Young volunteers. A mixed method study about the who, how and why of ...

The research project focuses on volunteering as a specific form of civic engagement. It aims to develop a deeper understanding of young volunteers and the antecedents as well as the implications of formal volunteering in a large non-profit organization in the social sector. It further aims to provide insights into the strategies of attracting and retaining young volunteers. The research builds on a case study with the Austrian Red cross. In addition to being the largest organization in the field of social, disaster, and emergency medical services, the Red Cross in Austria also provides extracurricular activities for children and adolescents in so-called youth groups as an opportunity for formal volunteering.

A mixed methods research approach is designed to allow the empirical test of hypotheses provided by (conceptual) contributions in literature, as well as comparing and contrasting prior results and findings in the context of a large non-profit organization in the social sector and country context with a strong Sozialstaat culture and a Weberian administrative tradition. The single case study, and an iterative (deductive as well as inductive analysis approach) allow mitigating the risk of applying generic concepts and stopping short of providing a differentiated view on the heterogeneous nonprofit sector (see Francis, 2011, p. 1; Lanero, Vázquez, & Gutiérrez, 2017, p. 1010).