The attraction and retention of volunteers are vital components to the operation of a nonprofit organization (NPO). Understanding the motivations of volunteers is an important step to recruiting and retaining them. To add to our understanding of volunteer motivation, this research seeks to contribute to the nonprofit literature by applying an updated version of Vroom’s (1964) expectancy theory of motivation to volunteerism to determine whether individuals who regularly volunteer and who volunteer in groups feel less powerlessness and have more positive attitudes toward charitable organizations and toward helping others. Analysis of 210 surveyed consumers in a metropolitan area of approximately one million people in the midwestern U.S. found that individuals that volunteer on a regular, ongoing basis have significantly more positive attitudes toward charitable organizations and toward helping others in general. The results also indicated that individuals that volunteered as part of a group held more positive attitudes toward charitable organizations. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are provided.

吸引和留住志愿者是非营利组织（NPO）运作的重要组成部分。了解志愿者的动机是招募和保留他们的重要一步。为了加深我们对志愿者动机的理解，本研究旨在通过将Vroom（1964）期望动机动机理论的更新版本应用于志愿服务，来确定定期志愿服务的个人和团体志愿服务的个人是否感到无能为力，并为非营利性文献做出贡献。对慈善组织和帮助他人有更积极的态度。对美国中西部一个约有100万人的大都市地区的210位接受调查的消费者进行的分析发现，那些自愿参加定期，持续的基础上，对慈善组织和总体上对他人的帮助都具有更加积极的态度。结果还表明，作为小组成员而自愿参加活动的个人对慈善组织抱有更积极的态度。提供了这些发现的含义，研究的局限性以及未来研究的方向。