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A STUDY ON VOLUNTEERISM

Submitted as a part of the Internship Placement Project

MindTree Foundation

2010- 2011

Guided by: Ms. Meena Jain Mr. Raja Shanmugam, CEO Mrs. Lalitha Holla, Co-ordinator

Submitted by: Amrita Rao Asha Venkatesh Deepa B.N Mrs.Deepashree.T

INTRODUCTION

Volunteerism in organisations In recent times, most of the organisations are opting for outreach programmes as a part of the corporate social responsibility as it enables an overall organizational development. The organisations are capable of providing the most important and the greatest asset, which is the man power. Hence it is important that the organisation has clear set goals about the kind of work it takes up and also makes its employees aware of the programmes which gives an opportunity for them to lend a helping hand as a small effort of spending time with the people in need. Catering to the requirements of the needy can be done at various levels and includes time, money, sharing skill, experience etc., Referring to Robert Putnams theory regarding social capital, volunteering as a form of civic participation is part of the measurement criteria of democracy success in a country, and decline or apathy may be a predictor of democratic crisis. Lack of volunteer participation is a huge handicap in the societies nowadays and the phenomenon is universal. Volunteerism plays an important role in the democratic process, social cohesion and human development. While encompassing a myriad of activities, including assisting old people, raising awareness about peace and human rights, planting a tree or constructing roads, volunteerism also offers an enormous contribution to the achievement of global strategies MindTree MindTree Foundation, a wing of MindTree, is committed in contributing to the society and to care for the neighbourhood through the outreach programs by creating opportunities for the MindTree Minds (employees) to work towards a more equitable society. MindTree Foundation was officially incorporated on 20th November 2007. The core mission of the non-profit organization is to support primary education and the cause of differently-abled people by leveraging MindTrees leadership, values, and resources. In this report, we are trying to analyse the various factors which might have an effect on the participation levels of the employees.

PROBLEM AND METHODOLOGY

Objective
To determine the factors influencing motivation to volunteer.

Hypothesis
1. There is no significant difference between Work and Family factors. 2. There is no significant difference between Work and Leisure time (for volunteering) factors. 3. There is no significant difference between Work and Travel factors. 4. There is no significant difference between volunteers and non volunteers on the level of importance given on the four factors [Work, Family, Leisure time (for volunteering), Travel]

Plan
The plan of the study was to assess employees attitude and the reasons for lack of volunteering. The study was conducted to see whether work, family or other specific reasons resulting in volunteering and non-volunteering. It was planned that sample of 250 will be collected, scored and interpreted. On the basis of the responses, analysis was done to categorize those responses into Work, Family, Leisure time (for volunteering), and Travel. A checklist was developed, by a team of Psychology students, consisting of 25 statements based on the factors Work, Family, Leisure time (for volunteering), Travel including 5 lie statements.

Procedure
The certain number of Participants from MindTree Ltd were given the checklists and requested to give their responses by choosing one of the five choices (Strongly agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). Responses from a total of 263 participants were collected. They were also asked to furnish their personal details in the space provided for the same. Doubts regarding the statements in the checklist were clarified objectively. On the basis of survey questionnaire responses, analysis and interpretation was carried out.

Description of the material


The material consists of 25 statements. The employees were assessed on 4 factors. Work consists of 8 statements Family consists of 3 statements Leisure time (for volunteering) 8 statements Travel consists of 1 question.

Statements related to work tries to analyze the degree to which the job factors are important. For instance, the checklist consists of a statement- In life, I consider work as only a small part of who I am. The factor Family tries to analyze the significance of personal aspects. The Leisure time (for volunteering) factor aims to analyze the extent to which the employees contribute their free time towards social cause. The factor Travel consists of one item which measures the willingness of the employee to travel long distance for a cause. The degree of responses are marked as Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. The checklist also consists of five lie statements. A data with a total lie score beyond 15 is considered invalid. At the end of the checklist the employees were asked to choose three areas of interest for social cause from the options given.

Sample
A total of five categories of sample were chosen for the study. They areGeneral population- 100 Campus Trainees- 80 Senior Employees- 25 Volunteers29 Non volunteers29 Giving a total sample size of 263 employees.

Analysis of Data
The statements were given a score of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 respectively for positive items and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for negative items respectively on the basis of the responses given. The mean score and standard deviation for the four factors of the three categories of sample was derived. (Excluding sample category of volunteers and non volunteers) Bar graphs for each of the four factors and total of the three categories of the sample is represented Paired sample t-test was conducted to compare the means between volunteers and non volunteers. A bar graph is shown to compare the two categories - volunteers and non volunteers on four factors. Pie charts are represented for the aspects- Marital status, geographical location (if the employees are based in Bangalore, if they are from Karnataka), Kannada language known.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

GENERAL POPULATION
Table I- shows the mean, mean of mean and standard deviation of the general population of the employees Factors Work Family Leisure time (for volunteering) Travel Mean/number Std. Deviation of statements 3.206 3.876 3.408 2.568 1.637 3.795

N 100 100 100

Sum 2565 1163 2727

Mean 25.65 11.63 27.27

100

333

3.33

3.33

.766

The data obtained from this sample category implies that the factor family is given utmost importance over the other three factors. The mean of mean (which is the mean divided by the number of statements in the checklist) is 3.876667. This denotes that this sample prefers to spend time with their families, personal obligations and other free time activities over the other factorsWork, Leisure time (for volunteering) and Travel. . The standard deviation score obtained for Family is 1.637, suggesting that the dispersion of scores for this factor is less and thus is more reliable. . The Standard deviation score obtained for leisure time (for volunteering) is high suggesting greater dispersion of score which means that their responses are not reliable for this factor. The data above in the table can be depicted in a graph GRAPH.A .

General Employeess
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Work Family Leisure time(for volunteering) Travel Mean Std. Deviation

GRAPH I: Shows the marital status of General Employees

Marital Status
Not Specified 3%

Married 36% Single 61%

Graph depicts the percentage of the marital status of the participants from the general category. 61% of the sample is unmarried, 36% of the sample is married and 3% of the sample has not specified in the checklist.

GRAPH II: Shows the percentage of General Employees who are based in Karnataka

Home Town
Not Specified 10%

In State 48%

Out State 42%

Graph II represents the percentage of the sample based on where their hometown location is The sample data shows that In state and out state sample is dispersed at 42% and 48% respectively. 10

GRAPH III: Shows the percentage of General employee sample who are from Bengaluru

Home Town Bengaluru

In Begaluru 26% Not Specified 52% Out Of Bengaluru 22%

Graph shows the percentage of participants based in Bengaluru. Most of the participants have not disclosed their hometown. Among the participants who have mentioned, 26% of them are based in Bengaluru and the rest are out of Bengaluru.

GRAPH IV: Shows the percentage of General employee sample who know Kannada

Kannada Language

Not Specified 32%

Known 40%

Not Known 28%

Graph shows the percentage of the participants who know Kannada language. Out of the 68% of the sample who have mentioned, 40% are familiar with the language while 28% do not know. 11

From the overall data collected for the various aspects like the marital status, Kannada language known, whether they are based in Bengaluru etc and the statistical analysis, its evident that greater proportion of the sample is unmarried Are familiar with the Kannada language A good percentage of employees are from Bengaluru.

This shows that there is great scope for this section of the population to be a part of volunteer programs, provided they are made aware of the existing programs, the content and the way it works.

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CAMPUS TRAINEES
TABLE II- Shows the Mean, Mean of mean, Standard deviation of the sample category Campus trainees Mean/number Std. Deviation of statements 3.355 3.8633 3.48125 2.812 1.659 4.143

Factors Work Family

N 80 80

Sum 2147 927 2228

Mean 26.84 11.59 27.85

Leisure time (for 80 volunteering) Travel 80

283

3.54

3.54

1.006

The mean average score obtained from this sample category implies that the factor Family is given highest importance over the other three factors. This signifies that this sample prefers to spend time with their families, personal activities and interests over the other factors- Work, Leisure time (for volunteering) and Travel. . . The standard deviation score obtained for Family is 1.659, suggesting that the dispersion of scores for this factor is less which means to say that their responses fall around a certain score and thus is more reliable. The data mentioned in the table above is depicted in the graph below GRAPH.B

Campus Trainees
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Work Family Leisure time(for Volunteering) Travel Mean Std. Deviation

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GRAPH V: Shows the marital status of Campus Trainees

Married 1%

Marital Status

Single 99%

The above graph shows the marital status of the campus trainees in percentage. While a greater percentage of the trainees are unmarried, a negligible percent of the sample is married.

GRAPH VI: Shows the percentage of Campus Trainees who are based in Karnataka

Not Specified 3%

Home Town

Out State 45%

In State 52%

The graph above shows the percentage of the sample who are from Karnataka. 52% of the sample is from Karnataka, 45% of the sample is from other states and 3% of the sample has not specified. 14

GRAPH VII: Shows the percentage of Campus Trainees who are from Bengaluru

Home Town Bengaluru

Not Specified In Bengaluru 46% 48%

Out of Begaluru 6%

The graph represents the segregation of the data showing the percentage of people who are based in Bangalore. 48% of the sample is basically from Bangalore. 46% are not from Bangalore and 6% of the sample have not specified

GRAPH VIII: Shows the percentage of Campus Trainees who know Kannada

Kannada Language

Known 27% Not Specifed 40% Not Known 33%

The graph represents the percentage of the people who know the language Kannada. Graph shows that 27% of the people out of 80 know Kannada, 27% of people are not familiar with Kannada and 33% of the population have not specified.

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On the whole, the data and statistical calculations suggest that a good percentage of the trainees are from karnataka based in Bengaluru. As this specific population is still new to the organisation, they are a potential group who might take up volunteering in the near future provided they are motivated and guided in the right direction. The only obstacle which might come in the way of volunteering is that not a greater proportion of the sample is familiar with the Kannada language, as indicated by the data.

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SENIOR EMPLOYEES
Table III showing the total, mean and standard deviation of the sample category senior employees

Factors Work Family

N 25 25

Sum 655 295 639

Mean 26.21 11.80 25.56

Mean/ number Std. Deviation of statements 3.265 3.933 3.1 2.577 1.658 6.151

Leisure time (for 25 volunteering) Travel 25

80

3.10

3.1

1.190

Data obtained for the sample category senior employees indicates that they give high preference to Family aspects. The next important factor in the list according to the data is Work. This means that they prioritize family in the heirarchy of the above four factors. The data also states that most of the participants in this sample do not prefer doing something else apart from work most of the times. The data in the table can be depicted in a graphic form GRAPH C

Senior Employees
30

25
20 15 10 5 0 Work Family Leisure Time(for volunteering) Travel Mean Std. Devations

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GRAPH IX: Shows the marital status of Senior Employees

Marital Status

Single 32%

Married 68%

This graph depicts the percentage of the marital status of the participants from the senior employee category. Out of 25 participants, 32% of the sample is unmarried and 68% of the sample is married.

GRAPH X: Shows the percentage of Senior Employees who are based in Karnataka

Home Town

Out State 28%

In State 72%

Graph II represents the percentage of the sample based on where their hometown location is The sample data shows that In state and out state sample is dispersed at 42% and 48% respectively. 18

GRAPH XI: Shows the percentage of Senior Employees who are from Bengaluru

Home Town Bengaluru

Not Specified 44%

In Bengaluru 28%
Out Of Bengaluru 28%

Graph represents the percentage of Senior Employees who are from Bengaluru The sample data shows that In state and out state sample is dispersed at 28% and 28% respectively. But a large proportion of the sample has not specified.

GRAPH XII: Shows the percentage of Senior Employees who know Kannada

Kannada Language
Not Specified 16%

Not Known 32%

Known 52%

The graph represents the percentage of the people who know the language Kannada. Graph shows that more than half the sample is familiar with the language Kannada. 52% of the people out of 25 know Kannada, 32% of people are not familiar with Kannada and 16% of the population have not specified. 19

VOLUNTEERS AND NON-VOLUNTEERS

TABLE IV shows the paired sample descriptive statistics of volunteers and non volunteers on the four factors Mean /number Std. Deviation of statements 3.285 1.918 2.240 1.526 4.517 3.060 3.301 3.634 3.839 3.479

Mean Pair 1
Work (Voln) Work (N V)

24.4838 29 26.4137 29

Pair 2

Family (Voln) 10.9032 29 Family (NV) 11.5172 29

Pair 3

Leisure time 27.8387 29 (for volunteering) Leisure time 26.7241 29 (for volunteering)

4.342

3.340

Pair 4

Travel (Voln) 3.48387 29 Travel (NV) 3.41379 29

.797 .733

3.483 3.413

The data obtained for the two categories of sample- volunteers and non-volunteers shows that there is a noticeable difference in how much they value each of the four factors. The difference in the average mean is higher in the two factors Work and Family. The obtained score in the factors Work and Family is higher for the non volunteers while the volunteers have a high score in the factors leisure and travel. This means that the sample of volunteers value participation in social cause and prefer being a part of the community development programs. Whereas the non-volunteers gain more satisfaction through their work and family aspects in life.

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TABLE V t test for factors of volunteers and Non volunteers

Paired Differences Std. Std. Deviation Mean 3.979 2.937 5.822 .739 .545 1.081 Error t .327 .253 2.807 Df 28 28 28 Sig. (2-tailed) .746 .802 .009

Mean Pair 1 Work - Work .241

Pair 2 Family - Family .138 Pair 3 Leisure time (for 3.034 volunteering) Leisure time (for volunteering) Pair 4 Travel - Travel .310

1.072

.199

1.558

28

.130

Table shows the paired mean difference of the two groups (volunteers and non volunteers). t test was done to compare the means of the four factors for the two groups. The obtained t value when compared to the significant two tailed value suggests that there isnt significant difference between the two groups for the factors work and family. Whereas the t score indicates that there is significant difference between the two groups for the factors Leisure time (for volunteering) and Travel. This suggests that the volunteers are willing to travel long distance to travel for a cause and spend more of their free time towards philanthrophic activities. However, both the groups value the two factors work and family on an equale scale. The same is depicted in the bar graph D

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Table VI shows the t scores of the total values obtained on the two groups Volunteers and NonVolunteers Paired Differences Std. Std. Deviation Mean 9.887 1.836 Error t 1.765 Df 28 Sig. (2-tailed) .088

Mean Pair 1 Total - Total 3.241

The obtained t score 1.765 is greater than the significant two tailed score 0.088 This indicates that there is significant difference between the two groups- Volunteers and nonvolunteers for the four factors.

Graph D showing the mean scores of volunteers and non-volunteers on the four factors

4.5

4
3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 WORK FAMILY LEISURE TRAVEL VOLUNTEERS NON VOLUNTEERS

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GRAPH XIII: Shows the Marital status of Volunteers and Non Volunteers

Marital Status

Marital Status

Married 48%

Single 52%

Married 52%

Single 48%

The comparison of the above two graphs for the aspect marital status indicates that there isnt much discrepancy in the percentage of the participants. Hence suggests that marital status isnt a determining factor for volunteering or non volunteering.

GRAPH XIV: Shows the percentage of Volunteers and non volunteers who are from Bengaluru Home Town Bengaluru Home Town Bengaluru
In Bengaluru 17%

Not Specified 28%

In Bengaluru 41% Out Of Bengaluru 31%

Not Specified 52%

Out Of Bengaluru 31%

Comparing the above graphs for the two groups, it indicates that there is a noticeable difference in the percentage of participants who are based in Bengaluru. This could be one the reasons for non-volunteering among the non volunteer participants.

However, the small percentage of participants in Bengaluru among the non volunteer group could be because a large proportion of the participants have not specified their hometown and is thus not reliable.

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GRAPH XV: Shows the percentage of Volunteers and Non volunteer who know Kannada

Kannada Language
Not Specified 14% Not Known 21% Known 65%

Kannada Language

Not Specified 35% Not Known 24%

Known 41%

The comparitive analysis of the above two graphs show that a good percentage of volunteers are familiar with Kannada language, whereas only 41% of the non volunteers know Kannada. Nevertheless, it is not a small number for the sample of this non volunteer group where language might act as a hurdle for volunteering.

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GRAPH XVI

Preferred areas for social work


Health 18% Environment 26% Poor 18%

Education 38%

The checklist also consisted of an item where the participants were asked to specify the areas of social cause they feel most passionate to work for. Above graph represents that the data collected from the sample of 263, most of them prefer working towards education and improvement in the environmental conditions. considerable number of participants also prefer working towards the betterment of poor and health conditions. GRAPH XVII

Areas
Specially abled 16% Homeless 14% Elderly 21% Children 35% Women & Girls 14%

The participants were also asked to specify the target population they would like to work for. The data obtained for this indicates that most of them prefer working for children and elderly in the heirarchy which also consists of homeles, specially abled etc. 25

This graph is represented to segregate the responses to what charity means to each of the three sample category- General employees, campus trainees and senior employees

GRAPH XVIII
120 100 33 80 60 40 54 20 0 General Employees Time Campus Trainees Money Sharing Skill 36 11 6 7 Senior Employees 22 45

When looked at the graph, its clear that the perception of charity for the general sample is different from the other two sample categories. While charity implies time for the general sample, it means sharing skill for the campus trainees and the senior employees. However, money does not convey as a means of charity for all the three groups.

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