Young Adult Volunteers: Recruitment Appeals and Other Marketing Considerations

Abstract

The long‐term survival of nonprofit charitable organizations depends on the recruitment and retention of today's young adults. A segmentation strategy proposed for retirees which was consistent with previous research on volunteer motivation was found to also be relevant for the young adult market, especially if implemented with consideration of this segment's unique interests and characteristics. In addition, young adults were found to be most inclined to volunteer for organizations that were either local and personal or nationally renowned. Organizations benefiting children were also highly regarded. The higher a college student's grade point average (GPA), the more likely they were to indicate an intention of volunteering in the future. Those most likely to volunteer in the future also exhibited higher teamwork and mentoring trait scores. The young adult market was found to be multidimensional and best approached with a variety of appeals.

Keywords:

• recruiting volunteers
• promotional appeals
• young volunteers

INTRODUCTION

Nonprofit organizations chronically suffer from a shortage of both human and financial resources. In order to perform their duties, nonprofits rely on 20 billion volunteer hours and $200 billion in private charitable gifts annually (Salamon, 2002). Volunteers have been identified as a crucial resource for nonprofits (Wymer, 2003). In order to encourage volunteering in an environment full of numerous volunteering opportunities, nonprofits have increased their marketing efforts to recruit and retain volunteers (Faircloth, 2005). Competitive pressures have made the application of marketing management tools, such as market segmentation, essential for the continued existence of nonprofits (Beerli, Diaz, & Martin, 2004). Nonprofit and social agencies, in order to compete, must understand marketing concepts, including segmentation and positioning tactics which highlight benefits a specific group wants most while minimizing the perceived costs that the group dislikes (Dolnicar & Randle, 2007).

THE YOUNG VOLUNTEER

Due to broad social trends, many feel that the nature of volunteering is undergoing a dramatic change. Willingness to volunteer seems to be dependent more now on personal interests and needs rather than on a sense of altruism (Hustinx & Lammertyn, 2003). New volunteers are demanding greater freedom of choice and contained assignments with tangible outcomes. Retaining recent volunteers requires entertaining and spectacular activities related to trendy problems and issues (Safrit & Merrill, 2000). These new volunteering trends have been associated with the new young volunteer segment (Rehberg, 2005). In general, older volunteers are motivated by social responsibility while younger volunteers today are more interested in recognition (Peterson, 2004).

The volunteer market can be segmented based on age. As a potential market segment, young adults have been identified as an under‐represented age group in volunteering (Hankinson & Rochester, 2005). The image of volunteering may need to be altered to reflect positive and relevant images to accommodate the needs of young adults. A large proportion of young people perceive volunteering as not being socially or personally attractive (Hankinson & Rochester, 2005). Many young adults perceive volunteering as being boring and involving older people who will not appreciate their skills. Perceptions such as this need to be overcome as young people represent an attractive source of volunteers for nonprofit organizations and, thus, are an important focus for nonprofits' recruitment efforts (Briggs, Landry, Wood, & Arnold, 2005). Recognition should be given to the fact that the three most common barriers to volunteering are lack of time, lack of interest, and ill health (Sundeen, Raskoff, & Garcia, 2007). Young adults would be particularly venerable to the first two barriers, thus representing a special recruiting challenge.

The motivations and needs of young potential volunteers are varied. Research has shown that young volunteers tend not to be loyal to any one organization and are selective about the organization in which they become involved. In addition, young adults expect some type of personal benefit from their volunteering (Rehberg, 2005). Young adults tend to prefer volunteer opportunities which involve improving the everyday lives of the less fortunate in their local communities. Many young volunteers state that they want to volunteer where they can see what they do actually make a difference. In short, they want their volunteer experiences to be up‐close and personal (Hart & Brossard, 2002).

Recruiting young adults as volunteers is advantageous on many levels. Those who donate service are transformed into more engaged, enlightened, and tolerant members of society (Hart & Brossard, 2002). In addition, nonprofit organizations, recognizing the energies of young adults, are trying to lure new generations of volunteers (Zaslow, 2004). For example, the long‐term rewards of recruiting new young volunteers today have been noted by the health care industry. The health care industry has recognized that today's volunteer may be tomorrow's employee, financial donor, or important community link with aligned institutional loyalty and commitment (Andersen, 2003). Nonprofits know that younger volunteers are essential to the well‐being of the organization, now and in the future. Future leaders of nonprofit organizations must be nurtured from young volunteers today (Tucker, 2003).

Young volunteers also benefit from working directly with individuals in need. The young individuals who volunteer ultimately exhibit better academic progress, such as improved grade point averages. In addition, young volunteers express higher levels of self‐esteem and view themselves as more socially competent and self‐efficacious (Schmidt, Shumow, & Kackar, 2007).

Young volunteers, nonprofit organizations, and society, in general benefit from the recruitment of young adults into volunteer service. These benefits are felt both in the short term and in the long run by all parties. Therefore, the determination of the most effective promotional appeals to advance these relationships is highly desirable.

VOLUNTEERING MOTIVATION

In order to recruit young volunteers, nonprofit organizations will need to appeal to this broad segment in ways that will most efficiently encourage and motivate participation. There has been considerable research on why people in general volunteer and how they can be recruited (i.e., Wymer & Starnes, 2001). Decisive research on why people volunteer discovered that volunteers were motivated by both altruistic and egoistic motives (Cnaan & Goldberg‐Glen, 1991). A widely quoted attempt to categorize volunteering motivation resulted in six motives for volunteering. Two of the six motives were related to career and personal enhancement, two were personal development (protective and understanding), and two dealt with relationships with others (social and values) (Clary et al., 1998).

Specifically, motives and personality characteristics, such as self‐esteem (Wymer, 2003), have been found to correlate with volunteering preferences. Career motives and the personality factor of conscientiousness were related to this relevant tendency in another study (Liao‐Troth, 2005). Sports volunteerism was found to be motivated by five variables, namely: (a) altruistic value, (b) personal development, (c) community concern, (d) ego enhancement, and (e) social adjustment (Wang, 2003).

Benefits derived from volunteering have been found to be both psychological and social, and reasons for volunteering include that it provides opportunities to meet people and make friends and that the work is interesting (Hibbert, Piacentini, & Al Dajani, 2003). Volunteer retention rates are also influenced by several factors perceived by the individual. Specifically, volunteers express high levels of connectedness (feeling part of a group to which one feels they share goals, values, respect, and trust), uniqueness (feeling that one has a unique combination of talents and personality to contribute to the organization), and power (feeling that one can make a difference) (Andersen, 2003).

Peterson (2004) found that younger volunteers were motivated by financial and career success and older volunteers were motivated by social responsibilities and a greater concern for society. This study found age to be the best criteria for selection of recruitment strategies. Australian researchers, however, concluded that motivations for volunteering did not differ by age, and that generic promotional and recruitment messages would be equally effective for all age groups of volunteers (Shelley & Polonsky, 2002).

Focusing on male Turkish college students, Boz and Palaz (2007) found three motivational factors for volunteering. In order, the three most important motivational factors discovered in this study were altruism, affiliation, and personal improvement.

Numerous studies have consistently shown that if a volunteer identifies with a nonprofit, they exhibit higher levels of commitment and satisfaction with their involvement (i.e., Andersen, 2003; Tidwell, 2005). In addition, the trait of altruism has been noted in many studies as an indicator of volunteering inclinations (i.e., Beerli et al., 2004; Faircloth, 2005; Mowen & Sujan, 2005), including the findings that students who volunteer for altruistic reasons have a higher retention rate than those motivated for other reasons (Andersen, 2003).

In general, however, it is agreed that volunteering is motivated by multiple factors and to some degree by self‐interest. The success of a volunteer/nonprofit relationship hinges on the mutual satisfaction of both the volunteer's and the organization's needs (Beerli et al., 2004). Expectations of rewards have been found to motivate a variety of behaviors, including being altruistic and choosing to help those in need (Fisher & Ackerman, 1998). In order to successfully segment the volunteer market, and appeal most effectively to attractive segments, a nonprofit must understand the motivations of members of those segments. By recognizing the diverse motivations and interests within a target segment, nonprofit organizations can most efficiently target recruiting efforts to the members of that segment.

CALLOW'S FRAMEWORK

While volunteer segments have traditionally been identified based on demographic and psychographic characteristics, what is generally overlooked is the heterogeneity within these segments. Once potential market segments have been identified, positioning and targeting efforts should focus on motivations. Callow (2004) recognized the advantages of identifying different promotional appeals for targeting the retiree volunteer segment. Instead of highlighting the similarities within the retiree segment, Callow advocated future fragmenting the cluster into subgroups. Each subgroup represents a segment of individuals with different motivations. By appealing to each subgroup individually, a larger portion of the segment could be reached more efficiently.

After conducting in‐depth qualitative interviews, Callow identified a variety of benefits sought from volunteering. Focusing on common themes, Callow identified four appeals for targeting potential retiree volunteers, to be used in positioning strategies. These four distinct appeals focus on different levels of altruistic notions and social interaction notions and address humanitarian and social appeals. By utilizing a two‐by‐two matrix Callow addresses both high and low levels of social and altruistic notions.

Callow's categories are in keeping with many other categorizations of volunteering motivations, making its use as a framework advantageous. Beerli et al. (2004), for instance, recognize the following motives, which are aligned with Callow's categories: (a) the good of society, helping others; (b) social skills, such as meeting new friends; (c) personal development skills; and (d) employment‐related motives.

Given the similarities of Callow's findings with others', and Callow's applied approach to utilizing these results, this schema for targeting promotional appeals became attractive for further investigation. The motivations identified by Callow were congruent with previous research on volunteer motivation for a variety of demographic and international segments. While specifically applied to the retiree volunteer segment, this approach was considered to be the most desirable for expansion into the young adult volunteer segment.

VOLUNTEER TRAITS

For nonprofit organizations to operate effective and to accomplish their goals a variety of skills and talents provided by numerous volunteers are necessary. Not only are individuals with certain traits more likely to volunteer, but particular traits may make a volunteer a more productive and desirable volunteer for the organization. The identification of high‐achievement traits of volunteers would be helpful for effective recruitment.

It has already been noted that individuals are often motivated to volunteer because of egoistic reasons. Young adults are more likely to volunteer to benefit their own self‐interests and concern for their own personal advancement (Chappell & Prince, 1997). Thus, a concern for their own advancement would be a strong motivator for young adult to volunteer their time and to remain involved with an organization. Interestingly, corporate volunteer programs have been found to have the benefit of enhancing the skills of those who participated (Peterson, 2004).

Given societal changes and the increased emphasis placed on nonprofit organizations for social programs, there is a need to develop a community of leaders. It has been recognized that society needs a consistent flow of leaders to help care for the less fortunate (Widtuk et al., 2003). Young adults who are willing and able to serve as leaders in the future will need to be recruited today.

Volunteer training programs often focus on mentoring skills and team building (i.e. Brathwaite, 2002). Volunteers will often work in teams to achieve mutual goals with other volunteers, with clients and with other constituencies. Team building activities would seem to be very attractive to those individuals seeking social affiliations from volunteering opportunities.

Mentoring is a particularly effective training technique for direct (point‐of‐service) volunteers (Hartenian, 2007). The mentoring relationship benefits both the protégé and the mentor (Pullins & Fine, 2002). Beyond training volunteers, mentoring skills could be utilized to mentor other volunteers and/or clients or recipients of services. The act of mentoring allows the mentor motivated by altruism to feel like they are ‘making a difference’. Mentors, or current volunteers, experience feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction from acting as a role model (Pullins & Fine, 2002). These positive feelings may be significant motivators for the retention of volunteers.

The ability to mentor has been related to interpersonal competence (Pullins, Fine, & Warren, 1996). Mentors report a sense of increased competence and feelings of confidence in their own abilities (Allen, Russel, & Maetzke, 1997). Mentors see the opportunity to mentor others as an opportunity to make productive use of their knowledge and work experience. These sentiments were echoed in Callow's work.

Willingness to mentor has been found to be positively related to job satisfaction (Pullins et al., 1996). In addition, willingness to mentor is related to the protégé's satisfaction with their mentoring experience (Allen et al., 1997). Mentoring can be a rewarding and effective cycle for nonprofit organizations. Volunteers who are mentored effectively will, in turn, be willing to mentor others and will be more satisfied with their volunteering experience. Young adults who have the ability and willingness to mentor will contribute significantly as volunteers. The egos of the young adult volunteers will benefit as will the welfare of the protégés.

STUDY FOCUS

Given these theoretical and methodological insights, the research project presented here attempts to achieve three aims or goals. The first goal is to explore the potential of Callow's schema for targeting volunteer subgroups within the young adult volunteer market segment. Second, this study investigates the volunteering‐inclination of the young adult market, including likelihood of volunteering and interest in various organizations and constituencies. Lastly, this study explores how specific traits (leadership, achievement concern, teamwork and cooperation, mentoring, willingness and ability, and grade point average) impact young adults' volunteering orientations.

Recognizing that attracting volunteers is essential to the long‐term interests of nonprofits and that the act of volunteering should result in an exchange that is beneficial to the client, the nonprofit organization, and the volunteer, this study was undertaken to determine the most appropriate targeting strategies to recruit young adults as volunteers. Also, recognizing that certain traits make some volunteers not only more likely to volunteer but also more productive than others, selected traits were deemed appropriate for consideration.

What promotional appeals for volunteering experiences will subgroups of young adults find desirable? What are the most appropriate targeting appeals for this segment? Do the motivations of young adult volunteers differ from retiree volunteers significantly enough to warrant separate appeals? How likely and when are young adults to volunteer? Can young adults with particular desirable traits be recruited with the generic appeals? Information to answer these and other questions was collected and interpreted.

METHODOLOGY

In order to answer the research questions, an instrument was designed and distributed among a group of young adult college students. Subsequently, the data collected was analyzed and the findings interpreted so as to benefit nonprofits' volunteer recruitment efforts. The implications for nonprofit managers will be discussed.

Variables

The variables designated as surrogate measures of traits of high‐achievers were operationalized utilizing several seven‐point scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). An eight‐item scale by Raskin and Terry (1988) was used to measure the degree to which one views oneself as a leader and desires to have influence over others. Certainly, leadership skills are essential for the effective operation of volunteering activities in the future. The desire to help others, and thus have some influence over the welfare of others, is a trait likely to be held by future volunteers. If this trait is considered by nonprofit organizations as noteworthy, special attention may be warranted in recruitment efforts.

Since Chappell and Prince (1997) and others have determined that young adults were more likely to volunteer out of egoism (less altruistic) self‐interest, a measure of concern for personal advancement included was one of four components of vanity. Achievement concern was measured by Netemeyer, Burton and Lichtenstein's (1995) five‐item scale. This variable was included to capture a sense of personal enhancement and achievement.

Deeming positive attitudes towards working in a team and cooperative behavior toward others as desirable traits for volunteers, Oliver and Anderson's (1994) five‐item acceptance (teamwork/cooperation) scale was included in the study. Team building skills are often key components of a volunteer training program. Young adults not only need to be recruited to volunteering, but their retention is important for nonprofits' future leadership and operations. Therefore, if volunteers believe that they are contributing to a team effort, they are more likely to have a sense of accomplishment. Presumably, loyalty and retention will be advanced if this sense of accomplishment and team membership is achieved.

Three components of mentoring, ability, and willingness (rapport ability, support willingness, and relational willingness) were considered admirable traits for potential volunteers and were measured by Pullins et al.'s (1996) 15‐item scale. Compassionate individuals with the ability and willingness to nurture the abilities of others, can be a tremendous asset to nonprofit operations. In addition, mentors are more satisfied with their association with the organization. By recruiting individuals with mentoring inclinations the nonprofit organization will be adding volunteers who can serve the organization in a multitude of ways.

Volunteering‐inclination was operationalized by several questions. The instrument included questions concerning likelihood of volunteering, intentions of including volunteering activities on resume, a rank‐ordering of organizations to which they are most likely to volunteer time or money, and constituencies to which they would most likely volunteer aid.

The four themes identified by Callow as effective for appealing to subsegments of the retiree market were utilized due to their basic applicability as well theircorrelation and relationship with the results of other studies. In addition, one of the goals of this study was to determine if Callow's schema of appeals could be applied to the young adult volunteer segment with the same degree of confidence as the retiree segment. Thus, the desirability of each of Callow's four themes for future potential volunteering opportunities was measured utilizing a four‐item, seven‐point semantic differential extremely desirable/not desirable scale. In keeping with the original integrity and wording of Callow's matrix, the scale was worded using the tone and content of the original work as much as possible. The four general themes from Callow's classifications were operationalized as described in Table 1.

Table 1. How desirable would the following volunteering experiences be for you?

Humanitarian high/Social low	Having the opportunity to actively participate in important ‘behind‐the‐scenes’ activities within a charitable organization.
Humanitarian low/Social low	Having the opportunity to enhance my personal and professional skills by volunteering at a nonprofit organization.
Humanitarian high/Social high	Having the opportunity to make a difference by becoming an advocate for those aided by the organization.
Humanitarian low/Social high	Having the opportunity to interact with friendly staff and befriend other volunteers.

Demographic questions were included for classification and analysis purposes. Respondents were asked to indicate their gender, age, class standing, major, and approximate grade point average (GPA).

Sample

The study instrument was distributed to college students attending a public four‐year Midwestern university. College students represented the idea sampling population for this study as the primary focus is young adult volunteers. Nine classes representing different disciplines and different grade levels were included. Students in the selected classes were asked to participate in the study. A sample of 260 college students, with a mean age of 21.7 resulted. The majority of the respondents were seniors (63%).

FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

The four appeals, or themes, identified by Callow were a critical consideration in the analysis. College students' reactions to the four promotional themes were assessed. Volunteering inclinations and traits were then analyzed to provide insights to aid in the development of recruitment strategies for young adults and/or college students.

Volunteering Appeals

The promotional appeals that Callow identified for targeting potential retiree volunteers proved to be effective for segmenting the young adult market, as well. The four different appeals, based on high and low humanitarian and social motivations, proved to be attractive to the students in the study (Table 2). The four appeals were measured for desirability on two measures. First respondents were asked to indicate how desirable each of the four experiences would be for them on a seven‐point scale. Subsequently, respondents were asked to indicate which one situation represented the most desirable volunteering experience. As shown in Table 2, the four resulting mean scores were all relatively high and no one scenario was viewed decidedly more desirable than any other for the overall study population. Every appeal produced a desirability score of well above 4.5. All four volunteering motivations which had been identified as the basis for formulating promotional appeals for targeting subgroups of retiree volunteers were found to be relevant and appealing themes for targeting the young adult segment also. It appears as if a set of common motivations exists across different age segments of potential volunteers.

Table 2. Desirability of Callow's Appeals

Appeal	Mean score	Overall preference
Humanitarian high/Social high	4.83	n  =  50/19.2%
Humanitarian low/Social low	5.36	n  =  80/30.8%
Humanitarian low/Social high	5.32	n  =  76/29.2%
Humanitarian high/Social low	5.19	n  =  54/20.8%

In terms of the rankings for overall preference, the results confirmed the universal acceptability of the four distinct themes and their ability to target distinct subgroups within the segment. Although the humanitarian low/social low experience (“Having the opportunity to enhance my personal and professional skills by volunteering at a nonprofit organization”) garnered the most votes with 80, a nearly equal number (76) of respondents voted for the humanitarian high/social high experience (“Having the opportunity to interact with staff and befriend other volunteers”). The other two experiences were also represented at a significant level, indicating the viability of the proposed target themes for segmentation efforts in the young adult volunteer market. In should be noted, however, that the two more egoistic appeals were the most popular choices, while fewer students choose the more altruistic appeals as their overall most desirable appeal.

Support was given to the humanitarianism/social approach as a viable approach to segmentation by the fact that all four cells were adequately represented. Evidence is sufficient to assert that the young adult market for volunteers can be segmented based on the approach utilized in this study.

By appealing to and targeting subgroups with different motivations individually, the maximum marketing efficiency can be reached within the overall segment. Recruitment communications by nonprofit organizations directed to young adults should highlight and emphasize the following types of themes and positioning strategies, for instance:

When you volunteer at XYZ nonprofit organization…

…you will actively participate in important activities that make a difference.

…you will have the opportunity to better yourself personally and professionally.

…you will make a difference in the lives of others.

…you will make connections with others.

The volunteer market, in general, and regardless of life‐stage, appears to be motivated by a combination of humanitarianism and social factors. Thus appeals to the young adult segment should emphasize these distinct themes in a format that addresses the specific interests of the cohort groups such as self‐advancement and personal development, since efforts should be made to accommodate the preferences and imperatives of young people to be most effective (Hankinson & Rochester, 2005; Tucker, 2003). Media choices and creative execution of the designated appeals should be segment‐specific to best target the young adult segment.

Volunteering Inclinations

As a measure of volunteering inclination, the students were asked to indicate the likelihood they would volunteer their time to a nonprofit organization, or cause, after graduation on a seven‐point very likely/very unlikely semantic differential scale. The results indicate an overall high likelihood of volunteering in the future. The resulting mean score was 4.44, and a mode of 5, indicating a slightly above‐average likelihood. In fact, 31% of the respondents indicated a score of 6 or 7 on the scale. Given that almost a third of the segment indicated that they are very likely to volunteer in the future, a carefully executed marketing strategy can be instrumental in attracting and recruiting the energetic and talented young adult segment who currently believe they will volunteer in the future. With targeted appeals, the opportunity to increase volunteerism and capture the energies of the young adult volunteer segment exists.

When likelihood of volunteering in the future was analyzed along with overall preference for one of the four specified appeals, no significant difference was found. The four groups of respondents selecting each of the appeal themes indicated a likelihood‐of‐volunteering mean score of between 4.14 to 4.59, which was not significantly different enough (ANOVA/sig. level .373) to state that one of the four appeals would be more effective in attracting those most predisposed to volunteer. Thus, all four appeals show promise and should be incorporated in different recruiting efforts.

In addition, 85% of the respondents indicated they intend to list volunteering activities on their resume. The sample is predominantly composed of upper‐level students, this result is not surprising. Other studies have shown that approximately two‐thirds of young Americans state that they have helped others in the last three years (Hart & Brossard, 2002). Considering that professionally employed, college‐educated individuals tend to volunteer in higher numbers than other segments (Wymer, 2003), the fact that the majority of the respondents had volunteered during their college experience and felt the need to list volunteering on their resume is not surprising. Motivation for volunteering is often employment‐related. It would seem young adults can best be recruited by nonprofit organizations if initial approaches are made, and relationships developed, while the segment is still in college. The identified humanitarianism/social motivations appear to apply to multiple life‐stages. These appeals combined with the motivation to start, and establish, a career should prove effective for recruitment efforts.

When the respondents were asked to state the one organization they would be most likely to volunteer their time in the future and the one organization they would most likely contribute financially to in the future the responses solicited were extremely diverse. Among the sample of 260 students, over 60 organizations were listed between the two questions, with many stated organizations being unique to one respondent. Many organizations listed by the respondents were small and local, corroborating research which suggests that young Americans are most interested in having a direct impact on improving the everyday lives of those less fortunate in their local communities (Hart & Brossard, 2002). The most frequent responses given for the one charitable organization they would most likely volunteer time and make a financial contribution to are in Table 3.

Table 3. Most Frequent Responses Given for the One Charitable Organization They Would Most Likely Volunteer Time and Make a Financial Contribution

	Time	Financial
Habitat for Humanity	30	13
Red Cross	26	21
Koman/Race for the Cure	19	24
My church	15	19
Kids	13	14
Animal shelters	13	11
Big Brother/Big Sister	11	8
American Cancer Society/Research	10	17
MDA/Jerry's Kids	7	8

The organizations receiving multiple responses were generally national organizations receiving considerable publicity (i.e., MDA/Jerry's Kids, Red Cross, Humane Society, American Cancer Society, Komen Race for the Cure, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Habitat for Humanity). Also, the study was conducted shortly after Labor Day and when the Komen event was in process in the local community. Other organizations receiving multiple results were generalized responses, such as “my church” and “kids.” The only organization unique to the financial contribution question was United Way (n  =  4). Some interesting differences between the popularity of various organizations in terms of donating time or financially were noted. More students surveyed were willing to donate time to Habitat for Humanity and Big Brother/Big Sister than financial support. Given the needs of these organizations these results were not surprising and were encouraging on many levels. Two cancer‐related organizations ranked highly in terms of frequency of response in both categories, indicating the respondents viewed them as clearly different causes. In addition, the students were more likely to donate financially to these causes than of their time. The generic response “my church” was listed frequently in both categories and was slightly more likely to get financial donations than time.

In general, the results seem to indicate that potential young adult volunteers are either dedicated to a personal local charity or inclined to go with a top‐of‐mind, prominent nonprofit organizations. It is also presumed that the images of the organizations designated were in some way congruent with the respondent's self‐image given the results of previous research (Beerli, Diaz, & Martin, 2004). Thus, organizations attempting to attract young adults should make a very direct appeal to their personal consciousness. The importance of a nonprofit organization being recognizable with a favorable reputation cannot be discounted. Young adults are inclined to note what is most familiar to them. To entice those willing to volunteer for a nonprofit organization, recruitment must first focus on awareness and then build subsequent interest.

Given a list of nine topics typically associated with nonprofit organizations and instructions to rank the topics in terms of which they would be most likely to volunteer aid to, respondents indicated which issues were of most interest to them. The mode scores for the nine topics, presented in Table 4, reflected clear trends. Frequencies of individual rankings are also presented in Table 5. The mode for children was 1. No topic came close to children in terms of 1‐rankings. Political issues and political candidates were clearly topics of little concern, at this time, to the potential young adult volunteers in this sample.

Table 4. Mode Scores for Volunteer Preferences

Group or issue	Mode
Children	1
Homeless/Abused	3
Elderly	4
Handicapped/Ill	5
Disadvantaged	5
Animals	6
Environment/Ecology	7
Political issues	8
Political candidate	9

Table 5. Frequencies for Volunteer Preferences

	1s	2s	3s	4s	5s	6s	7s	8s	9s
Children	133	49	32	18	12	5	2	2	0
Homeless/Abused	14	35	47	41	26	36	20	16	15
Elderly	10	30	43	47	40	30	31	11	12
Handicapped/Ill	24	28	31	47	51	35	13	11	12
Disadvantaged	11	27	27	43	44	43	37	14	5
Animals	29	40	33	15	31	41	31	14	17
Environment/Ecology	19	23	25	24	24	31	61	17	27
Political issues	9	13	10	9	11	19	28	118	33
Political candidate	8	10	1	8	11	10	26	47	131

While clearly lagging behind children in terms of interest, the homeless/abused, the elderly, the disadvantaged and handicapped (all of which represented groups of individuals) followed in order of interest. In general, the young adult college student respondents identified with the needs of children and other needy individuals more so than social issues.

As a side note, when interests were studied separately along gender lines, only one category demonstrated an interesting difference. While the modes stayed relatively constant for most categories when the genders were studied in isolation, the animal category varied significantly from the collective. The mode for animals among females was 1 and 2 for males. The overall mode for animals was 6. This would seem to indicate that a significant number of individuals, of both genders, consider animals to represent a worthwhile volunteering opportunity. Animal‐related causes would benefit from noting a strong interest by a subset of both males and females within the young adult segment.

Organizations that benefit children should direct marketing efforts, utilizing the four appeals designated earlier, to young adults. It is clear that young adults, if solicited effectively, would be inclined to volunteer time, and donate financially, to organizations involving children. Young adults would also be predisposed to come to the aid of those they consider disadvantaged, such as the homeless and the elderly. Political and conservation issues would face a more difficult challenge recruiting aid from this market and should employ targeted efforts focusing on defined themes to make the volunteering activity more relevant to the young adult volunteer.

Traits and Volunteering Appeals

Predetermined traits for potential volunteers were analyzed along with the other study variables. Mean scores for the traits leadership, achievement concern, teamwork and cooperation, and mentoring ability and willingness (overall and three components) scores were analyzed.

An initial correlation analysis discovered that the likelihood of volunteering time, after graduation, to a nonprofit organization was positively correlated (sig. level .05, or less) with two of the four traits incorporated in the study. In general, the correlation results were amazingly congruent with the previously reported results. This would seem to indicate the importance of central themes to the volunteer recruitment process.

Likelihood of volunteering in the future was positively correlated with acceptance (teamwork/cooperation) and mentoring ability (with all three subcomponents producing significant results). Thus, those currently most likely to volunteer possess higher measures of these traits, both of which are beneficial to nonprofits' operational activities. Likelihood of volunteering in the future was positively correlated (sig. level .01, or less) with attitudes towards teamwork and mentoring. Thus, those who wish to volunteer want to work with and help others. These findings indicate a strong social influence in the volunteering motivation of young adults. Promotional efforts emphasizing the opportunities to work collaboratively with others would appeal to those most likely to volunteer. In addition, communications advancing the opportunity to mentor others would attract this segment of volunteers.

Leadership and achievement concern did not correlate with likelihood of volunteering (sig. level .05, or less). Attempts to actively solicit those with higher levels of leadership and achievement concern traits would have to be made, as those individuals with high level of these traits are not currently as inclined to volunteer. The benefits of volunteering, such as the opportunity to advance professional skills and the achievement of personal accomplishments, would need to be emphasized to attract these individuals. One strategy to attract those with the desire to succeed may be to acknowledge recognitions and awards for participation. Individuals with a desire to achieve career and financial security would likely find recognition and tangible rewards desirable.

In terms of recruiting young adults with desirable traits, Table 6 reflects the relationship between high‐achievers' traits and the four promotional appeals. Respondents choosing different appeals had significantly different mean scores for achievement concern (a component of vanity) and mentoring ability overall and two of the three subcomponents (support willingness and relational willingness). Not surprisingly, those highest in achievement concern selected “Having the opportunity to enhance my personal and professional skills by volunteering at a nonprofit organization” as one of their most preferred theme choices. Presumably those most concerned about personal achievement would seek a volunteering opportunity which they perceive capable of providing personal enhancement.

Table 6. ANOVA Results for Appeals and Traits

Trait	Hum. high/Soc. high	Hum. low/Soc. low	Hum. low/Soc. high	Hum. high/Soc. low	Sig. Level
Leadership	42.92	41.79	40.14	41.89	0.176
Achievement concern	25.32	25.21	22.29	23.52	∗0.005
Teamwork/Cooperation	28.31	27.74	27.39	27.89	0.678
Mentoring ability	92.46	87.81	86.28	89.24	∗0.037
Rapport building	33.90	32.89	32.18	32.94	0.306
Support willingness	28.52	27.20	26.41	27.92	∗0.036
Relational willingness	23.86	22.05	22.03	22.65	∗0.031
N	50	80	76	54
∗ sig. level of .05, or less.

The other significant finding involved the mentoring trait. Those highest in mentoring ability tended to find the experience “Having the opportunity to make a difference by becoming an advocate for those aided by the organization” most desirable, especially those highest in support willingness and rational willingness. An appeal that indicates the opportunity to help others will entice those with mentoring skills, thus supporting the proposed segmentation strategy.

Another measure of achievement was used in the study. Self‐reported GPAs were analyzed first with the other surrogate measures of high‐achievement and then with the likelihood of volunteering in the future and desirability of the four specified themes.

An ANOVA analysis indicated no significant difference (sig. level .05, or less) between different GPA levels and mean scores on all other variables tested. Individuals with different GPA levels did not differ significantly on trait scores for leadership, achievement concern, teamwork/cooperation or mentoring. These results may indicate that academic high‐achievers may, or may not, be more desirable as potential volunteers than other young adults. However, the results of an additional ANOVA test (sig. level .009) indicated that as GPA levels increase so does the likelihood of volunteering in the future. The results are shown in Table 7.

Table 7. GPA and Likelihood of Volunteering

GPA	N	Likelihood mean score
2.8 and below	58	4.00
2.9–3.2	89	4.22
3.3–3.6	76	4.79
3.7–4.0	35	4.97

Clearly, those college students with the highest GPAs are most likely to volunteer in the future. This may be due to the desire to help others, and/or the desire for further self‐enhancement. The strong association between academic achievement/involvement with propensity to serve as a volunteer for a nonprofit organization is noteworthy and significant. Nonprofit organizations benefit from the recruitment of young adults who excelled in their educational pursuits. This finding is socially significant and encouraging.

Ironically, a chi‐square test (Pearson sig. level .043, see Table 8) indicated a relationship between GPA level and appeal preference. The largest group of students with a GPA of 3.3 or higher (31%), found the appeal theme “Having the opportunity to interact with friendly staff and befriend other volunteers” the most desirable choice. This was followed closely (30%) by the option “Having the opportunity to enhance my personal and professional skills by volunteering at a nonprofit organization.” The option chosen most by the segment with the fewest respondents (18%), but those with the highest GPA levels, was “Having the opportunity to interact with friendly staff and befriend other volunteers.” It appears that attracting those with high GPAs requires appealing to their most fundamental needs both socially and professionally. The lowest GPA subgroup was also inclined to select this appeal. However, as many members of this subgroup also found the appeal, “Having the opportunity to actively participate in important behind‐the‐scene activities within a charitable organization” to be most appealing. In fact, the lowest GPA subgroup dominated this selection category, indicating the lower academic achievers are also the most willing to work behind‐the‐scenes in the less conspicuous activities.

Table 8. Chi‐Square for GPA and Appeals

	2.8 or below	2.9–3.2	3.3–3.6	3.7–4.0	Total
Having the opportunity to make a difference by becoming an advocate for those aided by the organization.	10	20	16	4	50
Having the opportunity to enhance my personal and professional skills by volunteering at a nonprofit organization.	10	37	21	11	79
Having the opportunity to interact with friendly staff and befriend other volunteers.	19	20	24	12	75
Having the opportunity to actively participate in important ‘behind‐the‐scene’ activities within a charitable organziation.	19	12	15	8	54
Total	58	89	76	35	258
Note. Pearson Chi‐Square sig. level  =  .043.

CONCLUSIONS

It has been noted that the same things that motivate the current leaders in the nonprofit sector might not attract today's young people (Tucker, 2003); however, this study demonstrates that common inherent themes can be appealing to young adults and retirees alike. Recognizing that factors influencing involvement in the volunteer sector change over time (Hibbert et al., 2003), recruitment strategies must constantly evolve. Overall, the most effective marketing‐oriented strategy for recruiting young adults today would incorporate the two basic and fundamental motivations of helping others, or altruism, and maintaining socially beneficial relationships or some sense of personal development. The more egoistic motivations were slightly more effective for a larger subgroup of the young adult segment, however. While young adults share a common set of motivations with retiree volunteers, these common themes should be communicated in a manner which best reflects each segment's unique interests.

It should be noted that recruiting and nurturing young adults as volunteers today is a long process that might not show returns for up to 20 years. The targeting strategy proposed by Callow and advanced here should be considered for its universal appeal. Nonprofit recruiters must acknowledge that young adults will quit a task quickly if they are not impressed or engaged. In addition, they prefer to work collaboratively (Zaslow, 2004). In short, young adult volunteers are not particularly loyal to organizations, are choosy about what they do and expect some personal benefit from their volunteerism (Rehberg, 2005). Future research should focus on retaining young volunteers. To reap the full benefits of recruiting energetic young adult volunteers, efforts should be made to have them evolve into committed and loyal volunteers. Based on research involving retaining volunteers (i.e., Starnes & Wymer, 2001; Bussell & Forbes, 2006), the specific needs and motivations of young adult volunteers should be explored. Clearly, nonprofit organizations benefit from specifically targeting young volunteers and nurturing their relationships into the future.

Thus, successful segmentation strategies should be incorporated which align the young volunteers' interest with the organization's message. College students are likely to volunteer today and in the future, especially if they sense that the benefits of volunteering outweigh the costs involved. Given this set of variables, volunteer recruitment should start in college. Recognition should be given to what motivates the college student volunteer and the unique manifestations of that motivation given their lifespan. Benefits to young adults from volunteering will include the opportunity to add to a resume and the pursuit of career advancement opportunities.

Volunteer recruitment for young adults must link volunteering opportunities and experiences with the personal interests of the segment in a manner that is meaningful to them. Achieving top‐of‐mind recognition is essential as well. In addition, children‐oriented organizations should harvest the young adult volunteer market. In short, recruitment efforts aimed at the young adult segment can approach the subgroups identified here with the objective of making both the volunteering experience and the organization personal to the individual volunteer.

Additional, related research should be conducted to help refine segmentation and positioning strategies and could test executions of the different appeals across different age groups. An experiment which tests the appeals' effectiveness for recruiting purposes could provide additional insights concerning age‐related differences among potential volunteers and validate the potential of the proposed appeals.