Voluntary Sector Geographies, Intraorganisational Difference, and the Professionalisation of Volunteering: A Study of Land Search and Rescue Organisations in New Zealand

Abstract

The voluntary sector is playing increasingly important roles in the delivery of services. With greater regulation, some commentators have speculated that a bifurcation of voluntary groups is occurring between large-scale corporatist organisations and poorly funded grassroots organisations. Using the example of voluntary search and rescue teams in New Zealand, I demonstrate that, while an organisation may follow corporatist principles centrally, its branches may resist change and continue along traditional grassroots lines. This study supports the need for a sociocultural approach to understanding the geographies of volunteering and the organisational spaces of voluntary organisations.