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Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Steven R. Harbstreit / There has been little research conducted related to the National FFA Alumni Association since its establishment in 1971. The purposes of this study were to determine the demographic characteristics of the membership of the National FFA Alumni Association, determine whether differences exist regarding members’ motivation to join and engage themselves in the local FFA Alumni affiliate, and whether differences exist in members’ loyalty to the FFA Alumni at the national and local levels based on their level of engagement. This descriptive study utilized survey research to accomplish the purpose, assessing the motivational functions for volunteering and measuring loyalty to the local FFA Alumni affiliate and the National FFA Alumni Association. The population of this study was the membership of the National FFA Alumni Association for the 2009-2010 membership year (N = 49,589). A proportional stratified random sample (n = 1,000) was used to identify study participants and ensure representation from the four membership regions of the National FFA Alumni Association. Based on a final usable sample (n = 913), the researcher obtained a final response rate of 43.7% (n = 399). The National FFA Alumni Association is comprised of predominantly white, male, college-educated, actively engaged former FFA members with an average age of 49.6 years. The results of independent sample t-tests indicated a significant difference between male and female members in the importance they place on six motivations for volunteering. Female members were considerably higher in the motivational functions of values, understanding, enhancement, social, career, and protective. A correlation analysis also indicated that age of the respondents played a role in the motivation to volunteer. Older members were less motivated in the areas of career, understanding, values, and enhancement. Paired samples t-tests determined members were significantly more loyal to the local FFA Alumni affiliate than the National FFA Alumni Association. There was also a significant difference in the loyalty of members based on their level of engagement with a local FFA Alumni affiliate with more highly engaged members expressing more loyalty to the association.

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources / Candice A. Shoemaker / Once a fixture of American schoolyards during the early 1900’s, school gardens in the United States are again growing in popularity. It is estimated that one-fourth of all public and private schools in the U.S. have a school garden. Funding, teacher involvement, support of the principal, volunteer help, garden coordination, maintenance assistance and site availability are all factors found to contribute to the success of school gardens and are also found to be the barriers to sustainability of school gardens. Many of these challenges can be overcome with the support of volunteers. Little is known however, about individuals who volunteer their time to a school garden program and more importantly no research has investigated the specific variables influencing volunteer retention in an after-school garden club program setting. A case-study of long-term adult after-school garden club program volunteers was conducted to determine the variables affecting one’s decision to continue volunteering after one semester with a program of this type. Twenty long-term after-school garden club program volunteers were interviewed. Interview responses were grouped into main theme and subtheme categories using NVivo, a qualitative analysis software. Main themes that had responses from at least 95% of the volunteers participating in the case-study, were isolated for further analysis. The top five subthemes for each of these isolated main themes were assessed and four of these main themes were found to have similar top five subthemes. These subthemes and the long-term volunteer demographics were then used to determine the variables affecting volunteer retention in an after-school garden club setting. Age, marital status and level of education were all found to affect length of volunteer service. Organizational commitment, positive volunteer relations, organizational support, learning opportunities and the opportunity to work with children all contributed to the decision of after-school garden club program volunteers to continue volunteering after one semester of service. Furthermore, it can be concluded that these volunteers continued to volunteer because their initial motivations, expectations and/or needs were met through their participation in the program.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Department of Occupational Therapy of the University of Stellenbosch has been involved in the development of the Volcano Community Project in the Ravensmead area since 1994. A needs assessment conducted in the area has led to the indentification of the following problems: • there are no after school care services in the area; • limited opportunities for individual attention to learners because of a high learner educator ratio; • high incidence of substance abuse amongst the youth; • children loitering in the streets in the afternoon; and • a quarter of all grade one learners in the area repeat their basis year of school. In order to address the abovementioned problems it was decided to recruit unemployed youth within the community as voluntary workers. This group of volunteers received training in the execution of pre-planned developmental stimulation lessons that they then present to grade one and two learners who have problems. The volunteers undergo a training programme in order to equip them to handle the learners. This project is still in progress and it needs to be evaluated in order to gain information which would help to improve the programme as well as the management thereof. The aim of the research was to establish the impact of programme participation on the voluntary workers and that was done by looking at the following: • what the strengths of the project are; • what the weaknesses of the project are; and • which suggestions there are to improve the project. Qualitative formative evaluation research was the paradigm within which the research was executed. Interviews were conducted with the voluntary workers and the following themes/patterns emerged from the data: Strengths of the project: Turnabout in the lives of the voluntary workers; improvement of self-knowledge; development of skills; work satisfaction; and guidance by the students. Weaknesses of the project: Schools where this project is in progress and facilities available at these schools; management of the project; and the group of voluntary workers. Suggestions regarding the project: Encouragement; management; and other logistics. The researcher took each of these main themes and with the help of process/impact rubrics data was interpreted. From these rubrics factors were identified and recommendations made which may contribute to the improvement of the project for example feedback after completion of the task is very important and should be very specific for an individual. Possibilities for the broader application of findings are also suggested. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Departement Arbeidsterapie van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch, is sedert 1994 betrokke by die ontwikkeling van die Volcano gemeenskapsprojek in die Ravensmeadarea. In Behoeftebepaling in die area het gelei tot die identifisering van die volgende probleme: • geen naskoolse dienste is in die area beskikbaar nie; • beperkte geleenthede vir individuele aandag aan leerders as gevolg van 'n te hoë leerdertoedeling per onderwyser; • hoë voorkoms van substansmisbruik onder die jeug; • kinders wat in die middag in die straat rondslenter; en • In kwart van alle graad een leerders in die area herhaal hul basisjaar van skool. Daar is besluit om bogenoemde probleme aan te spreek deur werklose jeugdiges in die gemeenskap te werf as vrywillige werkers. Die groep vrywillige werkers is dan opgelei om vooraf opgestelde ontwikkelingstimulasielesse aan te bied aan graad een en twee leerders wat probleme ervaar. Die vrywillige werkers deurloop In opleidingsprogram om hulle beter toe te rus om die leerders optimaal te kan hanteer. Die program is nog lopend en evaluering is nodig ten einde inligting te verkry wat kan lei tot die verbetering van die program en die bestuur van die projek oor die algemeen. Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om die impak wat programdeelname op die vrywillige werkers het te ondersoek deur te kyk na: • wat die sterkpunte van die projek is; • wat die swakpunte van die projek is; en • watter voorstelle daar is om die program te verbeter. Kwalitatiewe formatiewe evaluasienavorsing is die paradigma wat in hierdie navorsing gebruik is om die data in te samel en te analiseer. Onderhoude is met vrywillige werkers gevoer en die volgende hooftemas het uit die data na vore gekom: Sterkpunte van die projek: Ommeswaai in vrywillige werkers se lewens; bevordering van selfkennis; ontwikkeling van vaardighede; werksbevrediging; en leiding deur die studente. Swakpunte van die projek: Skole waar die program aangebied word en die fasiliteite beskikbaar by die skole; bestuur van die projek; en die groep vrywillige werkers. Voorstelle ten opsigte van die projek: Aansporing; bestuur en ander logistieke. Die navorser het elk van hierdie hooftemas geneem en met behulp van proses/impakmatrikse is die data geïnterpreteer vir hierdie projek. Uit hierdie matrikse is faktore geïdentifiseer en aanbevelings gemaak wat mag bydra tot die verbetering van die projek, byvoorbeeld terugvoer na afloop van die uitvoering van take is belangrik en moet spesifiek en individueel gerig wees. Wyer toepassingsmoontlikhede van die bevindinge word ook voorgestel.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1403718 bytes, checksum: cc2defee345ab149b40c6db25bfe2918 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The volunteer work exercised in non-governmental organizations by citizens who give their time, talents and abilities for the benefit of others, aims to intercede in the social reality and benefit groups, people or organizations. This work differs from formal work in relation to the payment and the time spent on the exercise of this activity, those are the main differences between the voluntary and formal activities. Regarding the above, the study analyzed the motivations that drive current and would-be volunteers to engage in voluntary activity of the Cidade Viva Foundation in the city of João Pessoa - PB. Justified this work in relation to turnover problems related to the non-governmental organizations, therefore, on these problems are associated as the high cost consequences to the recruitment, selection and training of volunteers, miss a continuous service of those who already do part of the organization. The research comprise approximately 350 volunteers of the Cidade Viva Foundation and removed two samples with the survey respondents, one with 250 candidates for the volunteer work and the other with 65 volunteers already active in Cidade Viva Foundation up to a year. The theoretical model used in the research was proposed by Cavalcante (2012) that has as its basis the constructs: altruistic, social justice, affiliation, learning and selfish, which allows to trace the motivational profile of volunteers at different times, both for the expectation, entry and avoidance of volunteers. Data were collected through a questionnaire, during the meetings held at the Foundation from July to August 2014. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics were used (frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and coefficient of variation) and inferential statistics (Student's t test for independent samples and comparisons / multiple correlations through the Bonferroni test - ANOVA). As the most significant achievements, it appears prevalence of altruistic profile, followed by social justice Profile, learning, affiliation, and the selfish profile both in the Expectations model when the input. Similar to this, the selfish profile was the least accepted by survey respondents. Other revenues related to the shutdown of volunteer activity in the Cidade Viva Foundation, indicated that no reason was leading off the volunteers. / O trabalho voluntário, exercido em organizações não-governamentais por cidadãos que doam seu tempo, talentos e habilidades em prol do próximo, tem por objetivo interceder na realidade social e beneficiar, grupos, pessoas ou organizações. Esse trabalho distingue do trabalho formal em relação à remuneração e o tempo dispensado ao exercício dessa atividade, sendo essas as principais diferenças entre as atividades voluntária e formal. Em relação ao exposto, o estudo analisou as motivações que levam os atuais e os pretensos voluntários a se engajarem na atividade voluntária da Fundação Cidade Viva na cidade de João Pessoa – PB. Justifica-se esse trabalho em relação a problemas relacionados à rotatividade nas organizações não-governamentais, pois, relativo a esses problemas estão associados como consequências o custo elevado com o recrutamento, seleção e treinamento dos voluntários, perca de um serviço contínuo daqueles que já fazem parte do corpo da organização. A pesquisa compreende aproximadamente 350 indivíduos voluntários da Fundação Cidade Viva sendo retiradas duas amostras com os respondentes da pesquisa, uma com 250 candidatos ao trabalho voluntário e a outra com 65 já voluntários atuantes da Fundação Cidade Viva até um ano. O modelo teórico utilizado na pesquisa foi o proposto por Cavalcante (2012) que possui em sua base os constructos: altruísta, justiça social, afiliação, aprendizagem e egoísta, o qual permite traçar o perfil motivacional dos voluntários em momentos distintos, tanto para a expectativa, entrada e evasão dos voluntários. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da aplicação de questionário, durante as reuniões ocorridas na Fundação no período de julho a agosto de 2014. Na análise dos dados, foram utilizadas estatísticas descritivas (frequências, porcentagens, médias, desvios-padrão e coeficiente de variação) e estatísticas inferenciais (teste t de Student para amostras independentes e comparações/correlações múltiplas por meio dos testes de Bonferroni - ANOVA). Quanto aos resultados mais significativos alcançados, verifica-se predominância do perfil altruístas, seguido do perfil justiça social, aprendizagem, afiliação, e o perfil egoísta tanto no modelo de Expectativas quando no de Entrada. Semelhante a isso, o perfil egoísta foi o menos aceito pelos respondentes da pesquisa. Outros resultados, relativos ao desligamento da atividade voluntária na Fundação Cidade Viva, indicaram que nenhuma das razões foi preponderante à saída dos voluntários.

This study embarked on exploring the experience of becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor from a psychological perspective. Six participants were interviewed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the research method. Race and gender are divided equally amongst Black, Caucasian, male, and female participants. Numerous dimensions relating to the lived experience of lay volunteer counsellors are investigated in the present literature, suggesting that the experience of becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor is multifaceted. The subjective experience of each of the participants was explored, with the optimism that this exploration would expound on the multilateralism of these facets. Although specific experiences remain exclusive to each participant, the intersecting and co-creation of meanings culminated in the cultivation of themes common to the participants. These themes are examined against the literature, critically appraising supportive and distinct suggestions. As is evident from the results, participants have a profound appreciation of the stimuli which influence their experiences of lay volunteer counselling, but also of the circumstances surrounding the origins of their sense of volunteerism. Even though some of the literature addressed themes relevant to the participants’ experiences, a small number of themes could not be juxtaposed against available literature. Based on the narratives of the participants, as well as data in the literature, volunteers constitute a reasonable component of the service sector and assist a sizeable population. Therefore, the value of the lay volunteer counselling population should be recognised in order to develop further training and support programmes for this subpopulation. As it appears, recognising the essence of this value begins with appreciating the experience of becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Psychology / unrestricted

Research has shown that long-term volunteer retention is critical for sustaining the viability of youth mentoring programs such as Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS). Data from recent studies have indicated that volunteers must continue their service for at least 1 year in to have a sustainable effect on the mentee. Results from prior studies have indicated that the support provided by the agency to the volunteer can predict volunteer retention. However, a gap in current literature exists regarding the effect of support communication on volunteer retention. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the relationship between organizational support, communication, and retention of volunteers in the BBBS agency. The VPM was developed to explain the life cycle of volunteerism and was the theoretical framework for this study. The primary research question examined how well the variables related to organizational support communication predict the likelihood of volunteer retention. This study used secondary data collected by BBBS as part of the support communication process they provide to their volunteers. Results from a logistic regression analysis revealed that the amount of face-to-face contact and the number of match support specialists positively predicted volunteer retention of at least 1 year. Results from this study can contribute to social change by informing best practices on the types of support communication for long-term volunteer retention. Specifically, leaders and managers of volunteer agencies should develop policies and procedures that maximize the amount of face-to-face communication provided to volunteers from the agency.

M. Tech. (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Volunteering is a core component of sport service delivery and remains essential to the viability of the sport system in many sport organisations and communities. To this end, it has become incumbent for them to ensure that a sufficient pool of volunteers exists. Despite this assertion that volunteers in sport organisations are considered such a valuable resource, they are increasingly scarce and there is a considerable debate about the underlying structure or dimensionality of volunteer motives. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine motives for volunteering in sport organisations within Gauteng province and its relationships with volunteer commitment and volunteer satisfaction. This research drew from the convergence of the social exchange and self-determination theories that were used in this study to provide a theoretical understanding as to why people engage in volunteer work and the outcomes thereof. In order to achieve the primary objective of the study, a quantitative research approach was adopted and a cross-sectional descriptive survey was utilised. A non-probability convenience sampling procedure was also adopted. Prior to the main survey data collection, a pilot study was undertaken by administering a questionnaire to 40 participants who did not form part of the main survey. The main survey data was thereafter acquired from 270 volunteers from conveniently selected sport organisations within Gauteng province through a structured self-administered questionnaire. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS version 26.0) and the reliability and validity analysis yielded satisfactory results in terms of the measuring instrument. Descriptive statistics were also computed to summarise the data into usable information by making use of frequencies, means and standard deviations. Exploratory factor analysis was used to statistically aggregate the large number of observed measures (28 items) relating to independent variable (volunteer motives) into a smaller set of three unobserved (latent) variables called factors while regression and correlation analysis were undertaken to establish the relationships among the study constructs in line with the objectives of the study. Results fromcorrelation and regression analysis respectively (r = 0.440; β= .410) revealed that volunteer motives significantly contribute towards enhancing volunteer commitment among volunteers in sport organisations. Furthermore, the study’s results indicated that volunteer commitment, in turn, contributes towards volunteer satisfaction of volunteers in sport organisations (r = 0.561; β= .561). Based on these results, this study recommends, among others, that management of sport organisations should explore the effectiveness of implementing an internal system of self-evaluation as a starting point to examine motives for volunteering. Furthermore, it is recommended that sport organisation management should develop an organisational culture which assigns authority and responsibility to sport volunteers. The study concludes by affirming the achievement of the study’s objectives, highlighting its limitations as well as identifying future research opportunities.

Economic theories usually assume that the amount of work offered by individuals increase as wages and salaries increase. However, there are volunteers who present their work without payment for the production of goods and services, for the benefit of others. Volunteer work is of significance in a time when social safety nets are weak and there are ever increasing demands on welfare organisations. Volunteers can make a difference in their communities and entire society in general which means that if they are understood better, it may be possible to harness their power for the greater good. Therefore, this thesis analyses volunteers and volunteerism in South Africa and the factors that determine their efforts. The manuscript presents a critical discussion of economic theories of volunteering, major concepts and types of volunteers to arrive at a plausible set of models explaining volunteerism and the general motives of volunteers. The descriptive analysis of data sets from the Labour Force Survey was conducted. The data also allows for the estimation of a limited dependent variable regression model of the probability of volunteering as a function of individual-specific predictors. The results from Logit (Binary LogitRegression) regression showed that all estimated coefficients have the expected signs: Females are more likely to do volunteer work more than males; older people are more likely to participate more in volunteer activities than middle age and younger ones. The results also reveal that the higher your level of education, the more likely you will be to do volunteer work. This was the same with income: higher income individuals are more likely to do volunteer work. This study also used data from the Volunteer Activities Survey (VAS) to describe volunteers and estimate a model of the determinants of hours of volunteer work supplied. The results indicate a robust relationships between volunteered and determinant such as gender, age group; population group, level of education, income category, marital status and employment status, to mention few. Results from the regression model show that age is positively related to hours spend doing volunteer work. Even though the gender variable is found to be not statistically significant, the results indicated that women do volunteer work more than men. The further a person is educated the more he/she will participate in voluntary work. The evidence indicated that there is a positive relationship between income and hours of volunteering. The evidence provides a number of findings that are important to policymakers, non-profit organisations and all other stakeholders in volunteerism. This study could be used to devise more efficient and effective plans of how the number of volunteers and the hours that they volunteer could be retained and increased. / PhD (Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Economic theories usually assume that the amount of work offered by individuals increase as wages and salaries increase. However, there are volunteers who present their work without payment for the production of goods and services, for the benefit of others. Volunteer work is of significance in a time when social safety nets are weak and there are ever increasing demands on welfare organisations. Volunteers can make a difference in their communities and entire society in general which means that if they are understood better, it may be possible to harness their power for the greater good. Therefore, this thesis analyses volunteers and volunteerism in South Africa and the factors that determine their efforts. The manuscript presents a critical discussion of economic theories of volunteering, major concepts and types of volunteers to arrive at a plausible set of models explaining volunteerism and the general motives of volunteers. The descriptive analysis of data sets from the Labour Force Survey was conducted. The data also allows for the estimation of a limited dependent variable regression model of the probability of volunteering as a function of individual-specific predictors. The results from Logit (Binary LogitRegression) regression showed that all estimated coefficients have the expected signs: Females are more likely to do volunteer work more than males; older people are more likely to participate more in volunteer activities than middle age and younger ones. The results also reveal that the higher your level of education, the more likely you will be to do volunteer work. This was the same with income: higher income individuals are more likely to do volunteer work. This study also used data from the Volunteer Activities Survey (VAS) to describe volunteers and estimate a model of the determinants of hours of volunteer work supplied. The results indicate a robust relationships between volunteered and determinant such as gender, age group; population group, level of education, income category, marital status and employment status, to mention few. Results from the regression model show that age is positively related to hours spend doing volunteer work. Even though the gender variable is found to be not statistically significant, the results indicated that women do volunteer work more than men. The further a person is educated the more he/she will participate in voluntary work. The evidence indicated that there is a positive relationship between income and hours of volunteering. The evidence provides a number of findings that are important to policymakers, non-profit organisations and all other stakeholders in volunteerism. This study could be used to devise more efficient and effective plans of how the number of volunteers and the hours that they volunteer could be retained and increased. / PhD (Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014