Camp based volunteers: psychological contracts and intentions to volunteer

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the nature of the psychological contract (PC) developed by episodic and traditional volunteers in camp-based leisure organizations in Australia and the relationship between their PCs and intentions to continue volunteering. The nature of the volunteer experience means that volunteers will tend to develop a social exchange relationship with their “employer”. Due to the absence of financial payment for volunteers, the understanding of their PC may provide a powerful tool to help leisure organizations understand and manage the behaviour of volunteers, including enhancing their ability to retain their services. Volunteers will not have any expectations for financial compensation; however their PC may include expectations that their needs and motives for volunteering will be met. Contrary to the bulk of studies examining the motives for volunteering (Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., & Ridge, R. D. [1992]. Volunteers’ motivations: A Functional Strategy for the Recruitment, Placement, and Retention of Volunteers. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 2(4), 333–350), literature and research on the PC of volunteers is rare (Liao-Troth, M. A. [2005]. Are they here for the long haul? The effects of functional motives and personality factors on the psychological contracts of volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34(4), 510–530) and as such this research extends our knowledge of volunteering in leisure organizations. A qualitative research design involving the use of 40 in-depth interviews was used to explain the differences in the nature of the PC that existed between episodic and traditional volunteers and their respective organizations and individuals’ intentions to continue volunteering. The study found that volunteers’ PCs are developed through the initial interview or exposure to a social cue or external message that attracts them to the organization to volunteer and that the culture of the organization had an influence on the PC of volunteers especially after they had completed a numbers of hours with their organization. The volunteers’ previous experience with volunteering did influence their PC with their current organization; they brought the expectations of their past experience with them and compared them to the current experience, making assumptions and comparisons about their current role. Episodic volunteers reported that their expectations around training and induction, communication and supervisor support were not often met compared to the experience of traditional volunteers. Intentions to continue volunteering were enhanced by (1) the development of feelings of importance and belonging to the group (campers or volunteers) and not particularly the organization, (2) enabling volunteers to achieve personal and professional growth, (3) ensuring equality amongst paid staff and volunteers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications for PC amongst volunteers in leisure focused organizations.

KEYWORDS:

• Episodic volunteers
• traditional volunteers
• psychological contracts
• camp
• intentions to continue

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.