Today's guest post is written by Alison Richmond who works in the fundraising industry and understands that volunteering is very important for the various third-sector organisations. Alison particularly enjoys discovering new fundraising ideas for various causes and she currently works for easyfundraising.org.uk.

George Bernard Shaw once said, “youth is wasted on the young.” It’s true that young people have a lot of free time when compared to adults, so the question is how can we encourage them to volunteer? To help us answer this question, we can look at the findings from a study carried out recently by DoSomething.org which looked to study the motivation behind young people when it comes to volunteering. The survey had 62 questions and was designed by in-house data scientists who had carefully studied previous research and findings. This is what they discovered.

The Issues That Motivate Young People

When asked about the issues they cared about, young people chose the following in order of importance:

1. Animal welfare

2. Hunger

3. Homelessness

4. Environment

5. Economy

Unsurprisingly, the type of area where the young person lived had a significant affect on which issues they cared more about. Those living in the suburbs were more concerned with animal welfare, while those living in cities tended to care more about homelessness. It is natural for people to be more concerned with the issues they face on a daily basis, motivating them to take action. If you are looking to recruit volunteers, this form of thinking should be central to your strategy.

More surprisingly, DoSomething.org found that there were different trends in reasoning for girls and boys behind volunteering. Girls stated that they were keen on making a difference that mattered and that volunteering was its own reward. However, boys mentioned pragmatic reasons such as getting into college and getting a job. With this in mind, you should remember these attractions when reaching out to girls or boys to join your volunteering team.

The Social Incentive

With previous studies focusing on the altruistic reasons behind young people volunteering, DoSomething.org’s Index had a very important finding. The primary factor behind the volunteering habits of young people is having friends that volunteer regularly. More than 75 percent of those whose friends volunteer on a regular basis also volunteer, while only 41 percent of those whose friends don’t volunteer on a regular basis also volunteer. In addition, they discovered that whether or not a young person’s friends volunteer regularly is almost twice as important as having the opportunity to work on something they deeply care about.

This is incredibly important when it comes to recruiting young volunteers and gives organizations a different angle in which to approach the task. The study offers one particular suggestion: ask everyone who signs up for an event to bring a friend and, as a further incentive, participants are entered into a raffle for a free dinner for them and their friends. This provides two potential opportunities for them to socialize and spend time with their friends.

Going Forward with Young People and Volunteering

The study offers some suggestions when it comes to encouraging young people to volunteer for your cause:

1. Social – We all crave social interaction regardless of age, it is part of what life is all about. So it’s important to include a social element in your volunteering event, whether this is encouraging volunteers to bring a friend or social rewards.

2. Accessible – Not all young people have access to a car, so it is important that there be transport routes to your event location. Additionally, you can reach out to young people from the immediate surrounding area.

3. Brief/singular – When attracting young people to volunteer, you should offer flexibility in terms of allowing them to participate for as long as they wish. In this study, the biggest reason given by young people for not volunteering was the lack of time.

4. Familiar – DoSomething.org found that young people who played sports or music volunteered most for a similar activity. Therefore, when creating a volunteering event, it is best to tailor it to the activities that young people enjoy, making it as fun as possible.

5. Beneficial for volunteers, too – Young volunteers may be givers, but they also like to receive so be sure to make your volunteering activities those that will look impressive on resumes and college applications.

Convincing young people to give up their free time is never an easy task, but with the right motivation it is possible. They can be idealistic and willing to make a difference but they still wish to spend time having fun with friends and family. Learning to mix these two things together is the task that organizations face, but if it is achieved, they will have one powerful group of people as part of their team.