What Moves Which Volunteers to Donate Their Time? An Investigation of Psychographic Heterogeneity Among Volunteers in Australia

Many local environmental volunteering organisations face difficulties attracting volunteers from specific subgroups of the community. Consequently, it is crucial to gain understanding about the variety of factors that move people to participate in environmental volunteering. Factors which might have been underestimated in the past given the rather homogeneous community groups of volunteers which are, e.g., predominantly of Anglo-Saxon origin. This study reports on an analysis of volunteering motivations based on a representative data set provided by the ABS. It reveals that volunteering motivations vary widely and illustrates possible new ways of marketing volunteering organisations in order to attract new community groups to participate. Six community groups are constructed that are characterised by different motivation patterns. They are externally valid and demonstrate significant differences in socio-demographic profiles.