The Gerontologist Vol. 49, No. 1, 91102 doi:10.

1093/geront/gnp007

The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org. Advance Access publication on March 17, 2009

Who Benets From Volunteering? Variations in Perceived Benets

Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD,1,2 Song-Iee Hong, PhD,2 and Fengyan Tang, PhD3
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to document the benets of volunteering perceived by older adults and to explain variation in these self-perceived benets. Design and Methods: This is a quantitative study of 13 volunteer programs and 401 older adults serving in those programs. Program directors completed telephone interviews, and older volunteers completed mailed surveys. Volunteer-level and programlevel data were merged. Results: Older volunteers reported a wide variety of benets to the people they served, themselves, their families, and communities. More than 30% reported that they were a great deal better off because of volunteering, and almost 60% identied a benet to their families. When considering only individual characteristics, lower-income and lower-educated volunteers reported more benet. Yet, aspects of the volunteer experience, like amount of involvement, adequacy of training and ongoing support, and stipends, were more important in understanding who benets from volunteering. Implications: These ndings suggest that characteristics of volunteer programs can be strengthened to maximize the benets of volunteering to older adults. These characteristics are more mutable by public policies and organizational procedures than individual characteristics. Focusing on the recruitment of lower socioeconomic status older adults may result in an increase in benets from the growth of volunteering.

outcomes for older adults. A recent review by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Ofce of Research and Policy Development (2007), summarized the evidence about the signicant relationship between volunteering and good health. Older volunteers may benet from volunteering more than younger volunteers in terms of health and psychological well-being (Van Willigen, 2000), and researchers have explored the idea that some subgroups of older adults benet more than others. In this study, we contribute to the growing body of knowledge on outcomes of volunteering. The study has two aims: (a) to document the benets of volunteering from the perspective of older adults and (b) to identify factors that may be associated with variation in these self-perceived benets. The work is unique in that it evaluates individuals assessments of benets accrued from their volunteer service, including benets to self, family, and community. It also identied characteristics of the volunteer and the volunteer experience associated with these benets. This knowledge can inform the development of programs and policies to maximize benets experienced by older volunteers through more targeted recruitment efforts and by shaping volunteer experiences. Background

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Key Words: Civic engagement, Older adults, Outcomes of volunteering

Relationship of Volunteering and Well-being Outcomes

Previous studies have documented the relationship of volunteering with reduced mortality (Musick, Herzog, & House, 1999), increased physical function (Lum & Lightfoot, 2005), increased levels of self-rated health (Morrow-Howell, Hinterlong, Rozario, & Tang, 2003), muscular strength (Fried et al., 2004), reduced depressive symptomatology (Musick & Wilson, 2003), reduced pain (Arnstein, Vidal, Wells-Federman,
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There is an extensive literature that documents the relationship between volunteering and positive
1 Address correspondence to Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130. E-mail: morrow-howell@wustl.edu 2 Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore. 3 University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, Pennsylvania.

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Morgan, & Caudill, 2002), and life satisfaction (Van Willigen, 2000). In one of the oldest studies of the effects of volunteering on late-life wellbeing, Moen, Dempster-McClain, and Williams (1992) followed women for a period of 30 years and documented that those who volunteered, even on an intermittent basis across these years, had higher levels of functional ability at the end of the observation period; they suggested that social integration and meaningful engagement, especially in light of the discretionary nature of volunteer activity, explained the positive health effect. Findings are inconsistent as to whether some subgroups of people benet from volunteering more than others. There is some evidence that older adults who are disadvantaged in terms of personal and social resources experience more positive outcomes from volunteering. Morrow-Howell, Hinterlong, Rozario, and colleagues (2003) found that older adults with functional limitations as well as older adults of more advanced age beneted more from volunteering. Musick and colleagues (1999) found that older adults with less social interaction experienced a greater protective effect from volunteering in terms of mortality. Yet, other studies documented that older adults who were married and employed and had higher levels of religious and social involvement experienced more benets (Oman, Thoresen, & McMahon, 1999; Van Willigen, 2000). In regard to sociodemographic factors, there is evidence that race and gender have no moderating effects on outcomes associated with volunteering (MorrowHowell, Hinterlong, Rozario, et al., 2003; Van Willigen).

Analytic Approaches
Most commonly, the research reviewed previously was based on longitudinal analyses of large nationally representative data sets, like the American Changing Lives Survey, the Health and Retirement Survey, and the Longitudinal Study of Aging. In these studies, demographic information about the individuals and a few basic descriptors of the volunteer experience (like hours in the past year and type of organizations) were associated with another set of variables capturing well-being outcomes measured at a subsequent period. Outcomes usually were captured through standardized measures of functional ability, health, mental health, and life satisfaction. Observation periods generally varied from 3 to 8 years, and outcomes were assessed in time frames consistent with the observa92

tion periods of the studies, as opposed to time frames directly corresponding to the volunteer experience. Further, the focus of the studies was on outcomes of volunteers versus nonvolunteers, with no attention to the variation of outcomes within volunteers. Explanatory factors were limited to demographics and a few descriptors of the volunteer experience. This analytic strategy lends itself well to conclusions about the public health benets of volunteering. Yet, this methodology has not shed light on volunteers perceptions of positive outcomes, and previous work has suggested that satisfaction and retention are associated with the benets perceived by the volunteer (Clary et al., 1998). Further, Siegrist, Von Dem Knesebeck, and Pollack (2004) suggested that health effects depended on a favorable assessment of the rewards associated with the activity. Additionally, previous methodologies did not acknowledge the variation of outcomes experienced within volunteers, nor identied program-level factors that might affect outcomes. This studys analytic approach differed from previous work in three ways. First, we studied only active volunteers, those participating in a program at the time the sample was identied. Thus, we can study variation in the outcomes within volunteers. Second, we assessed outcomes of volunteering with a different measurement approach. We queried active volunteers about their perceived outcomes in relation to their current involvement with specic programs. Thus, the outcomes were self-perceived as well as concurrent with the volunteer activity. Third, we studied a wider range of variables regarding the volunteer experience, like adequacy of training and type of volunteer activity. We tested volunteer characteristics and characteristics of the volunteer experience as well as the interaction between these two sets of variables.

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Conceptual Framework
Previous literature has largely explored individual factors related to volunteer outcomes, but we assert that factors related to the volunteer experience are also important in understanding differential effects of volunteering. We used a conceptual framework that views volunteer outcomes as a product of both individual and organizational factors (Beverly & Sherraden, 1999; Sherraden, Morrow-Howell, Hinterlong, & Rozario, 2001). As in the aging and society paradigm (Riley, Foner, & Riley, 1999), we emphasized the
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interplay between individual lives and social organizations to explain volunteer outcomes. Organizational arrangements can promote volunteer engagement unevenly (Putnam, 1993), and programs vary in terms of the activities available to older volunteers and the supports offered to attract and sustain volunteers in these roles (MorrowHowell, Hinterlong, Sherraden, et al., 2003; Sherraden, Schreiner, & Beverly, 2002). We proposed that organizational-level variables, like incentives, training, and ongoing support, explain variance in the experience of older volunteers. In our model, we captured individual characteristics through age, gender, race, marital status, income, education, and employment status. Characteristics of the volunteer experience, largely shaped through organizational arrangements, were captured at the program level and included amount of volunteering in the program (intensity and duration), type of volunteer activity, adequacy of training and support, and whether or not the volunteer work was stipended. Thus, we used both characteristics of volunteers and characteristics of the volunteer experience to explain variation in the benets perceived by the volunteers. We hypothesized that the level of perceived benets depended on individual factors as well as factors regarding the volunteer experience. Despite some inconsistencies in previous work regarding individual characteristics and volunteer outcomes, we proposed that older adults who were more disadvantaged in terms of socialization and socioeconomic status (SES) perceived more benets from volunteering. Although there is no previous empirical work to guide hypotheses regarding characteristics of the volunteer experience, we expected that those volunteers who were better trained and supported would report more favorable outcomes. We took an exploratory approach to test whether the effects of the characteristics of the volunteer experience on benets were moderated by the characteristics of the volunteer. For example, we tested whether the relationship between adequacy of training and perceived benets was moderated by education of the volunteer. Methods

Sample and Data Collection

This study was part of a larger project on the capacity of organizations to engage older volunteers. In this parent study, we identied 51 volunteer programs and described their organizational
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characteristics (Hong, Morrow-Howell, Tang, & Hinterlong, 2006). Next, we identied 14 of the participating programs to survey volunteers. We then combined program information with information about the individual volunteer to accomplish the analytic objectives of this study. In the parent study, we identied 51 programs in the United States by way of the Internet that meet the following criteria: It was a named program (e.g., Family Friends, OASIS Person-toPerson), it had a goal to improve a specic area of human or environmental affairs, and it specically recruited older adults as volunteers. These programs recruited older adults to tutor children, mentor youth, address safety issues in a given community, or focus on an environmental concern. In a telephone interview with the program director, we collected information about the program, including major service activity of the volunteers, training protocols, and efforts to support volunteers. To collect information about volunteers who participated in these programs, we selected 14 of 51 programs in the parent study. We purposively selected these programs because they were large programs with many volunteers and because of high levels of cooperation of the program administration in distributing and collecting the surveys. Of the 640 hard copy surveys sent out between May and December 2005, we received 405 completed surveys. We dropped one program because there was only a 25% response rate. Thus, the current study had a response rate of 65%. This sample of 401 volunteers aged 51 or older were selected from 13 programs, which represent diverse program types in terms of geographic location, activity type, and population served. Like all the programs in the parent study, the 13 programs in this sample were named programs in which older adults were recruited to do specic service tasks. Examples include Senior Medicare Patrol, Computer Buddies, and Tax Counseling for the Elderly. Volunteer activities included teaching, tutoring, assisting with instrumental activities, mentoring, policing/public safety activities, counseling/technical advice, conservation activities, and supportive counseling. Most of the programs were run by public agencies (police departments, city and state governments), a few were operated by nonprot agencies, and one was sponsored by a religious organization (this program gave monthly stipends to all volunteers with no income eligibility requirements). One was a Senior Companion

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program funded by the federal government through the Senior Corps program of the Corporation for National and Community Service. In this program, volunteers had an income of less than 125% of the poverty line and committed to 15 hr a week; a stipend of $2.65 an hour was provided.

Instrumentation and Measurement

The survey instrument was developed in a previous study of self-perceived benets of volunteering (Morrow-Howell, Kinnevy, & Mann, 1999). At the time of this previous study, no existing instrument was available. However, a wide variety of benets were suggested in qualitative, quantitative, and conceptual writings on volunteering. These outcomes included contribution to others, self-esteem, personal growth, meaningful engagement, socialization, life satisfaction, and health. Thus, we devised a set of items that captured the range of benets suggested by the literature. For the current study, we modied our original instrument, tested it with 38 volunteers from local programs, and revised for clarity and simplicity. The survey instrument contained 11 closed-ended questions that queried directly about types of benets: contribution (2 questions), meaningful activity (2 questions), improved life (1 question), socialization (2 questions), self-worth (1 question), personal growth (2 questions), and health (1 question). The questions were worded to attribute any perceived change to program participation. For example, items were: To what extent has (program name) increased your social activities? (1 = not at all to 3 = a great deal) and I feel better about myself since joining this program (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Response options were either 3 or 5 points, but all items were collapsed to 3 points for the purpose of this analysis. Given high internal consistency among these 11 items, we summed them to a total benet score for the regression analysis (Cronbachs a = .85). We also asked study participants to rate the extent to which they were better or worse off because of this volunteer experience, as well as the extent to which those who received the services were better off because of the volunteer work. Finally, we used open-ended questions to query about positive effects on their families, positive effects on their communities, and negative effects of volunteering. There is little empirical work to guide the study of these specic outcomes of volunteering; thus, we took an exploratory approach.
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For example, we rst asked, Has your family beneted from your volunteer work? If the respondent replied yes, we asked, How has your family beneted? Volunteers reported their gender, race, marital status, employment status, education, income, and age. They also reported hours per month (intensity of volunteering) and how long they had volunteered for this program (duration of volunteering). In addition, volunteers reported the extent to which they received adequate training and whether they have received adequate ongoing support (from strongly disagree to strongly agree). Program directors provided information for two variables in the study: whether the program provided a stipend to volunteers and the major type of service activity provided by the program. For major types of volunteer activity, four categories were used: tutoring/mentoring, instrumental/ supportive/nonskilled, skilled assistance/technical advice, and public safety.

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Data Analysis
To analyze the information from the open-ended questions about benets to family and community, we used content analysis to identify themes, categorize responses, and determine the number of responses per category. The research team worked together to derive the categories, and then all responses were categorized by two coders, who worked together (and with the team if needed) until agreement was reached and nal codes were assigned. To analyze factors associated with benets, we combined program-level data about the type of activity and provision of stipend with individuallevel data about the volunteers. That is, all volunteers in the same program were assigned the same value on the activity type and stipend variable. Thus, in the regression analyses, individual respondents were clustered by each of the 13 programs included in the study. To handle the correlation between observations on a given program, we used generalized estimating equations (GEE). The GEE method, introduced by Liang and Zeger (1986), was developed to extend generalized linear models to accommodate correlated data, and this procedure is widely used by researchers in a number of elds (Horton & Lipsitz, 1999). To assess the model as a whole, a pseudomeasure of explained variance was computed by using log-likelihood estimates (Nagelkerke, 1991).
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We completed two GEE regressions: one with only volunteer characteristics and one with both volunteer characteristics and the characteristics of the volunteer experience. Given that previous work has largely focused only on volunteer characteristics, we wanted to fully understand the effects of these characteristics separate from and in combination with the variables capturing aspects of the volunteer experience. After estimating the model with both sets of independent variables, we tested interaction terms one at a time. That is, we created interaction terms between the volunteer characteristics and characteristics of the volunteer experience and tested them for statistical signicance by considering their unique marginal effect. Three variables needed to be modied for use in the regression analysis. Given that the large majority of volunteers were Caucasian and few were Hispanic or Asian, we collapsed race into White and non-White for purposes of this analysis. Given the skewness of the measure of intensity of volunteering (2.79) and duration of volunteering (1.21), we transformed these variables to be more symmetric by using square root transformations. Less than 3% of the observations had missing values, with the exception of income, where 14% of the observations had missing values. A hot decking imputation procedure was used to complete the missing data (Kotz, Johnson, & Read, 1982) so that all observations could be used in the regression analyses. This procedure involved identifying an observation with complete data that was similar to the observation with missing data (similar in terms of nonmissing variables). Then, the missing data were lled in using the values of the nonmissing data from the similar observation. Results

Table 1. Characteristics of the Volunteers (N = 401) Variables Gender Female Race White/Caucasian African American Hispanic/Latino/Chicano Asian and other Marital status Married/partnered Employment Currently employed Education Less than high school (011 years) High school graduate (12 years) College level (1316 years) Graduate level (17 or more years) Income Less than $9,999 $10,000$14,999 $15,000$19,999 $20,000$24,999 $25,000$29,999 $30,000$39,999 $40,000$59,999 $60,000$79,999 $80,000 or more Age (years) 5160 6170 7180 8190 Frequency (%) 263 (65.6) 319 (79.6) 50 (12.5) 22 (5.5) 8 (2.0) 191 (47.6) 46 (11.5) 17 (4.2) 64 (16.0) 166 (40.4) 158 (39.4) 22 (5.5) 24 (6.0) 30 (7.5) 34 (8.5) 29 (7.2) 46 (11.5) 109 (27.2) 59 (14.7) 48 (12.0) 35 (8.7) 143 (35.7) 166 (41.4) 57 (14.2)
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Characteristics of the Volunteers and the Volunteer Experience

As shown in Table 1, these programs recruited older adults, aged 5190 years. As expected, volunteers were disproportionately women (66%) and Caucasian (80%). As in most samples of volunteers, they were highly educated. About 12% were employed and more than one quarter earned an annual household income of less than $25,000. As seen in Table 2, older volunteers, on average, contributed 31 hr per month. However, there was large variation in the intensity of volunteering, ranging from 1 to 260 hr a month, with a median
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of 17 hr per month. (One program involved volunteers spending some time residing in the community being served; thus, the high number of hours per month.) Forty percent volunteered more than 20 hr per week, whereas 15% did less than 5 hr per week. In terms of the duration of volunteering, volunteers participated in the program for an average of 62 months (or just more than 5 years), but there was a large variation. Less than 10% had been volunteering for the program for less than 6 months and 10% for more than 10 years. More than half had volunteered for the program for at least 3 years. Most volunteers reported that they had received adequate training from their volunteer programs and that they had received adequate ongoing support. Five of the programs in the sample assisted other people with more technical needs (tax preparation, Medicare ling, legal issues); thus, most of the volunteers participated in these types of activities. Four programs and 23% of the volunteers provided nontechnical support to other people,

Table 2. Characteristics of the Volunteer Experience (N = 401) Variables Intensity Total hours of volunteering for a month Duration Total months of volunteering Training was adequate Strongly disagree (1) Disagree Neutral/neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree (5) Ongoing support was adequate Strongly disagree (1) Disagree Neutral/neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree (5) Stipended Yes (2 programs) No (11 programs) Type of volunteer activity Tutoring/mentoring (2 programs) Instrumental/supportive/nonskilled (4 programs) Skilled assistance/technical advice (5 programs) Public safety (2 programs) Mean (SD, range) 31.2 (44.2, 1260)

61.6 (52.7, 1264) Frequency (%) 4 (1.0) 17 (4.2) 53 (13.2) 218 (54.4) 109 (27.2) 2 (0.5) 13 (3.2) 51 (12.7) 212 (52.9) 123 (30.7) 44 (11.0) 357 (89.0) 98 (24.4) 91 (22.7) 183 (45.6) 29 (7.2)

like meal preparation or transportation. Two programs and 24% of the volunteers in the sample tutored children and mentored youth. Two programs and the fewest number of volunteers directed efforts to neighborhood safety or the detection of consumer fraud.

other people, and as they helped others through their service, they also beneted themselves. Table 3 indicates the extent to which the volunteers endorsed each of the benets specied in the survey. It is noteworthy that 20% of volunteers reported that their health was better since joining the program. Also, almost all volunteers agreed that participation in the program had improved their lives in some way. When the benets were aggregated into one summary measure, the mean benet was 23.11 (SD = 4.31), with a theoretical range of 1133 and an empirical range of 1233. Fifty-eight percent of volunteers reported benets to family and friends. As seen in Table 4, volunteers most frequently mentioned two benets to familythat family members were less concerned about them and that the family gained knowledge about information and resources. Eighty-six percent of study participants named a benet to the community that stemmed from their volunteer work. Most reported that communities were better off because the individuals receiving the services of the volunteer programs were better off. But they also reported higher levels of awareness about social issues and higher levels of intergenerational understanding. When asked about negative effects, eight volunteers reported interference with family activities due to volunteer schedules and one reported intrusion into family life.

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Factors Associated With Benets

In Table 5, there are two models, one with only characteristics of the volunteers and one where characteristics of the volunteer experience are added. When only volunteer characteristics were considered, income was associated with perceived benet (p < .05); and education and marital status had marginally signicant associations (p < .10). Together, these associative factors suggest that lowerincome, lower-educated, and single older volunteers perceived more benet from their volunteer experience. These ndings thus offer some support for the hypothesis that older adults who were more disadvantaged in terms of socialization and SES perceived more benets from volunteering. However, when adding characteristics of the volunteer experience to the model, the explanatory power of the model increased signicantly. The amount of variance in benets explained by individual characteristics was 6%. Yet, with the addition of variables capturing aspects of the volunteer
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Perceived Benets
When asked to rate the extent to which their volunteer activities beneted others as well as themselves, more than 90% of volunteers reported that the people or community served by the program were better off because of their volunteer work, with one third of respondents reporting that service recipients were a great deal better off. About 50% of volunteers reported that they themselves were somewhat better off because of their volunteer experience, whereas 31% reported being a great deal better off. The remaining 18% reported that they were neither better off nor worse off, and only one person said she or he was worse off. These ndings suggest that these volunteers perceived that they made a difference in the lives of

Table 3. Extent of Agreement Regarding Benets of Volunteering (N = 401) Item from closed-ended questions about benets of volunteering I have contributed to the well-being of others served by the program. As a program volunteer, I have contributed to my community. To what extent has the program enabled you to participate in meaningful activities? I use my time more productively since joining the program. To what extent has the program improved your life? I have enlarged my circle of friends and acquaintances since joining the program. To what extent has the program increased social activities? I feel better about myself since joining the program. Volunteering has increased my ability to interact with different kinds of people. To what extent has the program expanded leadership ability? Since joining the program, my health status is Disagree/not at all, frequency (%) 16 (4.0) Agree/to some extent, frequency (%) 193 (48.1) Strongly agree/a great deal, frequency (%) 192 (47.9)

27 (6.7)

226 (56.4)

148 (36.9)

20 (5.0)

219 (54.6)

162 (40.4)

132 (32.6)

175 (43.6)

94 (23.4)

32 (8.0) 93 (23.2)

252 (62.8) 228 (56.9)

117 (29.2) 80 (20.0)

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136 (33.9)

226 (56.4)

39 (9.7)

87 (21.7) 81 (20.2)

221 (55.1) 207 (51.6)

93 (23.2) 113 (28.2)

87 (21.7)

243 (60.6)

71 (17.7)

Worse, 32 (8.0)

Same, 289 (72.1)

Better, 80 (19.9)

experience, the pseudo R2 increased to 29%, a statistically signicant change (c2 = 96.04, p < .001). Clearly, ndings support the hypothesis that perceived benets depend on both individual factors and factors regarding the volunteer experience. All the variables capturing aspects of the volunteer experience were statistically signicant. Volunteers who put in more time on a monthly basis and who volunteered for more months reported higher levels of benets from volunteering. As predicted, those volunteers who felt better trained and supported reported more favorable outcomes. Those volunteers who were stipended reported higher levels of benet, and those working in public safety activities reported higher benet compared with those providing skilled assistance/ technical advice. Table 6 presents the results of our exploration of interactions among volunteer characteristics and characteristics of the volunteer experience. We presented only the terms that were statistiVol. 49, No. 1, 2009 97

cally signicant when added to the full model shown in Table 5. It is notable that the relationships between the dependent variable of perceived benets and the independent variables of duration of volunteering, adequacy of training, and adequacy of support were not moderated by any volunteer characteristics. The moderating effects of volunteer characteristics were concentrated on two variables: type of volunteer activity and stipend. Findings indicated that women and those with lower income reported more benet from participating in public security programs. Furthermore, lower-income and lower-educated persons participating in instrumental/nonskilled service programs experienced less benet than those in skilled/technical service programs. Finally, the positive relationship between stipend and perceived benets was weaker for the oldest of the 55+ volunteer sample, for non-White older adults, and for those volunteers with lower education and lower income.

Table 4. Benets to Family and Communitya Frequency (%) Benets to family I brought information/resources back to family and friend. Family is less concerned about me; pleased with my involvement. I got family and friends involved in volunteering. My family is proud of me. Family is more aware about social or community issues. I have better relationships with my family and friends. I have set an example for my family members. My family and spouse are more socially active. I have extra money to contribute to family and friends. Benets to community Community is better off because the clients served are better off. Community conditions are improved, safer, or cleaner. There are higher levels of awareness about community issues. There is increased intergenerational understanding in community. The community has more productive citizens. There are higher levels of volunteering in the community. 51 (12.7) 62 (15.5) 19 (4.7) 15 (3.7) 12 (3.0) 10 (2.5) 5 (1.3) 3 (0.7) 4 (1.0) 168 (41.9) 30 (7.5) 21 (5.2) 13 (3.2) 9 (2.2) 8 (2.0)
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Note: aThe benets listed derived from content analysis of open-ended questions; the frequencies represent the number of volunteers who mentioned that benet. Volunteers could mention more than one benet.

Discussion

Perception of Benets
Older adults perceived that volunteering beneted them, their families, and their communities. Negative effects from the volunteer experience were very infrequently reported. Contribution to others and the community were the benets most widely reported, and volunteers perceived that their

work made a difference in peoples lives. These ndings support what has long been suggested: Volunteering provides older adults with the opportunity to engage in meaningful activities and to express values related to altruism and humanitarian concerns (Clary & Orenstein, 1991). More volunteers reported contribution to others rather than benet to self, and this is consistent with the enterprise of volunteering. The primary

Table 5. Factors Associated With Total Benet Score (N = 401) Model with characteristics of volunteers only Independent variables Age Gender Race Marital status Income Education Employment status Intensity of volunteering Duration of volunteering Adequacy of training Adequacy of support Type of volunteer activitya Tutoring/mentoring Instrumental nonskilled service Public security service Stipended Model t (pseudo R2) DR2
a

Model with characteristics of volunteer experience added Estimate (SE) 0.001 (0.001) 0.57 (0.44) 1.16 (0.49) 0.52 (0.45) 0.13 (0.10) 0.53 (0.24) 0.96 (0.62) 3.88 (1.20) 0.15 (0.07) 0.71 (0.28) 0.74 (0.27) p Value .21 .20 .02 .25 .20 .03 .13 .001 .02 .01 .006

Estimate (SE) 0.001 (0.001) 0.57 (0.49) 0.81 (0.56) 0.81 (0.49) 0.22 (0.11) 0.49 (0.27) 0.46 (0.68)

p Value .48 .24 .15 .09 .04 .07 .50

0.06

0.02 (0.33) .96 0.13 (0.55) .82 1.78 (0.72) .01 3.45 (0.84) .001 0.29, c2 = 96.04 (p < .001)

Note: The reference group is skilled assistance/technical advice.

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Table 6. Interactions Between Volunteer Characteristics and Characteristics of the Volunteer Experience (N = 401) Interaction term Volunteering intensity education Instrumental service program education Instrumental service program income Public security program gender Public security program income Stipend age Stipend race Stipend income Stipend education Estimate (SE) 2.11 (0.92) 1.10 (0.29) 0.60 (0.14) 2.84 (0.44) 0.44 (0.12) 0.01 (0.00) 3.29 (1.12) 0.47 (0.14) 1.11 (0.25) p Value .02 .001 .001 .001 .001 .02 .001 .001 .001

objective of volunteering is to serve others and the community, but clearly there are secondary gains as volunteers experience personal benet. Almost 30% of study participants strongly agreed that their lives were improved due to volunteer involvement. The benets enumerated in our study suggest that this improvement in life might be associated with increased self-esteem (feeling better about self), increased efcacy (increased ability to interact with diverse people, increased leadership ability), and increased socialization (interaction with others, enlarged circle of friends).

Variation in Benets
When considering only the characteristics of the volunteers, these ndings suggest that benets do not vary by age, race, and gender. In general, this is consistent with prior research. These ndings support universal recruitment of volunteers to maximize benets. Yet, individuals with lower income systematically reported more benet from volunteering, and there was a trend toward those with lower education reporting more benet. In the model with characteristics of the volunteer experience, education was signicant. These ndings suggest that lower-SES individuals have more to gain from the valued role of the volunteer, in terms of resources and recognition (Martinez et al., 2006). Findings imply that targeting lower-SES older adults may yield more overall benet among older volunteers. However, it is clear that there are challenges to recruiting lower-SES individuals. McBride (2007) described numerous barriers to volunteering, including competing demands of caregiving, lack of transportation, and poor health barriers disproportionately encountered by lower-SES older adults. Increasing the number of lower-SES individuals will require a concerted effort supported by programs and funders.
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It is interesting that race was not signicant in the model including only characteristics of the volunteer, but race became statistically signicant when controlling for program characteristics. This suggests that only when all aspects of the volunteer situation are equal, older non-Whites experience more benets than Whites from volunteering. In the presence of facilitators, like stipends, training, and support, African Americans and Hispanic older adults may experience more positive outcomes from volunteering. Volunteers who accrued more volunteer experience, through amount of time per month and number of months, perceived more benet. Given the nature of this study, the relationship of these variables cannot be interpreted causally. Perhaps those who put in more volunteer time did indeed gain more benets. Alternatively, those who experienced benets may have put in more time and stayed in the volunteer role longer. Although the same challenges to a causal argument apply, it is notable that those volunteers who reported better training and support experienced more benet. These ndings suggest that the facilitation of volunteer participation by programs is important in achieving outcomes experienced by the volunteers. Additionally, volunteers participating in stipended programs reported more benet. Although stipend levels for volunteering are minimal (e.g., $2.65 an hour for programs sponsored by the Senior Corps of the federal government), stipends are considered important incentives to attract individuals who cannot afford the expenses of transportation or meals associated with participation (Wilson & Musick, 1997). In this study of current volunteers, we could not address the issue of how stipends are related to recruitment. Our ndings do, however, shed some light on the relationship between receiving a stipend and self-perceived benets

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of participation, once a person joined the program. Overall, there is a positive relationship between receiving a stipend and reporting benets from volunteering, but the link between receiving a stipend and higher levels of self-perceived benet is not as strong for the oldest of the 55+ volunteers in this sample, lower-income, lower-educated, and nonWhite subgroups. It is not surprising that there is an inconsistent direct effect of stipends on outcomes perceived by volunteers, given the ambiguity of the relationship between compensation and volunteer work. Scholars have suggested that receiving a stipend threatens the altruistic nature of the work (Cnaan, Handy, & Wadsworth, 1996) and has a negative impact on being perceived as a volunteer (Handy et al., 2000). Previous research showed that only about one quarter of older volunteers attached importance to receiving a stipend, partly because receiving compensation does not conform to the traditional view of volunteering (Tang, MorrowHowell, & Hong, 2007). Thus, these ndings suggest that although stipends may bring diverse populations into volunteering, the effects of stipends on benets of socialization, self-esteem, and self-perceived health are not as strong for certain subgroups. Clearly, more research is needed on the different effects of stipends across the process of recruiting, retaining, and maximizing benets of participation in volunteer programs. It is notable that race has a direct effect on perceived benets as well as moderates the relationship between stipend and outcomes. That is, non-Whites report more benet, when controlling for aspects of the volunteer situation. In addition, although there is a positive effect of stipends across both categories of race, the relationship is weaker for non-Whites. Thus, race and ethnicity play various roles in inuencing the outcomes experienced by volunteers. These ndings suggested that there may be some relationship between type of volunteer activity and benet. When compared with providing skilled service/technical advice, volunteers involved in public safety activities reported more benet. The two programs in this study that provided these activities to older volunteers were involved in establishing neighborhood safety programs, doing public presentations, making vacation home checks, serving as crossing guards/trafc control, and performing data collection for police departments. It is notable that these activities were not directed at individual service recipients but to a larger number of people in the community.

It is interesting that women and lower-income volunteers reported more benet from participating in public security programs. We could speculate that those older adults who traditionally had less authority (women and low-income earners) thrived in roles involving law enforcement. Perhaps these volunteer activities provided these individuals with an empowering responsibility. Further, the interactions suggested that lower-income and lower-educated persons participating in instrumental service programs experienced less benet than those participating in skilled/technical service programs. Again, we speculated that lower-income and less-educated people felt more empowered or valued doing volunteer tasks that highlighted expertise rather than tasks that relied on less skill, like meal preparation or transportation. These ndings about types of volunteer activities and perceived benets are interesting, but we need to be careful in drawing conclusions. We cannot rule out the fact that certain unmeasured aspects of the older volunteers or the programs may account for these ndings. Yet, we conclude that the nature of the volunteer activity merits closer examination, as certain activities may lead to more positive outcomes for certain individuals.

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Benets to Family and Community

Perhaps this was the rst time that these volunteers were asked to articulate benets of their volunteering to family members; some study participants mentioned that they had not thought of this before. Most volunteers did not identify any benets to their families, but the benets that were mentioned are very interesting. These ndings suggest that there are spillover effects to family members and that a full accounting of benets to service recipients, volunteers, and volunteers families is necessary to understand the full effects of volunteering.

Limitations
The limitations of this study need to be considered. First, the programs included in this study represent a subset of all volunteer opportunities available to older adults in the community. The programs identied for the parent study were all formal named volunteer programs, with specic service goals and some expectations for commitment. This excluded volunteering in hospitals and churches/temples, which is very common among
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older adults; yet, these volunteer jobs did not meet criteria for more formal service programs. A complete enumeration of the formal volunteer programs that met study criteria was not available to provide a basis for a random sample. Further, the questions regarding self-perceived benets may not be comprehensive, and a more systematic set of questions, with established reliability and validity, could be developed. It is not clear to what extent social desirability inated respondents assessment of benet. Also, respondents were not primed for thinking about negative outcomes of volunteering as they were for benets (via the closed-ended questions on benets preceding the open-ended questions). Thus, the negative effects of volunteering may be underidentied. Finally, study design limited the causal arguments, as surveying active volunteers probably resulted in a group of respondents who were, in general, more contented with the volunteer experience. Volunteers who were discontent may have discontinued participation in this cross-sectional analysis.

their missions (Romero & Minkler, 2005), and it points to interventions at the program level to maximize the benets experienced by the older volunteers.
Funding
The research reported in this article was supported by the MetLife Foundation and the Longer Life Foundation.

Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Center for Social Development at Washington University in completing this project. We also thank Jaime Goldberg, So Yeon Kim, Amy Luman, and Cal Halvorsen for their research assistance. This article was presented at the Gerontological Society of America 59th Annual Scientic Meeting, November 19, 2006.

References
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Summary and Conclusions

This study contributed to the knowledge base about the benets of volunteering in two ways. First, it produced quantitative ndings about the variety of benets perceived by older volunteers, as well as the large proportion of volunteers who experienced these benets. Theoretical work on volunteering suggests that an individuals perception of benet is important, and further work utilizing this measurement approach is necessary to understand the relationship of perceived benets to retention, satisfaction, and more objective measures of well-being outcomes. Second, ndings demonstrate that aspects of the volunteer experience and thus characteristics of the program are important in understanding who benets from volunteering. Indeed, it is remarkable that all the variables capturing characteristics of the volunteer experience related to benets. Program characteristics, like adequate training, ongoing support, and stipends, are more mutable by public policies and organizational procedures than individual characteristics. Thus, this knowledge can guide efforts to maximize the benets of volunteering to older adults. In conclusion, this study supports the call to increase the involvement of older adults in volunteer roles to improve well-being outcomes for themselves as well as to increase the capacity of organizations to fulll
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