Employee Volunteers Don’t Care Much About Recognition, According to LBG Associates' Research

Oct. 29, 2009 - PRLog -- Volunteer managers are not up to speed on what really motivates employee volunteerism, according to a new study from LBG Associates (http://www.lbg-associates.com) and LBG Research Institute (http://www.lbgresearch.org).  Whereas the managers believe that personal recognition is a strong motivator, the employees themselves say it is not. In fact, out of the top 10 motivational factors, employees ranked it ninth. For the volunteer managers, it ranked fourth.

“This finding is a surprise,” says Dr. Linda Gornitsky, President and Founder of LBG Associates. “In another LBG study from 2004, volunteer managers believed recognition was the number-one driver of employee volunteerism. Obviously, volunteer managers need to find ways to better understand the motivations of their employee populations.”

This is just one of many surprising findings in LBG’s new report, Motivating Volunteering in Tough Times. The report delves into what motivates employee volunteerism right now, and what volunteer managers can do to increase participation rates and create more impact in their community. The survey, conducted during June and July 2009, includes more than 8,000 employee and 213 volunteer manager voices from 36 companies.

Rather than personal recognition, the employee respondents to the survey are motivated by causes that are personally important to them, and by the desire to help organizations hurt by the recession. The top five motivators are list below.

1. The cause is important to the employee personally
2. Community organizations are experiencing economic hardship
3. Volunteering results in a donation for the organization from my company
4. The cause is important to the company
5. The charity came to the company to talk about what they do in the community

The study reveals additional evidence that personal recognition is not key to employees. When asked to rate volunteer recognition methods, employees ranked “a donation made to my charity when I volunteer” far above all forms of personal recognition. These donation programs, commonly called volunteer grants or Dollars for Doers, are underutilized according to the volunteer managers, however.  “Better and more frequent communication about grant programs and other top motivators will likely produce greater return on investment for the companies,” Dr. Gornitsky says, “not to mention greater impact in the communities served.”

A PDF copy of Motivating Volunteering in Tough Times is available for $77. The 66-page report includes dozens of charts and tables showing attitudes and beliefs of both employees and volunteer managers at the participating companies. LBG will also be holding a webinar on the findings on November 18th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM Eastern. To read the Executive Summary or to purchase the full report, or register for the webinar, visit LBG at http://www.lbg-associates.com/publications/.

Companies sponsoring this research include, Booz Allen Hamilton (Gold); CSX, Rockwell Collins, and Entrepreneurs Foundation (Silver); and Allstate, Capital One, FedEx and Moody’s (Bronze).

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About LBG Associates
LBG Associates is a woman-owned consulting firm focused on designing, implementing, and managing corporate citizenship and community outreach programs and initiatives. Founded in 1993 by Dr. Linda Gornitsky, LBG Associates drives social change through expert advice; cutting-edge research; implementation of strategies, programs, policies, and procedures; and training that equips practitioners with the knowledge and skills to grow and advance in the field of corporate community involvement. Find more information at: http://www.lbg-associates.com.