Of course you're putting a lot in but you really do want to get something out of it.
I'm not doing it because I'm this wonderful person who wants to help people … I mean that's definitely part of it but there are heaps of benefits that I get out of it too.
Several previous studies have examined the outcomes of volunteering by young people and have identified two main types of benefits:
- outcomes of primary benefit to the community; and
- outcomes of primary benefit to the individual volunteers.
The majority of studies point to a mixture of community and individual benefits flowing from volunteering by young people. For instance, Roker, Player and Coleman (1999) concluded from interviews of 103 young people involved in volunteer campaigning activities that there had been improvements in:
- their awareness of the needs of different groups in society;
- personal and political efficacy – by taking action they were able to influence political and social events;
- their political awareness;
- their socio-political thinking and awareness; and
- their personal skills, e.g. research and presentation skills.
In this project we asked young people to tell us about the benefits of volunteering. Their responses indicated five main types of individual benefits:
- Satisfaction and affirmation
- Social engagement
- Personal growth and development
- Acknowledgement and appreciation
- Career benefits
Although there are some common elements (e.g. personal development and social, psychological and cognitive development) on the whole the outcomes the young people identify appear to be different from those that previous studies suggest are of primary benefit to individuals3:
- development of a moral identity or ethic of social responsibility (Hart, Atkins et al. 1998; Younnis, McLellan et al. 1999b; Scales, Blyth et al. 2000);
- prevention of negative behaviours such as substance abuse and juvenile crime (Allen, Philiber et al. 1990; Moore and Allen 1996; Younnis, Yates et al. 1997; Uggen and Janikula 1999; Kupermic, Holditch et al. 2001);
- improved academic outcomes and engagement with schools (Allen, Kupermic et al. 1994; Moore and Allen 1996; Scales, Blyth et al. 2000; Gordon, Young et al. 2001; Kuperminc, Holditch et al. 2001); and
- improved social, psychological and cognitive development (Allen, Kupermic et al. 1994; Starr 1994, Kuperminc Holditch et al. 2001).
This difference most likely reflects the fact that previous studies indicate the benefits as the researchers see them while we asked young people to nominate the benefits/rewards themselves. The two lists are more likely to be complementary than contradictory, each providing a different perspective on the one picture.
Not surprisingly, many of the benefits that young people identify are closely connected to their motivations for volunteering and their choice of volunteer activity. For instance, young people motivated to volunteer by a desire to learn skills for a paid job tend to choose volunteer activities that will give them opportunities to learn these skills and thus they also tend to indicate "a paid job" or "skills for a paid job" as the benefits.
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1. Satisfaction and affirmation
Satisfaction is among the major benefits that young people identify from volunteering. The young people participating in our discussions talked about the satisfaction of doing a specific task well and the rewards of seeing that their efforts have "made a difference":
… self satisfaction when you're making a difference and you're actually helping people … That's better than being paid sometimes.
For a number of participants, particularly those from regional or rural areas, satisfaction is connected with contributing to the survival of an organisation or service such as a local kindergarten, emergency service or association. This is especially so when they are motivated by a concern that "if I don't do this who will?" and a fear that without their contribution the organisation or service will not continue:
… just the fact that no one else is going to do it and if I don't do it then X won't happen and that would be a real shame …
Satisfaction is linked to affirmation. It leads to a rise in self-esteem as the young volunteers become aware that their efforts have "made a difference". It creates and strengthens positive attitudes to volunteering:
Knowing that you've helped someone and that you can go back and do it again …
It also marks young people as active and contributing members of their community.
For some young people volunteering is satisfying because it is also "fun":
When we did our carols that was helping people – that was a big difference because we really felt like we were absolutely helping them but we were having fun.
It has to be casual, fun and interesting.
I enjoy doing St Johns because it is actually fun.
But for others, "having fun" is not necessary to gain satisfaction. This can be experienced even if tasks are difficult and stressful if the volunteers are motivated primarily by other factors such as wanting to advance the aims of the volunteer organisation, or to challenge and learn about themselves:
(This volunteer activity) isn't much fun … I don't do it for fun, I do it because it needs to be done.
In a way if you look at an ad for like a volunteer … if you're looking at it and saying OK it may not be something I'm really interested in but if I go there and challenge myself I'll have a good time …
Interestingly, some young people suggest that openly admitting they obtain satisfaction from volunteering can be difficult. A group of the youngest participants in this project indicated that it is not entirely socially acceptable to enjoy volunteering – or rather, to be seen to enjoy it. This is connected to views of volunteering as "uncool":
You're seen as soft if you go all warm and fuzzy.
Because it makes me feel good your mates wouldn't be very happy about that.
This can be a problem for girls, as well as boys:
Same for girls now too.
Yeah, you've got to come up with reasons, like oh my Mum said I have to do it.
However, many more look for – and talk about – satisfaction and its flow-on effect of affirmation as among the most important benefits of their volunteering.
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2. Social engagement
Earlier we noted how important it is to young people that they are able to undertake volunteer activity as part of a team and especially with others of their own age.
Opportunities for engagement with other people, particularly other people of their own age, are among the most common benefits that young people seek and obtain from volunteering. In particular, many of the discussion participants in this project identify "meeting new people" as a major benefit of involvement in volunteer activities:
Opportunities to meet new people … like where you work in groups …
… to meet new people and work with new people …
Making new friends outside their existing social circle seems to be particularly important:
I've got a lot of friends in the younger years and I wouldn't know them if I wasn't involved in the Duke of Ed scheme. Yeah, they run up to me, they're really excited … they look up to you but also you know, yeah, they're your friends.
For many participants, social engagement is seen as a benefit of volunteering primarily because of the new friends and further opportunities for social interaction and enjoyment that it can bring. For some though there are additional, broader benefits. Some discussion participants identified that social engagement through volunteering enabled them to gain new and deeper knowledge about other people and their cultures, ideas and values. In turn, this knowledge – and the new understandings that accompany it – caused them to reconsider their own attitudes, behaviour and beliefs. The outcome appeared to be greater self-knowledge and some changes in values and behaviour.
For instance, one discussion participant spoke of greater understanding of Indigenous people as a benefit of meeting these people through volunteer teaching in remote Australia, while:
Enjoying different lifestyles and being with people who have different cultures …
Another talked about revising strongly held prejudices as a benefit of contact with people from other nations through a volunteering activity overseas:
I found that going over there I had a lot of prejudices against … especially against Americans and … I became the best friend of an American there and it really showed me that we're all just human … Those sorts of things. It really made me reconsider all my values because they're just … this little part of the world's values that you know, society has given me and I've grown up with and it made me reconsider that.
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3. Personal growth and development
As well as the growth in understanding and the development of values noted above, young people identify "feeling good about themselves" as a major benefit of volunteering. Knowing that they have made an effort – particularly one that has "made a difference" – builds their self-esteem and confidence in their abilities:
… it just makes you feel good about yourself knowing you're making a difference.
When we do it we get something out of it because you see the faces of the elderly and they appreciate it and you feel good because you make other people feel good.
Several participants described volunteering as "empowering". For instance, one who volunteers with St John's Ambulance said:
It's empowering for me to know that … I can go out and do something useful and also that I can be working with my friends and we can do some really good things together …
While others did not often use the same word, they described similar feelings and experiences, particularly when, as volunteers, they were given responsibility for an activity or outcome that they considered to be important and meaningful. The ability of volunteering to empower seemed to be particularly important because participants indicated that in so many other situations young people tend to feel disempowered, as they are constantly under the supervision or direction of others:
It's hard to stay motivated when other people are calling the shots.
Related to the feeling of empowerment, a further benefit of volunteering is the confidence that young people gain by becoming familiar with a particular environment or situation. Through volunteering they learn to cope with and manage difficult or unpleasant situations. They lose a sense of powerlessness and become more aware of their own ability to contribute to change. They also lose their fear of the unknown. This benefit was raised particularly by young people when talking about emergency situations (e.g. bushfire, car accidents) and dealing with drugs and violence (e.g. at "raves").
A lot of the time it's pretty stressful and it's hard … I've learned a lot of stuff – that's good for me.
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4. Acknowledgment and appreciation
Most young people receive some kind of acknowledgment and appreciation of their volunteering efforts and see these as important benefits. However, others miss out. One participant complained that volunteer organisations incorrectly assume that volunteers do not need to be rewarded:
There's an assumption especially in organisations that are not purely voluntary – that have paid staff and volunteers – that volunteer staff are so self-motivated, are so driven, that they don't need recognition … whereas … we do appreciate certificates or whatever …
For some, acknowledgment and appre-ciation compensate for not being paid:
Appreciation is a big thing in volunteer work. Like especially when you're not being paid for it. Like if you work somewhere and you get paid for it, that's like what you get for doing your job. But when you're volunteering, if no one even shows any appreciation it leaves a big gap.
They are also affirming, helping the volunteers to feel good about what they have contributed:
It's nice when someone comes up and says look you're really good at that bit, do you want to come back and do some more or something like that. I mean, that makes you feel so much better that … that … You count.
For some participants, appreciation need only be as informal as a "pat on the back":
Like you know, just a pat on the back, good on you mate sort of thing.
But others prefer more formal recognition such as a certificate or a reference that they can add to their resume. This is particularly important if their volunteering has included some training, or if their motivation for volunteering centres on gaining skills and contacts to help them to obtain paid work:
I just want the certificate.
(A certificate) "Would be a plus".
I can put it on my resume and get a reference.
A few participants are concerned that formal recognition encourages people to volunteer who "only want the certificate". In their view, volunteering:
Shouldn't be about just doing it to get a certificate.
However, many indicate that they would not volunteer "just for the certificate" or even for more informal recognition. Though recognition, whether formal or informal, is extremely welcome.
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5. Career benefits
Through volunteering, many young people gain career benefits. Firstly, volunteering can help them to identify a career:
Deaf centre – changed career goals.
Secondly, through volunteering they may gain skills, including through training:
If it gives you experience and opportunities that you can use later then that's really good …
With some volunteer work you can like add that into your resume and it can also help you if you want to make a career move … it can really give you an indication of the expectations of future employers …
Thirdly, through volunteering they meet people who may be able to help them to gain paid employment:
I meet people who work in the industry and make contacts into the industry.
Finally, sometimes a volunteer position leads directly to a paid one. Among the TAFE students responding to our survey on volunteering and the young people participating in our discussion groups were several who indicated that they had moved from a voluntary to a paid position in the same organisation:
By doing volunteer work … I have been put on their books for relieving work with a view to permanent work.
I started there because I wanted to get skills … and afterwards they gave me a job and then they gave me a different job.
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Summary and observations
Young people do seek – and often gain – benefits from their participation in volunteering. Five main types of individual benefits were indicated by our discussion groups: satisfaction and affirmation; social engagement; personal growth and development; acknowledgment and appre-ciation; and career benefits. Many benefits reflect the motivations of the young people for volunteering and their choice of volunteer activity, e.g. career benefits are associated with a volunteer activity undertaken to gain skills or connections useful for a career.
Noting the range of benefits that young people receive from volunteering leads to two important questions: What circumstances are required to produce these benefits? When do young people benefit the most?
An interesting finding of the discussion groups is that some young people indicate that they benefit from volunteering even when their experiences are negative ones. For instance, they learn that there are some activities or circumstances they should avoid in the future, or to recognise inappropriate or unsuccessful ways of dealing with difficulties. In one discussion, for example, a participant talked about wanting to become a librarian but changing her mind after volunteering in a library and finding the work to be dull and unchallenging. In another, participants talked about poor management skills they had experienced or noticed while volunteering.
However, more importantly, young people seem to gain the most benefits when they enjoy volunteering. This is significant because it indicates that attempts to increase the benefits of volunteering of young people should concentrate on improving the experience.
Fortunately, there are clear indications of how this task might be tackled. In discussions, young people identified the many different factors that help to make a volunteer experience a positive or negative one.
Positive
- Working with or for other people, especially young people.
- Being able to work in teams rather than alone.
- Having a variety of interesting tasks.
- Having some control over what tasks are done and how they are done.
- Having input into goals and objectives and being able to work toward them.
- Having opportunities to use skills and creativity.
- Having opportunities to gain new skills.
- Being given appropriate levels of responsibility – not too much to be stressful but not so little that they are under constant direction.
- Being given opportunities to move upwards through an organisation to new responsibilities.
- Being welcomed into an organisation by other workers or volunteers.
- Being able to see the results of their efforts.
- Being appreciated and rewarded.
Negative
- Being given repetitive, mundane or boring tasks with no obvious rationale.
- Having no opportunities to use skills and creativity.
- Having no input into goals, objectives or activities.
- Being over-directed.
- Being given too much responsibility leading to stress.
- Working in isolation or alone.
- Having few opportunities for interaction with other people.
- Not being trusted.
- Being given dangerous or demeaning tasks.
- Being asked to conform to rigid regulations or traditions that have no apparent meaning or purpose.
- Not being acknowledged or appreciated.
- Being rejected by a community or volunteer organisation.
- Being unable to see any impact of their efforts.