Unpacking the Why: What Motivates Youth Volunteers?

Is your organization curious to learn more about what motivates youth to volunteer? It’s a question worth exploring and you might have had it floating around within your organization already.

Here’s the thing though – organizations know that they need to engage young people but fail to do it effectively. Why? Because they don’t understand what drives and motivates youth to volunteer. To better engage youth and bring them into your organization, it’s crucial to understand the motives that drive them. Let me explain.

When you understand what motivates youth, you are better equipped to tailor your messaging and communication efforts to attract youth to your organization effectively.  youth are some of the most forward-looking, adaptable, and creative volunteers you could have. Understanding what drives them to help or give back to their communities, and creating opportunities for them to do so will be your ticket to getting more young people into your community.

What does this mean for your organization? It means more support in the long run for your organization, a diverse talent pool ready to help you and people who are actively committed to improving your organization and community.

Motivation 1: Values Alignment

Although not exclusive to youth volunteers, it’s important to understand the importance that youth place on spending their time and efforts on causes or with organizations that align with their values. It’s not necessarily about changing your mission or vision to fit their values, it’s about identifying people whose values match yours. Putting your mission, vision, and values at the forefront of your volunteer efforts will help you find the best youth volunteers who align with the work you do.

Motivation 2: Skillset Development

With any opportunity be it a job or a volunteer, there will likely be the question of what’s in it for me. Of course, people are volunteering with your organization for the goodness of their hearts, but what can they also get out of it? What can they learn?

Volunteering isn't just about giving; it's also about gaining. Youth are always looking for new opportunities to learn and develop new skills. Organizations can allow young people to develop or learn new skills while also getting them to help your organization. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship, where volunteers contribute their time and energy while also growing their own skill sets.

Motivation 3: Helping Others

At the root of community and giving back is the fact that people get to help others. Youth volunteers want to know how they are going to make something better. How are they helping make a difference? The clearer your organization is at articulating exactly how a volunteer’s efforts will benefit your community, the more likely you’ll be able to persuade them to join your cause.

Motivation 4: Contributing to their Community

In line with the third motivation, youth look for opportunities in communities they identify or believe in. That’s why it’s essential to look at your community as it is and find ways to get youth volunteers into your organization who already identify with what you do, or care about what you do.

Motivation 5: Interests

Last but certainly not least, youth are seeking volunteer opportunities that match their interests. Once again, people and youth, in this case, are going to gravitate towards organizations or causes that they are interested in or identify with.  By identifying gaps in your organization, you can create highly skilled opportunities and attract a broad range of talent.

In short, understanding and leveraging these motivations can be a useful tool for your organization in attracting and retaining youth volunteers.