Sustaining Engagement and Commitment within Student Volunteering: Reasons for Volunteer Engagement Attrition and Possible Solutions

by

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

In this study we try to explore the concept of volunteering in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on student volunteering and its relation with engagement and commitment. The research also analyzes many aspects of volunteering and tries to gauge its effect on student volunteering. Finally the research describes the overall effect of student volunteering on volunteer engagement attritions.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the study1

Aim of the research2

Significance of the study2

Research Questions2

Research objectives3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Volunteerism4

Statistics of Student Volunteering in UK4

Changes to the Volunteering Landscape6

What is a Volunteer?7

Who is a Student Volunteer?8

Reasons for Volunteering9

Benefits for the Student Volunteer13

Retaining the Volunteer15

Engagement16

Definitions of Engagement18

Concept of Engagement19

Drivers of Volunteer Engagement21

Outcomes of Student volunteer Engagement23

Education and training opportunities24

Help and Support24

Fulfilling the volunteer demands24

Conclusion24

REFERENCES27

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Volunteering is the act of giving freely of one's time to benefit a group, a cause, or another person. In a study, researchers found that the activities volunteers engage in are typically proactive, necessitate some commitment of both time, and energy, and are usually thought to be formalized and public. (Holdsworth C, Quinn J 2010)

Whenever someone has to try and understand, there are a lot of factors that are taken under thought. Factors that influence a potential volunteer's decision to engage in unpaid activities include: personal values, beliefs, educational level, amount of free time, income and social resources, marital status, age, gender, race, mental health, physical health, and socioeconomic status may, in a variety of combinations. Volunteers contribute a major number of hours to a variety of organisations within their communities, performing a variety of important tasks. (Hill K E, Jones S R 2003)

The study is based on the concept of volunteering. Moreover, it is based on sustaining engagement and commitment within student volunteering. It is necessary that the factors that inspire a student to start volunteering should remain in them always and make them continue serving as an Effective volunteer. It is important that volunteering, which is often called the glue that holds our civil society together is determined by good recruitment and retention practices. Satisfaction is based on the same concept as the retainment and treatment of volunteers. Although there has been a large increase in the number of students who have volunteered over the last 20 years, there has been a relatively high number of turnover and dissatisfaction.

Despite the fact that the concept of volunteering inspires a lot of people around the globe , there ...