Opening the Box of Quitting Volunteering in Refugee Aid Organizations

Abstract Studies in volunteering often focus on why people start volunteering and how to retain volunteers. Conversely, less attention is given to why volunteers quit. Hustinx (Nonprofit Volunt Sect Q 39(2):236–255, 2010) provided a substantial contribution on this topic by examining quitting volunteering at the Flemish Red Cross. The present article revisits and extends the contribution of Hustinx (2010), by exploring reasons to quit volunteering at the Netherlands’ largest refugee aid organization. Based on thematic analysis of open answers from 605 former volunteers for refugees, we find that organization-related reasons and personal circumstances are important drivers for quitting volunteering, thereby confirming Hustinx’ outcomes. Moreover, we identified another ‘umbrella’ under which many exit reasons can be subsumed: reasons to quit volunteering that are rooted in egocentric considerations. Next to this third perspective, this study raises attention for burnout and boreout in volunteering and challenges in mentor–mentee relationships, being volunteer–refugee relationships where volunteers quit out of frustration, disappointment or unfulfilled expectations. Implications of the findings and directions for further research are discussed.