Executive summary
A pilot study was conducted in 2007-08 to explore the impact of volunteering in sport. The project was funded by the Volunteering Hub to help sports clubs assess the impact of volunteers in their clubs and to develop methods for others to use in future. The study created questionnaires appropriate to sports volunteering based on the Institute for Volunteering Research’s Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit (VAT).
The research process
The research reviewed major reports on sport volunteering and worked with ten case studies in three sports: six grassroots clubs and two regional bodies in rugby union and hockey; and two Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) groups.
From information and feedback gathered from the case studies, questionnaires were created with six areas of impact:
1. Enjoyment and satisfaction; 2. Quantity and quality of volunteers’ work; 3. Personal development; 4. Financial and economic impacts; 5. Social impacts; 6. Sense of community.
Each impact area is represented by three indicators, with statements about experiences or views with which respondents are asked to show their level of agreement or satisfaction. Open-ended questions allow them to add comments. Impacts on four stakeholders are explored:
• volunteers • players; • clubs • the community.
Dividing the players into adult and young members, five questionnaires were prepared for each case study. The questionnaires were kept short - a maximum of four pages - informal and jargon-free. This was prompted by feedback that people would be put off by anything that seemed too bureaucratic, and would not fill in a lengthy questionnaire. Appropriate graphics were inserted to lighten the tone; the questionnaire for young players, some as young as seven, replaced tick boxes with smiley or grumpy faces. The face symbols were also used by some adults with learning difficulties in disabled riding groups.
The questionnaires were distributed by clubs and groups, by email and in printed form, and the regional bodies in rugby and hockey put them on their