The research is devoted to the study of youth motivation for volunteer activities. The theoretical basis of the presented study is the concept of youth’s self-regulation. According to its provisions, the motivation of volunteer activity can be considered as an indicator of socio-cultural self-regulation and social adaptation of young volunteers in those situations when certain volunteering practices are considered by them as part of their world. The article analyzes the results of a sociological survey of young students of the Sverdlovsk region aged 14 to 24 (N - 996, quota sample, 2022). The study revealed that the motivation for the volunteer activity of the student youth of the Sverdlovsk region reflects the trends for concretization in the youth consciousness of volunteer efforts and the importance of understanding the possibility to get applicable results both for society and for themselves, аs well as the preference for voluntary practices of constructive civic behavior that enable young people to fulfill their potential. Altruistic motivation and self-confidence motivate high school volunteers. The motivation of students volunteering over the past two years has become more pragmatic and is associated with building social networks and expanding employment opportunities, while studying at a university - with the need to pursue a professional or socio-political career. According to the poll results, it is proved that the internal motivation for volunteering activity as a reflection of the interiorization of values of volunteering and the acceptance of this activity is not formed by the external environment, where youth volunteer projects are organized by the school, youth organizations, and depends on the regularity of volunteer participation of youth and the consequence of this involvement, volunteer self-identification. Certain evidence of young people’s adaptation to the conditions of volunteering popularization and its acceptance is the practice in which they acquire, as volunteers, the experience of related online activities. It is these practices are matched with the demands of society and the inner motivation of volunteering determine the willingness of youth to continue this activity.