The Voluntary Social Welfare Agency a Reassessment

Abstract

The role of the voluntary agency needs to be considered in the light of a typology which has been provided by Alan Pifer. Quasi-nongovernmental organizations receive practically all of their funds from public sources by contract. The board of directors has a very limited role, and, when such agencies give service, the agency's client should be in the majority on the board. Truly voluntary associations that have gradually glided into the role of being quasi-nongovernmental organizations should be forced to re-examine their board composition. Truly voluntary associations are desperately needed for the revitalization of the democratic process, but they cannot be supported by government funds since governmental funding immediately contaminates their nature and is self-defeating. Private service organi- zations, which are defined as closed systems often heavily endowed or supported by a broad base of established contributions, could well devote themselves to the support of truly voluntary associations, which cannot be supported by their own memberships. Private service agencies which also receive government funds should consider the advisability of having separate boards of program participants to handle public moneys.