Win-wins by matching environmental volunteering opportunities with interests of online search communities.
Abstract
This paper explores what interests communities searching online for environmental volunteering opportunities and how organisations may best match their interests. The most important factor was to tailor projects to the motivations of the volunteers, particularly opportunities for social interaction and learning new skills plus to remove barriers to participation. The online community were on average younger than typical for existing environmental volunteers and their motivations were also different as they were more interested in physical activity and using skills and less in social factors. They also preferred projects which are outdoor based, and which offer close contact with wildlife. The online community showed a stronger preference for habitat improvement projects over those involving species-survey based citizen science.