Motivational factors of student participation in non-profit organizations within the service learning program

Abstract: Problem. The expansion of cooperation between universities and non-profit organizations within the Service Learning program raises the issue of factors that sustain students’ interest and their willingness to contin-ue engaging with NPOs. The relationship between professional, organizational, and value-based foundations of such participation remains insufficiently explored in the Russian university context. Aim. To identify and characterize the motivational factors underlying students’ participation in non-profit organizations within the Service Learning program and to determine persistent and changing trends in comparison with the results of the previous empirical study. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 90 students of Southern Federal Univer-sity. The purposive criterion-based sample included participants in projects identified by their respective faculties as the most successful projects implemented during the 2025/26 academic year. The survey addressed students’ experi-ence of interaction with NPOs, preferred forms of participation, perceived competency-development potential, and motivational factors. Absolute frequencies and percentage distributions were calculated; comparison with the 2024/25 data was descriptive and did not involve statistical significance testing. Results. A total of 81.1 % of respondents worked on tasks proposed by NPOs, 91.2 % reported a positive effect of participation on their under-standing of social problems, and 88.9 % stated that they were willing to continue cooperation or would consider do-ing so if an interesting project were available. The most frequently reported factors were opportunities to apply pro-fessional knowledge in practice (58.9 %), flexible scheduling and consideration of academic workload (56.7 %), career prospects (54.4 %), understanding the project’s social impact (38.9 %), and support from university and NPO supervisors (33.3 %). The proportion of students working on NPO-proposed tasks was higher than in the previous survey (81.1 % vs. 70.3 %), while the level of stated willingness to continue cooperation remained comparable. Conclusions. The identified motivational foundations can be analytically grouped into professional-practical, organ-izational-pedagogical, and value-meaning dimensions. Students’ stated willingness to continue engaging with NPOs is accompanied by the perceived importance of the professional applicability of their experience, organizational ac-cessibility of participation, and understanding of the social outcomes of project activities.