Maria Lawrance 000531942 Event Volunteering – Planning Events

Event Volunteering

Events organisations throughout the world use volunteers to make up part (and in some
cases, all) of the event workforce. With all types of events the staffing is vital to a successful
outcome. As volunteers comprise a large percentage of the overall event staffing it is
important for event managers to understand what motivates people to volunteer so they can
establish how to recruit and retain quality volunteers to their organisations. The following
examines this.

A volunteer is a person who provides his or her time and skills for a service or undertaking
without pay. Volunteers are a vital part of human resources within the events industry and
can make up huge numbers of the workforce, particularly at large events; for example, the
2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester used 10,311 volunteers to staff various
roles before, during and after the games (Bowdin et al, 2006 Pp174-6).

According to McCurley and Lynch (1998) there are several types of volunteer including;
Employer supported volunteers whose time and skills are donated by their employer and
employees with a particular skill are often the ones encouraged by their employer to
volunteer and some larger companies even have a volunteer coordinator, Professional
volunteers are often members of associations whom encourage their members to donate
their time and professional skills, Episodic volunteers get involved with one-off events then
move on to other events at other organisations (this type of volunteer may repeat volunteer
at the same event annually), Transitional volunteers are people who are changing lifestyles
such as housewives returning to the job market or someone wishing to change career, and,
Unemployed volunteers do so to develop skills and experience which possibly lead to paid
work. These examples are just a few of the types of volunteer mentioned by McCurley and
Lynch (1998) however, it is the Episodic volunteer which makes up the majority of the
volunteer workforce within the events industry. This does not however, eliminate those other
types of volunteer from the events industry as there are many cases in which an events
organisation would require specific skills within their volunteer team and corporate sponsors
of events are a good source of employee volunteers, particularly because as major
stakeholders there is more motivation for the volunteers to get involved and do a good job,
so professional and employee volunteers would be used in these instances.

When “creating an effective volunteer organisation or team, it will naturally help to know what
their reasons are for being there and what they hope to get out of it” (Shone & Parry, 2004,
p195). The most prominent reason why an events organisation would use volunteers is that
using them would be financially rewarding to the organisation as the volunteers do not
require payment. However, as pointed out by Van der Wagen (2007) it is important to note
that volunteers are not ‘free’ as they need to be recruited, selected, trained, supervised,
uniformed and fed. There are in fact many reasons why an events organisation would use
volunteers within their workforce. Some events only come into existence by the “combined
efforts of a group of individuals who have a cause-related reason to run and develop an
event and these volunteers form a committee” (Van der Wagen, 2007, p65). Another reason
is to boost the numbers of the staff working on the event and this is particularly the case with
mega and hallmark events such as the Olympic Games. Van der Wagen (2007) uses the
example of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and that they would not have
been able to run without the volunteers as the hours worked by the volunteers during the
games totalled 1,260,000. Volunteers are often the face of an event and are often used by
Page 1 of 6
Maria Lawrance 000531942 Event Volunteering – Planning Events

events organisations customer contact roles and therefore another reason to use volunteers
is to “expand the level customer service” (Van der Wagen, 2007, p65). This would of course
be an additional cost to the organisation as a higher level of training would be require to
ensure the standards are improved. Using volunteers in community events such as local
fireworks displays can go some way to develop community spirit and as Van der Wagen
(2007) also points out that; using volunteers can contribute to diversity and create a social
impact. Whilst these last few reasons are valid, they are not so important to why events
organisations use volunteers. Some key roles within an events organisation may be filled by
volunteers to bring in certain skills that are missing from the original event team, for
example, a team may have most of the skills necessary to create a successful event but lack
financial knowledge and therefore will need to recruit a volunteer with the particular skills to
complete the team. It would therefore be important for event organisations to understand
what motivates people to volunteer to work at events.

This knowledge and understanding of what motivates people to volunteer would assist
events organisations in recruiting the best volunteers for the roles they need to fill within their
event workforce. “Motivation is a key component of the human resource management
process. It is what commits people to a course of action, enthuses and energises them, and
enables them to achieve goals, whether the goals are theirs or the organisations” (Bowdin et
al, 2006, p166). There are many different types of people who volunteer to work at events
and many research surveys have been done around the world in recent years to try and
establish who volunteers including; their background, age, employment status and marital
status etc and why. To establish exactly why people volunteer is a difficult task as each
person is different and there are several reasons why someone would volunteer.
“Volunteers, like the rest of us tend to make rational decisions about the allocation of their
time; they strive to spend it in settings where they feel valued. This value may be the social
aspects, the work objectives, the situational settings, or a combination of all of these”
(McCurley and Lynch, 1998, p159). The most obvious factor to look into would be the cost
to benefit for the volunteers. Brudney and Lee (2009) point out that many individuals use a
rational approach when making the decision to volunteer in which the “individuals weigh the
benefits and costs of the volunteer activity.” The costs can include the time given up, not
just in terms of time itself, but what the individual could otherwise be doing with the time, for
example, working in paid employment is an alternative and others can be loss of leisure and
family time. “Volunteering, therefore, involves a certain level of self-sacrifice of time and/or
money” (Brudney and Lee, 2009). The financial cost to a volunteer could be loss of income
if paid work is an alternative and expenses such as travel and lunch costs.

The benefits of volunteering also vary according to the individual. As discussed by Brudney
and Lee (2009), these benefits can include; improving skills which can enhance
employability (although individuals may also want to improve skills for personal reasons),
stimulating social interactions which may lead to new friendships developing, placing
individuals in positions for future employment (temporary and voluntary employment can
very often lead to permanent employment and with the current economic crisis many
individuals are offering to volunteer for this reason), and, obtaining self oriented benefits
such as psychic benefits, whilst a lot of literature on this subject also includes altruism as a
reason for individuals to volunteer. It is the opinion of the author that altruism appears to be
more present in volunteers at certain types of events such as charitable or aid events.
Brudney and Lee (2009) describe altruistic behaviour as “the satisfaction of one’s moral

Page 2 of 6
Maria Lawrance 000531942 Event Volunteering – Planning Events

preferences” and they point out that in some cases that altruistic behaviour leads to psychic
benefits in which volunteers may be doing something to make themselves feel good rather
than to help other people. In the study ‘The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of
Recent Research,’ the authors make a link with volunteering and benefits to health and point
out that “those who engage in volunteer activities are less likely to suffer from ill health later
in life and may be introduced into positive reinforcing cycle of good health and future
volunteering” (Grimm et al, 2007, p 9).

The benefits of volunteering are difficult to quantify because they include many different
aspects which are both tangible and intangible. Additional benefits to volunteering which are
more tangible than those previously discussed are incentives. Many event organisations
provide incentives to encourage people to volunteer. These incentives vary from event to
event and can often depend on the type of event for example; sporting or charitable events
may provide volunteers with certain incentives such as goodie bags, event t-shirts and
merchandise but music festivals offer incentives such as free entry and camping facilities.
There are many studies which have examined possible motives for volunteering at events,
however, it appears that the majority of the research undertaken has focussed on
volunteering at sporting events such as; the Commonwealth Games and not so much on
other types of events which use volunteers as part of their workforce such as fundraising
events for charitable organisations. With music festivals becoming more popular and
numerous over recent years, many people choose to volunteer to work rather than pay to
attend. Additional benefits to volunteering at music festivals can include; food and drink
provided, possibly the chance of meeting the artists who are performing and gaining an
insight into how an event like this is run (this would benefit anyone volunteering at any other
type of event as well). Endorse-It in Dorset is a music festival held in Sixpenny Handley in
Dorset every year at the beginning of August. Volunteers at this event receive; free entry,
free camping in the backstage area, free meals for each shift worked and backstage access.
In previous years, a staff t-shirt was provided, but as the event has increased in size over
the six years it has been running it has become unfeasible to provide these with the growing
number of volunteers required to run this event. It is not only the events organisations that
recruit volunteers to work at festivals, charitable organisations such as Oxfam provide
volunteers at some of the big festivals including; Glastonbury, Latitude, Cream field, Leeds,
Reading and more. The volunteer staff which are provided by Oxfam take on stewarding
roles; however, they also send campaigners to these festivals who are also volunteers.

When establishing what motivates people to volunteer at events, it may be necessary to

know the type of people who volunteer. As previously mentioned, improving of skills and
placement for future employment are common reasons to volunteer and would attract
students, unemployed and those individuals looking to change career. Hedley and Davis
Smith (1992) do however point out that “most volunteers are economically secure,” but this
would not fit with the reasons above and would suggest that the majority of volunteers who
are economically secure would be more likely to volunteer for altruistic or psychic reasons.
This point would then lead to another interesting motivation discussed by Bang et al (2009),
in which a reduced guilt over being more fortunate than others could be a reason to for this
type of volunteer. These types of people would therefore be more likely to volunteer at
charitable events.

Page 3 of 6
Maria Lawrance 000531942 Event Volunteering – Planning Events

Once an events organisation is aware of what motivates people to volunteer to work at

events, it is then possible to develop strategies to keep them motivated whilst on the job and
in returning to volunteer at future events. “To sustain a volunteer workforce, building a
sense of motivation, commitment and intention to continue to volunteering is one of the most
important tasks of event organisations and managers” (Bang et al, 2009). It is therefore
important for events managers to be aware of the motivations behind volunteering at events
in establishing a relationship between the event organisation and the volunteers to
effectively retain the support of volunteers in the continuation of volunteering at future
events. To establish a relationship and commitment from volunteers would represent a
positive attitude towards the event from the volunteers and therefore a high probability of the
intentions to continue volunteering. When events organisations are familiar with what
motivates volunteers it is possible to build relationships and generate repeat volunteering. In
building relationships with volunteers it is of key importance that event managers keep the
communication continuing throughout all stages. A volunteer would be more committed to
an event if their motivations for volunteering in the first place are fulfilled. Another important
factor to consider is appreciation and gratitude. Regardless of financial payment, it is human
nature to want to be appreciated for a job well done, and this is more prominently so in the
case of volunteers. If this aspect is missing a volunteer could walk off the job (which may
not be noticed at very large events) as volunteers generally have a shorter commitment to
the job and because they are not paid employees, the repercussions would be minimal (Van
der Wagen, 2007).

As pointed out by Shone & Parry (2004) “it can be easy to assume that because an events
organisation may be made up of happy volunteers who want to contribute their skills and
enthusiasm, the event will be a runaway success,” which if course is not the case. It is
important, therefore, to examine the management of volunteers. “Volunteer programmes do
require careful planning and go well beyond recruitment and training” (Van der Wagen,
2007). However, recruitment and training are very important in creating a quality event
workforce and therefore contributing to a successful event. When recruiting volunteers it
would be useful to obtain as much information from the potential volunteers to include not
just employment history and skills, but also what their interests are, why are they
volunteering and do they already have an affiliation with the event organisation or any of the
stakeholders. This will help the event manager to position the volunteer in the most suitable
job role in which they can be enthusiastic about and take ownership of. “Ownership gives
the volunteer something to be in charge of and hence be proud of” (McCurley & Lynch,
1998, p46). “One of the greatest challenges faced by event managers is creating a sense of
‘team’ which can be very difficult when using volunteers as they often come together close to
or on the day of the event” (Bowdin et al, 2006, p171) which is why it is important to select
the right person for each role. Bowdin et al (2006) list several elements to take into
consideration when building teams including; keeping the teams to manageable sizes, well
appointed and trained team leaders, team training, team objectives, communication, a sense
of fun, recognition of volunteers contributions, and celebrations of success.

There are, as previously mentioned, other aspects to take into consideration when managing
volunteers beyond that of recruitment and training. This includes following a code of
conduct for organisations to follow when utilizing volunteers. Van der Wagen (2007) lays the
elements of the code of conduct out as follows:

Page 4 of 6
Maria Lawrance 000531942 Event Volunteering – Planning Events

Meet all legal requirements such as anti-discrimination legislation

Provide a healthy and safe work place
Plan and document safe work practices
Provide insurance cover for volunteer staff
Provide clear and accurate information about how volunteer expectations will be met
Provide orientation and training
Avoid placing volunteers in positions more suitable for paid staff
Treat volunteers as an integral part of the team
Avoid placing volunteers in positions that are difficult or dangerous
Provide meals, drinks and breaks as required
Provide protection from the sun and elements
Provide adequate levels of supervision and support
Define jobs and issue job descriptions or checklists
Develop human resources policies and make these available to volunteers, including
procedures for grievance resolution
Acknowledge the rights of the volunteers
Offer opportunities for learning and development where possible
Meet out-of-pocket expenses such as transportation
Keep volunteers up to date with important information
Constantly acknowledge the contribution of volunteers on both an individual and a group
basis.

Event organisations may not find it possible to follow all of the above elements, in particular
providing meals and meeting out-of-pocket expenses due to budget limitations, so it would
be necessary to keep the volunteers informed prior to the event. This should be provided in
an event staff manual which should also include other important information including; what
is expected of the volunteers, emergency procedures, contact details, frequently asked
questions as well as information regarding the event itself such as mission statement, site,
history and target audience (O’Toole & Mikolaitis, 2002). The event staff manual is an
important tool for ensuring volunteer satisfaction as well as of course a safe and successful
event.

Events organisations should therefore take the time and effort required to understand who
volunteers and what motivates them to volunteer. It is this understanding along with the
necessary organisational elements of managing a volunteer programme that are key
elements to running a successful event because if the event staff are happy and motivated,
they will do a good job.

References

Page 5 of 6
Maria Lawrance 000531942 Event Volunteering – Planning Events

Bang, H. Won, D. and Kim, Y. (2009). ‘Motivations, Commitment, and Intentions to Continue
Volunteering for Sporting Events’ in Event Management, Volume 13. Cognizant
Communication Corp, USA.

Bowdin, G. Allen, J. O’Toole, W. Harris, R. McDonnell, I. (2006) Events Management, 2nd

ed. Elsevier Ltd, Oxford, UK.

Brudney, J. Lee, Y. (2009). ‘Rational volunteering: a benefit-cost approach’ in International

Journal of Sociology and Social Policy Volume 29. Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

Grimm, R. Spring, K. Detz, N. (2007). ‘The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of

Recent Research’. Corporation for National and Community Service, Washington, USA.

Hedley, R. Davis Smith, J. (1992). Volunteering & Society: Principles and Practice. NCVO
Publications, London, UK.

McCurley, S. Lynch, R. (1998). Essential Volunteer Management, 2nd ed. The Directory of
Social Change, London, UK.

O’Toole, W. Mikolaitis, P. (2002). Corporate Event Project Management. John Wiley & Sons
Inc, New York, USA.

Shone, A. Parry, B. (2004). Successful Event Management: A Practical Handbook, 2nd ed.
Thomson Learning, London, UK.

Van der Wagen, L. (2007). Human Resource Management for Events: Managing the Event
Workforce. Elsevier Ltd, Oxford, UK.

Websites

www.oxfam.org.uk

www.lgofestivals.com

Page 6 of 6