Summary of FindingsBack

1. Stage One: Quantitative Telephone Survey of the General Public

1.1 Experience and Motive of Participating in Volunteer Work: Organized Volunteering

The first part of this survey was aimed at gauging the general public's experience and motive of participating in organized volunteering.

1.1.1 To begin with, our interviewers briefly explained the meaning of organized volunteering to all respondents. Result revealed that of the 1,555 respondents interviewed, more than three-quarters of them (78%) have never participated in organized volunteering (donation excluded) in contrast to 22% who said they have (Table 1.1).

1.1.2 Amongst those who have ever participated in organized volunteering, more than one-quarter (27%) mentioned that the last time they volunteered was within one month and a total of 64% of this sub-sample has volunteered over the past 12 months, which is equivalent to 12% of the overall sample (Table 1.2).

1.1.3 In regard to the number of times participating in organized volunteering, excluding those who were certain that they had not participated in organized volunteering over the past 12 months, 28% reported that they have volunteered twice, and 13% only volunteered once. However, around one-fifth of them (22%) have volunteered much more frequently with eleven times or more within the said period. Taking the average of all definite answers provided by these respondents, each of them volunteered 11.9 times in the year past (Table 1.3). Meanwhile, the average number of hours they volunteered in the year past was 34.8 hours (Table 1.4). When asked to estimate how much each working hour was worth if the volunteer work they provided were to be done by paid workers of a private organization, the answer varied within a wide range from HK$0 to HK$3,000. The average figure was HK$76 per hour, and the median HK$30 per hour (Table 1.5).

1.1.4 When asked for what type of organization they have participated in organized volunteering, results showed that most of these volunteers participated in the volunteer work organized by educational organizations, religious bodies as well as social service organizations (each accounted for around 14% of total responses and mentioned by around 15% of the sub-sample, Table 1.6).

1.1.5 Respondents were further asked what kind of volunteering service they had participated in. "Visiting" topped the list which accounted for 38% of these volunteers (i.e. 8% of the overall sample), and the second most popular service was associated with recreational activities (21%) while other services like "medical service", "fund raising activities", "counseling" and "clerical work" were each mentioned by less than 10% of these volunteers (Table 1.7).

Figure in ( ) indicates corresponding % out of the sub-sample of this question, i.e.334 respondents.

1.1.6 In order to pave the way for promotional strategies, channels through which volunteers learned about volunteering were examined. Results showed that one-third (34%) of these volunteers learned it through their friends, another 19% learned it through their schools or teachers, 9% learned it through religious bodies, another 9% learned it through social service organizations (Table 1.8).

1.1.7 As for the reasons why they participated in volunteer work, 40% of these volunteers claimed that they wanted to help others (i.e. 9% of the overall sample), 21% simply did it to kill time. Other reasons such as "to make friends", "to gain skills and knowledge" and "religion" were each mentioned by around 5% of these volunteers (Table 1.9).

1.1.8 On the other hand, opinion was split in regard to the needs for training before participating in volunteer work. Almost half of these respondents (47%) said it was necessary to receive training, as compared to 46% who thought it was unnecessary (Table 1.10).

1.2 Experience of Participating in Volunteer Work: Mutual Aid

The second part of the survey studied the general public's experience of participating in mutual aid, which is defined in this survey as "the spontaneous and self-initiated behaviors aiming to help others without planning in advance and would occur from time to time".

1.2.1 After a brief explanation on the meaning of mutual aid, more than half of the respondents (55%) claimed that they had participated in this kind of volunteer work before (donation excluded) while 44% said not (Table 1.11). Of those who had ever participated in mutual aid, most of them (42% of the sub-sample) had done it as recently as within last month while 60% (i.e. 32% of overall sample) participated within the year past. However, more than one-third (37%) of them had forgotten when they did it last time (Table 1.12).

1.2.2 Regarding the number of times they had participated in mutual aid, excluding those who were certain that they had not done it over the past 12 months, 40% reported that they had volunteered up to 3 times, while 15% had done it 20 times or more within one year's time. On average (265 definite answers), each volunteered 18.5 times over the past 12 months (Table 1.13). Moreover, from the total number of hours they reported, the average volunteer time per these volunteers was estimated to be 21.9 hours in the year past (Table 1.14). When asked to estimate how much each working hour was worth if the volunteer work they provided were to be done by paid workers of a private organization, the average figure was HK$32 per hour, and the median HK$30 per hour (Table 1.15).

1.3 Intention and Reasons for Future Volunteering - Including Organized Volunteering and Mutual Aid

1.3.1 Regarding the current volunteers' intention to continue volunteering in the future (including organized volunteering and mutual aid), a 83% of them said they would, less than 10% of them said "no" (Table 1.17).

1.3.2 The main hindrance for those who said they would not continue to volunteer in the future (accounted for 8%; 75 respondents) was mainly due to the lack of time (73% of the sub-sample, 53 respondents), whereas "physically unfit" was mentioned by only a few (11% of the sub-sample, 8 respondents, Table 1.18).

1.3.3 On the other hand, for respondents who did not volunteer in the past, their main reason was again the "lack of time" (64% of the sub-sample), followed by "physically unfit" (14% of the sub-sample) at a distance. In other words, time and physical conditions of the respondents were the main explicit barriers for volunteering (Table 1.19).

1.3.4 The same question on future intention was asked among those who have never participated in volunteer work before (587 respondents). It is found that less than half of these respondents (40%) would consider volunteering in the future as contrast to 83% among current volunteers (Table 1.20). Concerning their motive, two-thirds (66%) of these potential volunteers were driven by their desire to help others whilst 22% said they would do it to kill time (Table 1.21).

1.3.5 Apart from their personal experience, all respondents were then asked what they thought were the main reasons for people who participated in volunteering. By the same token, "to help others" topped the list which accounted for 72% of the overall sample, followed at a distance by the reasons "to serve the community" (33%) and "to kill time" (24%; Table 1.22).

1.3.6 On the other hand, they believed the most prominent reason for people not participating in volunteer work was because they could not afford the time (55%), and because volunteering could be troublesome (23%; Table 1.23).

1.4 Social Influence

1.4.1 According to the results of this survey, 59% of the general public had never encouraged others to participate in volunteering whilst two-thirds (68%) of them had never been encouraged by people around either (Tables 1.24 and 1.25). For those who had been encouraged to volunteer (502 respondents), the main source of that encouragement came from their friends (57%). The second most popular source was their schoolmates, accounting for 10%, while family members came third, accounting for 9% (Table 1.26).

1.5 Evaluation of the Barriers and Expectations of Volunteering

The last part of the survey was aimed at evaluating the barriers to the local development of volunteering as well as people's expectations of volunteering.

1.5.1 Twenty-two percent of the respondents thought that the main barrier to the local development of volunteering (including organized volunteering and mutual aid) was people's lack of time. This result was very much consistent with the previous observations. Another 14% thought that the poor economic conditions these days was also an obstacle to the development of volunteering, while 10% blamed the lack of resources injected into this aspect. However, 29% of the respondents failed to give a definite answer (Table 1.27).

1.5.2 When further asked how to improve the situation, an even higher proportion of respondents (43%) did not have any idea. Suggestions provided by some of them included "to improve the economic conditions" (12%), "to inject more resources" (8%) and "to cultivate the atmosphere for volunteering" (7%; Table 1.28).

1.5.3 In their opinion, the development of local volunteering should most preferably be supported by the government (38%); although comparable amount of people believed that it should be the responsibilities of people in Hong Kong (26%) and non-government organizations (21%; Table 1.29).

1.5.4 Finally, more than half of the respondents (56%) in this survey described the social status of volunteers in Hong Kong as being respectable while 17% described their status as being non-essential and one-quarter (25%) failed to make a judgment by saying "don't know" (Table 1.30).

2 Stage Two: Quantitative Telephone Survey of the Service Recipients

2.1 Experience of Receiving Volunteering Service

The second survey was conducted with the volunteering service recipients right after the end of the first survey, from which a list of recipient organizations was complied based on the respondents' mentioning of organizations they had served. Additional contacts were also supplied by AVS, which were extracted from their Volunteer Referral Programme. The aim of this survey was to study organizations' experience of receiving volunteering service, their evaluation of existing volunteer provider agencies, their expectations when receiving volunteering service.

2.1.1 Results of this survey have shown that of the 204 organization representatives interviewed, all of them re-confirmed their organization or department had received volunteering service (Table 2.1). Four-fifths (81%) mentioned that the last time they received volunteering service was within one month. Meanwhile, a total of 96% of the respondents' organization had received volunteering service over the past 12 months (Table 2.2).

2.1.2 With regards to the number of volunteers deployed by the respondents' organizations, excluding those who were certain that they had not received any volunteering service over the past 12 months, 53% of them (i.e. 39% of the overall sample) reported that they had deployed 50 or less volunteers, while 13% had deployed 50-100 and 34% had deployed more than 100 volunteers during the said period. Taking the average of all definite answers provided by these respondents, each of them deployed 237 volunteers in the year past (Table 2.3). As shown from Table 4, the average number of service hours each volunteer contributed in the year past was 25 hours. Meanwhile, more than half of this sub-sample (53%) reported that each volunteer volunteered 1 to 5 hours of service for them while another 14% said each volunteer had contributed 6 to 10 hours over the past 12 months (Table 2.4). The average number of volunteers deployed and the average service hours per volunteer are both much higher than their corresponding median figures, because they are affected by cases at the upper end of the scale with very large numbers.

2.1.3 Results also show that the types of volunteering services their organization had received most often were, in descending order, "recreational activities" which accounted for 41% of the overall sample, "visiting" (35%), "clerical work" (20%), "promotional and community-education" (13%) and "escorting service" (12%). Other volunteering services such as "homework tutoring", "counseling", "skill coaching", "labour work", "baby-sitting / day care service", "art and design", "housework assistance" and "fund raising activities" were each mentioned by less than 10% of the overall sample (Table 2.5).

2.1.4 When all respondents were asked to assess the performance of the volunteer provider agency with respect to their service arrangement, most of them (71%) felt satisfied whereas 8% were not. Also, 15% felt neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and a small number of them failed to give a comment. However, it is noteworthy that 54 respondents were not qualified to answer this question as their volunteer recruitment was not arranged by any volunteer provider agencies (Table 2.6).

2.1.5 On the other hand, respondents showed a higher level of satisfaction towards the performance of volunteers. A landslide majority of respondents (86%) replied either "very satisfied" or "quite satisfied" in contrast to only 1% who opted for "quite dissatisfied". It is encouraging to know that no one felt very dissatisfied with the volunteers and another one-tenth (10%) of them took a neutral stand by answering "half-half" (Table 2.7).

2.1.6 Regarding these organization representatives' intention to deploy volunteers in the future, practically every representative (99%) gave an affirmative answer, in contrast to only 1% who did not intend to deploy volunteers again because of no appropriate job for volunteers (Tables 2.8 and 2.10).

2.1.7 As on the kind of volunteering service they would like to receive, the top 3 volunteering services mentioned were the same as those they had been receiving. Thirty-three percent of the overall sample mentioned "recreational activities" while 22% chose "visiting" and 17% "clerical work". Findings also suggested that their needs in different nature of volunteering services were met in general (making cross-reference with Table 2.5 on page 31 & Table 2.9 on page 34). "Skill coaching", "homework tutoring", "promotion and community-education", "labour work", "escorting service", "counseling", "medical service" and "baby-sitting / day care service" were each briefly mentioned (Table 2.9).

2.2 Evaluation of Existing Volunteer Provider Agencies

In order to improve the services provided by the existing volunteer provider agencies, all respondents were asked to evaluate the existing volunteer provider agencies in terms of its ability to meet the needs of service recipients, its quality of management as well as its accessibility. Nevertheless, due to the fact that a proportion (a total of 54) of respondents did not have any personal experience with volunteering agencies, answers for Questions 10-13 provided by them were eventually eliminated from the final analysis to project a more accurate result.

2.2.1 As on whether the services provided by the existing volunteer provider agencies were adequate, 46% of the respondents replied either "very adequate" or "quite adequate". Nevertheless, there were still 25% who gave negative ratings, another 19% remained neutral and 11% of them were not able to make a judgment (Table 2.11).

2.2.2 These respondents were then asked to evaluate if the services provided by the existing volunteer provider agencies were able to meet their needs. Over half of them (55%) gave positive response whereas 13% expressed dissatisfaction by saying "not much". Nineteen percent of them took a neutral stand while around one-eighth (13%) could not comment on this aspect (Table 2.12).

2.2.3 On the other hand, nearly half of the respondents (47%) did not express their opinion towards the quality of management of the existing volunteer provider agencies. Even though there were still over a quarter of respondents (29%) who were satisfied with its management, the positive rating it received was the lowest amongst the four areas of concern being evaluated. Meanwhile, those who stated dissatisfaction and half-half constituted 6% and 18% respectively (Table 2.13).

2.2.4 Concerning the accessibility of the existing volunteer provider agencies, most of the respondents gave positive responses, 72% of them opted for either "very easy" (6%) or "quite easy" (66%). On the contrary, 12% gave negative answers. Another 10% remained neutral and 6% could not give a comment (Table 2.14).

2.3 Evaluation of the Barriers and Expectations of Receiving Volunteering Service

Apart from evaluating different areas of concern of the existing volunteer provider agencies, the next part of this survey was set out to assess the impact of the political and social environment on the local development of volunteering and to suggest ways to improve the situation.

2.3.1 Over fifty percent of respondents (58%) thought that the current government policies were encouraging the development of volunteering, in contrast to a small percentage of them (5%) who regarded the policies as hindering. Nevertheless, 22% remained neutral whilst 15% replied "don't know / hard to say" (Table 2.15).

2.3.2 By the same token, 57% of the respondents believed that the culture in Hong Kong nowadays was supportive of the development of volunteering as opposed to 15% who thought it was hindering. Another 22% held a neutral view while 5% of did not have any idea (Table 2.16).

2.3.3 Despite the positive evaluations with respect to the above two areas, respondents were asked to think of the main barrier to the local development of volunteering. "Lack of resources" was the most frequently cited answer, accounting for 25% of them. Another 17% mentioned "lack of time of Hong Kong people", and "poor economic conditions" constituted 13% of all respondents, another 13% were not able to give a definite answer (Table 2.17).

2.3.4 Respondents were then asked to give suggestion on how to promote the local development of volunteering. "To inject more resources" topped the list and accounted for 20%, whilst 17% believed the government should provide more assistance to improve the current situation. Other suggestions, such as "to cultivate the atmosphere for volunteering", "to improve the economic conditions", "more compliments to the volunteers" and "more civic education", were each mentioned by less than one-tenth of the respondents. Around a quarter of them (23%) could not think of any suggestion (Table 2.18).

2.3.5 On who should the development of volunteering, results indicate that the government was considered the most preferred supporting body for developing local volunteering (32%), whereas a comparable amount of respondents thought that non-government organizations should take on the responsibility (28%). Only 11% of the respondents said people of Hong Kong should take this responsibility. A quarter of them (25%) believed that the development should most preferably be supported by all three parties (Table 2.19).

2.3.6 Finally, respondents were asked to describe the social status of volunteers in Hong Kong. Results show that the majority of them (72%) considered volunteers in Hong Kong were being respected, 16% described their status as non-essential while only 2% believed they were not respected. However, 10% of them did not comment on this issue (Table 2.20).

3 Stage Three: Qualitative Focus group Studies

3.1 Views of Volunteers

In a nutshell, the qualitative opinions expressed by the volunteers who participated in this group discussion could be consolidated into the following key points:

3.1.1 Lack of time and poor economic conditions are simply excuses for not participating - Most participants (existing volunteers) believed that self-motivation was the most important determining factor for people to participate in volunteering. If someone were committed, economic conditions would not bring in any significant impact; only those without devotion would be distracted. After all, these were the most commonly used, and also most readily accepted, excuses of Hong Kong people.

3.1.2 Schools, business corporations, the elderly and new immigrant centers are all good entry points for promoting volunteerism - Admittedly, the recruitment of volunteers was not easy nowadays. To open up new channels, education institutions (primary, secondary and tertiary) were highly recommended by the participants, as it would be less difficult to mobilize a large group of people there. With the help of teachers and students' high sense of belongings, the effect would be very promising. Similar advantages could be enjoyed with other promotion bases, such as business firms, centers for teenagers, elderly and new immigrants.

3.1.3 Communication and mutual understanding with volunteers is important - To avoid disappointment and eventual drop out, many participants emphasized that organizations should pay efforts to understand the needs and expectations of each volunteer before the deployment. Clear explanation of the job nature was equally important as the lack of communication would easily lead to "mis-matches". More disastrously, some volunteers might feel that they were being exploited or taken advantage of, and they would never participate again.

3.1.4 Post-service follow-ups with volunteers are vital for achieving long-term involvement - "Once and for all" should be the least desirable outcome for all volunteer services. To overcome this hurdle, it was strongly recommended that organizations had better carry out some post-service evaluations with the volunteers, and preferably keep in touch with them on a regular basis. This would make the volunteers feel respected and being cared of, thus attaining their long-term commitment in return.

3.1.5 Adequate training will greatly enhance the success of volunteer services - It was generally agreed that training for both the organizers and individual volunteers were in need. Without proper training, the organizers might feel stranded when leading a service group while leaving a bad impression to the volunteers and the recipients. Besides, for certain types of service, training on some basic knowledge, skills and precautions should be delivered to the volunteers beforehand, otherwise, the overall quality of the service would be adversely affected. General guidelines, however, should always be provided to each volunteer in order to equip them, mentally and physically, for the forthcoming service.

3.1.6 Genuine support from government is indispensable - Concrete suggestions were given by the participants in how the government could help promoting volunteerism in Hong Kong. Examples included increasing the intensity and diversity of mass communication programs, granting non-paid leaves to those who participated in volunteer services (like in Japan), and injecting more resources. Though the contributions made by non-government organizations and citizens themselves were considered to be equally important, it was profoundly believed that continual and genuine support from the government was the key to success.

3.1.7 More civil education to instill positive values of volunteerism is needed - After all, the ideology related to volunteerism should be re-defined and re-communicated to the general public effectively so as to sweep out all the incorrect concepts, values, intentions, practices and even behaviors. Otherwise, people might end up struggling with mere numerical indicators, while failing to observe the true spirits of volunteerism.

3.2 Views of Service Recipients

In order to collect the opinions from a different perspective, a discussion group was held for the representatives from the recipient organizations. The qualitative opinions collected from the attended service recipients are consolidated into the following key points:

3.2.1 Insufficient time for preparation is commonly encountered - Most participants admitted that, very often, the preparation time for coordinating an activity was not enough (e.g. one week), hence resulting in insufficient supply of volunteers, plus other administrative problems. But no one should take the full blame for this. Situations would be further complicated when large numbers of volunteers were needed, and volunteer referral organizations were not easily accessible at times. So, there should be more joint efforts to smooth out the necessary procedures.

3.2.2 Demand for volunteer referral service seems diminishing - Except for the very first time, most recipient organizations admitted they would tend to interact directly with the volunteers who fit their specific requirements. Eventually, a personal network would be built up without relying on the referral mechanism. By this, "mis-matches" due to inadequate knowledge of the referred volunteers would be effectively eliminated and some screening procedures could be saved. These recipient organizations had also started their own recruitment exercise because they had a better understanding of their own needs and the volunteers would be more likely to have long-term commitment if they shared the same values and directions with the organization. That was why some participants believed the role of referral agencies would become blurred and diminished as time went by.

3.2.3 Regular training programs for potential and existing volunteers should be organized - To achieve a continual supply of quality volunteers, it was recommended that training programs on volunteering should be organized on a regular basis so as to attract more new comers and maintain the experienced pool. For the sake of cost effectiveness and expertise, a centralized body had better been selected to organize these training programs.

3.2.4 Minimal welfare and benefits are good for maintaining long-term commitment - As a widely accepted principle, volunteering should not involve any monetary return. However, under certain circumstances, it should be feasible to offer some welfare or benefits to the volunteers in return for their persistent contributions. For example, for those who volunteered in hospitals, priority cards or free medical consultation might be provided. Anything that did not bring along extra financial burdens of the organization would do. On a macro view, the government should further encourage volunteerism by putting forward some policies which could facilitate participation among the working class, such as "five days' work", "non-paid leave", and so on.

3.2.5 Development of a systematic volunteer database is called for - Due to resources constraint, most volunteer organizations were facing the problem of maintaining a user-friendly database which recorded each volunteer's profile, experiences, expectations, assessments, and other relevant information. Without such support, their current databases could become quite disorganized and hence cost them a lot of time to retrieve the desired information every time.

3.2.6 Schools of all levels are superlative bases for promoting volunteerism - In conjunction with the volunteer group, many service recipients saw the huge potential of school-based promotions. Moreover, the parents should also be mobilized to strengthen the bondage within a family by participating in volunteer activities.

3.2.7 Additional resources injected from government and all walks of life is needed - Beyond doubt, the local development of volunteerism could be greatly enhanced with more resources injected into the system. The contributor could well be the government, the public sector, the business sector or even individuals, while the form of contribution could be monetary, tangible or intangible. Above all, the ultimate goal should be to arouse the society's attention, interest, and eventually involvement in volunteering.

3.2.8 More research work should be done in order to comprehend the situation, to identify problems, and then move forward with clear directions - Up to date, professional researches conducted on the subject matter of volunteering were scarce, both locally and internationally. For instance, not much study was done on the local volunteer culture, the importance of recognition given to volunteers, and so on. Therefore, in parallel to public education, more research work should be carried out to analyse the current situations, challenges and hindrances such that the future directions could be formulated with a higher level of intelligence.