Who Donates Time to the Benefit of the Environment and Animal Rights? Profiling Volunteers from an International Perspective

Despite increased competitive pressures in the volunteering industry, there remains a lack of studies which segment the volunteering market with the aim of gaining deeper insight into the characteristics of different groups of volunteers. This study addresses this issue by using data from the 1999-2002 World Values Survey, specifically investigating those individuals who volunteer for Environmental and Animal Rights (EAR) causes. Differences are found between (i) EAR volunteer and individuals who do not volunteer for any cause, and (ii) EAR volunteers and individuals who volunteer for causes other than the environment and animal rights. This information is useful for managers of EAR organisations because it enables them to design customised marketing messages which specifically target that group most likely to donate their time to that type of organisation.