Comparison of current and former sport event volunteers motivation in Singapore

Volunteers are an indispensable set of human resource in sport and events (Bang & Ross, 2009). Understanding volunteers’ motivations is crucial in the initiation and maintenance of voluntary behaviour. The purpose of this study was to compare the motivations of current and former sport event volunteers in Singapore. An online questionnaire was administered to a sample of current and former volunteers who were reached via convenience and snowball sampling. Volunteers (ntotal = 38; ncurrent = 15; nformer = 23) responded to demographic questions, short- answer questions regarding their volunteer involvement level, and the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) (Clary et al., 1998). Results indicated that ‘Understanding’ (self-oriented motive) (M = 5.71 , SD = 1.17) was the most important motivation function for current volunteers while former volunteers chose ‘Values’ (other-oriented motive) (M = 5.31, SD = 1.47). Descriptive statistics indicated a greater proportion of current volunteers were males (66.67%) while females (60.87%) accounted for more than half of former volunteers. Current volunteers are generally committed for a longer period than former volunteers, and most of them (66.67%) volunteer under an organisation. They are also generally older than former volunteers. Gender appeared to have an effect on volunteer motivation while age did not. Work commitments was the main reason cited by former volunteers. Volunteers’ experiences that are better aligned to their motivations may encourage sustained volunteering. Understanding and satisfying these motivations may aid sport event organisers to effectively engage and retain volunteers.Bachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management