Volunteer Management Practices Research Articles

Management practices matter: understanding volunteers’ memories at the Youth Olympic Games*

ABSTRACT Purpose: This study aims to understand the memories of Youth Olympic Games (YOG) volunteers long after their participatory experiences and how the volunteer managerial practices constructed those memories. Methodology: Focus groups were used in combination with document analysis to further investigate how the volunteer management practices at the Nanjing 2014 construct the current volunteer memory of YOG experience. Three focus groups with a total of 14 participants were conducted in September 2018. Findings: Involvement- and interaction-related practices have been identified as essential factors in shaping memories, while tangible souvenirs are vital in retrieving these memories in the long term. It confirms that volunteers remembered self-generated and entertaining activities best, referring to the generation and humor effect of memory. Practical implications: Results have implications for informing future volunteer management practices in nurturing young individuals’ memory, which is particularly important for events that aim to empower young people far in the long term as a volunteer legacy. Research contribution: The application of the memory concept brings new insights into the theoretical foundations of mega sport volunteering studies. Further, this research contributes to an essential subject on the Youth Olympic Games by adopting the Asian case of Nanjing 2014 four years after the event conclusion.

Exploring Interactions Between Arkansas Urban Producers: Social Networks and Modes of Information Seeking

The purpose of this study was to explore the social networks and interactions between urban producers in Arkansas through a social network analysis. Using a mixed-methods approach, the current study collected data about participants’ social network interactions and methods of seeking information for urban farming. Results indicated how and where participants preferred to obtain information, peer-to-peer interactions within the network, and key players or opinion leaders in the network. The methods used in the current study may serve as an example of social network articulation for populations without a formal network to assist with outreach to communities potentially underserved by Extension.

How Sports Event Volunteer Management Affects Volunteers’ Satisfaction and Engagement: The Mediating Role of Social Capital

This study investigated the role of social capital in the relationship between sports event volunteer management and volunteers’ attitude and behavior. Social capital was discovered to mediate the relationships of sports event volunteer management with volunteers’ satisfaction and work engagement. These relationships were empirically examined by conducting a survey of 303 volunteers from the 2016 Wuhan Open and 2016 Wuhan Marathon. The results revealed that sports event management practices, namely training and working conditions, significantly affected the volunteers’ social capital. The social capital of the sports event volunteers significantly affected their satisfaction and work engagement. The volunteers’ social capital promoted their satisfaction and engagement only if sports event volunteer management practices effectively enhanced their social capital. This study provides recommendations to help sports event organizers motivate volunteers.

Perceived Quality and Organizational Support for Enhancing Volunteers’ Leisure Satisfaction and Civic Engagement: A Case of the 2020 Super Bowl

This study aimed to investigate the effects of perceived quality of sporting event and perceived organizational support (POS) on volunteers’ leisure satisfaction with their volunteering experience and the effect of volunteers’ leisure satisfaction on their civic participation attitudes and future volunteering intention and to examine differences in first-time and experienced sport event volunteers in the relationships between the study’s variables. Data were collected from 709 volunteers at the 2020 Super Bowl. Results showed that volunteers’ perceived event quality and POS predicted their six leisure satisfaction dimensions (i.e., psychological, educational, social, relaxation, physiological, and esthetic). Educational and social dimensions influenced volunteers’ civic participation while psychological and social affected their intention to continue volunteering. The results also revealed significant differences between first-time volunteers and experienced volunteers in the effect of POS on esthetic, educational, psychological, and social dimensions. The findings offer insights into how volunteer management practices can address volunteers’ leisure satisfaction.

An Empirical Exploration of Volunteer Management Theory and Practice: Considerations for Sport Events in a "Post-COVID-19" World.

The existing literature highlights some universal principles that are widely accepted as a good volunteer management practice, e. g., volunteer appreciation and recognition, provision of meaningful roles, effective communication, and the importance of relational connection, just to name a few. Yet, it can be argued that a gap exists in the relationship between volunteer management theory and practice in the context of large sport events. For example, published evidence shows that volunteer programs often lack effective planning and management to achieve successful program results. On one hand, this can be attributable to limited knowledge about volunteers' characteristics and motivations, their lived experiences, the processes of volunteering, and the actual volunteer management practices. On the other hand, a lack of the right mechanisms (e.g., political will, financial, and managerial resources) in place before and throughout the event lifespan intensifies this disconnect. The aim of this research, therefore, was to critically examine the reasons behind this theory-practice divide in volunteer–volunteer management relationship and its potential impact on volunteer experiences and volunteer program outcomes, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for sport event organizers and volunteer managers in the UK. A mixed methods approach was adopted for this study: a survey conducted with volunteers (n = 101) combined with a series of interviews with volunteers (n = 8) and volunteer managers (n = 6). The study identified some potential challenges facing volunteer programs associated with large sport events post-pandemic, particularly in relation to volunteer recruitment, volunteer management, and safety concerns affecting volunteer confidence to re-engage in volunteering. These challenges carry with them certain resource implications that event organizers need to consider to effectively run volunteer programs and support volunteers in engagement and re-engagement following the pandemic, as well as to harness opportunities the pandemic has potentially created to successfully re-emerge from the shadow of COVID-19. The study provides specific recommendations to inform event planning and delivery to enhance volunteer experiences and, ultimately, outcomes of volunteer programs associated with large sport events.

Testing the Mediating Effect of Need–Supply Fit on the Relationship Between Volunteer Management Practices and Volunteer Satisfaction in China

In recent years, volunteer management practices (VMPs) have attracted the attention of scholars. However, the mechanism by which VMPs affect volunteer satisfaction, an important antecedent of volunteer sustainability, remains poorly understood. This article examines one such mechanism, need–supply fit, through which VMPs influence volunteer satisfaction. Although need–supply fit has been verified as a mediating mechanism of human resource management practice affecting the satisfaction of paid employees, the question of whether need–supply fit is a similar influencing mechanism in the context of volunteering requires further research. By the use of a cluster sample (N = 211) collected from four nonprofit organizations in China, a mediation model is outlined and empirically tested. The results show that both VMPs and need–supply fit have significant positive relationships with volunteer satisfaction and that need–supply fit fully mediates the relationship between VMPs and volunteer satisfaction. Future research is suggested to verify the mechanism proposed in this article across different cultures and volunteering fields and to explore the differences of the impact of intended VMPs and perceived VMPs on the volunteers’ satisfaction.

Managing Unruliness: The (Anti-)Politics of Volunteer Management Practices in Faith-Based Organizations

Abstract Based on an ethnographic analysis of volunteer management practices in faith-based organizations in Zambia, this article outlines the dilemmas that these organizations face when deploying volunteers. Due to financial constraints, most of these organizations have to rely on voluntary work from local residents in order to realize their goals. I show that when the volunteers’ work is concerned with social problems that are deemed to be controversial, faith-based organizations are at pains to demonstrate that their aims and activities should be categorized as ‘social work’ or ‘humanitarian assistance’, and not as activist (party) political engagement. Yet since volunteers are only loosely linked to these organizations in respect to their formal status, in practice they have a great deal of leeway in how issues are handled. This means that some of them use their commitment to volunteering to pursue their own political agendas. The article explores the strategies that faith-based organizations use to navigate the challenges that this kind of ‘partisan volunteering’ pose.

Communicating our way to engaged volunteers: A mediated process model of volunteer communication, engagement, and commitment.

Retaining productive volunteers is an essential issue nonprofit organizations face, as volunteers help extend nonprofits' services to their target populations. The current study examined two facets of communication, perception of voice (i.e., upward communication) and satisfaction with communication (i.e., downward communication), as well as training, as important volunteer management practices with respect to facilitating volunteer engagement and commitment using both psychological contract and social exchange theories as the framework. One-hundred and seventy-one volunteers from two nonprofit organizations were surveyed to assess their satisfaction with the communication processes at their respective agencies, as well as their level of engagement, commitment, and perception of the training they received for their volunteer roles. Volunteer perceptions of both upward and downward communication were found to be indirectly related to organizational commitment through engagement. In addition, results indicated that volunteer training practices moderated the effects of upward and downward communication on engagement and commitment. Findings suggested that upward and downward communication are important predictors of volunteer engagement and commitment. Furthermore, providing training may help to strengthen these indirect effects.

Time‐Tested Volunteer Management Practices

The Volunteer Management ReportVolume 25, Issue 7 p. 4-4 Management Essentials Time-Tested Volunteer Management Practices First published: 04 June 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/vmr.31474Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume25, Issue7July 2020Pages 4-4 RelatedInformation

The impact of international volunteers on education quality in developing countries ‒ An assessment of organisations’ volunteer recruitment and management practices

International volunteering and service (IVS) organisations expanded dramatically in size, reach and variety in the past decades. While volunteering is socially valued, we know little about the real impact it has on host communities. I take a segregated approach to assess the potential impact of IVS on education, the most popular activity. Using Sherraden et al.’s (2008) conceptual model of IVS impacts, I explore the effects that individual and institutional factors have on education outcomes. In addition to the literature review on IVS and education quality, qualitative data on 12 sending organisations’ volunteer recruitment and management practices was gathered. Findings suggest that teaching qualifications and expertise are among the most significant factors but are often not prioritized in the recruitment criteria. Yet, existing limitations can be compensated through effective programming. Some patterns can be identified when comparing the common practices of the four types of organisations reviewed.

Determinants and Outcomes of Volunteer Satisfaction in Mega Sports Events

The role of volunteers is an important factor for the sustainability of mega sports events. Key issues in the literature on sports event volunteers are volunteer satisfaction and its determinants and outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of the fulfillment of volunteers’ psychological needs and Volunteer Management Practices (VMP) on overall volunteer satisfaction, and to test their conditional effects depending on volunteer involvement. Additionally, the present study aimed to examine the effects of volunteer satisfaction on future volunteer activity, word-of-mouth, and host city visitation. For these purposes, a survey was conducted with 2442 volunteers in the context of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea. The results of a Latent Moderated Structural Equation (LMS) revealed that the fulfillment of volunteers’ general needs and volunteer satisfaction with the VMP have positive effects on overall volunteer satisfaction. Interestingly, these effects were differently moderated by the level of volunteer involvement. Overall volunteer satisfaction was found to positively affect future volunteering intention, spreading positive words regarding sports event volunteering, and intention to visit the host city as tourists. In conclusion, sports event managers need to design an optimal work environment that can fulfill volunteers’ psychological needs and improve VMP to enhance the sustainability of mega sports events.

Utilize HR Trends to Create a Positive Volunteer Experience

The Volunteer Management ReportVolume 24, Issue 2 p. 4-4 Volunteer Management Practices Utilize HR Trends to Create a Positive Volunteer Experience Yvette Boysen, Yvette BoysenSearch for more papers by this author Yvette Boysen, Yvette BoysenSearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 January 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/vmr.31095Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume24, Issue2February 2019Pages 4-4 RelatedInformation

Evidence-based volunteer management: a review of the literature

This article reviews 81 articles that directly tested the effectiveness of volunteer management practices. Many articles measured volunteers’ perceptions of the quality of management practices, not the practices themselves, making their utility to volunteer managers limited. Most articles used self-reported, cross-sectional surveys and subjective outcome measures such as satisfaction and intent to continue volunteering. Despite these limitations, current research supports the effectiveness of 11 best practices: liability insurance, clearly defined roles, job design, recruitment strategies, screening and matching, orientation and training, supervision and communication, recognition, satisfying motivations, reflection and peer support. No support has yet been found for three supposed best practices suggested by the practitioner literature: written policies, record-keeping and individual evaluations. Future studies should use more rigorous methods, including validated measures, external ratings of volunteer effectiveness, field experiments and longitudinal surveys.

Retention of festival volunteers: Management practices and volunteer motivation

Many volunteers in different festival organisations within the hospitality industry begin with great excitement, but slowly lose interest. This might be due to poor volunteer management practices that result in decreased motivation among volunteers, and with the consequences of them leaving the organisations all together. Therefore, this research aimed to study how volunteers’ perceived management impacted their motivation and in turn affected their intention to stay for longer periods within festival organisations. Expanding upon previous literature that investigated volunteer retention in different contexts as well as in only one festival organisation, a conceptual model was developed using existing theories focused on volunteer management practices, volunteer motivation, and volunteer retention. Using a self-administered online survey technique, 103 valid surveys from individuals currently volunteering in festival organisations were obtained. Although several limitations were present, the results still showed its suitability to volunteers in festival organisations. As such, based on the correlation and regression analyses conducted in this study, the results showed that training management practice has a strong influence on social and protective volunteer motivations; while the recognition management practice has the most influence on the volunteer motivations of social, value, understanding, and esteem. While the majority of these results contradicted previous studies, it still provided a better understanding of the volunteers’ perceptions in different festival organisations, and thus contributes to the body of knowledge for future studies in the same area. With this new knowledge, future scholars can consider the application of volunteer motivation comparisons among different festival organisations, similar studies in the management perspective, and the adaptation of the volunteer retention survey statements to episodic volunteers in the festival context. As a result, the implementation of these recommendations might enable a more effective human resource management strategy to ultimately increase volunteer retention within festival organisations.

Volunteer management beyond prescribed best practice: a case study of Portuguese non-profits

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to complement and test prescriptive volunteer management proposals by examining how volunteers are actually managed and exploring factors other than prescribed best practice to assess volunteer management effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use qualitative methods to study five Portuguese non-profit organisations, selected for having active volunteer programmes while presenting diverse sizes, organisation styles and levels of reliance upon volunteers. Interviews were conducted between February and August 2011 with board representatives, volunteer managers and volunteers.FindingsThis paper assesses volunteer management practices in these organisations, and further identifies a number of interrelated dimensions affecting volunteer programme success, namely: centrality, formalisation, professional support, sustainability and a minimum set of practices. It also uncovers weakness points that inhibit further development, including lack of a strategic approach and limited capacity to diversify sources of financing.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an exploratory study, with a limited number of cases and interviews.Practical implicationsThis study may help volunteer managers focus their attention in aspects other than prescribed management practice. Although a minimum set of identified practices are vital, the dimensions it uncovers have a pivotal role in the success of volunteer programmes.Originality/valueThis set of intertwined dimensions has not been specifically addressed in the literature. They go beyond the more conventionally prescribed volunteer management practices, and provide a promising framework for analysing the effectiveness and sustainability of volunteer management.

Retaining Critical Human Capital: Volunteer Firefighters in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Effective delivery of services for the public good involves a multiplicity of organizations and actors, including those from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. In some cases, service delivery is accomplished using programs that directly engage volunteers, including key public services like community-based and nonprofit volunteer fire departments. Volunteers in fire departments—often highly engaged volunteers with specialized training—provide vital services for a substantial portion of the United States, allowing local governments to realize considerable cost savings. Thus, issues of volunteer retention are a critical challenge for fire departments. Existing research has addressed issues of retention in a variety of settings; we argue that the challenging and particular context of fire departments is worthy of focused research. This article is an exploratory study of the predictors of voluntary firefighter retention in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We use data from a web-based survey of volunteer firefighters to examine the factors that influence volunteer retention, focusing specifically on volunteer management practices and broader job-related concepts. Results indicate that volunteer training, performance management, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment influence both short- and mid-term intent to remain, indicating that management practices and programs, as well as other contextual factors that shape satisfaction and commitment, are important in retaining volunteers.

Strategic Human Resource Management of Volunteers and the Link to Hospital Patient Satisfaction

This article uses strategic human resource management theory to consider the ways in which volunteers can potentially enhance hospital patient satisfaction. Results of a structural equation modeling analysis of multi-source data on 107 U.S. hospitals show positive associations between hospital strategy, volunteer management practices, volunteer workforce attributes, and patient satisfaction. Although no causality can be assumed, the results shed light on the volunteer–patient satisfaction relationship and have important implications for hospital leaders, volunteer administrators, and future research.

Enthusiasts, conscripts or instrumentalists? The motivational profiles of event volunteers

Recent research into volunteer motivation offers the possibility of improved recruitment and retention techniques for volunteer organizations by designing organizational recruitment messages to match volunteer motivations. Using a sample of event volunteers (N = 488) drawn from five event organizations, this paper tests for the existence of distinct groups of volunteers with similar bundles of motivations (‘motivational profiles’), using cluster analysis. This paper finds six distinct motivation profiles: three types of enthusiasts who love different aspects of the volunteering experience; two types of conscripts, who serve with varying degrees of reluctance; and instrumentalists, who choose to volunteer to obtain some form of material benefit. This finding has potentially great significance for volunteer managers – enabling them to recruit the type of volunteer they want, to be able to identify the volunteer type they do not want, and to design volunteer management practices that better meet the needs of the volunteers they want to retain.

Identifying Key Factors in Volunteer Programme Success - Evidence from Five Portuguese Cases

Despite growing appeals for the professionalization of volunteer management and surge of prescriptive models, empirical research describing how volunteers are actually managed, and exploring factors that influence organizations’ practices towards volunteers, is still required. We examine the volunteer management practices of five diverse Portuguese nonprofit organizations in the social services sector, and identify a number of interrelated key factors affecting volunteer programme success: centrality, formalization, professional support, sustainability, and a minimum set of practices. We also uncover weakness points that inhibit further development, including lack of a strategic approach and limited capacity to diversify sources of financing. We discuss each of these dimensions, and explore implications for practice.

Using Psychological Contract Theory to Explore Issues in Effective Volunteer Management

Psychological contract theory is used here to explore the set of expectations and obligations that community sport club volunteers regard as part of their volunteering experience. In the first phase of the research, focus group interviews were conducted with 98 community sports club administrators about the methods used to manage volunteers and the organisational expectations of the volunteers. In phase two, 48 general volunteers were interviewed about their expectations and perceptions of the club's volunteer management practices. The findings indicate that club administrators and volunteers place different emphases on the transactional, assurance of good faith and fair dealing, and intrinsic job characteristic components of the psychological contract. Notably, club administrators had substantial expectations of volunteers in relation to adherence to professional, legal and regulatory standards. Volunteers were primarily concerned with doing rewarding work in a pleasant social environment that was able to fit within their often tight time restrictions. The implications of these findings for volunteer management processes and practice in community sport clubs are discussed.