<![CDATA[General Background: Organizational performance in nonprofit youth organizations depends partly on members’ motivational needs and their willingness to contribute to collective goals. Specific Background: Alderfer’s ERG theory conceptualizes motivation through existence, relatedness, and growth needs, while self-actualization represents the realization of individual potential. However, empirical evidence on ERG motivation in volunteer-based youth organizations remains limited. Knowledge Gap: The relative contribution of ERG dimensions and the moderating role of self-actualization in nonprofit organizational settings remain insufficiently examined. Aims: This study examines the relationships of existence, relatedness, and growth with organizational performance and tests self-actualization as a moderator among 128 members of PC GP Ansor Jombang using a quantitative explanatory design and PLS-SEM. Results: Existence (t = 2.197; p = 0.028), growth (t = 2.397; p = 0.017), and relatedness (t = 4.844; p < 0.001) were positively and significantly related to organizational performance, with relatedness providing the largest relative contribution. Self-actualization also had a significant direct relationship with organizational performance (t = 2.202; p = 0.028), whereas all interaction terms were nonsignificant, indicating no moderating effect. Novelty: The study extends ERG theory to a volunteer-based Indonesian youth nonprofit and distinguishes the direct contribution of self-actualization from its unsupported moderating role. Implications: Youth organizations should prioritize interpersonal relationships, affiliation, collaborative environments, and personal development while positioning self-actualization as a direct motivational construct rather than a moderator. Highlights: Relatedness was the strongest predictor of organizational performance. Self-actualization directly predicted performance but did not moderate ERG relationships. ERG theory was extended to volunteer-based Indonesian youth organizations. Keywords: Existence, Relatedness, Growth, Organizational Performance, Self-Actualization]]>
