Volunteer Retention Research Articles

Sustainable community services for older people

This paper explores the sustainability of non-government organisations (NGOs) providing services to older people in the local government authority area of North Sydney. It identifies several key issues that can be used to assess the level of programme sustainability in the community sector. We suggest that government support is essential for the ongoing financial sustainability of community aged care services and that community-based organisations need to address a number of issues that will impact on their long-term sustainability. A good working relationship with local and state government is crucial for organisations to access community grants, donations and subsidised premises. The recruitment, training and retention of volunteers were some of the most important issues identified. Further, these NGOs will need to develop strategic plans that factor in sustainability indicators to address rental, recycling, transport, renewable energy and water costs to ensure that they have the capacity to pay for these utilities in the future.

Factors that influence the retention of social volunteers in health: a comparison between the literature and the perception of volunteers

Goal: The main objective is to identify the factors that influence the retention of social volunteers in the health area, supported by a comparison between a systematic literature review and the perception of a focus group of volunteers.
 Design / Methodology / Approach: Word maps have been developed to compare data obtained from the literature review and the perceptions acquired in a focus group.
 Results: the main findings of the research indicate that the factors that influence the retention of social volunteers in the health area need a more comprehensive and systematic investigation, avoiding that any subject or dimension of analysis is not addressed when trying to evaluate the reasons that influence the permanence in volunteer programs. It was also possible to detect some subjective contexts that may influence the volunteers' behavior and decisions. 
 Limitations of the investigation: The main limitation of the study is the difficulty in generalizing the findings, considering the use of the focus group, which, because it represents a small number of individuals, may not reproduce common sense.
 Practical implications: This study seeks to collaborate with future research using a methodology that allows us to evaluate whether what has been questioned in research instruments is close to the reality presented by the context.
 Originality/Value: The novelty concerns in the use of world maps to compare the perceptions of the literature findings with the results of a focus group analysis. This paper seeks to contribute to a new look on the qualitative treatment approach of data obtained in research in this area.

Participatory science for coastal water quality: freshwater plume mapping and volunteer retention in a randomized informational intervention

Among the biggest threats to coastal water quality are freshwater discharges. It is difficult to predict the spatial extent of freshwater plumes at marine beaches because processes governing mass transport in the surf zone are complex. Participatory science approaches could facilitate collecting shoreline data, although volunteer sampling campaigns can be challenged by data quality and volunteer retention. The goals of this study were to (1) work with volunteers to estimate safe swimming distances at beaches that receive polluted discharges, and (2) test whether informational feedback to volunteers increased retention. Forty-six volunteers participated over 12 weeks in 2019 by collecting 1452 salinity measurements at beaches near the mouths of two Central California freshwater discharges and completing participation surveys. These measurements resulted in 145 distinct estimates of safe swimming distances (D90), spanning a range of environmental conditions during rainy and dry periods. Median D90s were 150 and 100 m at San Pedro Creek south and north, and 490 and 330 m at San Lorenzo River west and east, respectively. D90 was significantly associated with adjacent freshwater discharge rate at both discharges and tide level at one discharge. On average, the odds of volunteers conducting sampling decreased by 4% (95% CI: 1%, 7%) with each successive week. A randomized intervention providing repeated data feedback via email to volunteers did not affect their retention in the study.

Tracking insect outbreaks: a case study of community-assisted moth monitoring using sex pheromone traps

Insect outbreaks can cover vast geographic areas making it onerous to cost-effectively monitor populations to address management or ecological questions. Community science (or citizen science), which entails engaging the public to assist with data collection, provides a possible solution to this challenge for the spruce budworm ( Choristoneura fumiferana Clemens), a major defoliating pest in North America. Here, we lay out the Budworm Tracker Program, a contributory community science program developed to help monitor spruce budworm moths throughout eastern Canada. The program outsources free pheromone trap kits to volunteers who periodically check and collect moths from their traps throughout the budworm flight period, then return them in a prepaid envelope to the organizers. Over three years, the program engaged an average of 216–375 volunteers and yielded a data return rate of 68%–89%, for a total of 16 311–54 525 moths per year. Volunteer retention among years was 71%–89%. Data from this program offer compelling evidence for the range of long-distance moth dispersal. Although our program was designed for spruce budworm, this template could easily be adapted for forestry, urban forestry, and agricultural systems to monitor any of the numerous organisms for which there is an established trapping method.

What Do We Talk about When We Talk about Community? Commentary on “It Takes a Village to Sustain a Village” by Christina Hertel, Sophie Bacq, and Frank-Martin Belz

In light of Hertel et al.’s contribution, our commentary offers a constructive critique and reflects on three opportunities to continue expanding the frontiers in our limited understanding of commu...

Congruence Matters: Volunteer Motivation, Value Internalization, and Retention

Congruence Matters: Volunteer Motivation, Value Internalization, and Retention

Predicting Attrition Among Hospice Volunteers.

To explore those factors predicting continued involvement among hospice volunteers, this study collected data from questionnaires distributed among 53 individuals who were hospice volunteers, to include personal demographics and measures of locus of control, burnout, hospice self-efficacy, spirituality, and death anxiety. Participants were then contacted between 6 and 8 months later to assess whether they were still actively volunteering for hospice. Those who remained in hospice reported less burnout when adjusting for previous volunteer experience, age, education, and duration of volunteering and a combination of burnout, spirituality, and hospice self-efficacy accurately predicted group membership (completers vs. dropouts) in 82% of the cases. The implications of these exploratory findings for the retention of hospice volunteers are discussed in the context to carefully screening persons before they enter the hospice volunteer role and providing hospice volunteer training for them.

IDENTIFYING SALIENT TRAINING AND SUPPORT NEEDS WITHIN A STATEWIDE LIFELONG COMMUNITIES NETWORK

As the older adult population grows in the United States, the need for community planning approaches that respond to the needs of older adults is of increasing importance. As a result, lifelong community movements, encompassing models such as Age-Friendly Communities, Livable Communities, and “Aging-in-Place” initiatives are proliferating. Maine, the oldest state by median age, currently hosts the largest number of AARP designated Age-Friendly Communities efforts. Given the size of this network, the purpose of this study was to collect descriptive information about the status of existing lifelong communities initiatives, their training and support needs, and the desired format and configuration of future training programming. An electronic survey was distributed to community representatives from 76 lifelong communities initiatives throughout Maine. A total of 38 communities responded to the survey representing a response rate of 50%. The majority of respondents (80.4%) reported having a committee or other coordinating group guiding their work. A large portion have completed planning phase activities including hosting focus groups (79.5%), carrying out a survey (66.7%), and identifying a list of local assets (59%). Fewer have completed the plan drafting phase (17.9%). A majority reported receiving assistance from AARP (66%) and a regional educational consortium (66%). The areas with highest self-reported training needs (based on mean ratings) are: Volunteer recruitment and retention, specialized trainings on Age-Friendly Community topics, Dementia-Friendly Communities topics, and outreach and community engagement strategies. Implications will be discussed including optimal configuration of training and support for similar such networks.

Volunteer Retention Motives and Determinants across the Volunteer Lifecycle

ABSTRACTThe focus of the paper is on better understanding volunteer retention. A broad-based survey of fourteen Australian nonprofit organizations develops an expanded quantitative model of volunteer retention by adding two new antecedents: values-congruency and altruistic motives to previous modeling. The study generates a more comprehensive set of rankings of volunteer retention motives, with altruism receiving top ranking. Using exploratory factor analysis, the study develops a new three-item perspective of altruism, combining helping, service and the cause. A new four-phase framework of the volunteer lifecycle is also developed. Investigating changes in retention motives over the life cycle reveals a major and unexpected finding, that the altruistic motive may actually become more important as volunteers move through the lifecycle.

Volunteer satisfaction in sports clubs: A multilevel analysis in 10 European countries

Regular voluntary engagement is a basic resource for sports clubs that may also promote social cohesion and active citizenship. The satisfaction of volunteers is an imperative factor in this engagement, and the purpose of this article is to explore individual and organizational determinants of volunteer satisfaction in sports clubs. Theoretically, our study builds on the actor-theory concepts where volunteer satisfaction depends on subjective evaluations of expectations and experiences in a sports club (‘logic of situation’), so that positive evaluations lead to higher satisfaction and, hopefully, retention of volunteers. This research uses a sample of 8131 volunteers from 642 sports clubs in 10 European countries, and is the first analysis to combine determinants at the level of the club and the volunteer (multilevel). Results show that the most important determinants of satisfaction are the conditions of volunteering (recognition, support, leadership and material incentives) and the workload of volunteers. Surprisingly, club characteristics, size or having paid staff are not significant determinants of volunteer satisfaction. The results of this analysis can assist more effective volunteer management in sports clubs that are facing challenges of individualization and professionalization.

Volunteer engagement: conceptual extensions and value-in-context outcomes

PurposeThe ability to attract and retain volunteers is crucial for not-for-profit organizations, and consequently, the need to understand and manage volunteers’ engagement is paramount. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of five volunteer engagement dimensions (cognitive, affective, behavioral, social and spiritual engagement) on perceived value-in-context, and its subsequent role for volunteer retention. Thus, providing for the first time an understanding of how unique types of value are determined through different facets of volunteer engagement.Design/methodology/approachTo establish the nature and consequences of volunteer engagement, the authors collaborated with an Australian not-for-profit service organization. Using a survey method, the authors studied the organization’s volunteer workforce resulting in 464 usable responses. To capture volunteers’ degree of spiritual engagement, this paper introduces a rigorously developed unidimensional measure.FindingsThe results demonstrate the importance of the five engagement dimensions on volunteers’ perceived value-in-context, while highlighting significant effect differences including some counterintuitive consequences. The authors also establish the role of spiritual engagement and demonstrate the impact of value-in-context for volunteer retention.Originality/valueThis research explores the volunteer engagement-retention chain, by empirically studying the role of value-in-context. The authors provide first evidence for the relationship between volunteer engagement and value-in-context, examining the independent yet relative effects of various facets of volunteer engagement. In doing so, the authors offer new insight into the dimensionality of the volunteer engagement construct, broadening its conceptualization to include spiritual engagement as a core constituent. The authors further demonstrate the impact of value-in-context on volunteer retention, helping organizations to better make sense of meaningful volunteer experiences with long-lasting impacts and mutual benefits.

Physical activity in hospitalised older people: the feasibility and acceptability of a volunteer-led mobility intervention in the SoMoVe™ study.

to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a volunteer-led mobility intervention to improve activity levels of older inpatients. pre-post mixed methods study. acute medical wards for older people. one hundred inpatients aged ≥70years who were mobile prior to hospitalisation: 50 participants were recruited before and 50 after the intervention was established. Twenty-five participants (patients, nurses, therapists and volunteers) were interviewed to determine the acceptability of the intervention. twice daily volunteer-led mobility and bedside exercises. the feasibility of delivering a volunteer-led mobility intervention, including the recruitment, training and retention of volunteers and the acceptability of the intervention to patients and healthcare professionals. Secondary outcome measures included objectively measured daily step count, length of stay, 30-day readmission and any adverse events. seventeen volunteers were recruited, 16 completed training and 12 were retained. Fifty participants (mean age 86years) received the intervention, with a median daily step count of 912 steps (interquartile range [IQR] 295-1824) compared to the baseline group (n= 50, mean age 87years) of 636 steps (IQR 298-1468). No adverse events were reported. The intervention was acceptable to patients and staff. Facilitating factors of the intervention included the social aspect of the intervention and perceived benefits by stakeholders. Barriers identified included the busy clinical environment and lack of awareness of the intervention among staff. it was feasible to deliver a volunteer-led mobility intervention including the recruitment, training and retention of volunteers. The intervention was safe and acceptable to healthcare professionals and patients.

Stressors of Rape Crisis Work From the Perspectives of Advocates With and Without Sexual Assault Victimization History.

Rape crisis centers largely rely on volunteers for delivering emergency room advocacy to survivors of sexual assault. Volunteer advocates bear witness to trauma as part of their role, such as when listening to details of sexual assault. This exposure may negatively affect advocates long term, which may lead to secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization, and possibly reduce their ability to provide quality services and remain in their role. In addition, some advocates may be survivors of sexual assault themselves. Survivors may differentially experience the toll of advocacy work. The present qualitative study sought to identify stressors that advocates face within their role, aspects of stressors unique to survivors who advocate, and the effects of stressors on advocates. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 current volunteer advocates, 11 of whom identified as survivors, from three rape crisis centers. Findings demonstrated stressors associated with self-evaluation; rules or expectations of the role (including the crisis nature of the role); witnessing lack of client support; helplessness around sexual assault as a systems issue; identifying with the client; witnessing the physical and emotional impact on clients; and being reminded of their own assault. Results also revealed how these stressors and advocacy overall influenced advocates. Unique aspects of stressors to survivors arose in the way advocates experienced the stressors. In addition, survivors exclusively described being reminded of past trauma within advocacy work. Findings have implications for supporting advocate well-being by better understanding the stressors that may lead to negative outcomes and informing individual coping, training, and overall organizational support of advocates. Such measures may ensure retention of volunteers and maintain quality advocacy services.

Balancing sampling intensity against spatial coverage for a community science monitoring programme

Abstract Community science is an increasingly integral part of biodiversity research and monitoring, often achieving broad spatial and temporal coverage but lower sampling intensity than studies conducted by professional scientists. When designing a community‐science monitoring programme, careful assessment of sampling designs that could be both feasible and successful at meeting programme goals is essential. Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are the focus of several successful community‐science projects in the U.S., but broader coverage is needed to monitor breeding areas and explain population declines observed in overwintering areas. The U.S. Monarch Conservation Science Partnership's Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program (IMMP) will representatively monitor monarchs and milkweed across North America. We performed a simulation‐based power analysis to predict trade‐offs between sampling breadth (number of sites and years) and sampling intensity (number of visits or subplots per site and year) for the IMMP. We evaluated whether each sampling design would produce sufficient statistical power to detect population trends and differences among land‐use sectors in densities of milkweed, monarch eggs, and adult monarchs. Sampling breadth had much stronger effects than sampling intensity on statistical power for all three monitoring targets. Depending on land‐use sector, monitoring 400–800 sites over 10–15 years would detect trends in densities of milkweed and adult monarchs, but no scenarios were successful for monarch eggs. Sampling 400–800 sites would also detect small (for adult monarchs) to large (for milkweed) differences among land‐use sectors in density of all three monitoring targets within the first 2–5 years. As more data become available from the IMMP, the sampling goals can be updated. Synthesis and applications. Careful sample design is an essential step in developing a successful monitoring programme. For monarchs and milkweed, we found that sampling breadth (number of sites and years) had a much stronger effect on statistical power than sampling intensity (number of visits or subsamples per site), suggesting field protocols could be tailored to maximize recruitment and retention of volunteers by minimizing the effort required to monitor each site. Many long‐term monitoring programmes might similarly benefit from evaluating the statistical trade‐offs between sampling breadth and intensity in their sampling designs.

Feelings of ownership and volunteering: Examining psychological ownership as a volunteering motivation for nonprofit service organisations

Given many nonprofit service organisations rely on volunteers to provide valued services to their communities, examining the factors that impact the retention and recruitment of volunteers is of central importance for the success and longevity of many community-based services. Psychological ownership is a phenomenon whereby objects that are not physically or legally possessed can be the target of ownership feelings. While such psychological ownership has been examined in the paid-employment literature as an antecedent for prosocial behaviours, there has been no examination of psychological ownership within the volunteering literature. As such, this paper examines the role of psychological ownership as a factor in volunteer retention for predominantly community-based nonprofit service organisations by examining how the sense of ownership over the nonprofit service provider affects volunteering attitudes and intentions. Alongside ownership, previous volunteering behaviours, and time pressures are also examined as contributing factors. Results indicate that volunteering does increase ownership perceptions, and those ownership perceptions have positive outcomes for volunteering behaviours. However, time pressure is a significant moderator of these relationships and different volunteering behaviours can be observed for high and low time-pressured volunteers.

Motivations and Barriers Associated With Physician Volunteerism for an International Telemedicine Organization.

Introduction: The Addis Clinic uses volunteer physicians to implement an international humanitarian telemedicine program. We sought to identify motivations and barriers that may contribute to physician volunteerism in international telemedicine.Methods: We surveyed active and inactive volunteers working with The Addis Clinic. Descriptive statistics were used to examine closed-ended questions, while a qualitative approach identified overarching themes for open-ended questions. The Volunteer Functions Inventory framework was also applied.Results: Among 69 active and 25 inactive volunteers, survey response rates of 74 and 72%, respectively, were attained. Volunteer cohorts exhibited comparable distributions across sex, marital status, and children. Active, as compared with inactive, participants were significantly more likely to be <40 years old (51 vs. 39%, p = 0.01), have prior experience with international/global health (67 vs. 39%, p = 0.04), and express an interest in international/global health work (82 vs. 50%, p = 0.008). Active volunteers were predominantly concerned with challenges regarding patient care: they more often reported the asynchronous nature of communication with frontline health workers as a significant barrier (37 vs. 6%, p = 0.047), and increased patient follow-up significantly drove their enthusiasm (64 vs. 35%, p = 0.05). Conversely, active volunteers were less likely to cite commitment/availability as a significant barrier for participation (33 vs. 72%, p = 0.002), less likely to be incentivized by opportunities to fulfill professional obligations (14 vs. 59%, p = 0.001), and more likely to be satisfied with the telemedicine experience (86 vs. 0%, p < 0.0001). Opportunities to receive remuneration or recognition did not increase the likelihood of volunteering for either cohort. Malpractice concerns were cited in a comparable minority across cohorts (20 vs. 17%).Conclusions: Age and global health experience/interest were significant predictors of physician volunteerism. While inactive volunteers reported time commitment as a barrier, active participants were concerned with challenges regarding patient care and motivated by increased methods to connect with patients. Financial considerations and recognition were infrequently reported as a barrier. With advances in telemedicine globally, results from this study can be used by organizations involved in international telemedicine to develop effective volunteer recruitment and retention strategies.

Congruence Matters: Volunteer Motivation, Value Internalization and Retention

Volunteer retention research suggests that both altruistic and non-altruistic volunteer motivations are likely to be positively related to retention. We challenge the assumption that this is true f...

Psychological contract in the volunteer youth sport coach environment: the community sport club perspective

ABSTRACTPurpose: In order to provide a more complete understanding of the psychological contract in the volunteer youth sport coach setting, this study advances previous research examining the coaches’ psychological contract by exploring community sport clubs’ expectations of their coaches, and what they expect to provide in return.Design: Focus groups with three community sport clubs that provide both recreational and competitive team sport programming.Findings: Findings revealed sport clubs have common transactional and relational expectations of themselves and their volunteer coaches. The sport clubs’ most important expectations of their volunteer coaches are creating a positive experience for participants (relational) and fulfilling the assigned coaching role (transactional). The most important expectations that sport clubs have of themselves are club administration (transactional) and coach support (relational). There was some variation in the expectations associated with recreational versus competitive level coaches. Additionally, orientation meetings and handbooks are used by the clubs to communicate their expectations.Implications: The findings extend knowledge of the psychological contract in the volunteer youth sport coach setting to the clubs’ perspective, and has implications for aligning respective expectations with volunteer coaches, which may impact volunteer retention.

Recruitment, Retainment, and Biomarkers of Response; A Pilot Trial of Lithium in Humans With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Lithium has been used for decades to treat Bipolar Disorder. Some of its therapeutic benefits may be through inhibition of Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK)-3. Enhanced GSK3 activity associates with development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), therefore lithium is a currently used therapeutic with potential to be repurposed for prevention of Dementia. An important step toward a clinical trial for AD prevention using lithium is to establish the dose of lithium that blocks GSK3 in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a high-risk condition for progression to AD. We investigated volunteer recruitment, retention, and tolerance in this population, and assessed biomarkers of GSK3 in MCI compared to control and after lithium treatment. Recruitment was close to target, with higher than anticipated interest. Drop out was not related to lithium blood concentration. Indeed, 33% of the withdrawals were in the first week of very low dose lithium. Most made it through to the highest dose of lithium with no adverse events. We analyzed 18 potential biomarkers of GSK3 biology in rat PBMCs, but only four of these gave a robust reproducible baseline signal. The only biomarker that was modified by acute lithium injection in the rat was the inhibitory phosphorylation of Ser9 of GSK3beta (enhanced in PBMCs) and this associated with reduced activity of GSK3beta. In contrast to the rat PBMC preparations the protein quality of the human PBMC preparations was extremely variable. There was no difference between GSK3 biomarkers in MCI and control PBMC preparations and no significant effect of chronic lithium on the robust GSK3 biomarkers, indicating that the dose reached may not be sufficient to modify these markers. In summary, the high interest from the MCI population, and the lack of any adverse events, suggest that it would be relatively straightforward and safe to recruit to a larger clinical trial within this dosing regimen. However, it is clear that we will need an improved PBMC isolation process along with more robust, sensitive, and validated biomarkers of GSK3 function, in order to use GSK3 pathway regulation in human PBMC preparations as a biomarker of GSK3 inhibitor efficacy, within a clinical trial setting.

Citizen meets social science: predicting volunteer involvement in a global freshwater monitoring experiment

FreshWater Watch is a global citizen science project that seeks to advance the understanding and stewardship of freshwater ecosystems across the globe through analysis of their physical and chemical properties by volunteers. To date, literature concerning citizen science has mainly focused on its potential to generate unprecedented volumes of data. In this paper, we focus instead on the data relating to the volunteer experience and ask key questions about volunteer engagement with the project. For example, we ask what factors influence: a) volunteer data submission following a training event and b) the number of water quality samples volunteers subsequently submit. We used a binomial model to identify the factors that influence the retention of volunteers after training. In addition, we used a generalized linear model (GLM) to examine the factors that affected the number of samples each citizen scientist submitted. In line with other citizen science projects, most people trained did not submit any data, and 1% of participants contributed 47% of the data. We found that the statistically significant factors associated with submission of data after training were: whether training was given on how to upload data, the number of volunteers that attended the training, whether the volunteer was assigned to a research team, the outside temperature, and the average engagement of others in the training group. The statistically significant factors associated with the quantity of data submitted were: the length of time volunteers were active in the project, whether training took place as part of a paid work day, the difficulty of the sampling procedure, how socially involved volunteers were in the project, average sampling group size, and engagement with online learning modules. Based on our results, we suggest that intrinsic motivation may be important for predicting volunteer retention after training and the number of samples collected subsequently. We suggest that, to maximize the contribution of citizen science to our understanding of the world around us, there is an urgent need to better understand the factors that drive volunteer retention and engagement.