RESEARCH FOR INCREASING VOLUNTEER PARTICIPATION Angela Quisumbing COM 615

The Asian American Repertory Theater  Asian American Repertory Theatre is a professional, non-profit performing arts organization  They are San Diego’s premier contemporary Asian American theatre company with over 3,000 subscribers

AART: Mission & Vision Statement  Mission  To create theatrical productions that celebrate the Asian American experience, to present fresh perspectives on traditional works, and to further develop and educate adult and youth Asian American artists in their craft.  Values & Vision  By preserving traditions that emphasize education, balanced family values, and the respect of history and senior generations, AART strives to foster community, peace, and awareness among different cultures and generations, while introducing new artistic voices that help to incorporate changes of the present with learning's from the past.

AART: Goals  ART hopes to give flesh and voice to under-recognized Asian American plays and stage works by new and established artists to help bridge cross-generational and cross-cultural gaps and transcend stereotypes. Our work pushes participants to re-think their image and pre-judgments of Asian Americans, increasing knowledge and awareness of the diverse experiences in the United States. AART strives to develop an Endowment which would help make the dramatic process and production a continuing reality, thus enhancing the San Diego arts community and literary landscape in general.

PROBLEM: Situation Analysis  Not enough help  Not enough exposure or awareness  Not enough funds to create a fundraiser  Need more volunteers  Need more sponsors  Need bigger budget SituationAnalysis

SWOT Analysis StrengthsOpportunities Established presence for 12 years, professional board members, good cause Reach the Asian/American community, raise money for organization, create awareness WeaknessesThreats Not enough people to volunteer, not organized, not enough sponsors Other non-profits that prove to be more organized, well staffed and have a decent budget

RESEARCH: Objectives  To build awareness of the organization  To build relationships with potential sponsors  To build relationships with volunteers and other organizations who share the same goals

RESEARCH: Goals  Develop a ‘focus group’ and a ‘survey’  Utilize the results to show the following:  How big/small the issues the organization is facing  Learn new ways to communicate to the organization’s public and stakeholders  Timeline:  Week 1: Conduct Focus Group  Week 2: Conduct Survey  Week 3: Publish Results, share with group and organization

QUALITATIVE ACTION: Focus Group  Objectives  Understand why people do or do not volunteer for non- profit organizations  Ways to improve volunteer programs  Ways to motivate others to volunteer  Participants: Volunteers (current and potential)  Location: Local Coffee Shop

Focus Group  Procedures  Target people who have been involved in volunteering for the organization and people who have not  Invite them for coffee to join focus group  Let them know their involvement is important  Methods  Create an agenda with 5-7 preconceived questions for the group  Allow the group to answer questions, offer opinions and ideas  Open forum to share experiences  Response Tracking

Sample Questions  1: Why do you support the organization?  2: What encourages you to volunteer your time and/or money?  3: What motivates you to volunteer?  4: What discourages you from volunteering?  5: Can you list a few local companies who might be interested in partnering with AART?  6: What suggestions can you offer to improve volunteer programs?

Hypothesis  People volunteer time/money to non-profits  Based on emotions, fulfillment  Based on a need to give, they feel obligated  Because someone forced or convinced them to  Because the organization’s cause affects/benefits them or someone they know  Issues  Not recognized  Not appreciated

QUANTITATIVE ACTION: Survey  Participants  Board Members: people who run non-profit organizations  Volunteers: people who have volunteered their time to an organization  Sponsors: people who have donated money or items to a non-profit organization  Distribution: via  Questionnaire Development:  Focus on why people do and do not volunteer time and money to non-profit organizations

Questions  Questions will be developed on a point system to gather quantitative findings  Example:  On a scale from 1-5, 1 being highly unlikely and 5 being highly likely, how likely are you to volunteer as a board member for the following year.

Success Defined  As a result of this research we would like to:  Create new ways to reach out to volunteers and sponsors  Learn new ways to build awareness of the organization

EVALUATION: Interpretation of Results  Results of both the focus group and survey will be evaluated to determine:  How the organization can improve in attracting and motivating volunteers and sponsors  How to build relationships and a better image with its publics and stakeholders

THANK YOU…