Sport England – Volunteering Strategy

Research Problem

To deliver their 2016-24 volunteering strategy effectively, Sport England needed a better understanding of current and potential volunteers in sport.  They wanted to know:

• Who currently volunteers in sport, why and what prevents them from doing more
• Who does not currently volunteer in sport, why and what would motivate them to start
• People who volunteer in other sectors and how sport volunteering can be made to appeal to them
• The different needs of hard-to-reach groups such as the disabled, unemployed and BME

Approach

We conducted an online survey amongst a nationally representative sample of 2,000 respondents.  The survey asked respondents whether they had conducted any sports or other volunteering in the last 12 months, and, if not, whether they would be interested in doing so.  They were then asked a series of questions on their current or potential type and area of volunteering, motivations and future intentions. Responses to motivational questions were then used to segment respondents using an academic study.

Outcomes

The research was used to feed directly into Sport England’s national volunteering strategy.  A number of the outcomes confirmed their hypotheses, whilst others added new angles and ideas.  In particular, our motivational segmentation provided Sport England with a new way of looking at audiences, having previously been focussed on demographics.  Feedback on the project was very positive.

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