Not-For-Profit Volunteers: Selfless or Selfish‪?‬ Knowledge@Australian School of Business

    • Courses

Not-for-profit organisations often thrive on the strength of volunteers
so understanding what drives people to give time and effort free of
charge is vital. Typically, volunteering is considered a selfless,
empathetic activity, but quite often the "me" factor is at play. A new
study from the Australian School of Business shows the motivations of
volunteers vary greatly between age groups and indicates the need for
not-for-profits (NFPs) to profile their volunteer bases to understand
where gaps exist. Self-interested volunteers can work well, as long as
the NFP knows how to wrangle them.

Not-for-profit organisations often thrive on the strength of volunteers
so understanding what drives people to give time and effort free of
charge is vital. Typically, volunteering is considered a selfless,
empathetic activity, but quite often the "me" factor is at play. A new
study from the Australian School of Business shows the motivations of
volunteers vary greatly between age groups and indicates the need for
not-for-profits (NFPs) to profile their volunteer bases to understand
where gaps exist. Self-interested volunteers can work well, as long as
the NFP knows how to wrangle them.

More by UNSW: The University of New South Wales

Strategic Management of Business and Technology
Bill Twyman
Meet the CEO Series
theBox
Knowledge@Australian School of Business - Video Interviews
theBox
ASB Audio Podcasts
theBox
ATTITUBE
Yong Zhong
PHYS1121/1131 Physics 1A
Michael Burton