Accessibility navigation

Volunteer choice of nonprofit organisation: an integrated framework

Lists
Tools

Mitchell, S.-L. and Clark, M. (2021) Volunteer choice of nonprofit organisation: an integrated framework. European Journal of Marketing, 55 (1). pp. 63-94. ISSN 0309-0566

[img]
Preview
 Text - Accepted Version
· Please see our End User Agreement before downloading.
1MB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.1108/EJM-05-2019-0427

Abstract/Summary

Structured abstract Purpose – This paper explores how volunteers choose one nonprofit organisation (NPO) rather than another. It identifies the drivers of choice, and the relationship between them, to enable NPOs to strengthen their volunteer recruitment. Design/methodology/approach - 51 service-delivery volunteers were interviewed, drawn from five leading NPOs. A laddering technique was used to understand the context in which the choice of organisation was made and the underlying personal needs and goals. The data was analysed using means-end chain methodology to uncover the relationships between, and hierarchy of, the decision drivers. Findings - Brand, cause, and role were found to be important in meeting personal needs and goals through volunteering. The paper makes three contributions. Firstly, it presents a clearer understanding of NPO choice through adopting an integrated theoretical perspective. Secondly, it identifies the decision-making process and key relationships between the attributes of the NPO, the consequences for the volunteer, and the connection to their personal needs. Finally, the study makes an important contribution to literature through presenting a new conceptual framework of volunteer decision-making in the nonprofit context to act as a catalyst for future research. Research limitations/implications - This research is both impactful through, and limited by, its context selection: regular service-delivery volunteers from five NPOs within two causes. The paper presents a rich research stream to extend this understanding to other nonprofit stakeholders, other causes including medical charities, and smaller NPOs. Practical implications - In an increasingly competitive nonprofit environment with a growing need to support the vulnerable in society, NPO sustainability is dependent on their ability to recruit new volunteers. NPOs compete not only with other organisations with similar causes but also those offering similar volunteering roles, and other uses of time to meet personal needs such as sport, career, or community. Understanding how volunteers make their choice of NPO rather than other uses of their time is of vital importance to make the most effective use of scarce marketing resources. This paper contributes to that practitioner understanding. Originality/value - The authors are the first to extend the understanding of generic motivations of volunteers to consider specific choice of NPO. Unlike previous literature, the authors bring together theory on brand, cause, and role with personal needs. The authors are also the first to apply means-end chain methodology to the nonprofit context in order to uncover the personal underlying, less salient reasons behind NPO choice and the relationship between them. Key words Nonprofit, Decision-making, Volunteer, Cause, Role, Means-end Chain Paper type Research paper

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Henley Business School > Marketing and Reputation
ID Code:91811
Publisher:Emerald
Download Statistics

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Altmetric
Deposit Details
References

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation

See also