Young Adult Volunteers: Recruitment Appeals and Other Marketing Considerations

Figures & data

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.

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%

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

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

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.

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

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.