Predicting Volunteer Motives among University Faculty and Staff: A Functional Approach

Anchor institutions tend to be non-profit organizations that are spatially immobile and are an economic engine for their communities. Because of pressures on institutions of higher education to generate new revenue, it may be more difficult for such institutions to meet the criteria or maintain their status as an anchor institution. In this article, we argue that volunteerism may be one means to strengthen partnerships in the community thereby assisting the university or college in their attempts to meet the criteria or maintain their status as an anchor institution. Volunteerism is an other-oriented prosocial behavior in which one’s self is given freely to benefit an individual, group, or organization. Using a functional perspective, we identify the motivations for becoming involved in volunteer activities among faculty and staff. Results suggested that only values motives (i.e., altruistic and humanitarian concerns for others) predicted volunteering in the community, while both values and enhancement motives (i.e., desire to increase self-esteem) predicted service to the university, campus, and profession. Implications for encouraging volunteer activities among faculty and staff are discussed so that institutions of higher learning can meet the criteria or maintain their status as an anchor institution