ERNOP 2025, Heidelberg · Parallel Session 6-D
Moderator: Dominik Meier (University of Basel)
Volunteering is where civic purpose meets everyday life. In this session at ERNOP 2025, three contributions traced how people step forward (or step back): inclusion and rights, evolving motivations, and crisis-driven engagement.
Volunteering as a Human Right for People with Disabilities
Silke Boenigk & Helge Inselmann (University of Hamburg)
Boenigk and Inselmann foregrounded a simple claim with big consequences: “Volunteering is a human right of people with disabilities.” Drawing on a 2023/24 survey (N=500), they highlighted both the willingness of disabled people to volunteer and the barriers that keep participation lower than it should be. The message to nonprofits is practical and urgent: accessibility isn’t a bonus feature, it is core infrastructure. From recruitment language and role design to logistical support and assistive tech, NPOs can actively reduce inequalities and open genuine pathways to contribute.
Takeaway: Inclusion is a rights-based imperative. When nonprofits remove barriers, they don’t just “add volunteers” — they strengthen equity and the social legitimacy of the volunteer sphere.
Motivations between Tradition and Reflexive Self-Realisation
Estera Frgelcová (Matej Bel University)
Frgelcová examined the motivational palette of contemporary volunteers using the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) in a representative 2023 survey (N=1,020; volunteers n=349). A clear pattern emerged: values motives still dominate, but there is a palpable shift toward reflexive motives — volunteers who also seek self-realisation, learning, and personal growth. Regular volunteers score higher on values, social, and understanding; “career” and “understanding” motives trend lower with age. For new volunteers, motives are often mixed and reflexive rather than purely altruistic or purely instrumental.
Takeaway: Motivation is pluralising. Programs that respect values and provide growth, skills, and reflection will recruit and retain the next cohorts of volunteers.
Slovakia’s Response to the Ukraine War: Patterns and Drivers
Alžbeta Brozmanová Gregorová, Zuzana Heinzová & Estera Frgelcová (Matej Bel University)
A 2023 national survey (N=1,020) charted Slovak volunteering in the early months of the Ukraine war. 20.7% of adults volunteered; informal volunteering led the way (40.3%), alongside formal (28.4%) and mixed (31.3%). Mobilisation peaked within 2–4 weeks, with 90% engaging inside three months. Typical profiles: women, ages 40–49, university-educated, economically secure, religious, urban, and often with prior organisational membership. Factor analysis showed value-based motives (solidarity, common good) outscoring reactive/pragmatic ones; past volunteering predicted crisis engagement — and crisis volunteering predicts intentions to keep helping.
Takeaway: Crises mobilise fast, but sustainability depends on value-based identities and opportunities that match how people see themselves as volunteers — not just on the urgency of the moment.
Session Reflection
Across these studies, volunteering appears as right, identity, and practice:
Right: People with disabilities must be able to volunteer on equal terms; inclusion is foundational, not decorative. Identity: The motivational mix is changing — values endure, but reflexive self-realisation is now a stable part of the story, especially for newcomers. Practice: In crises, people act quickly and often informally; to keep them engaged, organisations must translate solidarity into clear roles, recognition, and growth.
Read through the ERNOP motto — “For the People, By the People” — the lesson is straightforward: build volunteer systems that people can enter, belong to, and grow in. When access is real, roles are meaningful, and identities are respected, engagement doesn’t just spike — it endures.
Diss-Tance 