Expanding the pool of volunteers: enticing ethnic minorities to become more involved

In Australia the value of volunteering runs into the tens of billions of dollars each year. The multicultural nature of Australia has resulted in greater heterogeneity amongst volunteers; however minorities are still under-represented in mainstream volunteering. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to structure the study, the volunteering behaviour of ethnic minorities is investigated. All three constructs are found to be relevant for volunteering; however, the role that each construct plays varies between ethnic groups. Findings are significant for managers trying to attract volunteers from different ethnic groups because marketing messages can be targeted to the factors most influential in their particular decision making process.