From dutiful volunteers to volunteer devotees and involvement seekers: segmenting volunteer board members, coaches, and referees of voluntary sports clubs

Abstract

Volunteers play a vital role in sustaining sports clubs, yet their motivations can differ widely depending on the functions they perform. Therefore, this study aims to identify distinct segments based on motivations to volunteer for voluntary board members, coaches, and referees. Based on nationwide surveys of sports clubs’ stakeholders in Germany (n = 5,064 coaches, n = 3,781 board members, and n = 7,391 referees), this study used motivational dimensions for segmentation, incorporating intentions, satisfaction and demographic information as descriptors. Hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering revealed differences among volunteer types, identifying four motivation-based segments among coaches, five among board members, and five among referees. These segments include profiles such as dutiful volunteers, altruistic community lovers, and involvement seekers, reflecting the diversity and complexity of motivational drivers within each role. The study contributes novel insights into the landscape of volunteer engagement in voluntary sports clubs by developing detailed and robust volunteer personas based on large sample sizes. This segmentation provides practical value for targeted volunteer recruitment and retention strategies, such as tailoring messaging to highlight a coach’s influence on youth development for those driven by duty. Thereby, the long-term sustainability of voluntary sports organisations is supported.