When joining is not enough: Profiles of emergency services volunteers and the intention to remain

In this study, we examined how meeting the initial expectations of new volunteers when they join an emergency service is related to their intentions to remain with that service. A survey of 539 emergency services volunteers revealed that the new volunteers whose expectations matched what the volunteering role could deliver tended to participate in more volunteer activities and had a stronger intent to remain a volunteer. By contrast, when new volunteers had either too few or too many expectations, they were more likely to express turnover intentions after one year of service.