1. Relationship Marketing (RM) and The Volunteer Life Cycle
Deborah Forbes
Newcastle University
Sports Volunteering Research Network
April 2013

2. Content Background to Volunteer research
Relationship Marketing defined
The VLC explained
Sector specific
The future?

3. The 4 W’s What is a volunteer - defined
Who is a volunteer - characteristic's
Why do they volunteer - motivation
Where do they volunteer - context
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2002). Understanding the volunteer market: The what, where, who and why of volunteering. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7(3),

4. What is Relationship Marketing
RM is a set of marketing activities oriented to establishing, developing, maintaining and terminating relational exchanges (Morgan & Hunt 1994)
RM aims to establish, develop and maintain relationships with clients (Berry 1995)
Christian Grönroos, (1994) "From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing", Management Decision, Vol. 32 Iss: 2, pp.4 – 20
Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. the journal of marketing,
Berry, L. L. (1995). Relationship marketing of services—growing interest, emerging perspectives. Journal of the Academy of marketing science, 23(4),

5. The Volunteer Lifecycle explained

6. The Customer Relationship Life Cycle (Gronroos, 2000 p.237)
Service management

8. The Volunteer Lifecycle
Determinants of volunteering (corresponding to Gronroos’ initial stage)
The decision to volunteer (purchasing stage)
Volunteer activity (consumption process)
The committed volunteer (repeat purchase)

9. 1. Determinants of volunteering
Raising awareness/ promote
AIDA
I go to supermarkets, health centres. I give talks to church groups. I put up posters, …visit leisure centres...I would say that the most successful is the leisure centre because people there have a lot of free time

10. HOW word of mouth leaflets and other printed media
using Volunteer Centre databases
organising or speaking at events during Volunteer Week
press / radio adverts
online - on your own website and via volunteer recruitment websites.
Research shows that web users are incredibly fickle. Unless highly motivated, if they can't find what they want in a few seconds they will go elsewhere
Not everyone likes the word volunteering, but almost everyone knows what it means. If you are looking to recruit on your site and you don't have a link to volunteering in a prominent position then you are in danger of losing a sizeable number of potential volunteers

11. 2. The decision to volunteer
Dialogue
Evaluation
Fit

12. 3. Volunteer activity Volunteer management Engagement
‘We don’t party enough’
‘one size does not fit all’.
Episodic volunteer
Episodic volunteering has been called “one of the fastest growing trends in the field of volunteerism” (Cnaan & Handy, 2005, p. 29).
Traditional volunteer

13. = The committed volunteer
Retention
Loyalty
Identification

14. RELATIONSHIPS IN THE VOLUNTEER LIFE CYCLE
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2006). Developing relationship marketing in the voluntary sector. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 15(1-2),

15. Bussell and Forbes (2005)The Theatre Volunteer Lifecycle
Keswick
DFC
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2005). Volunteer management in arts organisations: a case study and managerial implications. International Journal of Arts Management, 9(2), 1-10.
Terry, B. D., Harder, A. M. and Pracht, D. W. (2011) Digital D: Options for Volunteer Involvement, in The Volunteer Management Handbook: Leadership Strategies for Success, Second Edition (ed T. D. Connors), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA. doi: / oth7

16. Any Questions

17. Sources/ Additional Reading
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2002). Understanding the volunteer market: The what, where, who and why of volunteering. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7(3), pp
Bussell, H. & Forbes, D. (2003). The Volunteer Life Cycle: a marketing model for volunteering. Voluntary Action, 5(3), pp. 61–79.
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2006). Developing relationship marketing in the voluntary sector. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 15(1-2), pp
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2007). Volunteer management in arts organizations: A case study and managerial implications. International Journal of Arts Management, 9(2), pp
Das, K. (2009). Relationship marketing research ( ): an academic literature review and classification. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 27(3), pp
Grönroos, C. (1994) "From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing", Management Decision, Vol. 32 Iss: 2, pp.4 – 20
Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. the journal of marketing,
Berry, L. L. (1995). Relationship marketing of services—growing interest, emerging perspectives. Journal of the Academy of marketing science, 23(4), pp