Understanding Motives of Volunteers May Help with the Ask for Planned Gifts

Like many nonprofits, you likely have a plan to approach some of your organization's volunteers to ask them for planned gifts. A recent panel discussion on research moderated by Pentera President & CEO Claudine A. Donikian included information that could be useful in tailoring that conversation: research on the motivations of volunteers, including whether they are motivated primarily to help others or motivated by receiving some type of benefit. Ms. Donikian moderated the panel at the annual symposium on philanthropy presented by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. The panel included researcher Russell James of Texas Tech University and Dr. Sara Konrath, a psychologist who is a professor at the school of philanthropy and also the principal investigator for iPEAR (the Interdisciplinary Program on Empathy and Altruism Research).

Multiple studies have shown that volunteers are prime candidates for gifts to the charities where they volunteer - and that volunteering is an indicator for making gifts in wills and other types of planned gifts. Some of Dr. Konrath's research delves into the motivations for volunteering, including differences based on gender and age.

Two Categories of Six Motives for Volunteering

"The reasons for volunteering are in two broad categories: focus on the other versus focus on the self," Dr. Konrath explained. "Self-directed means you want to receive some benefit - though that is not a judgment."

Her research identifies six motivations, two that are other-directed and four that are self-directed:

Two other-directed motivations for giving:

• Altruism: You care about others.
• Social motive: Volunteering is important to your loved ones.

Four self-directed motivations for giving:

• You want to learn new things.
• You want to promote your career.
• You want to protect yourself: avoid negative feelings such as guilt or escpaing your problems.
• You want to feel good (self-enhancement).

Gender and Age and Motivations for Giving

Women vs. Men
People in the study were able to select multiple motives, and Dr. Konrath found that women rated most of the motives as more important to them than men did. Promoting one's career was the only motive that women and men rated equally. "Women have a more diverse set of motives that would bring them to become volunteers in the first place," Dr. Konrath said.

Younger vs. Older
In terms of age, older adults identified the social motive as being more important, while younger adults identified several of the more self-directed motives: learning new things, enhancing one's career, and avoiding negative feelings or escaping problems. There was no age difference for two motives: altruism and feeling good about oneself.

"One question for nonprofits to ask is: Does the volunteering job fit the person's motives?" Dr. Konrath said. "If the job is a good match for the motives, then volunteers are more likely to stay and be satisfied with their experience."

They might also be more likely to make a planned gift. And by having prospective donors discuss their reasons for volunteering, you may be able to determine how much emphasis to put in your conversation on other-directed motives for giving versus more self-directed benefits.