Volunteer Survey February 2022 – The Results 

 Here at Volunteering Bay of Plenty we are always keen to know what Volunteers are thinking and what’s important to them. What better way to find that out than to ask directly, so we ran a survey in January and are now pleased to be able to share the results with you. 

 The full report runs to 10 pages so in this article I’m going to share some of the key highlights and would be delighted to send you a copy of the complete report if you are keen to see all the detail. 

 Methodology 

This was a relatively informal exercise simply aimed at getting a feel for what’s important to our Volunteers in the Bay of Plenty at the moment. Volunteers who have registered on the Volunteering Bay of Plenty database were invited to respond and we asked them to answer the following 10 questions: 

  • What originally prompted you to sign up and register your interest to serve as a Volunteer via the Volbop database? 6 options plus an opportunity for free-form comments 
  • Do you know how to navigate your way around the Volbop database enough to register yourself, apply for a role and create your social CV? 
  • Have you in the last 6 months performed any formal Volunteer duties? 
  • What is your work situation at the moment? (8 options) 
  • Volbop is researching and exploring how we can connect our Volunteers to a mix of paid and Volunteer roles. Would you be interested in this opportunity? 
  • Volbop is currently designing training for Volunteers and Volunteer Managers. Would you be interested in attending these types of training sessions? 
  • Which BOP District do you currently live in? 
  • Which age group do you belong to? 
  • Which ethnic group do you most identify as? 
  • Which gender identification best describes you? 

We were delighted to receive 91 fully completed surveys with no questions skipped. 

 The responses have given us a valuable insight into our Volunteers’ concerns and priorities and we noted 7 key issues that will help us to shape the way we Connect, Advocate, Protect and Educate in the Volunteering domain. 

Insights 

  • The reasons for Volunteering were evenly spread across the 6 options offered in the survey, with wanting to give back and feeling isolated or lonely being the leading responses 
  • At nearly 72%, most people find the Volbop database easy to navigate. A pleasing result for now but we see there’s still room for some improvements 
  • Formal Volunteering seems to have tapered off somewhat in the last 6 months, probably because of restrictions on people’s movements 
  • The overwhelming majority – 80% – of respondents are interested in Volbop helping to connect Volunteers with a mix of paid and Volunteer roles 
  • Volunteers are not evenly distributed around the BOP region and by far the most reported ethnic identity was NZ European. This may not mean that people who identify with other ethnicities are not Volunteering; rather that they have not yet engaged with the Volbop database 
  • Another huge disparity was in the gender mix, with just under 77% female 
  • Students don’t seem to be very interested in Volunteering – an opportunity? 

 For those who prefer information presented visually here are some graphs showing the results of a few of these key issues. 

Q4 What is your work situation at the moment?

Q5 Volbop is researching and exploring how we can connect our Volunteers to a mix of paid and Volunteer roles. Would you be interested in this opportunity?

Q7 Which BOP District do you currently live in?

Some Conclusions 

  • Our Volbop database works well but needs some improvements to support the ever-changing landscape of Volunteering 
  • There are opportunities to engage a broader age and gender demographic in Volunteering 
  • Our Volunteer cohort is heavily skewed towards Tauranga residents. There’s an opportunity to expand this, which gels with our strategy to establish local hubs around the region 
  • There is a clear indication that we need to find creative ways to blend paid work with Volunteering 

Please contact us if you’d like a copy of the full survey results. 
If you or someone you know would like to Volunteer, please register now