Satisfaction With Informal Volunteering During the COVID-19 Crisis: An Empirical Study Considering a Swiss Online Volunteering Platform

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a huge wave of compassion. In particular, online volunteering platforms established channeling help for high-risk groups. It is unclear under which conditions volunteers were satisfied with their COVID-19 volunteering mediated by these platforms and whether they will continue their engagement after the crisis. Therefore, and considering personal susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, this study analyzes the effects of different platform support for volunteers and the fulfillment of volunteers’ motives. The study is based on an online survey of a sample of 565 volunteers who registered at and were placed by a Swiss online platform. Fulfillment of distinct volunteer motives and platform support drive COVID-19 volunteering satisfaction. Moreover, motive fulfillment and platform-related support indirectly impact willingness to volunteer long-term via volunteering satisfaction. Finally, the empirical results show that motive fulfillment and the effect of platform support are contingent on perceived susceptibility to infection.

Keywords

COVID-19 crisis informal volunteering long-term volunteering online platform support volunteer functions inventory volunteer satisfaction

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aguirre

B. E.

Macias-Medrano

Batista-Silva

J. L.

Chikoto

G. L.

Jett

Q. R.

Jones-Lungo

(2016). Spontaneous volunteering in emergencies. In Smith

D. H.

Stebbins

R. A.

Grotz

(Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of volunteering, civic participation, and nonprofit associations (pp. 311–329). Palgrave Macmillan.

Beardmore

Jones

Biddle

White

Ismail

McClean

Gibson

Sabey

(2020). Apart but not alone: Neighbour support and the Covid-19 lockdown [UWE research project]. University of the West of England.

Brady

M. K.

Robertson

C. J.

(2001). Searching for a consensus on the antecedent role of service quality and satisfaction: An exploratory cross-national study. Journal of Business Research, 51(1), 53–60.

Clary

E. G.

Snyder

Ridge

R. D.

Copeland

Stukas

A. A.

Haugen

Meine

(1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1516–1530.

Dugas

Bélanger

J. J.

Moyano

Schumpe

B. M.

Kruglanski

A. W.

Gelfand

M. J.

Touchton-Leonard

Nociti

(2016). The quest for significance motivates self-sacrifice. Motivation Science, 2(1), 15–32.

Francis

J. E.

Jones

(2012). Emergency service volunteers: A comparison of age, motives and values. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 27(4), 23–28.

Hair

J. F.

Jr. Hult

G. T. M.

Ringle

Sarstedt

(2016). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). SAGE.

Hyde

M. K.

Dunn

Bax

Chambers

S. K.

(2016). Episodic volunteering and retention: An integrated theoretical approach. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(1), 45–63.

Kulik

Arnon

Dolev

(2016). Explaining satisfaction with volunteering in emergencies: Comparison between organized and spontaneous volunteers in operation protective edge. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(3), 1280–1303.

10.

Mak

H. W.

Fancourt

(2020). Predictors of engaging in voluntary work during the Covid-19 pandemic: Analyses of data from 31,890 adults in the UK [SocArXiv papers]. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/er8xd/

11.

Masa

R. D.

Chowa

G. A.

(2014). HIV risk among young Ghanaians in high school: Validation of a multidimensional attitude towards condom use scale. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 19(4), 444–457.

12.

Penner

Brannick

M. T.

Webb

Connell

(2005). Effects on volunteering of the September 11, 2001, attacks: An archival analysis. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35(7), 1333–1360.

13.

Ringle

C. M.

Wende

Becker

J.-M.

(2015). SmartPLS 3. SmartPLS. https://www.smartpls.com

14.

Rosychuk

R. J.

Bailey

Haines

Lake

Herman

Yonge

Marrie

T. J.

(2008). Willingness to volunteer during an influenza pandemic: Perspectives from students and staff at a large Canadian university. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 2(2), 71–79.

15.

Rotolo

Berg

J. A.

(2011). In times of need: An examination of emergency preparedness and disaster relief service volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(4), 740–750.

16.

Simsa

Rameder

Aghamanoukjan

Totter

(2019). Spontaneous volunteering in social crises: Self-organization and coordination. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(2S), 103–122.

17.

Smith

D. H.

Stebbins

R. A.

Grotz

Kumar

Nga

J. L. H.

van Puyvelde

(2016). Typologies of associations and volunteering. In Smith

D. H.

Stebbins

R. A.

Grotz

(Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of volunteering, civic participation, and nonprofit associations (pp. 90–125). Palgrave Macmillan.

18.

Spear

Erdi

Parker

M. A.

Anastasiadis

(2020). Innovations in citizen response to crises: Volunteerism & social mobilization during COVID-19. Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements, 12(1), 383–391.

19.

Szymanski

D. M.

Henard

D. H.

(2001). Customer satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the empirical evidence. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29(1), 16–35.

20.

Vecina

M. J.

Chacón

F. F.

Sueiro

M. A.

(2009). Volunteer satisfaction: Internal structure and relationship with permanence in organizations. Psicothema, 21(1), 112–117.

21.

Whittaker

McLennan

Handmer

(2015). A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 13, 358–368.

22.

Wong

L. P.

Sam

I. C.

(2010). Public sources of information and information needs for pandemic influenza A (H1N1). Journal of Community Health, 35(6), 676–682.

23.

Yousef

D. A.

(2002). Job satisfaction as a mediator of the relationship between role stressors and organizational commitment: A study from an Arabic cultural perspective. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(4), 250–266.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.29 MB