Research Findings

March 2004

Peter D
HART
RESEARCH
A SSOC I A T ES
 Potential Volunteers:
A Demographic Profile

VolunteerMatch site users are:

 Overwhelmingly female (84% women, 16% men);
 Highly educated (57% have at least a college
degree), and of the 39% who do not have a degree,
half are under age 18;
 Young (50% are under age 30, only 32% are age 40
or older); and
 Diverse (58% are Caucasian, 11% are African
American, 10% are Hispanic).

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Potential Volunteers:
Motives For Volunteering I
Compared to other things you do in your life, how
important to you is your volunteer work?

Not very One of the most

important important things
Somewhat 2% in my life
important 18%

30%
68%
highly
important
The more frequently that
Potentials volunteer, the
more likely they are to
say that volunteering is
important in their life.
50%
Very important
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
 Potential Volunteers:
Motives For Volunteering II
Which of the following is the most important reason
why you volunteer?
To help others/feel like 57%
I’ve made a difference
To be involved/feel connected 13%
to my community
To contribute to a cause 11%
that I care about
To use my skills in 7%
a productive way
By 60% to 40%, Potentials
To develop skills, 6% prefer to volunteer with
knowledge, experience others rather than on their
To meet people, make 4% own; this is especially true
new friends/acquaintances of younger volunteers.
To fulfill a community 2%
service requirement
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
 Potential Volunteers:
Areas Of Volunteering Interest
Which two/three of these volunteering areas most interest you?
Children/youth 48%
Animals 29%
Homeless/housing 20%
Education/literacy 20%
Advocacy/human rights 19%

Community 16%
Arts/culture 15%

Hunger 14%
Environment 13%

Women 12%
Health/medicine 12%
Crisis support 11%

Seniors 9%
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
 Potential Volunteers: Wide Spectrum Of
Volunteering Behavior
How often do you volunteer? How many hours per
visit do you volunteer?

46%
Three
or four
32% hours
29% 30%
One or
Three 23% Once a two
times a week or hours
18% One to more 16%
year or
less three
Four times Five or
to 11 montha 6% more
times a hours
year Under
an hour

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

Potential Volunteers: Expanding The
Pool Of Potential Volunteers
I had not
volunteered
before using
VolunteerMatch
25%

I had
volunteered
before 75%

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Potential Volunteers:
Using The VolunteerMatch Site
How often do you use VolunteerMatch?

One to three
times a year At least two or three
times a month
25%
29%

24%
Four to 11 22%
times a year Once a month

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Potential Volunteers:
Finding A Match III
How many volunteer opportunities do you generally respond to
before finding the right place to volunteer?

48%

Two or
three

21% 21%

One Four
to six 10%
Seven
or more

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Potential Volunteers: Satisfaction
With Volunteer Experiences
How satisfied have you been with your experiences volunteering
with organizations you found through VolunteerMatch?
Very satisfied Satisfied
86% Dissatisfied Neutral

59%

41%

48%
14%
25%

December 2003 May 2001

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
 Potential Volunteers:
Making Their Mark Through VM

 63% of volunteers say that half or more of their

volunteer activity in the past year has been with an
organization they found through VM.
 61% of volunteers report that they have become
regular, ongoing volunteers at an organization they
found through VM.
 19% report that they have become members of an
organization they found through VM, and 25%
report having taken on another role (e.g., donor,
board member) in the organization.

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Potential Volunteers:
Impact Of Service
Strongly agree with statement Somewhat agree with statement

VM makes it easier for me 50% 86%

to find volunteer opptys
I am more satisfied with
VM than other online 45% 86%
services of volunteer info
I am more likely to find
satisfying volunteer rela- 40% 82%
tionship because of VM
I am more likely to 41% 79%
volunteer because of VM

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Nonprofits: The Challenge Of
Recruiting Volunteers I
Which of the following challenges keep your organization
from making greater use of volunteers?
Finding people who can 69%
commit enough time
Finding people whose 61%
schedules match our needs
Finding people with the 33%
skills and abilities we need
Cost of training and 20%
managing volunteers
Cost of recruiting 16%
volunteers
Limited organizational 14%
commitment to volunteer
programs
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
Nonprofits: The Challenge Of
Recruiting Volunteers II
Most useful volunteer
recruiting strategies
Word of mouth 71%
Our Web site 45%
Internet recruiting services 37%
Live presentations to groups 33%
Events 29%
Newspaper ads 29%
Local volunteer center 17%
Relationship with local 15%
corporations
Direct mail 8%
Radio/TV ads 8%
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
Nonprofits:
Engaging Volunteers
On average, what proportion of the people who
respond are you able to engage as volunteers?
None of
the people 50% to 100%
6% of the people
21%
1% to 9%
of the people
36%
20% to 49%
of the people
20%

17%
10% to 19%
of the people
Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for
 Nonprofits: Satisfaction With
VolunteerMatch Volunteers
How satisfied have you been with the quality of volunteers
you have recruited through VolunteerMatch?

Very/somewhat
dissatisfied
10%
Very
satisfied
48%
Somewhat
satisfied
42%

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

 Nonprofits:
Valuing Internet Services
Strongly agree with statement Somewhat agree with statement

Provides a valuable 59% 92%

service to us
Has helped us reach out/
recruit volunteers we 49% 85%
wouldn’t have found
Makes it easier for us to 85%
find the right volunteers 38%

Has helped us find the 79%

volunteers we need 32%

Has allowed us to free

up valuable resources 26% 68%

Attitudes Among Volunteers/Nonprofits conducted by Hart Research for

Research Findings
March 2004

Peter D
HART
RESEARCH
A SSOC I A T ES