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Who benefits from volunteering? Variations in perceived benefits
- Authors:
- MORROW-HOWELL Nancy, HONG Song-Lee, TANG Fengyan
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 49(1), February 2009, pp.91-102.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The purpose of this study was to document the benefits of volunteering perceived by older adults and to explain variation in these self-perceived benefits. This is a quantitative study of 13 volunteer programs in the US and 401 older adults serving in those programs. Program directors completed telephone interviews, and older volunteers completed mailed surveys. Volunteer-level and program-level data were merged. Older volunteers reported a wide variety of benefits to the people they served, themselves, their families, and communities. More than 30% reported that they were "a great deal better off" because of volunteering, and almost 60% identified a benefit to their families. When considering only individual characteristics, lower-income and lower-educated volunteers reported more benefit. Yet, aspects of the volunteer experience, like amount of involvement, adequacy of training and ongoing support, and stipends, were more important in understanding who benefits from volunteering. These findings suggest that characteristics of volunteer programs can be strengthened to maximize the benefits of volunteering to older adults. These characteristics are more mutable by public policies and organizational procedures than individual characteristics. Focusing on the recruitment of lower socioeconomic status older adults may result in an increase in benefits from the growth of volunteering.
Institutional facilitation in sustained volunteering among older adult volunteers
- Authors:
- TANG Fengyan, MORROW-HOWELL Nancy, HONG Songiee
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Research, 33(3), September 2009, pp.172-182.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
As more nonprofit organizations rely on older adult volunteers to provide services, it is important to retain volunteers for an extended period of time to ensure service quality and the beneficial outcomes of volunteering. Nonprofit organizations are positioned to facilitate older adult volunteers' role performance. Based on an institutional perspective on volunteering, this study explored what institutional facilitations are needed for sustained volunteering. The sample included 401 older adult volunteers from 13 programs across the United States. Data were collected by means of self-administrated questionnaires. Institutional facilitation was captured by volunteer role flexibility, incentive, role recognition, and training. With volunteers' age controlled for, two-level hierarchical linear models were used to assess the relationship between volunteer duration (level 1 variables) and institutional facilitation (level 2 variables) in the volunteer program. Results demonstrated that a higher level of volunteering duration was associated with institutional facilitation factors of more role recognition and more training hours. Duration was also associated with less incentive. These findings suggest that certain facilitators from organizations contribute to an extended period of commitment among older adult volunteers.
Inclusion of diverse older populations in volunteering: the importance of institutional facilitation
- Authors:
- TANG Fengyan, MORROW-HOWELL Nancy, HONG Songiee
- Journal article citation:
- Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38(5), October 2009, pp.810-827.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This is the second part of a study of the institutional capacity of 51 programs recruiting older volunteers in the United States. The importance of institutional facilitation of older adults, especially those of lower socio-economic status, to 13 of these programs was assessed by focusing on 374 volunteers, aged 60 or over, across 9 states. A self-administered questionnaire collected information about their experiences as volunteers, using institutional facilitators such as activity choice, time, schedule, responsibility level, workload, compensation, transportation, recognition and accommodation as measures as well as volunteer socio-demographics. Items regarding role flexibility were found to be important, with activity choice and setting of own schedule key. Respondents, especially non-White and low income, advised that accommodation, of a health condition for example, was important as well as being recognised, having expenses compensated and receiving a stipend. This study suggests that voluntary organisations could recruit and sustain helpers from the over 60’s from more diverse backgrounds by increasing their levels of flexibility, compensation and recognition. As baby boomers age there will be a greater potential for volunteering among the older population and to marshal this resource towards community need and ensure those volunteering come from all walks of life, voluntary organisations must, say the authors, fine tune their methods to make volunteering attractive to all and not elitist.