SA TÜK Lastefondi vabatahtlikkuse edendamise võimalused:sotsiaalturunduslik vaatenurk
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
Communicating with (potential) volunteers: the case of Children`s Fund of Tartu
University Hospital
The purpose of this master’s thesis was to research the possibilities of developing succesful
and functioning volunteerism in the charity organization Children’s Fund of Tartu University
Hospital.
Promoting volunteer activity encompasses influencing persons’ behaviour towards the
promoter’s desirable way, in the present case to engage in volunteer activity of Children’s
Fund and to participate there as an active and persistent volunteer. There are many different
approaches to achieve behavioral change, which in given paper are looked upon from a social
marketing perspective. This means that promoting volunteer activity will be derived from the
target audience’s viewpoint.
The thesis consists of five chapters: the first one gives an overview of different theoretical
discourses that explain the concept of volunteerism and social marketing. The second part of
the paper includes background information about the research object, that is Children’s Fund
of Tartu University Hospital. Research methods, research questions and a more accurate
description of the objectives of the study are explained in chapter three. The results of the
research are presented in chapter four. The last, fifth part of the paper lists the main
conclusions and presents practical recommendations for the Childres`s Fund to promote and
improve its voluteerism.
The study method employed for the empirical part was qualitative analysis in form of
interwiews, with which the motives, impulses, barriers and expectations of target audiences
were explored. The transcriptions of interwiews were analysed using methodology of content
analysis.
The results of the study revealed a lot of new information, which can be succesfully applied to
promote voluteerism in Children’s Fund of Tartu University Hospital. The most important
outcome is that target groups perceive voluteerism overall, and in Children’s Fund, to have
many benefits as well as barriers. The thesis also gave a deep overview of the expectations
what individuals have for volunteer activity, inter alia in Children’s Fund of Tartu University
Hospital. All of this confirms that voluteerism is in many ways comparable with exchange
that is characteristic to social marketing, which means that theoretically the perspective of
social marketing can be prosperously applied to promote voluteerism.
In conclusion, according to the concept of social marketing it is important to emphasize the
additional value of volunteer activity mentioned by the target audiences (in the present case,
by existent and potential volunteers of the Fund), to overcome obstacles they considered
important and to respond to their expectations, which in many cases seemed to vary from
person to person.
Keywords
magistritööd