Analysis of the personal factors of the volunteers as mediators between the satisfaction and the permanence in employee volunteering

Numerous studies have shown that there is a relationship between volunteers’ satisfaction and their permanence in volunteer activities over time. However, there is less knowledge about whether this relationship is mediated by personal factors of the volunteers. This document analyzes the potential mediating role of nine of these factors: gender, age, marital status, childbearing, educational level, adherence to a religion, position within the company, year in which they began to participate, and participation in other volunteer activities outside the company framework. The information provided by a non-probabilistic sample of 184 volunteers that participate in corporate volunteering activities implemented by 13 companies in Uruguay is considered. A structured questionnaire was used, which included 25 indicators on satisfaction and a general indicator on permanence. It was found that, with the exception of adherence to a religion, all the other factors considered mediate, to a greater or lesser extent, in the relationship between satisfaction and permanence. This relationship is stronger among men, youngsters, single people, less educated people, people with children, those who have a lower hierarchical position in the company, those who have participated in CV for less time, and those who carry out other volunteer activities outside the company. These results contribute to the theoretical discussion on the relationship between satisfaction and permanence in employee volunteering, while contributing to improve the management of this type of volunteering, since they constitute useful information for the design of segmented strategies for recruitment and retention of volunteers.