From an early age, volunteering and socially oriented
initiatives have been a large part of my life. Personally, a switch went off during a volunteer activity that transformed volunteering from a chore to a passion. Since
then, I have constantly been curious as to what motivates and influences each
individual to participate in volunteer activities. Is it a feeling of
obligation, a belief in making a difference, or just a reason to feel good
about oneself? This topic has been explored in depth, but I am interested in
understanding “interaction” with non-profits and how this definition has
changed over the years with the integration of social media.
I am not sure if this topic can be shaped into an insightful
research topic as it may not be a deep insight and or there may not be enough
information available. My thoughts may not be following the right path, but
here are some elements that I would like to focus on.
I want to explore how social media has transformed non-profit
engagement and experiences for those that choose to participate. I would like
to see how this adaptation has been an influencer and how it has successfully
elicited participation. I am not sure if this construct has tapped into
something deeper with users in terms of design and creating a relationship or
if it is just another fleeting medium that people interact with but are not
heavily invested within.
It might useful to divide researching interaction based on the
segments targeted via social media:
1) Donors
2) Volunteers
3) Advocates
Each group has different needs and each are influenced in
different manners. Gathering information on what drives their
individual/segment interaction and needs might lead to some meaningful insights
as to what their goals are and how social media helps them accomplish them.
Here are few areas that I would like to research:
- Understanding my people aren’t engaged and how social media
has changed that interaction
- Explore what social media has done for users to engage with
non-profits (ease, comfort, lack of commitment, something deeper)
- Is it just the act of feeling that they have participated or
is a unique interaction with the non-profit via social media that urges this
involvement?
- Can this interaction actually create loyal advocates, or is it
a sustainable insight
- What needs and emotions are being met by the introduction of
social media
- How should we define volunteer and engagement as time
progresses
- Is there a more effective way for social media to be
incorporated for the donor, volunteer, advocate experience?
The links below are just a starting point of understanding what
motivates people to volunteer how non-profits are interacting and shaping their
organizations around social media initiatives.
This article tackles volunteer motivations from a
different angle: “Instead of asking what motivates
the volunteer
(accepting any conceptual category), we ask to what extent volunteering rewards
the individual with each benefit taken from a complete set of possible
benefits.” It focuses on the role of social groups and altruism and suggests
ways of studying volunteer recruitment and retention. These underlying concepts will help create a
framework for understanding how social media can be utilized.
This article briefly discusses how social media
is influencing the non-profit sector:
A few other resources are listed below might be
helpful along the process as well:
“Social Constructs & Human Service: Managerial Sense Making
of Volunteer Motivation”
“Volunteer Work and Well Being”: Examines the
relationship between volunteer work in the community and six aspects of personal
well being: happiness, life satisfaction, self esteem, sense of control over
life, physical health and depression.
The Network Non-Profit: Connecting With Social
Media to Drive Change by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine
