Motivations of environmental volunteers in Hawai'i

Abstract

The act of volunteering creates a mutual relationship between volunteers and organizations. Volunteers provide support to organizations' efforts. In return, volunteers are able to participate in activities to gain different experiences. Each individual has motivations as to why they volunteer. Previous studies have explored motivations for environmental volunteers, but not the external factors, such as sociodemographics, which affect them. Understanding the motivations of specific populations would allow organizations to create effective outreach to increase volunteer engagement.. This study examines the motivations of environmental volunteers in Hawai'i based on socio-demographic factors. The study also explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on volunteer motivation. A literature review identified seven common motivations of environmental volunteers to create an online survey for Hawai'i's population. The survey asked respondents to rate how much they agree with each motivation using a five-point Likert scale labeled "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", then asked if their motivation to volunteer for an environmental activity has increased, decreased, or stayed the same since the pandemic started. A final section asked for non-identifiable socio-demographic information. The distribution of the online survey was through email to University of Hawai'i students, faculty, and staff of various colleges, and to volunteers of different environmental organizations in Hawai'i. Out of the 276 usable responses, the overarching motivations that respondents "Strongly Agreed" with were "to help the environment" and "to learn about the environment". Age played a significant role in three motivational categories, with individuals younger in age being more motivated by certain categories. Years of education and employment also had a significant effect on motivational categories. A larger percentage of respondents felt that their motivation to volunteer decreased rather than increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this project provide insight into the motivations of specific volunteer populations and have implications for volunteer outreach in the future with COVID-19. Environmental organizations in Hawai'i can use this information to create outreach material that targets those motivations of specific sociodemographics to improve volunteer recruitment in the future.