Investigation of volunteer experiences of individuals volunteering in non-governmental organizations working with children

Non-governmental organizations take more and more responsibilities all over the world by working in the fields of health, education, social protection, social security and social services in order to increase the welfare level of the society. Volunteers involved in the implementation of non-governmental organizations are people who work and strive for common benefit without considering material or moral provisions. In time, the social work profession, which started volunteering activities, started to apply its work systematically and continuously, based on the needs of the society. The work done with children, which is a very large and important working group of both civil society and social service, has always been taken into consideration. Based on the different characteristics and needs of children, it is necessary to understand the volunteering processes and experiences of the people who turn to this field to qualify the volunteer activities carried out with them. The main purpose of the study is to determine the reasons for volunteering of volunteers in non-governmental organizations operating directly with children and to reveal the factors affecting their motivation from their experiences. Qualitative research model was used in the research. The participants of the study were determined using the snowball sampling method, which is one of the purposeful sampling techniques. The research was carried out with 33 volunteers who have been working voluntarily in 19 different non-governmental organizations operating in the field of children in the city of Ankara for five years, who are over the age of 18 and agreed to participate in the study. The data of the research has been started to be collected via semi-structured in-depth interview form since 6 May 2020. After five people were interviewed, the activities of all non-governmental organizations were stopped until 1 June 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, which affected the world and our country. Therefore, the remaining 28 interviews were made via video calls on the phone. The data were analyzed by content analysis method, and main themes and sub-themes were created. As a result of the research, it was found that the participants defined volunteering as a humanitarian need that should be done without expecting any return, and that it is possible to recognize the problems that exist in the society through volunteering and to take part in the solution of these problems, and thus they think they are a part of change. Participants stated that their communication skills improved through volunteering, they had the opportunity to receive training on different subjects and their social capital increased. It was found that the participants' reasons for volunteering in the field of children were related to their perceptions of the child. The idea that they perceive the child as an individual who needs to be protected and supported and that this duty is also in the society has pushed the participants to volunteer in the field of children. It was determined that having volunteers in her family when she was young motivated research participants to work in the field of volunteering. Similarly, it has been revealed that traumatic childhood experiences may be a source of volunteering in adulthood. As a result of this research, it has been revealed that social circles and universities have a role in spreading volunteer management and legal studies and raising awareness of the young population.