Social Networks, Recruitment, and Volunteering: Are Social Capital Effects Conditional on Recruitment?

• Published in: Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 476 - 496
• Main Authors: Paik, Anthony, Navarre-Jackson, Layana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2011; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Bonding; Bridging; Cultural Capital; Cultural Pluralism; Diversity; Interpersonal relationships. Groups. Leadership; Mathematical models; Networks; Nonprofit organizations; Recruitment; Religion; Religiosity; Social capital; Social Networks; Social psychology; Sociology; Studies; Volunteers; United States Of America; United States > US; civic engagement; volunteering; social capital; recruitment; Voluntary help; Volunteerism; Social network; Social capital; Recruitment
• ISSN: 0899-7640; 1552-7395; 0899-7640
• DOI: 10.1177/0899764009354647

Prior research has found that several types of social networks—social and associational ties, religious involvement, and recruitment contacts—promote volunteering. This article extends the literature by examining whether social tie diversity matters for volunteering and whether the effects of social networks are conditional on being recruited or not. Using the 1999 Giving and Volunteering Survey, the authors estimated probit models of being asked to volunteer and volunteering. The results show that social tie diversity, the number of associational ties, and religious involvement are each associated with recruitment. Recruitment itself is an important predictor of volunteering. Religious involvement is associated with higher probabilities of volunteering conditional on being asked, whereas social tie diversity and the number of associational ties increase volunteering among those not asked.The results indicate that associations between social networks and volunteering depend on both recruitment and whether these relationships create bridging versus bonding social capital.