Wesley Mission Sydney Research

To better inform our management and deployment of this essential human resource, the voluntary section within Wesley Mission Sydney, a research project was conducted through the Strategic Planning & Development Unit during 2000. This data will be used to inform decision making in relation to our volunteer contribution. Further analysis will be undertaken later, utilising the collated data. Our analysis to date is published below.

Survey development
Past empirical research on volunteering was examined and some questions formulated. This survey was then piloted with 15 volunteers, both males and females, of varying ages who were engaged in very different volunteer work across Wesley Mission Sydney. From this pilot, changes were made and the full survey was developed.
A 28% response rate was achieved, with 276 surveys received out of a possible 1,000. The survey contained both quantitative and qualitative questions.
The quantitative data was entered into the SPSS data analysis program and analysed.

Gender
67% of respondents were female. Less than half this number, 31.2%, were male. Summary of Findings

Age
The age breakdown is as follows:

Age Groups	Frequency	Percentage
Under 18	4	1.4
19-30	59	21.4
31-40	25	9.1
41-50	28	10.1
51-60	35	12.7
61-70	44	15.9
Over 70	79	28.6

Country of birth
75.7% of respondents were born in Australia. The next largest group, 8.7% were born in the UK. 7 people were born in Asian countries (2.5%) and 12 people were born in European countries (4.3%).

Languages spoken at home
This question asked about the main language spoken at home, however, a number of people wrote down more than one language. Therefore, two variables were created, one being, is English spoken at home, and the other being any other language noted as being spoken at home. 97.1% of people responded that they speak English at home. 7.2% stated that they spoke a language either other than or as well as English at home.

Religious denomination
53.6% of respondents were Christians and regular church attenders. The next largest group (32.6%) were Christians but not regular church attenders. The third largest group (9.8%) stated they had no religion. 1.4% stated they were Jewish, 1.1% that they were Buddhist and 0.4% that their religious beliefs were eclectic in nature. 1.1% did not answer the question.

Highest level of education achieved
The largest group of respondents to this question, 37%, had achieved a university degree The next largest group, 28.3% had tertiary training other than a university degree and the next largest group, 18.1% left school at around 15 years of age. 34.4% of respondents had left school at around 17 years of age or younger.

Currently undertaking study
70.7% of respondents to this question were not currently studying. 14.9% were studying full-time and 13% were studying part-time.

How many hours per week do you work in paid employment?
Just over half the respondents (52.5%) marked this question ‘Not Applicable’. Of the remaining 126 respondents, 32.5% were working 40 hours a week or more in paid employment, 23.8% were working 30 to 40 hours, 19.8% were working less than 10 hours, 19% were working 10 to 20 hours, and 4.8% were working 20-30 hours. This means that of the original sample, just over a quarter (25.7%) are working 30 hours a week or more and 14.9% are working over 40 hours a week in paid employment.

What is your status if you do not work in paid employment?
There is some discrepancy with this question as 145 people stated that the above question was not applicable to them (meaning that they do not work in paid employment) but 164 people answered this question.

Of the people who answered this question most stated that they were either retired (29.3%) or that they were on a pension (14.9%), a total of 44.2%. Obviously many of these people would be retired on an old age pension - 122 people answered with these two responses and 123 people in the survey were aged over 61 years.

Do you volunteer for any other organisation?
38.8% of survey participants answered ‘yes’ to this question.

What is your current volunteer pattern?
Most people volunteer weekly (46.7%).

How many hours per week do you volunteer at Wesley Mission?
Less than 2: 10.9%
2 to less than 4: 37% (This is likely to capture a large number of
Lifeline workers as they generally work a 4 hour
shift every 2 weeks).
4 to less than 10: 29.3% (This captures all or most of the Vision
Valley volunteers. As they work inconsistent
hours it was worked out that over a normal year,
doing the Vision Valley camps at each school
holidays, they volunteer 8.3 hours per week.)
10 to less than 20: 7.2%
20 to 40: 3.3%

How many hours do you volunteer in total - Wesley Mission and others?
Less than 2:1.1%
2 to less than 4: 5.1%
4 to less than 10: 15.7%
10 to less than 20: 7.5%
20 to 40: 2.5%

Did you start volunteering at Wesley Mission with your current program?
78.6% said yes, 14.5% no

Do you see an end point in time for your volunteering?
65.6% of respondents did not see an end point in time for their volunteering. 29.3% did.

How long do you expect to keep volunteering?
Of the respondents who saw an end point in time for their volunteering, 67% expected to keep volunteering for at least another year and 40.5% expected to keep going for over 2 years. Less than 2 10.9% 2 to less than 4 37% (This is likely to capture a large number of Lifeline workers as they generally work a 4 hour shift every 2 weeks). 4 to less than 10 29.3% (This captures all or most of the Vision Valley volunteers. As they work inconsistent hours it was worked out that over a normal year, doing the Vision Valley camps at each school holidays, they volunteer 8.3 hours per week.) 10 to less than 20 7.2% 20 to 40 3.3%

How long have you been volunteering for Wesley Mission?
The following indicates the amount of time
respondents stated that they had been
volunteering:

No. of years	% of survey respondents
Up to 1	25.0
1-2	18.8
2-5	19.6
5-10	17.5
10-15	7.6
15-25	4.9
Over 25	1.6

 What first attracted you to volunteer for a program of Wesley Mission’s?
Of people who responded to this question, the top three attractions to volunteering at Wesley Mission were: 1. wanting to do something for others (30.6%) 2. thinking that the program sounded worthwhile (19.2%) 3. thinking that they would enjoy the volunteer service itself (15%)

What factors keep you volunteering for Wesley Mission?
This was a multiple response question where respondents could agree to as many of the statements as they liked. The top three responses to this question were: 1. Being of service to others/benefiting the community (80%) 2. Being able to use my skills (64%) 3. The people I serve with (52.7%) Are you interested in gaining paid work from your volunteering? Yes - 13.4% No - 65.2% Maybe - 19.9%

Do you believe volunteering will help you gain paid work?
Those who answered ‘no’ to the above question were asked to skip this question. 92 people answered ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ to the above question, however, 122 people answered this question. Of the 122 who answered, 70.7% said ‘yes’, 27% said ‘no’, and 19.7% were unsure.

How do you usually travel to and from your main Wesley Mission volunteer activity?
Volunteers could indicate more than one mode of transport to and from the volunteer activity. The main mode of transport for volunteers was cars/motorbikes at nearly 42%. Secondly was walking at 64%, thirdly was catching a bus at 60%, then catching a train at 53%.

How has volunteering enhanced your life?
The top three responses to this question were: 1. I feel as though I have contributed something worthwhile (82.5% of responses) 2. I feel I have been of service to people in need (70.2% of responses) 3. I have gained personal satisfaction (68.4% of responses)

On the following scale, please indicate how happy you are with your current volunteering.
On this scale, 1 represented “Totally dissatisfied”, 6.5 represented “Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” and 12 represented “Totally satisfied”. The responses were: 

Satisfaction Level	% of Respondents
1 - 3	1.5
4 - 6	0.7
7 - 9.5	30
10 - 12	65.1

Think of the times when you have felt the most satisfaction from volunteering. What made you feel this way?
More than one response could have been chosen for this question.

62.8% said “Seeing my volunteering make a difference in people’s lives
61.7% said “Feeling as though I have given good service even when I don’t receive feedback 54.9% said “Receiving positive feedback about my volunteering from clients, patients, supervisor, staff etc.

How long does it take you to travel to and from your place of volunteering?

Duration	Percentage
Less than 15 minutes	32
15-29 minutes	23
30-44 minutes	16
45 minutes to 1 hour	16.5
Over 1 hour	9.6

Comparative Data

Age x Current volunteer pattern
Of those aged over 50, the majority (68.6%) volunteered weekly. Of those aged under 50, the majority (49.5%) volunteered fortnightly. A large percentage of 19-30 year olds (46.6%) volunteer for special events only.

Age	%Weekly	%Fortnightly	%Monthly	%Special events
19-30				46.6
31-40		64.0
41-50		57.1
51-60	57.1
61-70	58.1
Over 70	79.5

From these statistics it would appear that those aged over 50 are more likely to have the time to volunteer regularly. We can also surmise that those under 30 have less time to spare and so often prefer to partake in one-off volunteer activities rather than committing themselves to regular service.

Age by Do you see an end point in time for your volunteering?

In all age groups the majority of respondents did not see and end point in time for their volunteering.

Age	%No	%Yes	%Difference
19-30	54.4	45.6	8.8
31-40	64.0	36.0	28.0
41-50	77.8	22.2	55.6
51-60	77.1	22.9	54.2
61-70	85.7	14.3	71.4
Over 70	68.5	31.5	37.0

As can be seen above, the 61-70 year age group appear to be the most committed to volunteering, with the greatest difference between the percentages of those who do not see an end point to their volunteering and those who do. The least committed appear to be the 19-30 year group with only a very small difference between the two groups.

Gender by What factors keep you volunteering?
Both men and women rated the same three factors as the
ones that most kept them volunteering:

	Men %	Women %
Being of service to others	81.5	79.8
Being able to use my skills	69.1	62.4
The people I serve with	54.3	51.7

 Multiple Response Questions Comparative Data

Age by What factors keep you volunteering?

%	19-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	70+
Being of service to others	87.0	84.0	85.2	72.7	74.4	77.6
Being able to use my skills	77.8	84.0	70.4	60.6	58.1
The people I serve with	55.6			54.5	53.5	56.6
Supervision and/or support I receive			59.3
Training and/or development I receive		48.0
Keeps me physically and/or mentally active					55.3

What factors keep you volunteering by What is your current volunteer pattern?

%	Weekly	Fortnightly	Monthly	Events Only
Being of service/benefiting the cmty	73.6	88.8	78.3	81.8
Being able to use my skills	59.2	76.3	69.6	51.5
The people I serve with	60.0			75.8
The training and/or development I receive		55.0
The social aspects, ie. meeting new people				51.5
The actual tasks I do			47.8

Those who volunteer fortnightly and keep volunteering due to the training/development they receive would largely be volunteers for Lifeline as they generally do one telephone counselling shift per fortnight and Lifeline is renowned for its excellent training and supervision.

How has volunteering enhanced your life by Gender

	Male %	Female %
Feel as though I have contributed something worthwhile	82.4	82.7
Feel I have been of service to people in need	70.6	69.7
Have gained personal satisfaction	74.1	65.4

How has volunteering enhanced your life by Age

%	19-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	70+
Feel as though I have contributed something worthwhile	75.9	92.0	89.3	71.4	84.1	84.8
Feel I have been of service to people in need	75.9	84.0		80.0	68.2
Gained a greater awareness of social issues	70.7
Have gained personal satisfaction		88.0	78.6	68.6	63.6	62.0
Have gained new skills			84.0	68.6
Have kept myself active						67.1

Age by How long does it take you to travel to your place of volunteering?

Duration	19-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	Over 70
<15 min					40.9%	49.3%
15-29 min	30.5%	36.0%	35.7%
30-44 min				34.3%

For the 19 to 50 year olds, the most common amount of time it takes to travel to their place of volunteering is 15 to 29 minutes. For those aged 51 to 60 the most common time is 30 to 44 minutes and for those over 60 the most common time was less than 15 minutes this could be due to a large representation of older people who live at Wesley Mission accommodation centres for older persons and who volunteer there as well.

Just over 25% of all survey respondents travel over 45 minutes to get to their place of volunteering. 8.7% of the sample travel over an hour.