Boys and Girls Club: Elon Student Volunteer Habits

1. Boys and Girls Club: Elon Student Volunteer Habits Mike Dara, Christie Goyette, Michael Hart, Liz Jester, Caroline Walsh

2. Agenda • Background • Objectives & Methodology • Executive Summary • Findings • Recommendations • Summary

3. Background • Boys & Girls Club Elon Volunteers! program wants to make Elon students more aware of volunteer opportunities. • We want to determine where students learn about volunteer opportunities and why they choose to volunteer. • Title IX training required for students to volunteer at B&G Club. • Boys & Girls Club has a limited capacity for student volunteers. • Biobus route stops at Boys & Girls Club (Monday-Thursday from 2:30-6:30pm) • During Fall 2012, 20–30 student volunteered at Boys & Girls Club outside of class requirements.

4. Objectives & Methodology • Objectives: • Determine Elon student volunteer habits and how to promote Boys & Girls Club accordingly • Methodology • Qualitative interviews with Elon students and a quantitative survey shared via Facebook • Interview Dates • February 28 – May 1, 2013 • Respondent Qualifications • Must be Elon student

5. Executive Summary • Majority of Elon students have volunteered while at Elon. • Boys & Girls Club is the most preferred child-related Elon volunteer program. Burlington Animal Shelter is the most preferred overall program. • Most students who have previously volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club did not list Boys & Girls Club as a top preference. • Most students who have volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club have cars. Students cited transportation as an important factor in their volunteer habits.

6. Demographics

7. Demographics

8. Have Students Volunteered? An overwhelming majority of students have volunteered during their time at Elon. This is a positive, yet unsurprising trend for the Boys & Girls Club.

9. Why Do Students Volunteer? We asked students to select all that apply for reasons they volunteer. Most selected personal satisfaction. A good amount of students also selected organization requirement and resume builder. We asked students who selected “Other” to clarify. Answers include: Class requirements and fellowship.

10. Where Do They Want To Volunteer? Elon student volunteer preference is positive for Boys & Girls Club – almost ¼ of students would rather volunteer at Boys & Girls Club than any other EV! or Elon-based program. Burlington Animal Shelter is the only program more highly preferred by students. PAYC, which is the most similar to Boys & Girls Club, was not preferred by many students. Thus, for programs involving children, Boys & Girls Club is most preferred.

11. How Often Do They Volunteer? Most Elon students “sometimes” volunteer. We assume this to likely equate to several times a semester. A fair amount of students volunteer rarely and often. Barely any students volunteer very often or never.

12. Volunteer Awareness We asked students to select all of the following volunteer opportunities they have heard of. 86.5% of respondents have heard of Boys & Girls Club, with Burlington Animal Shelter close behind.

13. Volunteer Likelihood The Boys and Girls Club is a national organization with local chapters which offers an after-school program for children and teens. These children often come from difficult or poor home lives and the club provides a way for them to get out of that world for a little while, providing fun and safe activities for them. After reading this description how likely would you be to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club?

14. Where Do You Find Volunteer Opportunities? We asked students where they find their volunteer opportunities. The large majority of students find their opportunities through emails. We asked students who selected “other” to clarify. Answers include: word of mouth, org. fair, and Facebook

15. Where Do You Want to Find More Volunteer Information? We asked students where they would like to hear about volunteer opportunities. There was not a large difference between options; students would like to receive more emails and class announcements regarding opportunities.

16. Cross-Tab: Future Volunteer Preference for BGC Volunteers We asked students where they would be most likely to volunteer out of 8 programs. Out of the 28 people who have volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club, only 8 chose Boys & Girls Club as their top choice. Top Volunteer Preference

17. Cross-Tab: Class Standing & Volunteer Preference We asked students their top choice of volunteer program; we then tested the correlation between their answers and their class standing. Burlington Animal Shelter, the most highly selected program, was most popular with every class standing except seniors, who prefer Boys & Girls Club. Volunteer Preference by Class

18. Cross-Tab: Car owners & Volunteer Frequency Of the 28 people who have volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club, 21 had cars. Transportation appeared to be a driving factor in their volunteer habits.

19. Qualitative Data Qualitative Interview findings: • All respondents involved in at least one campus organization • Most organizations encourage service, many require it. • Cited as popular volunteer spot for Elon students. • Transportation is big hindrance to students without cars • “I want to volunteer there again, but I don’t have a car and the BioBustakes too long.” Why would you be unlikely to volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club? • “Not enough time in the day.” • “I’m just not a big kid person.” • “I do other things instead.”

20. Recommendations • Send simpler emails focused on Boys & Girls Club opportunities. • This could include special events • Involve more organizations or athletic teams • Program for groups to sponsor special events or volunteer days at Boys & Girls Club or on campus. • Bring Boys & Girls Club kids to campus for awareness/promotion. • Target Elon underclassmen • Elon101 visits, flyers in dorms and org. fair, and dining hall table tent ads. • Improved volunteer experience • Clear agenda, volunteer appreciation tactics, organized assignments

21. Summary • Boys & Girls Club and Burlington Animal Shelter are top two volunteer preferences. • Students with cars volunteer more often at Boys & Girls Club than students without cars. • Underclassmen prefer Burlington Animal Shelter while seniors prefer Boys & Girls Club. • Boys & Girls Club has been successful in recruiting Elon volunteers.

22. Questions?