The Effect of Motivational Practices on Volunteer Motivation to Volunteer and Perform: Lessons from Volunteer Organizations in Kenya

Abstract

The study assesses whether organizations’ motivational practices affect volunteer motivation and levels of performance. This study was guided by the following two research questions: first, what motivation practices exist in Volunteer Involving Organizations and whether such affect volunteers’ motivation to volunteer again? Second, do motivational practices improve the performance of volunteers? Findings on the motivational practices that exist in Volunteer Involving Organizations indicated that volunteers highly value social action and feeling useful and productive at the volunteer placement as key to what would motivate them to volunteer. Further the study shows that providing feedback, rewarding and recognizing effort motivates volunteers to perform better. The study concludes that motivation practices in Volunteer Involving Organizations need to be relevant and valuable to volunteers and be of value to the organization.

Key Words: Volunteer, Motivation, performance, Volunteer Involving Organization