AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION IN CREDIT UNIONS275

AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION IN CREDIT UNIONS: INFORMING VOLUNTEER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

byAnne Marie WARDUniversity of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UKandDonal G. MCKILLOP*Queens University Management School, Northern Ireland, UK

ABSTRACT: Volunteer recruitment and retention is a problem that most credit unions experience. Research suggests that knowledge of volunteer motivation can inform volunteer management strategies. This paper uses a survey approach to determine whether current volunteers in credit unions in Northern Ireland are more motivated by the actual act of volunteering, by the output from the volunteering activity (including altruism) or because the volunteering activity increases their human capital value. Altruistic reasons are found to be the most influential, with the act of volunteering also scoring highly. This knowledge should inform volunteer recruitment programmes and internal appraisal processes as management can reinforce messages that provide positive feedback to volunteers on the social benefits being achieved by the credit union. This will further motivate current volunteers, ensuring retention. When motivation was analyzed by volunteer characteristics we found that older volunteers, retired volunteers and volunteers who are less educated are more motivated in their role. There was little evidence that individuals volunteer to improve their human capital worth.

Keywords: credit unions, volunteerism, motivation, altruism

JEL classification: D64

1 Introduction

Credit unions are member-owned, non-profit financial organizations that provide low cost banking services to their members and typically pursue social objectives. The credit union sector is a worldwide movement: 54,000 credit unions operate in97 countries and the movement provides financial products for over 186 million people and reported net assets of $1.194 trillion by the end of 2007 (WOCCU 2008). The credit union sector in Northern Ireland (NI) is employed as the test base in this paper. There are 177 credit unions in NI, with 23.59% of the adult population belonging to a credit union (McKillop et al. 2011). Worldwide credit unions pursue a self-help philosophy and all are governed by a volunteer board of directors who are elected by the membership from the membership1 (WOCCU 2002). In addition, many credit unions in Northern Ireland are totally reliant on volunteers for all their operational activities2 (Ward and McKillop 2006). Recruiting and retaining volunteers is increasingly becoming a critical issue for the sector. Regulators and researchers highlight volunteer recruitment and retention as a limiting factor in the development of the sector in NI (Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment2003).

While our findings are specific to the movement in NI, they also have a much more general resonance. Credit unions worldwide are relatively homogenous in their operational structures and modus operandi and in almost all movements, volunteer recruitment and retention is a crucial issue. For example, Credit Union National Association (CUNA), a US trade association suggests that the recruitment of volunteers, particularly to the board of directors, has always been an issue for US credit unions (CUNA website 2009). Current debate in Canada and the US centres

round the issue of whether board members should receive remuneration. In the Republic of Ireland (ROI) John OHalloran, then the Registrar for credit unions, noted that obtaining volunteers in todays affluent society is very difficult (Tangwall 2004) and Jones (1999) noted that 86% of community credit unions in Great Britain (GB) reported that volunteer burnout was restricting their growth. McKillop et al. (2011) highlighted difficulty in the recruitment of volunteers as being a reason for credit unions failing or merging with other credit unions in GB.The recruitment and retention of volunteers is a problem faced by many non- profit organizations (NPOs) (Jager et al. 2009, Ward and McKillop 2010) and NPOs compete with each other for limited volunteer resources (Bussell and Forbes 2002, Reicken et al. 1994). In the case of credit unions the problem is accentuated as the potential pool of volunteers is restricted by the requirement that volunteers be members. In addition, members must belong to a common bond. This means that they must have a common interest such as living in a particular area, being a member of a particular organization, or working for a particular employer.Prior research on volunteer recruitment and management in NPOs suggests that having a better understanding of current volunteer profile and motivation can improve volunteer recruitment and retention strategies. Dolnicar and Randle (2007) recommend a market segment approach, which identifies homogenous subgroups of potential volunteers using predefined criterion, to improve volunteer recruitment strategies. Stukas et al. (2009) suggest that matching volunteer motivations and organization type, volunteer activities and volunteer position, should improve volun- teer recruitment and retention. Our study provides information on the motivation of volunteers in credit unions and discusses the results under three broad categories: motivation from the act of volunteering; motivation to volunteer to improve the value of the volunteers human capital; and/or motivation to keep the service available for use by others (the output from the volunteering activity). The latter motivation includes altruistic reasons. Altruism is argued to underpin all volunteer activity (Faircloth 2005). According to Keller (2007) An act that is altruistic is the one done out of regard for others rather than for self-interest.Anderson (2003) and Tidwell (2005) consider that the choice to remain in a volunteering role is associated with the connect that volunteers feel they have with the organization. Therefore, our results are further analyzed according to the volunteer characteristics: gender, age, employment status and education. This should assist credit union management when approaching a particular profile of volunteer as they will better know which type of motivations are typically more attractive. The motivation to volunteer is also examined according to credit union size, length of service and by the function performed by volunteers within credit unions.The paper is structured as follows. The next section justifies the approach used to capture and categorize volunteer motivation according to the respective micro-economic models. The subsequent section summarizes the data, describes the characteristics of the sample and sets out hypotheses on the expected relationships between volunteer motivation and volunteer characteristics, volunteer role and credit union size. An evaluation of the results is provided in the penultimate section and finally conclusions are outlined.

2 Model and measurement of motivation

Motivation is a difficult construct to understand and hence model as it is influenced by human nature. Human nature is very complex as a wide range of potential motivations are possible. To cater for this, a reductionist paradigm approach is adopted in this paper. This approach tries to identify a small number of key motivations (see table 1, 17 have been identified from prior literature) which are assumed to account for a large proportion of volunteers particular actions. Action, in this case the act of volunteering, is normally as a result of a variety of different motivations (Shields 2009) and this study is trying to identify the most dominant influences that are relevant for volunteers in credit unions. As such the17 individual motivations are categorized and explained according to the type of motivation (ie motivation from the act of volunteering, motivation from the output of the volunteering activity and motivation from enhanced human capital value that results from the volunteering activity).

Table 1 Survey questions to determine the key motivations underlying volunteering, mapped to classification of motivation.

Survey question Type of motivation

AI get satisfaction from volunteeringAct (enjoyment)

BI volunteer because the role is interestingAct (interest)

CVolunteering makes me happyAct (enjoyment)

DI volunteer because I like to keep busyAct (enjoyment)

EI get to meet people and enjoy the social interactionAct (social)

FI volunteer because I know many of the other membersAct (social)

GI am gaining an educational experienceHuman capital (material-egotistic)

HBy volunteering I am raising my profile in the communityHuman capital (egotistic)

II am gaining practical experience towards paid employmentHuman capital (material - egotistic)

JI am doing something worthwhileOutput (altruistic)

KIt is a great opportunity to help those in more need in the localityOutput (altruistic)

LI am contributing to a better societyOutput (altruistic)

MI am ensuring that credit union services are available in the futureOutput (altruistic)

NThe credit union would have difficulty getting replacement volunteersOutput (need)

OThe credit union is benefiting from my expertiseOutput (need)

PI volunteer because I have done so in the past, or my family haveOutput (moral duty)

QIt is expected of me by my family/friendsOutput (moral duty)

ROther (explain.. .)

257This information could be useful for management when managing volunteer resources as volunteers with particular motivations can be matched to particular roles (Stukas et al. 2009). Tschirhart et al. (2001) argues that having knowledge of volunteer goals/motivations can help management address satisfaction problems, which will improve retention rates. For example if a volunteer has indicated that they are motivated by the act of volunteering, then a social role should be selected for that individual or where a volunteer identifies that they are interested in the outcomes of the volunteering activity (altruistic motives) then they could become part of the credit committee. This more informed resource allocation may improve volunteer retention.Related to this, Bussell and Forbes (2006) argue that organizations should develop strategies to achieve an enduring bond between the volunteer and the organization so that the volunteer remains with the organization on a long-term basis. Hence it is important to reassess volunteer motives periodically.The questions used in the survey to capture the three types of motivation are outlined in table 1. To capture motivation from the act of volunteering six questions (see questions A to F in table 1) are categorized into three areas: enjoyment; interest; and social interaction. Similar questions were asked in previous studies on volunteer motivation (see for example: Degli Antoni 2009, Stukas et al. 2009, Ziemek 2006, Hibbert et al. 2003, Schmid 2002, Frey 1997, Clary et al. 1996, Cnaan and Goldberg- Glen 1991, Deci and Ryan 1985).It is also argued that individuals volunteer because they increase their capital worth. They may gain market experience, knowledge (Menchik and Weisbrod 1987), or may even use their volunteering experience to signal aspects of their ability and personality to prospective employers (Ziemek 2006). Three questions (see questions G to I in table 1) are asked to determine if an individual is volunteering because they see it as investing in themselves. Similar questions were used or discussed by Stukas et al. (2009), Hackl et al. (2007), Ziemek (2006), Peterson (2004), Govekar and Govekar (2002), Thoitts and Hewitt (2001), Clary et al. (1996), Wymer et al. (1996), Schiff (1990) and are cited in Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991).The next eight questions examine the influence of output on the motivation to volunteer. The first four questions capture the influence of altruism (see questions J to M in table 1). Similar questions were used in prior studies including Ziemek (2006) and Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991). Altruism is regarded as being the ideal motivation for volunteering (Delgi Antoni 2009) and as such these questions are subject to upward measurement bias in particular. Smith (1981) suggests that when asked, individuals are likely to provide socio-culturally accepted norms as answers and Pearce (1993) questions the reliability of motives provided by volunteers due to this social-desirability bias. It is difficult to identify if this bias has taken place and we can only interpret the result with the awareness of this possibility. Indeed, most previous studies on volunteer motivation find that altruism is typically a dominant motivation underlying the act of volunteering (see for example, Ziemek 2006, Faircloth2005, Anderson 2003, Schmid 2002, Roy and Ziemek 2000, Frey 1997, Winniford et al.1997 and Unger 1991).

The final four questions (questions N to Q in table 1) refer to the importance of need and moral duty on the motivation to volunteer. Similar questions used in prior studies are cited in Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991) (see also Anderson, 2003). Schiff (1990) posits that individuals volunteer because they want the organization to survive, grow and to have its products available for use by others. Individuals who volunteer for these reasons are likely to stop volunteering if someone else was to

enjoyable and rewarding also found the role to be frustrating, emotionally draining and disappointing. They concluded that these volunteers have the highest expectations in terms of feedback from the recipients of their volunteer activity. Therefore, credit union managers need to ensure that sufficient procedures are in place to ensure that volunteers are appropriately appreciated by the board and that members are made aware of the social good that the volunteers are performing.

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agree to volunteer in their place as they are happy so long as the output (service) is available (Ziemek 2006, Govekar and Govekar 2002, Freeman 1997, Zech 1982).

3 Data

A survey approach was utilized to obtain information on the profile and motivation of volunteers in credit unions in NI. Credit union managers and/or chairpersons were contacted and were asked to distribute questionnaires to all the volunteers in their credit union. Overall, 55% (98 out of 177 credit unions) of the credit unions contacted agreed to distribute questionnaires to their volunteers. Of the1,606 questionnaires distributed, 433 were returned.4 The responses are analyzed into three size categories using total assets as the size measure: credit unions with total assets of less than 1 million are regarded as small, credit unions with total assets of between 1 million and 5 million are classified as medium sized and credit unions with total asset greater than 5m are considered to be large. The response rates are provided in table 2.

Table 2 Volunteer survey response rates analyzed by credit union asset size

Size bandLess than1mBetween 1m and 5mGreater than5mInvalidResponseTotalNumber of credit27 out of 6340 out of 7431 out of 4098 out of 177% of credit unions participatingQuestionnaires sent42.9%39154%64377.5%57255.4%1606QuestionnairesreturnedResponse rate9825.1%16726.0%16428.7%443327 .0%unions participating

Overall, 27% of the volunteers who received a questionnaire returned it. However, this total figure masks varying levels of participation; a higher proportion (77.5%) of credit unions that are categorized as large agreed to participate and a marginally higher percentage of volunteers in these large credit unions returned the questionnaire (28.7%), relative to small credit unions (42.9% of credit unions participated in the study and 25.1% of the volunteers who received questionnaires returned them). The differences in response rates may be due to the fact that small credit unions are only open a limited number of hours each week. Opening hours are therefore busy and hence volunteers have less free time to deal with other issues, such as completing research questionnaires.The questionnaire asked the volunteer to rank each of the 17 reasons for volunteering (see table 1) on a Likert scale of agreement.5 The scale ranged from

4 We recognize that our results are likely to have selection bias. Respondents are more likely to be more motivated than non-respondents and this has to be taken into account when interpreting the results.5 A further category other was also included to capture any reason that was not covered;however, a high response was not expected, or obtained, as Gillespie and King (1985) suggest

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Table 3 Survey responses analyzed by volunteer characteristics

FrequencyValid PercentFrequencyValid Percent

GenderNo.%Age profile%

Male25159.8Under 40 years5312.6

Female16940.240-60 years20147.8

Missing9Over 60 years16739.6

Total429100Missing8

Total429100

Employment

Retired15235.5Education

Unemployed286.6Educated to 1614634.1

Employed/Self24857.9Educated to 1813932.5

Missing1Educated past 1814333.4

Total429100Missing1

Total429100

Years of duty

Less than 24410.4Board member

Between 2-1017240.5Yes35383.6

More than 1020949.2No6916.4

Missing8Missing7

Total433100Total429100

Size (Assets)Small9522.1

Medium17039.6

Large16438.3

Total429100

one to seven; where one indicates that that reason is not influential at all and seven indicates that the reason is influential to a great extent.6 In addition, the questionnaire requested information on the profile of the responding volunteers (see table 3) as prior studies suggest that different types of people have different tastes for, and derive different levels of utility from volunteering.Of the 429 valid responses to the survey 251 were male, 169 were female and9 did not complete that section of the survey. Based on prior research findings, it is hypothesized that women score the altruistic motives higher relative to males (Themudo 2009, Ziemek 2006, Wilson 2000, Eckel and Grossman 1998) and are more motivated to volunteer for social reasons (Maclaran and Cattarall 2000). Men are more likely to volunteer through reasons of self-interest (Ziemek 2006).An individuals age is also considered to influence their motivation to volunteer. This study split age into three bands-under 40 years of age, aged between 40 and 60 and volunteers who are over 60 years of age. Of the 429 respondents, 53 are aged below 40, 201 are aged between 40 and 60 and 167 are aged over 60.

that unless we ask the specific motivation the person will not provide the answer, as motivation is subconsciously construed. Only 16 respondents provided additional evidence; therefore, this question was not analyzed further.6 As a control, the respondents were also asked to rank the top five most influentialreasons for volunteering (this enables distinctions to be made between motivations, when respondents score the questions the same).

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It is hypothesized that younger people are likely to score the investment model motivations higher relative to older individuals (Ziemek 2006, Peterson 2004). Janoski and Wilson (1995) found that individuals change the type of volunteer work they elect to do from more career orientated to more community based as they get older. Therefore, older individuals are more likely to score altruistic motives higher than younger individuals.Employment status has also been reported to influence volunteer motivation. This study analyzed the 429 respondents into: unemployed (28 volunteers); retired (152 volunteers) and employed (248 volunteers) categories. It is hypothesized that unemployed people will be more motivated to increase their human capital worth relative to retired and employed people (Zeimek 2006). Unemployed and retired people are also likely to volunteer to keep busy and for private utility reasons (in particular for social reasons) relative to employed people.Education level is also considered to affect motivation type. Education groupings are based on the age the volunteer was educated to and included educated: to 16 years of age; to 18 years of age; or beyond 18 years of age. Of the 429 respondents, 146 left education on or before the age of 16, 139 left education at the age of 18 and 143 were educated beyond the age of 18. It is hypothesized that people who are less educated are more likely to be influenced to volunteer to gain an educational experience, to gain practical experience and to raise their profile in the community (Clary et al. 1996). Some previous studies suggest that educated people are more likely to be aware of the problems of others and to have empathy for individuals being affected by the output of the volunteer work, hence are likely to be more motivated by altruism (Wilson,2000). Therefore, employed people are hypothesized to rank altruistic motives for volunteering higher.

Several studies that have examined the recruitment and retention of volunteers have suggested that there is a difference in the motives of individuals who start volunteering, relative to individuals who become long-term volunteers (Tschirhart et al. 2001, Thomas and Finch 1990, Gidron 1985). The theme within the discussion of the results in these studies is that the motivations for the two types of volunteer (beginner and experienced) are different and it is suggested that motivations can evolve with volunteer experience. In this study all the respondents (except five) had been volunteering for periods in excess of 6 months, indeed several had been volunteering in the local credit union for over 40 years! The survey responses were categorized into three bands, those who had been volunteering for less than 2 years, for between 2 and 10 years and those who had volunteered for the credit unions for over 10 years. As can be seen from table 3 90% of the respondents in this survey have been volunteering for over 2 years. The means of the three groupings will be compared to each other for each motivation to determine if motivation type is associated with length of service.As is highlighted in table 3, 95 of the 429 returned questionnaires are from volunteers who are volunteering in small-sized credit unions, 170 are from volunteers who are volunteering in medium-sized credit unions and 164 are from volunteers who are volunteering in large-sized credit unions. Credit unions with a greater demand for volunteers from a smaller membership are expected to have problems replacing current volunteers and consequentially volunteers will feel pressured to remain in

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their role. It is likely that volunteer members in small credit unions that are wholly dependent on volunteers for all their labour needs (Ward and McKillop 2006) are more motivated to volunteer to keep the service available for their community than volunteers who are volunteering in larger sized credit unions. Large credit unions are typically able to afford paid staff instead of volunteers (Ward and McKillop 2006). Therefore, volunteers in large credit unions are more likely to volunteer because they are motivated by the act of volunteering and for altruistic reasons, such as enjoyment, interest and interaction.Finally, this study evaluates whether the role that a volunteer performs has a significant impact on their motivation to volunteer. Credit union volunteers typically have two functions. They serve on the board of directors, or are involved in the operating activities of the credit union 353 of the respondents are on the board of directors and 69 perform operational duties. In a study on the motivation of board members in non-profit organizations, Inglis and Cleave (2006) found that the most highly rated motivations are community related (see also Inglis, 1994), hence we expect board members to be motivated by the output of the volunteering activity.

4 Results

4.1 Overall survey findings

An evaluation of the results for each of the 17 predefined reasons for volun- teering for the whole sample are categorized into the three motivation categories in table 4. The questions reflecting the act of volunteering (A to F) are analyzed in the first six columns, followed by questions on human capital worth (G to I), altruism (questions J to M) and need and moral duty (questions N to Q). The second row in the table discloses the mean value reported on the Likert scale for each question by the total sample. To aid interpretation the questions are ranked in order of the size of their mean score, with the question with the largest mean, ranked 1 and the question with the lowest mean value ranked 17. The standard deviation is provided next as it gives an indication of the dispersal of results about the mean. The last two rows in the table detail the number of times the reason was ranked between 5 and 7 on the Likert scale and the percentage of the respondents to do so. A response of between 5 and 7 is considered to indicate that that reason is very influential to the volunteer.From an overview of the results in Table 4, altruism is found to be the dominant motive underlying volunteer behaviour.7 Three out of the four highest ranked reasons for volunteering are aligned directly with the altruism indicators: Question J: I volunteer because I am doing something worthwhile has the highest mean value (5.95) and was cited by 88.2% of the sample as motivating them to a great extent

7 As mentioned previously Smith (1981) and Pearce (1993) suggest that survey method- ologies are flawed as individuals are likely to provide socially acceptable answers, not true answers. It is difficult to control for this bias, however, 17 possible motivations were provided,12 of which covered non-altruistic reasons for volunteering. The respondents did not have to rank each motivation against each other so are likely to award their true motivation as highly as the socially acceptable response.

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Table 4 Mean scores, ranking and analysis of each motive categorised by motivation type.

Increasing/maintaining the outputThe act of volunteering from the volunteering activity

Enjoyment &SocialIncreases in humanNeed and moral

interest indicatorsindicatorscapital worthAltruistic indicatorsduty indicators

Questions(see table 1)ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQMean (1-7)5.745.094.954.074.944.103.152.861.845.955.385.245.234.414.113.811.82Rank (1-17)2681271114151613459101317Standard deviation1.391.551.722.001.682.002.071.981.601.221.581.621.562.001.852.331.64Frequency scored 5-7330271251180254187109883835828627730120417517738Scored 5-7 (%)80.7%68.2%63.5%45.4%64.1%47.1%28.1%22.6%9.9%88.2%71.1%69.5%71.8%51%44.8%45.1%9.9%(No.)

(scored between 5 and 7). Question K (mean value of 5.38) I volunteer because I am helping those in need in the community was ranked third and question L (mean value of 5.24) I volunteer because I am contributing to a better society was ranked fourth. The question that was ranked second with a mean value of 5.74-question A I volunteer because I get satisfaction from volunteering is open to interpretation as it does not define the source of the satisfaction. However, it does provide an indication of the overall level of motivation of the individual. These results are consistent with the findings of Ziemek (2006), Schmid (2002), Roy and Ziemek (2000), Frey (1997), Winniford et al. (1997) and Unger (1991).The next most relevant motivations noted are interest, enjoyment and social interaction. With a mean value of 5.09, 68.2% (271 respondents) of the sample stated that they considered volunteering to be interesting (question B) and this motivated them to volunteer. 63.5% (251 respondents) of the sample stated that they volunteered because it made them happy (question C). This motivation returned an overall mean value of 4.95. A smaller proportion (45.4% 180 respondents) scored volunteering because they want to remain busy (question D) between 5 and 7 on the Likert scale of agreement (overall mean value reported is 4.07). Social reasons for volunteering were not as influential as enjoyment and interest but were also rated quite highly by respondents; volunteering to meet people (question E) has an overall mean value of4.94, and a mean value of 4.1 resulted for question F I volunteer because I know the other members.

Smith (1981) suggests that all volunteers have certain levels of altruism; however, on their own, these motives are insufficient to result in action, therefore other influences, like deriving utility from social interaction, are expected.Four of the other motivations that capture the importance of the output of the volunteering activity are also regarded as influential. With a mean score of 5.23,71.8% (301) of the respondents indicated that they were motivated to volunteer to keep the credit unions services available for others (question M). Over half of the respondents suggested that they were influenced to volunteer because they felt that the credit union would have difficulty finding replacement volunteers (question N). A substantial proportion of the sample (44.8%) also indicated that they felt that the credit union was benefiting from their expertise (question O) and 45.1% indicated that they volunteered because they, or their family, did so in the past (question P). A smaller proportion (38 respondents 9.9% of the sample) indicated that a strong influence on their decision to volunteer was the fact that they felt that it was expected of them by their family and friends (question Q). However, most of the sample did not deem this motivation to be relevant at all as is indicated by the low mean score returned of 1.82.The motivations categorized as human capital wealth improvement are least influential (questions G to I). The mean values for each question are below 3.5, indicating that many respondents are not influenced by these motivations.The results are now examined according to volunteer characteristics (gender, age, employment status, education level and volunteer role). The means for each category are calculated and pairwise multiple comparisons using post hoc tests (Tambhanes T and ANOVA tests) are utilized to test for significant differences between the responses in each category.

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4.2 Survey findings analyzed by gender and age

Table 5 analyzes the results for gender and age. Altruism is the most influential motive for both males and females, though in contrast to the predicted relationship, the mean value returned by male respondents is significantly higher than the mean value reported by females (significant at the 5% level). Andreoni and Vesterlund (2001) suggest that men are more likely to be more generous than women when giving is relatively cheap, whereas women are more likely to give when the price of giving is relatively high. Perhaps this explains the anomaly in our results, or a simple explanation may be that men are interested in the social good that can be obtained from providing practical banking services to the community. In many other studies the volunteering activities are typically more humanitarian in nature and hence may be more attractive to women. Females are found to be more influenced by the social benefits to be gained from the volunteering activity (see question E, the difference is significant at the 5% level).Older volunteers get more satisfaction from volunteering relative to younger volunteers (question A-significant at the 5% level) whereas middle aged volunteers are more motivated to volunteer because they find the role interesting (question B- significant at the 5% level). With a mean value of 4.34, volunteers who are over 60 years of age are more likely to volunteer because they want to keep busy (question D-significant at the 10% level) relative to the category who are under 40 years of age (a significantly lower mean score (3.68) is reported). This is expected due to the life cycle effect, many older individuals have fewer demands on their time (They may no longer be trying to progress in employment, or may be retired and are less likely to have a young family) and hence the opportunity cost of volunteering is likely to be lower for them.Older volunteers are more motivated by altruism relative to volunteers who are aged between 40 and 60 and relative to volunteers who are under 40 years of age (significant differences in the sample means are reported for questions J, K, L and M). It may be that older volunteers have more experience of seeing the benefits of credit unions within the community. Older volunteers are also more likely to be motivated to volunteer because they have done so in the past (see question P) though the difference is only significant when the mean of the category of volunteer who are less than 40 years of age (3.23) is compared to the mean value reported by the category of volunteer that are over 60 years of age (4.03).The only time younger respondents reported higher levels of motivation (sig- nificantly higher) relative to the older categories, was in the questions which reflect motivation to increase human capital worth. However, regardless of the significant differences between the categories, the overall mean values reported for the younger age grouping are low at 3.58 for question G and 2.51 for question I, indicating that in general terms, these motivations are of little influence in the decision to volunteer.

4.3 Survey findings analyzed by employment and education

Table 6 analyzes the results for employment status and level of education received. In general, retired volunteers are more motivated by the act of volunteering.

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+++++Table 5 Question means analyzed by gender and by age category (with directional relationship and statistical differences in the reported categories highlighted).

The act of volunteeringIncreases inIncreasing/maintaining the output from the volunteering activity

human capital

Enjoyment & interest SocialworthAltruistic indicators Need and moral duty

Motivation from: QuestionA B C D E FG H IJ K L M N O P Q

Gender (% of sample in each category)

Male (59.8%)5.80 5.05 4.83 3.96 4.79 4.123.09 2.83 1.715.93 5.55 5.47 5.32 4.41 4.22 3.79 1.83

Female (40.2%)5.64 5.16 5.10 4.27 5.20 4.123.22 2.94 1.995.96 5.17 4.93 5.12 4.32 3.94 3.71 1.75

Statistical relationship between the gender categoriesMale and Female+ + +

Age (% of sample in each category)Under 40 (12.6%)5.004.584.533.684.814.093.583.192.515.574.664.364.454.113.793.231.79

Between 40-60 (47.8%)5.745.305.014.045.014.203.423.001.925.985.395.295.244.344.113.781.74

Over 60 (39.6%)5.965.015.014.344.934.062.602.631.405.995.675.515.504.554.294.031.9

+++Between 40-60 and over 60+++Statistical relationship between the age categoriesUnder 40 and between 40-60

+Under 40 and over 60 + + +

+

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Where ** indicates that the relationship is significant at the 5% level and * indicates significance at the 10% level.

Table 6 Mean scores analyzed by employment type and extent of education experienced (with directional relationship and statistical differences in the reported categories highlighted).

The act of volunteering Increases in

Increasing/maintaining the output from the volunteering activityhuman capital Motivation from: Enjoyment & interest Social worth Altruistic indicators Need and moral duty

Unemployed (6.6%)5.445.165.043.755.174.354.212.542.716.125.405.005.123.723.383.361.83Retired (35.5%)6.185.345.384.775.104.192.662.821.496.185.675.745.504.574.424.311.97Employed (57.9%)5.494.964.703.744.884.073.332.971.945.775.234.975.104.374.023.541.72Employment (% of sample in each category)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q

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Statistical relationship between the employment status categoriesUnemployed and retired + + + + Unemployed and++++++++++++

employed

Retired and employed + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Education (% of sample in each category)Educated to 16 (34.1%)5.985.485.424.465.644.563.883.102.286.185.765.545.454.483.953.732.11

Educated to 18 (32.5%)5.854.884.804.114.764.012.882.931.665.915.395.165.244.484.183.881.63

Educated past 185.394.964.683.764.573.862.792.691.635.745.065.045.044.254.193.751.72

(33.4%)

Statistical relationship between the education categoriesTo 16 and to 18 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + To 16 and past 18 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + To 18 and past 18 + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Where ** indicates that the relationship is significant at the 5% level and * indicates significance at the 10% level.

They report significantly higher means for questions that refer to volunteering for enjoyment and interest (questions A, B, C and D) relative to employed volunteers and significantly higher means than those reported by unemployed volunteers when satisfaction (question A) and the need to keep busy (question D) are considered. In addition, relative to employed volunteers, retired volunteers: are more motivated to volunteer by altruistic motives (significant at the 5% level for questions J, K and L and at 10% for question M) and because they, or their family had done so in the past (question P) (significant at the 5% level). It is likely that the opportunity cost of volunteering is less for retired people and they therefore gain more utility from the role relative to employed and unemployed people who have other inflexible commitments such as work and/or having a young family.As predicted, unemployed and employed individuals are more influenced to volunteer to invest in their human capital relative to retired members. A surprising result was the low mean score reported for volunteering to gain practical experience towards paid employment (question I-2.71) suggesting that this reason is of little influence on their decision to volunteer. Perhaps the roles on offer do not provide the appropriate skills to increase human capital worth, or the skills are on offer but are not influential in the decision to volunteer.Respondents who are less educated derive more utility from the act of volun- teering, are more motivated by enjoyment of the role (questions A and C), find the role interesting (question B), volunteer to keep busy (question D) and enjoy the social benefits of the role (questions E and F) more relative to respondents who are more educated (significant differences result in most instances). Respondents who are less educated also see volunteering in credit unions as more of an educational experience (question G) and consider that the role provides practical experience towards paid employment (question I), relative to volunteers who are more educated. However, the overall mean scores reported for each question are low; ranging from 3.88 for question G to 2.28 for question I. Again, this suggests that these reasons are not stimulating volunteer action.Volunteers who are educated up to 16 years of age are more motivated by altruism and are more likely to volunteer to ensure that credit union services were available for individuals in the future, relative to volunteers who had been educated beyond the age of 18 (see table 6 for values the difference is significantly higher at the 5% level). On the downside, less educated volunteers feel under more pressure to volunteer (question Q), relative to highly educated volunteers (significant at the 10% level).

4.4 Survey findings analyzed by volunteer role, length of service and credit union size

In table 7 the results are analyzed according to whether volunteers are board members or not, length of service as a volunteer in the credit union and according to credit union size. Only two of the results report significant differences when the data is analyzed by volunteer role (ie board member and non-board member). Non-board members are more influenced to volunteer because they are gaining practical experience towards paid employment (question I) relative to board members

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Table 7 Mean scores analyzed by volunteer role, term as a volunteer and credit union size (with directional relationship and statistical differences in the reported categories highlighted).

Increasing/maintaining the output from the

The act of volunteering Increases in human capitalvolunteering activity

Motivation from:Enjoyment & interest SocialworthAltruistic indicators Need and moral duty

Question A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P QBoard member (% of sample in each category)Yes (83.6%)5.72 5.11 4.954.02 5.034.163.132.981.765.955.455.235.274.504.183.841.86

No (16.4%)5.87 5.19 5.094.44 4.834.063.372.742.365.975.225.365.263.863.893.681.72

Board or operational+++dutiesStatistical relationship between the volunteer function categories

+ + + +

Length of service in years (% in each category)Less than 2 (10.4%)5.104.644.353.384.533.863.383.052.415.525.054.715.44.243.313.031.75

Between 2 and 105.534.994.964.064.944.013.033.021.885.815.044.995.164.303.853.701.85

(40.5%)More than 10 (49.2%)6.085.125.124.285.144.313.262.851.716.175.785.605.244.524.544.051.83

Statistical relationship between the volunteer tenure categories< 2 and 2 10 years + + + +

+++< 2 and > 10 years

++2-10 and > 10 years

++Size (Assets) (% of sample in each category)

++ +Small (22.1%)5.554.884.494.064.974.733.052.951.935.545.074.704.924.854.003.802.33

Medium (39.6%)5.765.105.154.185.044.263.463.082.035.985.405.215.204.534.193.601.77

Large (38.3%)5.835.255.014.014.923.692.922.721.626.125.595.565.444.024.114.001.58

++Statistical relationship between the size categories

Medium and Large+++Small and Medium

+ +Small and Large + + + + + + +

+

C 2011 The AuthorsAnnals of Public and Cooperative Economics C 2011 CIRIEC269AN EXAMINATION OF VOLUNTEER MOTIVATION IN CREDIT UNIONS+ + + +

Where **indicates that the relationship is significant at the 5% level and * indicates significance at the 10% level.

+ + +

(significant at the 5% level). However, the mean value is low (2.36) for the non-board member grouping, hence is not a key influence. Board members are inclined to feel more needed, scoring the motivation the credit union would have difficulty getting replacement volunteers significantly higher (mean value of 4.5) relative to non-board members (mean value of 3.8).Statistical differences in the responses are apparent when length of service is examined. Volunteers who have volunteered for longer periods of time report significantly higher levels of motivation from the act of volunteering. The relationship is particularly strong when the mean value score for the questions that capture enjoyment and interest are examined (5% difference when the means of the group that have volunteered for less than 2 years are compared to those who have volunteered for more than 10 years). It may be that the more challenging and rewarding roles are available to those volunteers with the most experience. A similar pattern emerges when the questions capturing altruistic motives are examined. It would seem that volunteers who volunteer in the credit union for longer periods are more influenced by altruistic motives (significant at the 5% level). It may be that a longer period of exposure to the credit unions activities enables the volunteer to better see the social benefit of their volunteering activity. With a mean score of 3.31 volunteers who have volunteered in the credit union for less than 2 years do not believe that the credit union benefits from their experience to a great extent. However, though statistically higher the highest mean score of 4.54 (volunteering for over 10 years) is low relative to the scores given for other motivations, hence this reason is not the most influential on an individuals decision to volunteer.Significant differences in the responses were also noted when the data was analyzed across different size categories of credit union. Volunteers in medium and large sized credit unions stated that they were enjoying their role more and found it more interesting, relative to volunteers volunteering in small sized credit unions (questions A, B and C), though the difference was only significant for question C (which referred to happiness obtained from volunteering). This may be due to the fact that large and many medium-sized credit unions have paid staff that take responsibility for many of the more mundane operational tasks whereas volunteers are involved in the more strategic roles, such as being a board member. They also can rely on a manager for support and guidance in their decision-making, whereas in a small credit union full responsibility for the operational running and control of the organization rests with the volunteers.On the other hand volunteering for social interaction is not as influential in larger credit unions (mean is 3.69) as it is in medium sized credit unions (mean is4.26); the difference is significant at the 5% level. The reported mean for volunteers in the large category (3.69) is also significantly lower than the reported mean for volunteers in small sized credit unions (4.73). This is as would be expected, in smaller credit unions the common bond is typically tighter and the members (hence the volunteers) are more likely to have more social links.Volunteers in large (significant at the 5% level for questions J, K and L) and medium sized (significant at the 10% level for questions J and L) credit unions scored the altruistic motivation questions higher than volunteers volunteering in small sized credit unions and are more motivated to volunteer to keep credit unions services

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available (question M) relative to volunteers in small sized credit unions. Consistent with the other variables, human capital motives are not found to be influential (the highest mean score of 3.46 for question G and 2.03 for question I being reported for medium sized credit unions) though significant differences arose between the size categories.Volunteers in small and medium sized credit unions seem to feel more pressure to volunteer, scoring questions N and Q significantly higher than volunteers in larger sized credit unions. Irrespective of the significant differences, moral duty (question Q) is not causing volunteers to volunteer in small credit unions, as the mean score is 2.33. This low reported mean result is expected as volunteers who volunteer either because they are needed or out of a sense of moral duty are more likely to leave when another volunteer comes along who will perform the task. Hence volunteers who are not motivated by the act of volunteering, or the output of volunteering activity will be crowded out when volunteers are recruited that volunteer for these reasons.

5 Conclusion

Credit unions are important financial institutions that serve over 186 million people worldwide. All credit unions are governed by boards of directors that must be made up of volunteers and many (particularly small credit unions) are totally reliant on volunteers for all their labour requirements. Recruiting and retaining volunteers is becoming a critical issue for the sector, with regulators and researchers highlighting volunteer recruitment and retention as a limiting factor in the development of the movement in many countries. Little is known about volunteering in credit unions, research is limited. This study helps to bridge the information gap in this respect. It uses a reductionist paradigm approach to determine the most likely influential moti- vations to volunteer as derived from prior motivational studies (deductive approach) and then asks current volunteers in credit unions to state the level of influence that each motivation has on their decision to volunteer.Consistent with many previous studies on the motivation to volunteer, altruism is found to be the most dominant influence, with most volunteers ranking community and social reasons for volunteering within credit unions highest overall. When the responses are analyzed further, it is found that males, older people, retired volunteers, volunteers with less education, volunteers who have volunteered with the credit union for longer periods of time and volunteers working in larger credit unions are more influenced by altruism. Most volunteers also indicated quite strongly that they were motivated by the act of volunteering (scoring enjoyment of the role, interest in the role and social benefits high). When the results were analyzed by volunteer and credit union characteristics it was found that older volunteers, retired volunteers, volunteers who are less educated, volunteers who have been volunteering for longer periods of time and volunteers who volunteer in medium sized credit unions derive relatively more satisfaction from the act of volunteering.Some questions were designed to capture whether volunteers feel pressured by need or moral duty to volunteer. For example, volunteering to ensure that the service provided by the credit unions continues to remain available. There was evidence of

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this being of some influence. In particular, volunteers in small sized credit unions are more likely to be influenced to volunteer because they feel that no-one else will do the role. There was no significant difference between the results reported for the other volunteer characteristics. Overall, there was little evidence to support the theory that volunteers are motivated to volunteer to raise their human capital value; indeed, unemployed volunteers were the only category to suggest that volunteering to gain an educational experience was of some influence. This is in contrast to many previous studies, however, this study focuses on the motivation of current volunteer members and we argue, consistent with Tschirhart et al. (2001), that volunteer motivation changes with volunteering and it is likely that this type of motivation is crowded out by altruistic motivations and motivations from the act of volunteering. If this crowding out does not take place, then the individual will leave their role once they have achieved their goal, hence this motivation will not score highly in this study which is based on current active volunteers, most of whom can be categorized as long-term volunteers.In many credit unions, volunteers are a scarce resource and our study shows that altruistic tendencies and taking pleasure from the act of volunteering are the main drivers that motivate those that are currently volunteering. This information can be used by credit union management to inform their management of and reporting to volunteers. Given the importance of altruism on the decision to volunteer, it may be worthwhile reporting and advertising the social good performed by the credit union within the community to the volunteers on a regular basis as this is likely to further motivate current volunteers and may improve retention. In addition, our results show that the act of volunteering is very influential. Volunteers enjoy their role, find it interesting and enjoy the social interaction. Managers should try to promote an atmosphere within the credit union that fosters this type of ambience. Perhaps rotation of duties, pre-arranged social evenings, mentoring and training would stimulate further motivation from the act of volunteering and improve retention. Positive feedback on the performance of the role is also likely to motivate and improve retention. This result also suggests that people who get pleasure from the act of volunteering are more motivated to volunteer; therefore, credit union members who are not volunteering in the credit union but who vol- unteer elsewhere or who are involved in some form of civic participation, are more likely to get involved as they are already signalling that they receive utility from volunteering.

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