54 - Youth Development Volunteerism

Abstract Information: Youth development volunteers play a key role in youth development organizations, delivering educational programming and fulfilling these organizations' missions. Historically, youth development programming has relied on Boomers and Gen X volunteers, who have tended to be able and willing to commit to long-term roles. There has been a shift in the number of volunteers committing to long-term roles after the COVID-19 pandemic and with a new emerging generation of young volunteers (Generation Z individuals may be as old as 27). We recognized a growing need to understand better the volunteering experiences and motivations for these volunteers to strengthen recruitment, retention, support, and acknowledgement. To address the needs, we conducted multiple evaluation studies with the University of California (UC) 4-H Youth Development Program to assess and elevate volunteer voices - especially for emerging adults - including those volunteering in the UC 4-H. These studies had collaborative teams involving new and seasoned evaluators. This poster will provide an overview of four projects. Study 1: A statewide volunteer satisfaction survey was conducted in 2018 (pre-pandemic) and again in 2023 (post-pandemic). The surveys assessed various aspects of volunteer satisfaction, such as participation efficacy, organizational support, group integration, and empowerment. The findings helped prioritize where organizational efforts should be directed to improve volunteers’ satisfaction with their volunteering experience. Study 2: Longitudinal survey with 4 data time points over 6 years involving adult volunteers to assess culture and perceptions of the psychological environment. The study was useful in setting programmatic priorities, addressing needs/gaps, and managing resource allocation. Study 3. A multistate study focused on Gen Z adults to assess their motivation and volunteer preferences, including factors influencing their volunteering decisions with an organization. The findings provided valuable insights for effective recruitment and retention strategies for engaging Gen Z volunteers in meaningful opportunities within a youth service organization. Study 4. A year after a staffing restructure, we evaluated its effectiveness using mixed methods and data from multiple sources. The evaluation's findings help determine the new staffing model's effect on volunteer satisfaction, training needs, retention, and conflict resolution at the local level. Bringing these studies together, we sought to explore changing Trends in volunteerism post-pandemic and with a new generation in emerging adulthood. In this poster, our team will discuss a comprehensive framework we adopted for the evaluation study, methodologies, key findings, and how the findings inform UC 4-H's volunteer recruitment and retention strategies.