This week I would like to give you a brief summary of the results of my focus group interview. As mentioned before, my project focuses on the motivations and anti-motivations of young volunteers, the importance of faith with regard to their work, cooperation and integration within the parish community and appropriate information channels.
Motivations
Generally, all participants were motivated for volunteer work. Regarding their reasons for volunteering, the participants mentioned for instance that they were asked, that friends invited them, that they want to show children what they experienced as a child, that they want to convey they faith and belief, that it is fun and that there was nobody else motivated to organize certain activities. The participants are all very proud of their groups and their work and they have a strong feeling of responsibility for “their” children and the team.
Christian Faith
Concerning the relationship between their Christian faith and belief and their volunteer work, the altar servers stated a strong relationship, whereas the Jungschar leaders mentioned that their faith is barely connected to volunteering. However, the participants showed high interest in changing this and they stated that they would be interested in learning more about how to integrate their faith into the program at their group meetings. Also, the Jungschar leaders were hoping for more support from the reverent.
Integration within Parish
Only some of the volunteers felt fully integrated in the parish community and one participant mentioned that she was not very integrated in the youth group. However, all participants were very excited to integrate her more in the group.
Information Channels
Regarding information channels, the results of the discussion group absolutely showed that e-mails are not an ideal tool to communicate with young volunteers, as they do not check their e-mails on a regular basis. However, the participants suggested sending text messages with for instances reminders for the next youth mass or activity, due to the fact that they will see it immediately and can easily reply.
Suggestions & Conclusions
Summing up, it can be said that the expected lack of motivation of young volunteers at my parish should not be generalized because there are a few volunteers who are extremely motivated and show great potential for future activities and improvements. The participants are motivated for more youth activities, such as a monthly youth mass, which is actually now already taking place thanks to the focus group. Also, the participants suggested a closer cooperation between the altar servers and the Jungschar leaders, as they could both benefit from each other’s experiences, for instance fun outdoor Jungschar games or knowledge about how to talk about religion and faith with children.
I hope that my results are interesting for you. If you would like to receive more details, feel free to contact me.
Bettina
