place as they are happy so long as the output (service) isavailable (Ziemek 2006, Govekar and Govekar 2002, Freeman 1997, Zech 1982).

3 Data

A survey approach was utilized to obtain information on the profile andmotivation of volunteers in credit unions in NI. Credit union managers and/orchairpersons were contacted and were asked to distribute questionnaires to all thevolunteers in their credit union. Overall, 55% (98 out of 177 credit unions) of thecredit unions contacted agreed to distribute questionnaires to their volunteers. Of the1,606 questionnaires distributed, 433 were returned.4 The responses are analyzed intothree size categories using total assets as the size measure: credit unions with totalassets of less than £1 million are regarded as small, credit unions with total assetsof between £1 million and £5 million are classified as medium sized and credit unionswith total asset greater than £5m are considered to be large. The response rates areprovided in table 2.

Table 2 – Volunteer survey response rates analyzed by credit union asset size

Less than Between £1m Greater than InvalidSize band £1m and £5m £5m Response Total

Number of creditunions participating

27 out of 63 40 out of 74 31 out of 40 98 out of 177

% of credit unionsparticipating

42.9% 54% 77.5% 55.4%

Questionnaires sent 391 643 572 1606Questionnaires

returned98 167 164 4 433

Response rate 25.1% 26.0% 28.7% 27 .0%

Overall, 27% of the volunteers who received a questionnaire returned it.However, this total figure masks varying levels of participation; a higher proportion(77.5%) of credit unions that are categorized as large agreed to participate and amarginally higher percentage of volunteers in these large credit unions returnedthe questionnaire (28.7%), relative to small credit unions (42.9% of credit unionsparticipated in the study and 25.1% of the volunteers who received questionnairesreturned them). The differences in response rates may be due to the fact that smallcredit unions are only open a limited number of hours each week. Opening hours aretherefore busy and hence volunteers have less free time to deal with other issues,such as completing research questionnaires.

The questionnaire asked the volunteer to rank each of the 17 reasons forvolunteering (see table 1) on a Likert scale of agreement.5 The scale ranged from

4 We recognize that our results are likely to have selection bias. Respondents are morelikely to be more motivated than non-respondents and this has to be taken into account wheninterpreting the results.5 A further category ‘other’ was also included to capture any reason that was not covered;however, a high response was not expected, or obtained, as Gillespie and King (1985) suggest



Table 3 – Survey responses analyzed by volunteer characteristics

Frequency Valid Percent Frequency Valid Percent

Gender No. % Age profile %Male 251 59.8 Under 40 years 53 12.6Female 169 40.2 40-60 years 201 47.8Missing 9 Over 60 years 167 39.6Total 429 100 Missing 8

Total 429 100

EmploymentRetired 152 35.5 EducationUnemployed 28 6.6 Educated to 16 146 34.1Employed/Self 248 57.9 Educated to 18 139 32.5Missing 1 Educated past 18 143 33.4Total 429 100 Missing 1

Total 429 100

Years of dutyLess than 2 44 10.4 Board memberBetween 2-10 172 40.5 Yes 353 83.6More than 10 209 49.2 No 69 16.4Missing 8 Missing 7Total 433 100 Total 429 100

Size (Assets)Small 95 22.1Medium 170 39.6Large 164 38.3Total 429 100

one to seven; where one indicates that that reason is ‘not influential at all’ andseven indicates that the reason is ‘influential to a great extent’.6 In addition, thequestionnaire requested information on the profile of the responding volunteers (seetable 3) as prior studies suggest that different types of people have different tastesfor, and derive different levels of utility from volunteering.

Of the 429 valid responses to the survey 251 were male, 169 were female and9 did not complete that section of the survey. Based on prior research findings, itis hypothesized that women score the altruistic motives higher relative to males(Themudo 2009, Ziemek 2006, Wilson 2000, Eckel and Grossman 1998) and are moremotivated to volunteer for social reasons (Maclaran and Cattarall 2000). Men aremore likely to volunteer through reasons of self-interest (Ziemek 2006).

An individual’s age is also considered to influence their motivation to volunteer.This study split age into three bands-under 40 years of age, aged between 40and 60 and volunteers who are over 60 years of age. Of the 429 respondents, 53are aged below 40, 201 are aged between 40 and 60 and 167 are aged over 60.

that ‘unless we ask the specific motivation the person will not provide the answer, as motivationis subconsciously construed’. Only 16 respondents provided additional evidence; therefore, thisquestion was not analyzed further.6 As a control, the respondents were also asked to rank the top five most influentialreasons for volunteering (this enables distinctions to be made between motivations, whenrespondents score the questions the same).



It is hypothesized that younger people are likely to score the investment modelmotivations higher relative to older individuals (Ziemek 2006, Peterson 2004). Janoskiand Wilson (1995) found that individuals change the type of volunteer work theyelect to do from more career orientated to more community based as they get older.Therefore, older individuals are more likely to score altruistic motives higher thanyounger individuals.

Employment status has also been reported to influence volunteer motivation.This study analyzed the 429 respondents into: unemployed (28 volunteers); retired(152 volunteers) and employed (248 volunteers) categories. It is hypothesized thatunemployed people will be more motivated to increase their human capital worthrelative to retired and employed people (Zeimek 2006). Unemployed and retiredpeople are also likely to volunteer to keep busy and for private utility reasons (inparticular for social reasons) relative to employed people.

Education level is also considered to affect motivation type. Education groupingsare based on the age the volunteer was educated to and included educated: to 16 yearsof age; to 18 years of age; or beyond 18 years of age. Of the 429 respondents, 146 lefteducation on or before the age of 16, 139 left education at the age of 18 and 143 wereeducated beyond the age of 18. It is hypothesized that people who are less educatedare more likely to be influenced to volunteer to gain an educational experience, to gainpractical experience and to raise their profile in the community (Clary et al. 1996).Some previous studies suggest that educated people are more likely to be aware of theproblems of others and to have empathy for individuals being affected by the outputof the volunteer work, hence are likely to be more motivated by altruism (Wilson,2000). Therefore, employed people are hypothesized to rank altruistic motives forvolunteering higher.

Several studies that have examined the recruitment and retention of volunteershave suggested that there is a difference in the motives of individuals who startvolunteering, relative to individuals who become long-term volunteers (Tschirhartet al. 2001, Thomas and Finch 1990, Gidron 1985). The theme within the discussionof the results in these studies is that the motivations for the two types of volunteer(beginner and experienced) are different and it is suggested that motivations canevolve with volunteer experience. In this study all the respondents (except five)had been volunteering for periods in excess of 6 months, indeed several had beenvolunteering in the local credit union for over 40 years! The survey responses werecategorized into three bands, those who had been volunteering for less than 2 years,for between 2 and 10 years and those who had volunteered for the credit unions forover 10 years. As can be seen from table 3 90% of the respondents in this survey havebeen volunteering for over 2 years. The means of the three groupings will be comparedto each other for each motivation to determine if motivation type is associated withlength of service.

As is highlighted in table 3, 95 of the 429 returned questionnaires are fromvolunteers who are volunteering in small-sized credit unions, 170 are from volunteerswho are volunteering in medium-sized credit unions and 164 are from volunteers whoare volunteering in large-sized credit unions. Credit unions with a greater demandfor volunteers from a smaller membership are expected to have problems replacingcurrent volunteers and consequentially volunteers will feel pressured to remain in



their role. It is likely that volunteer members in small credit unions that are whollydependent on volunteers for all their labour needs (Ward and McKillop 2006) aremore motivated to volunteer to keep the service available for their community thanvolunteers who are volunteering in larger sized credit unions. Large credit unions aretypically able to afford paid staff instead of volunteers (Ward and McKillop 2006).Therefore, volunteers in large credit unions are more likely to volunteer because theyare motivated by the act of volunteering and for altruistic reasons, such as enjoyment,interest and interaction.

Finally, this study evaluates whether the role that a volunteer performs has asignificant impact on their motivation to volunteer. Credit union volunteers typicallyhave two functions. They serve on the board of directors, or are involved in theoperating activities of the credit union – 353 of the respondents are on the boardof directors and 69 perform operational duties. In a study on the motivation of boardmembers in non-profit organizations, Inglis and Cleave (2006) found that the mosthighly rated motivations are community related (see also Inglis, 1994), hence weexpect board members to be motivated by the output of the volunteering activity.

4 Results

4.1 Overall survey findings

An evaluation of the results for each of the 17 predefined reasons for volun-teering for the whole sample are categorized into the three ‘motivation categories’ intable 4. The questions reflecting the act of volunteering (A to F) are analyzed in thefirst six columns, followed by questions on human capital worth (G to I), altruism(questions J to M) and need and moral duty (questions N to Q). The second row inthe table discloses the mean value reported on the Likert scale for each question bythe total sample. To aid interpretation the questions are ranked in order of the size oftheir mean score, with the question with the largest mean, ranked 1 and the questionwith the lowest mean value ranked 17. The standard deviation is provided next as itgives an indication of the dispersal of results about the mean. The last two rows inthe table detail the number of times the reason was ranked between 5 and 7 on theLikert scale and the percentage of the respondents to do so. A response of between 5and 7 is considered to indicate that that reason is ‘very’ influential to the volunteer.

From an overview of the results in Table 4, altruism is found to be the dominantmotive underlying volunteer behaviour.7 Three out of the four highest ranked reasonsfor volunteering are aligned directly with the altruism indicators: Question J: Ivolunteer because ‘I am doing something worthwhile’ has the highest mean value(5.95) and was cited by 88.2% of the sample as motivating them to a great extent

7 As mentioned previously Smith (1981) and Pearce (1993) suggest that survey method-ologies are flawed as individuals are likely to provide socially acceptable answers, not trueanswers. It is difficult to control for this bias, however, 17 possible motivations were provided,12 of which covered non-altruistic reasons for volunteering. The respondents did not have torank each motivation against each other so are likely to award their ‘true motivation’ as highlyas the socially acceptable response’.



Tab

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Que

stio

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ble

1)A

BC

DE

FG

HI

JK

LM

NO

PQ

Mea

n(1

-7)

5.74

5.09

4.95

4.07

4.94

4.10

3.15

2.86

1.84

5.95

5.38

5.24

5.23

4.41

4.11

3.81

1.82

Ran

k(1

-17)

26

812

711

1415

161

34

59

1013

17St

anda

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ion

1.39

1.55

1.72

2.00

1.68

2.00

2.07

1.98

1.60

1.22

1.58

1.62

1.56

2.00

1.85

2.33

1.64

Freq

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ysc

ored

5-7

(No.

)33

027

125

118

025

418

710

988

3835

828

627

730

120

417

517

738

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68.2

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45.4

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22.6

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9%



(scored between 5 and 7). Question K (mean value of 5.38) ‘I volunteer because Iam helping those in need in the community’ was ranked third and question L (meanvalue of 5.24) ‘I volunteer because I am contributing to a better society’ was rankedfourth. The question that was ranked second with a mean value of 5.74-question A ‘Ivolunteer because I get satisfaction from volunteering’ is open to interpretation as itdoes not define the source of the satisfaction. However, it does provide an indicationof the overall level of motivation of the individual. These results are consistent withthe findings of Ziemek (2006), Schmid (2002), Roy and Ziemek (2000), Frey (1997),Winniford et al. (1997) and Unger (1991).

The next most relevant motivations noted are interest, enjoyment and socialinteraction. With a mean value of 5.09, 68.2% (271 respondents) of the sample statedthat they considered volunteering to be interesting (question B) and this motivatedthem to volunteer. 63.5% (251 respondents) of the sample stated that they volunteeredbecause it made them happy (question C). This motivation returned an overall meanvalue of 4.95. A smaller proportion (45.4% – 180 respondents) scored volunteeringbecause they ‘want to remain busy’ (question D) between 5 and 7 on the Likert scaleof agreement (overall mean value reported is 4.07). Social reasons for volunteeringwere not as influential as enjoyment and interest but were also rated quite highly byrespondents; volunteering to meet people (question E) has an overall mean value of4.94, and a mean value of 4.1 resulted for question F ‘I volunteer because I know theother members’.

Smith (1981) suggests that all volunteers have certain levels of altruism;however, on their own, these motives are insufficient to result in action, thereforeother influences, like deriving utility from social interaction, are expected.

Four of the other motivations that capture the importance of the output of thevolunteering activity are also regarded as influential. With a mean score of 5.23,71.8% (301) of the respondents indicated that they were motivated to volunteer tokeep the credit union’s services available for others (question M). Over half of therespondents suggested that they were influenced to volunteer because they felt thatthe credit union would have difficulty finding replacement volunteers (question N).A substantial proportion of the sample (44.8%) also indicated that they felt that ‘thecredit union was benefiting from their expertise’ (question O) and 45.1% indicatedthat they volunteered because they, or their family, did so in the past (question P).A smaller proportion (38 respondents – 9.9% of the sample) indicated that a stronginfluence on their decision to volunteer was the fact that they felt that it was expectedof them by their family and friends (question Q). However, most of the sample didnot deem this motivation to be relevant at all as is indicated by the low mean scorereturned of 1.82.

The motivations categorized as human capital wealth improvement are leastinfluential (questions G to I). The mean values for each question are below 3.5,indicating that many respondents are not influenced by these motivations.

The results are now examined according to volunteer characteristics (gender,age, employment status, education level and volunteer role). The means for eachcategory are calculated and pairwise multiple comparisons using post hoc tests(Tambhane’s T and ANOVA tests) are utilized to test for significant differencesbetween the responses in each category.



4.2 Survey findings analyzed by gender and age

Table 5 analyzes the results for gender and age. Altruism is the most influentialmotive for both males and females, though in contrast to the predicted relationship,the mean value returned by male respondents is significantly higher than the meanvalue reported by females (significant at the 5% level). Andreoni and Vesterlund(2001) suggest that men are more likely to be more generous than women whengiving is ‘relatively cheap’, whereas women are more likely to give when the priceof giving is ‘relatively high’. Perhaps this explains the anomaly in our results, or asimple explanation may be that men are interested in the social good that can beobtained from providing practical banking services to the community. In many otherstudies the volunteering activities are typically more humanitarian in nature andhence may be more attractive to women. Females are found to be more influenced bythe social benefits to be gained from the volunteering activity (see question E, thedifference is significant at the 5% level).

Older volunteers get more satisfaction from volunteering relative to youngervolunteers (question A-significant at the 5% level) whereas middle aged volunteersare more motivated to volunteer because they find the role interesting (question B-significant at the 5% level). With a mean value of 4.34, volunteers who are over 60years of age are more likely to volunteer because they want to keep busy (questionD-significant at the 10% level) relative to the category who are under 40 years of age(a significantly lower mean score (3.68) is reported). This is expected due to the lifecycle effect, many older individuals have fewer demands on their time (They may nolonger be trying to progress in employment, or may be retired and are less likely tohave a young family) and hence the opportunity cost of volunteering is likely to belower for them.

Older volunteers are more motivated by altruism relative to volunteers who areaged between 40 and 60 and relative to volunteers who are under 40 years of age(significant differences in the sample means are reported for questions J, K, L and M).It may be that older volunteers have more experience of seeing the benefits of creditunions within the community. Older volunteers are also more likely to be motivatedto volunteer because they have done so in the past (see question P) – though thedifference is only significant when the mean of the category of volunteer who are lessthan 40 years of age (3.23) is compared to the mean value reported by the categoryof volunteer that are over 60 years of age (4.03).

The only time younger respondents reported higher levels of motivation (sig-nificantly higher) relative to the older categories, was in the questions which reflectmotivation to increase human capital worth. However, regardless of the significantdifferences between the categories, the overall mean values reported for the youngerage grouping are low at 3.58 for question G and 2.51 for question I, indicating that ingeneral terms, these motivations are of little influence in the decision to volunteer.

4.3 Survey findings analyzed by employment and education

Table 6 analyzes the results for employment status and level of educationreceived. In general, retired volunteers are more motivated by the act of volunteering.C© 2011 The AuthorsAnnals of Public and Cooperative Economics C© 2011 CIRIEC


Tab

le5

–Q

ues

tio

nm

ean

san

alyz

edb

yg

end

eran

db

yag

eca

teg

ory

(wit

hd

irec

tio

nal

rela

tio

nsh

ipan

dst

atis

tica

ldif

fere

nce

sin

the

rep

ort

edca

teg

ori

esh

igh

ligh

ted

).

Incr

easi

ng/m

aint

aini

ngth

eou

tput

The

acto

fvol

unte

erin

gIn

crea

ses

infro

mth

evo

lunt

eerin

gac

tivity

hum

anca

pita

lEn

joym

ent&

inte

rest

Soci

alw

orth

Altr

uist

icin

dica

tors

Nee

dan

dm

oral

duty

Mo

tiva

tio

nfr

om

:Q

ues

tio

nA

BC

DE

FG

HI

JK

LM

NO

PQ

Gen

der

(%o

fsa

mp

lein

each

cate

go

ry)

Mal

e(5

9.8%

)5.

805.

054.

833.

964.

794.

123.

092.

831.

715.

935.

555.

475.

324.

414.

223.

791.

83Fe

mal

e(4

0.2%

)5.

645.

165.

104.

275.

204.

123.

222.

941.

995.

965.

174.

935.

124.

323.

943.

711.

75St

atis

tical

rela

tions

hip

betw

een

the

gend

erca

tego

ries

Mal

ean

dFe

mal

e+

−−

−−∗

∗−

−−

−∗−

+∗∗

+∗∗

++

++

+A

ge

(%o

fsa

mp

lein

each

cate

go

ry)

Und

er40

(12.

6%)

5.00

4.58

4.53

3.68

4.81

4.09

3.58

3.19

2.51

5.57

4.66

4.36

4.45

4.11

3.79

3.23

1.79

Bet

wee

n40

-60

(47.

8%)

5.74

5.30

5.01

4.04

5.01

4.20

3.42

3.00

1.92

5.98

5.39

5.29

5.24

4.34

4.11

3.78

1.74

Ove

r60

(39.

6%)

5.96

5.01

5.01

4.34

4.93

4.06

2.60

2.63

1.40

5.99

5.67

5.51

5.50

4.55

4.29

4.03

1.9

Stat

istic

alre

latio

nshi

pbe

twee

nth

eag

eca

tego

ries

Und

er40

and

betw

een

40-6

0−∗

∗−∗

∗−

−−

−+

++

−∗−∗

∗−∗

∗−∗

−−

−+

Und

er40

and

over

60−∗

∗−

−−∗

−+

+∗∗

++∗

∗−∗

−∗∗

−∗∗

−∗−

−−∗

−B

etw

een

40-6

0an

dov

er60

−+

−−

++

+∗∗

++∗

∗−

−−

−−

−−

−

Whe

re**

indi

cate

sth

atth

ere

latio

nshi

pis

sign

ifica

ntat

the

5%le

vela

nd*

indi

cate

ssi

gnifi

canc

eat

the

10%

leve

l.



Tab

le6

–M

ean

sco

res

anal

yzed

by

emp

loym

ent

typ

ean

dex

ten

to

fed

uca

tio

nex

per

ien

ced

(wit

hd

irec

tio

nal

rela

tio

nsh

ipan

dst

atis

tica

ldif

fere

nce

sin

the

rep

ort

edca

teg

ori

esh

igh

ligh

ted

).

The

acto

fvol

unte

erin

gIn

crea

ses

inIn

crea

sing

/mai

ntai

ning

the

outp

utfro

mth

evo

lunt

eerin

gac

tivity

hum

anca

pita

lM

oti

vati

on

fro

m:

Enjo

ymen

t&in

tere

stSo

cial

wor

thA

ltrui

stic

indi

cato

rsN

eed

and

mor

aldu

ty

Em

plo

ymen

t(%

of

sam

ple

inea

chca

teg

ory

)

AB

CD

EF

GH

IJ

KL

MN

OP

Q

Une

mpl

oyed

(6.6

%)

5.44

5.16

5.04

3.75

5.17

4.35

4.21

2.54

2.71

6.12

5.40

5.00

5.12

3.72

3.38

3.36

1.83

Ret

ired

(35.

5%)

6.18

5.34

5.38

4.77

5.10

4.19

2.66

2.82

1.49

6.18

5.67

5.74

5.50

4.57

4.42

4.31

1.97

Empl

oyed

(57.

9%)

5.49

4.96

4.70

3.74

4.88

4.07

3.33

2.97

1.94

5.77

5.23

4.97

5.10

4.37

4.02

3.54

1.72

Stat

istic

alre

latio

nshi

pbe

twee

nth

eem

ploy

men

tsta

tus

cate

gorie

sU

nem

ploy

edan

dre

tired

−∗∗

−−

−∗+

++∗

∗−

+∗∗

−−

−−

−−

−−

Une

mpl

oyed

and

empl

oyed

−+

++

++

+−

++

++

+−

−−

+

Ret

ired

and

empl

oyed

+∗∗

+∗+∗

∗+∗

∗+

+−∗

∗−

−∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗+

++∗

∗+

Ed

uca

tio

n(%

of

sam

ple

inea

chca

teg

ory

)Ed

ucat

edto

16(3

4.1%

)5.

985.

485.

424.

465.

644.

563.

883.

102.

286.

185.

765.

545.

454.

483.

953.

732.

11Ed

ucat

edto

18(3

2.5%

)5.

854.

884.

804.

114.

764.

012.

882.

931.

665.

915.

395.

165.

244.

484.

183.

881.

63Ed

ucat

edpa

st18

(33.

4%)

5.39

4.96

4.68

3.76

4.57

3.86

2.79

2.69

1.63

5.74

5.06

5.04

5.04

4.25

4.19

3.75

1.72

Stat

istic

alre

latio

nshi

pbe

twee

nth

eed

ucat

ion

cate

gorie

sTo

16an

dto

18+

+∗∗

+∗∗

++∗

∗+∗

+∗∗

++∗

∗+

++

+−

−−

+∗To

16an

dpa

st18

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

+∗∗

++∗

∗+∗

∗+∗

∗+∗

∗+∗

∗+

−−

+To

18an

dpa

st18

+∗∗

−+

++

++

++

++

++

+−

+−

Whe

re**

indi

cate

sth

atth

ere

latio

nshi

pis

sign

ifica

ntat

the

5%le

vela

nd*

indi

cate

ssi

gnifi

canc

eat

the

10%

leve

l.



They report significantly higher means for questions that refer to volunteering forenjoyment and interest (questions A, B, C and D) relative to employed volunteersand significantly higher means than those reported by unemployed volunteers whensatisfaction (question A) and the need to keep busy (question D) are considered. Inaddition, relative to employed volunteers, retired volunteers: are more motivated tovolunteer by altruistic motives (significant at the 5% level for questions J, K andL and at 10% for question M) and because they, or their family had done so inthe past (question P) (significant at the 5% level). It is likely that the opportunitycost of volunteering is less for retired people and they therefore gain more utilityfrom the role relative to employed and unemployed people who have other inflexiblecommitments such as work and/or having a young family.

As predicted, unemployed and employed individuals are more influenced tovolunteer to invest in their human capital relative to retired members. A surprisingresult was the low mean score reported for volunteering to gain practical experiencetowards paid employment (question I-2.71) – suggesting that this reason is of littleinfluence on their decision to volunteer. Perhaps the roles on offer do not provide theappropriate skills to increase human capital worth, or the skills are on offer but arenot influential in the decision to volunteer.

Respondents who are less educated derive more utility from the act of volun-teering, are more motivated by enjoyment of the role (questions A and C), find therole interesting (question B), volunteer to keep busy (question D) and enjoy the socialbenefits of the role (questions E and F) more relative to respondents who are moreeducated (significant differences result in most instances). Respondents who are lesseducated also see volunteering in credit unions as more of an educational experience(question G) and consider that the role provides practical experience towards paidemployment (question I), relative to volunteers who are more educated. However, theoverall mean scores reported for each question are low; ranging from 3.88 for questionG to 2.28 for question I. Again, this suggests that these reasons are not stimulatingvolunteer action.

Volunteers who are educated up to 16 years of age are more motivated byaltruism and are more likely to volunteer to ensure that credit union services wereavailable for individuals in the future, relative to volunteers who had been educatedbeyond the age of 18 (see table 6 for values – the difference is significantly higher atthe 5% level). On the downside, less educated volunteers feel under more pressure tovolunteer (question Q), relative to highly educated volunteers (significant at the 10%level).

4.4 Survey findings analyzed by volunteer role, length of service and credit unionsize

In table 7 the results are analyzed according to whether volunteers are boardmembers or not, length of service as a volunteer in the credit union and accordingto credit union size. Only two of the results report significant differences whenthe data is analyzed by volunteer role (ie board member and non-board member).Non-board members are more influenced to volunteer because they are gainingpractical experience towards paid employment (question I) relative to board members



Tab

le7

–M

ean

sco

res

anal

yzed

by

volu

nte

erro

le,t

erm

asa

volu

nte

eran

dcr

edit

un

ion

size

(wit

hd

irec

tio

nal

rela

tio

nsh

ipan

dst

atis

tica

ldif

fere

nce

sin

the

rep

ort

edca

teg

ori

esh

igh

ligh

ted

).

Incr

easi

ng/m

aint

aini

ngth

eou

tput

from

the

The

acto

fvol

unte

erin

gIn

crea

ses

invo

lunt

eerin

gac

tivity

hum

anca

pita

lM

oti

vati

on

fro

m:

Enjo

ymen

t&in

tere

stSo

cial

wor

thA

ltrui

stic

indi

cato

rsN

eed

and

mor

aldu

ty

Qu

esti

on

AB

CD

EF

GH

IJ

KL

MN

OP

Q

Bo

ard

mem

ber

(%o

fsa

mp

lein

each

cate

go

ry)

Yes

(83.

6%)

5.72

5.11

4.95

4.02

5.03

4.16

3.13

2.98

1.76

5.95

5.45

5.23

5.27

4.50

4.18

3.84

1.86

No

(16.

4%)

5.87

5.19

5.09

4.44

4.83

4.06

3.37

2.74

2.36

5.97

5.22

5.36

5.26

3.86

3.89

3.68

1.72

Stat

istic

alre

latio

nshi

pbe

twee

nth

evo

lunt

eerf

unct

ion

cate

gorie

sB

oard

orop

erat

iona

ldu

ties

−−

−−

++

−+

−∗∗

−+

−+

+∗∗

++

+

Len

gth

of

serv

ice

inye

ars

(%in

each

cate

go

ry)

Less

than

2(1

0.4%

)5.

104.

644.

353.

384.

533.

863.

383.

052.

415.

525.

054.

715.

44.

243.

313.

031.

75B

etw

een

2an

d10

(40.

5%)

5.53

4.99

4.96

4.06

4.94

4.01

3.03

3.02

1.88

5.81

5.04

4.99

5.16

4.30

3.85

3.70

1.85

Mor

eth

an10

(49.

2%)

6.08

5.12

5.12

4.28

5.14

4.31

3.26

2.85

1.71

6.17

5.78

5.60

5.24

4.52

4.54

4.05

1.83

Stat

istic

alre

latio

nshi

pbe

twee

nth

evo

lunt

eert

enur

eca

tego

ries

<2

and

2–10

year

s−

−−

−−

−+

++

−+

−∗∗

+−

−−

−<

2an

d>

10ye

ars

−∗∗

−∗∗

−∗∗

−∗∗

−−

++

+−∗

∗−∗

∗−∗

∗+

−−∗

∗−∗

∗−

2-10

and

>10

year

s−∗

∗−∗

−−

−−

−+

+−∗

∗−∗

∗−∗

∗−

−−∗

∗−

+S

ize

(Ass

ets)

(%o

fsa

mp

lein

each

cate

go

ry)

Smal

l(22

.1%

)5.

554.

884.

494.

064.

974.

733.

052.

951.

935.

545.

074.

704.

924.

854.

003.

802.

33M

ediu

m(3

9.6%

)5.

765.

105.

154.

185.

044.

263.

463.

082.

035.

985.

405.

215.

204.

534.

193.

601.

77La

rge

(38.

3%)

5.83

5.25

5.01

4.01

4.92

3.69

2.92

2.72

1.62

6.12

5.59

5.56

5 .44

4.02

4.11

4.00

1.58

Stat

istic

alre

latio

nshi

pbe

twee

nth

esi

zeca

tego

ries

Smal

land

Med

ium

−−

−∗∗

−−

+−

−−

−∗−

−∗−

+−

++∗

Smal

land

Larg

e−

−−∗

++

+∗∗

++

+−∗

∗−∗

∗−∗

∗−∗

+∗∗

−−

+∗∗

Med

ium

and

Larg

e−

−+

++

+∗∗

+∗+

+∗−

−−

−+∗

+−

+

Whe

re**

indi

cate

sth

atth

ere

latio

nshi

pis

sign

ifica

ntat

the

5%le

vela

nd*

indi

cate

ssi

gnifi

canc

eat

the

10%

leve

l.



(significant at the 5% level). However, the mean value is low (2.36) for the non-boardmember grouping, hence is not a key influence. Board members are inclined to feelmore needed, scoring the motivation ‘the credit union would have difficulty gettingreplacement volunteers’ significantly higher (mean value of 4.5) relative to non-boardmembers (mean value of 3.8).

Statistical differences in the responses are apparent when length of serviceis examined. Volunteers who have volunteered for longer periods of time reportsignificantly higher levels of motivation from the act of volunteering. The relationshipis particularly strong when the mean value score for the questions that captureenjoyment and interest are examined (5% difference when the means of the groupthat have volunteered for less than 2 years are compared to those who havevolunteered for more than 10 years). It may be that the more challenging andrewarding roles are available to those volunteers with the most experience. A similarpattern emerges when the questions capturing altruistic motives are examined. Itwould seem that volunteers who volunteer in the credit union for longer periods aremore influenced by altruistic motives (significant at the 5% level). It may be thata longer period of exposure to the credit union’s activities enables the volunteer tobetter see the social benefit of their volunteering activity. With a mean score of 3.31volunteers who have volunteered in the credit union for less than 2 years do notbelieve that the credit union benefits from their experience to a great extent. However,though statistically higher the highest mean score of 4.54 (volunteering for over 10years) is low relative to the scores given for other motivations, hence this reason isnot the most influential on an individual’s decision to volunteer.

Significant differences in the responses were also noted when the data wasanalyzed across different size categories of credit union. Volunteers in medium andlarge sized credit unions stated that they were enjoying their role more and foundit more interesting, relative to volunteers volunteering in small sized credit unions(questions A, B and C), though the difference was only significant for question C(which referred to happiness obtained from volunteering). This may be due to thefact that large and many medium-sized credit unions have paid staff that takeresponsibility for many of the more mundane operational tasks whereas volunteersare involved in the more strategic roles, such as being a board member. They also canrely on a manager for support and guidance in their decision-making, whereas in asmall credit union full responsibility for the operational running and control of theorganization rests with the volunteers.

On the other hand volunteering for social interaction is not as influential inlarger credit unions (mean is 3.69) as it is in medium sized credit unions (mean is4.26); the difference is significant at the 5% level. The reported mean for volunteersin the large category (3.69) is also significantly lower than the reported mean forvolunteers in small sized credit unions (4.73). This is as would be expected, in smallercredit unions the common bond is typically tighter and the members (hence thevolunteers) are more likely to have more social links.

Volunteers in large (significant at the 5% level for questions J, K and L) andmedium sized (significant at the 10% level for questions J and L) credit unions scoredthe altruistic motivation questions higher than volunteers volunteering in small sizedcredit unions and are more motivated to volunteer to keep credit unions services



available (question M) relative to volunteers in small sized credit unions. Consistentwith the other variables, human capital motives are not found to be influential (thehighest mean score of 3.46 for question G and 2.03 for question I being reportedfor medium sized credit unions) though significant differences arose between the sizecategories.

Volunteers in small and medium sized credit unions seem to feel more pressureto volunteer, scoring questions N and Q significantly higher than volunteers in largersized credit unions. Irrespective of the significant differences, moral duty (questionQ) is not causing volunteers to volunteer in small credit unions, as the mean scoreis 2.33. This low reported mean result is expected as volunteers who volunteer eitherbecause they are needed or out of a sense of moral duty are more likely to leave whenanother volunteer comes along who will perform the task. Hence volunteers who arenot motivated by the act of volunteering, or the output of volunteering activity will becrowded out when volunteers are recruited that volunteer for these reasons.

5 Conclusion

Credit unions are important financial institutions that serve over 186 millionpeople worldwide. All credit unions are governed by boards of directors that must bemade up of volunteers and many (particularly small credit unions) are totally relianton volunteers for all their labour requirements. Recruiting and retaining volunteers isbecoming a critical issue for the sector, with regulators and researchers highlightingvolunteer recruitment and retention as a limiting factor in the development of themovement in many countries. Little is known about volunteering in credit unions,research is limited. This study helps to bridge the information gap in this respect. Ituses a reductionist paradigm approach to determine the most likely influential moti-vations to volunteer as derived from prior motivational studies (deductive approach)and then asks current volunteers in credit unions to state the level of influence thateach motivation has on their decision to volunteer.

Consistent with many previous studies on the motivation to volunteer, altruismis found to be the most dominant influence, with most volunteers ranking communityand social reasons for volunteering within credit unions highest overall. When theresponses are analyzed further, it is found that males, older people, retired volunteers,volunteers with less education, volunteers who have volunteered with the credit unionfor longer periods of time and volunteers working in larger credit unions are moreinfluenced by altruism. Most volunteers also indicated quite strongly that they weremotivated by the act of volunteering (scoring enjoyment of the role, interest in therole and social benefits high). When the results were analyzed by volunteer and creditunion characteristics it was found that older volunteers, retired volunteers, volunteerswho are less educated, volunteers who have been volunteering for longer periods oftime and volunteers who volunteer in medium sized credit unions derive relativelymore satisfaction from the act of volunteering.

Some questions were designed to capture whether volunteers feel pressured byneed or moral duty to volunteer. For example, volunteering to ensure that the serviceprovided by the credit unions continues to remain available. There was evidence of



this being of some influence. In particular, volunteers in small sized credit unionsare more likely to be influenced to volunteer because they feel that no-one else willdo the role. There was no significant difference between the results reported for theother volunteer characteristics. Overall, there was little evidence to support the theorythat volunteers are motivated to volunteer to raise their human capital value; indeed,unemployed volunteers were the only category to suggest that volunteering to gainan educational experience was of some influence. This is in contrast to many previousstudies, however, this study focuses on the motivation of current volunteer membersand we argue, consistent with Tschirhart et al. (2001), that volunteer motivationchanges with volunteering and it is likely that this type of motivation is crowdedout by altruistic motivations and motivations from the act of volunteering. If thiscrowding out does not take place, then the individual will leave their role once theyhave achieved their goal, hence this motivation will not score highly in this studywhich is based on current active volunteers, most of whom can be categorized aslong-term volunteers.

In many credit unions, volunteers are a scarce resource and our study showsthat altruistic tendencies and taking pleasure from the act of volunteering are themain drivers that motivate those that are currently volunteering. This informationcan be used by credit union management to inform their management of andreporting to volunteers. Given the importance of altruism on the decision to volunteer,it may be worthwhile reporting and advertising the social good performed by thecredit union within the community to the volunteers on a regular basis as thisis likely to further motivate current volunteers and may improve retention. Inaddition, our results show that the act of volunteering is very influential. Volunteersenjoy their role, find it interesting and enjoy the social interaction. Managersshould try to promote an atmosphere within the credit union that fosters this typeof ambience. Perhaps rotation of duties, pre-arranged social evenings, mentoringand training would stimulate further motivation from the act of volunteering andimprove retention. Positive feedback on the performance of the role is also likelyto motivate and improve retention. This result also suggests that people who getpleasure from the act of volunteering are more motivated to volunteer; therefore,credit union members who are not volunteering in the credit union but who vol-unteer elsewhere or who are involved in some form of civic participation, are morelikely to get involved as they are already signalling that they receive utility fromvolunteering.

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Documents

AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION IN CREDIT UNIONS: INFORMING VOLUNTEER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT