This paper contributes to the debate by reporting on inital findings from a wider study of volunteers in museums and art museums that was designed to empirically explore volunteer motivation, expectations, values and commitment. The aim of the study was to expand the knowledge base regarding volunteer motivation to include a little researched area, museums and art museums, and to test existing motivational items. The study was conducted at three large cultural institutions located in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The the time of the study there was a total of 674 volunteers actively involved in the three institutions. All volunteers were mailed a self-complete questionnaire. A total of 344 useable responses were received realising a response rate of 51%. The survey was predominantly quantitative but provided opportunities for qualitative clarification of responses.