Volunteers’ perspective on online volunteering - a qualitative approach

Filipa Silva (), Teresa Proença () and Marisa R. Ferreira ()
Additional contact information
Filipa Silva: University of Porto, Portugal
Teresa Proença: University of Porto, Portugal
Marisa R. Ferreira: School of Management and Technology - Porto Polytechnic Institute, CIICESI

International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 2018, vol. 15, issue 4, No 5, 552 pages

Abstract: Abstract Since the creation of the Internet as an information technology, it has become a tool which exerts its influence on virtually all aspects of human life, including pro-social behavior (Amichai-Hamburger, 2008). An online context is a place of pro-social promise (Wright and Li 2012), and as Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) face increasing challenges (such as resource scarcity) the Internet has become an important resource for involving and recruiting volunteers and creating opportunities for participation through online volunteering (Pinho and Macedo, 2006). Online volunteering is understood as a particular form of volunteering whose main distinction lies in procedure, since it occurs partially or totally on the Internet. This study seeks to understand the factors that cause and sustain online volunteerism from the volunteer’s perspective, namely the motivations that lead the individual to volunteer online, as well as the resulting experiences and consequences/benefits. We did twenty-four interviews with volunteers of several nationalities. The results contribute to the understanding and development of new knowledge about the online volunteering process, more precisely for a better understanding of how NPOs can best use this resource, namely in the management, recruiting and retaining of volunteers. The main conclusions show that altruistic motivations and learning/career rewards are the most common motivations. Regarding the intention for permanence, the satisfaction associated with the experience and the initial motivations are shown to be decisive. The consequences/benefits are essentially associated with the acquired learning which volunteers consider to be a valuable future asset, and the intrinsic reward of self-actualization and e-empowerment.

Keywords: Internet; Online volunteering; Motivations; Experiences; Consequences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12208-018-0212-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:irpnmk:v:15:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s12208-018-0212-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/business/journal/12208

DOI: 10.1007/s12208-018-0212-8

Access Statistics for this article

International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing is currently edited by Helena Maria Alves

More articles in International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing from Springer, International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().