Change to persist - The adaptation of European Red Cross societies to changing patterns of volunteering

Abstract

Non-profit organizations active in disaster relief depend on the engagement of volunteers. Yet, society changes, and so do engagement patterns of volunteering. We examine in this paper how Red Cross societies across Europe perceive these processes and adapt to changes. As major aid organizations, Red Cross societies need to attract volunteers in various fields between disaster relief and social services. They are consequently particularly vulnerable to changes in volunteer engagement. Organizational learning is one way to mitigate this vulnerability by adapting to these changes. We analyze these organizational learning processes with a mixed-methods research design that embraces a quantitative survey as well as in-depth interviews with various Red Cross societies. The study, which refers to the 4I-Theory, demonstrates how perceived adaptation pressure is a key driver of organizational change. Red Cross societies experiencing this pressure spark an adaptation process, scrutinizing and potentially changing their structures and standards to stay the same regarding their essential characteristics.