The Octagon Model of Volunteer Motivation: Results of a Phenomenological Analysis

Individual motivation is the core of the actualization and continuity in voluntary work from both the standpoint of theoretical research and practical volunteerism. Volunteer motivation also provides an excellent research area for investigating the wider sociological theme of late-modern participation. This study, based on the data from 18 interviews, explores volunteer motivation utilizing a phenomenological approach to individual experience and the meaning of volunteerism. Using a phenomenological approach illuminates the nature of volunteer motivation more holistically. The research includes 767 motivational elements in 47 themes and develops an innovative four-dimensional octagon model of volunteer motivation—the theoretical and practical applications of which are discussed.     

Role of Local Newspaper Media in Generating a Citizen Volunteer Consciousness

The present paper explores the role of the local media, in the form of a prefectural–level newspaper, in relation to local volunteer activity. The local newspaper's potential for generating social knowledge and uniting resident's consciousness about volunteerism and volunteer activity is examined, considering the influence of volunteer organization leaders on media and public volunteer–related agendas. The data presented appear to point to a role for the local newspaper in generating a positive volunteer consciousness, which is latent at present. The results suggest that while volunteer organization leadership is active in contacting the media, they appear to be less careful in establishing or policing the message they would have the media deliver. The present paper concludes by proposing that for Japanese volunteer organizations to better use the media in creating positive volunteer consciousness in their communities, they must work to establish their own media agenda and use both indirect means (through traditional media) and direct means (through direct public relations campaigns), to get that message to local residents.     

Gender Differences in Expectations Predictive of Volunteer Experience Among Older Chinese Professionals in Hong Kong

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in expectations predictive of volunteer experience. Volunteering is one pathway to remaining actively engaged in later life and active engagement is considered one of the cornerstones of successful aging. The global feminization of aging underscores the need to consider gender differences when exploring factors associated with volunteerism. There is also a growing international interest in volunteerism among older adults. A sample of 438 Chinese professionals in Hong Kong ages 45-79, including retired (36.3%) and employed (63.7%), were asked about their expectations for volunteer work. Gender was evenly distributed, with 49.8% male and 50.2% female. Forty-three percent (43%) had volunteer experience. A multivariate logistic regression model was fit to sub-samples by gender, and gender differences emerged. For males, married and the expectation to utilize own skills were associated with volunteer experience. For females, self-rated health, retired, and the expectation to meet the needs of others were associated with volunteer experience. These results suggest that gender differences in expectations may influence volunteer activity.     

Social Welfare Related Volunteer Activity: Relevance, Definition and Reality in Rural Japan

Abstract  This paper examines three aspects of sustained social welfare volunteer activity in a rural setting: relevance, definition and reality. Volunteer activity is relevant to social welfare needs resolution in contemporary Japan. Survey results indicate that Hirosaki city residents ascribe secondary, or supplementary welfare resolution expectation to regional society. Given the factors of urbanization, increased mobility, weakening of the traditional family, and instability in the post-bubble economy, the volunteer organization becomes one representative form of this regional society. Hirosaki residents appear to have a fairly clear definition of what constitutes volunteer activity. This definition reflects volunteer activity motivation, characteristics of the volunteer activity itself, and aspects pertaining to volunteer activity's social role. Finally, the reality of volunteer activity as found in the Hirosaki city survey data is that it is highly dependent on maintenance of human relations, possibly at the expense of direct social welfare directed activity. Furthermore, the present reality of Japanese volunteerism is that its success ultimately depends on administrative support, support which is lacking in the Hirosaki case.
These results are based on a survey investigation comprised of a citizen survey, an active welfare volunteer survey, and a social welfare related volunteer organization survey conducted in Hirosaki city. Aomori prefecture in 1994.     

大学生志愿精神的培育与弘扬

大学生志愿者通过志愿服务向世人展现了“奉献、友爱、互助、进步”的志愿精神和当代青年积极向上的精神面貌。现时代,高校如何在大学生中培育、弘扬、传承志愿精神是要关注的课题。对高校志愿服务工作的调研．有助于了解当前高校志愿精神培育和弘扬情况。培育大学生的志愿精神,就要重视发挥志愿服务和志愿精神在高校德育工作中的作用,建立良好的志愿服务组织和管理机制,创新培养和弘扬志愿精神的载体和形式,提升志愿服务组织者的专业水平,完善志愿服务的保障机制。     

Projections and Policies for Volunteer Programs: The Implications of the Serve America Act for Volunteer Diversity and Management

This article explores the limits of public policy as it affects volunteerism in the United States. Our analysis focuses on the potential of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (2009), the most sweeping volunteer legislation in U.S. history, to raise the level of volunteering and national service in the United States, particularly among young people, older people, and minorities—the primary target populations of the act. The Serve America Act aims to increase service‐learning opportunities and national service placements substantially. However, the long‐term impact of these changes on the rate of volunteering and the composition and character of the volunteering population remains unclear. Using data from the Current Population Survey's annual Supplement on Volunteering, we examine a variety of reasonable policy scenarios to see how the Serve America Act might affect future volunteering through the year 2050. The findings suggest that even if the Serve America Act is fully funded and implemented, it is unlikely to have a long‐term impact on the overall volunteering rate and, consequently, that altering the national volunteering rate might be an unrealistic public policy goal. Nevertheless, the analysis shows that because of naturally occurring changes in the population, the composition of the volunteer pool is likely to change as we move toward 2050—a demographic shift that will present increased challenges for volunteer managers. We discuss these challenges and how managers might deal with them effectively.     

公共精神培育的逻辑路径和现实基点——志愿精神价值内涵及反思

志愿精神和公共精神是精神的重要形式和伦理体现，两者在内容上解析了不同实践领域的各自内涵，在形式上都具有精神的总体性样态，公共精神是志愿精神培育的内核：志愿精神和“公共精神”的价值内涵和实践指向具有一致性．公共精神对于解决当前我国志愿精神生成过程中的现实问题起着重要作用。因此，解析志愿精神与公共精神的关系，可以明晰志愿精神培育的实践指向。破除志愿精神培育的现实问题。     

Defining Volunteering for Community Campaigns: An Exploration of Race,Self Perceptions,and Campaign Practices

A substantial percentage of volunteer needs are met by a relatively small percentage of individuals. Community volunteer organizations may address these shortages by recruiting volunteers using media campaigns. However, problems occur when perceptions of volunteering differ between volunteers and the organization, with race emerging as a key factor in shaping these perceptions. This article addresses such a gap in perceptions by using focus group data to consider the extent to which African American male volunteers' perceptions and actions align with those of a major US volunteer organization. Our results provide insights on how groups can more successfully reach out to potential volunteers by recognizing and overcoming perceptual and actual differences regarding volunteerism.     

Volunteers' motivations: a functional strategy for the recruitment, placement, and retention of volunteers

A psychological strategy for understanding the motivational underpinnings of volunteerism is described. In a presentation that merges the theoretical interests of researchers with the practical interests of volunteer administrators, six different motivational functions served by volunteerism are identified, and an inventory designed to measure these motivations is presented. The implications of this functional approach for the recruitment, placement, and retention of volunteers are then elaborated. Finally, recommendations are provided for volunteer administrators who seek to increase the number of people who volunteer and to improve their human resource management.     

基于功能理论的大学生志愿者行为动机研究

志愿者行为动机是洞悉志愿行为的重要因素,从志愿者行为动机功能理论的角度对大学生的志愿行为动机的调查发现:大学生志愿者活动的任务特征确实可由大学生某些被满足的志愿行为动机来体现;大学生志愿者会偏向性选择与其志愿动机相匹配的志愿活动任务类型。为了更好地组织和管理大学生志愿者,高校志愿者机构可尝试实行"预调研制"及"菜单式,,的志愿活动任务展示方式。     

“Don't you want to stay?” The impact of training and recognition as human resource practices on volunteer turnover

Managing volunteers is a difficult undertaking. This study draws on human resource (HR) management theory and literature to investigate the effect of two HR practices—training and recognition—on volunteer turnover. We use longitudinal administrative data collected by an Indiana nonprofit organization, which contains individual volunteer characteristics, organizational HR practices, and information on actual turnover behavior. We found that recognizing volunteer contributions with awards predicted volunteer retention in the following year. Training did not have a direct effect on volunteer turnover, but interacted with gender; men who received training were more likely to stay than women. The study contributes to the literature on HR management in the volunteer context, adds to the emerging literature on awards as incentives for volunteers, and addresses the common method bias by using longitudinal data.     

Bittersweet and Paradoxical

The American Red Cross is the most active nonprofit organization involved in disaster planning and response in the United States. The organization deployed nearly 50,000 volunteers to provide essential support to victims of some 125,000 domestic disasters, including home fires, hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, in a recent two‐year period. This study asks how American Red Cross disaster response volunteer experiences function to cultivate satisfaction and, at the other end of the spectrum, the kind of dissatisfaction that leads people to quit; it pays particular attention to ways in which volunteer management shapes dissatisfaction and fatigue because of implications for volunteer retention. Paradoxically, the Red Cross facilitates the highly satisfying act of helping victims, but volunteers feel dissatisfied when management practices get in the way of helping. The study suggests voluntary organizations that rely on skilled, long‐term volunteers to deliver services should evaluate and strengthen their communication strategies, recognition practices, and support systems for volunteers in distress.     

Is Volunteering Always Voluntary? Between Compulsion and Coercion in Co-production

Governments are increasingly eager to involve citizens in co-production of services. They are seen as a substitution or a supplementary resource in service delivery. Citizens’ involvement relies heavily on their motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic drivers) to partake in co-production. Taking note from prior debate in the volunteerism literature, the article ties volunteer motivation to the process of co-production and citizen–state interaction. Here the state has contrastive options to motivate citizens’ behavior varying between compulsion and coercion. The question is how states’ increased engagement and interaction with volunteers affects volunteer motivation and free choice, the main characteristic of volunteerism. To exemplify this, we analyze the motivation behind state engagement in different forms of co-production: volunteering in rescue and police services and in a volunteer program for the unemployed in Estonia. We conclude that using citizens in co-production is rife with controversies that influence the very nature of volunteerism.     

More Than Help? Volunteerism in US Latino Culture

Volunteerism makes critical contributions to individual lives and society as a whole. However, to date, few studies have investigated volunteerism within Latino communities, a large and growing US population. The aim of this study was to understand how non-metropolitan US Latinos perceive volunteerism, as well as to determine what motivates and what deters their participation in volunteer programs. Our research team conducted six focus groups with 36 Latina women living in the State of Illinois. The focus groups covered topics such as the definition of volunteerism, participation motives and barriers, personal volunteer experience, and Latino culture, community, and organizations. We also assessed demographic information. Results from this study indicate that Latinas have a unique understanding of the concept of volunteerism. Participants associated everyday “helping” with volunteerism, establishing commonplace forms of aid as perhaps a “Latino way of volunteering.” We found time-consuming activities such as family responsibilities and work to be deterrents to Latinas participating in more formal volunteer activities.     

Social Constructs and Human Service: Managerial Sensemaking of Volunteer Motivation

Managers of volunteers in human service interpret their job and experiences through a cognitive construct grounded in past interactions and experiences. This construct—sensemaking—then guides the managers' perceptions of subsequent interactions with peers, volunteers, and supervisors. Volunteers similarly make sense of their surroundings through cognitive constructions grounded in their own experiences. Unfortunately, managers and volunteers do not always make sense of their surroundings in the same way. Research has demonstrated that supervisors and paid employees may not necessarily agree in their perceptions of such issues as, for example, employee motivation. Such differences can lead to disagreements about the meaning of behaviors and the design of reward systems, eventually compromising organizational performance. In this study, sensemaking of volunteer motivation was assessed from the manager's perspective and compared with a previous study of volunteers themselves. Differences in understanding such a primary question as why volunteers are present can reasonably be expected to have an impact on organizational effectiveness. Interestingly, the predicted outcome of a different sensemaking schema was not supported in either the understanding of motivation or in the relative importance assigned to altruism. Additional attributes of volunteer managers were also considered to determine if sensemaking is driven by environmental factors such as exposure to volunteers, tenure as a volunteer manager, or social roles associated with gender constructs. These additional attributes were not found to significantly affect the process of attribution of altruistic motives.     

Looking Beyond Traditional Volunteer Management: A Case Study of an Alternative Approach to Volunteer Engagement in Parks and Recreation

In an era of declining volunteerism it is critical to examine alternative approaches to volunteer management that may better promote engagement and address common barriers to volunteering. Using a “best practices” Canadian case study approach, this research describes an alternative approach to volunteer engagement that emphasizes lifestyle integration, organizational informality and flexibility, and volunteer–agency collaboration. We suggest that traditional volunteer management structures may actually be hindering engagement and call instead for a more vocation-based, networked, and collaborative approach which affords greater autonomy to the volunteer and sees power being shared between agencies and volunteers.     

Transformational Leadership and Volunteer Firefighter Engagement

This study explores the relationship between transformational leadership and volunteer firefighter engagement. Using responses from 213 volunteer firefighters, structural equation modeling reveals a positive relationship between transformational leadership and volunteer engagement, which is mediated by both group identification and perceived social impact. In addition, higher volunteer engagement is positively related to a firefighter's intention to continue volunteering and to recruit others. Taken together, the results indicate that transformational leaders achieve positive volunteer outcomes by strengthening the organizational ties of volunteers and by connecting volunteers with the prosocial impact of their work. Theoretical implications for transformational leadership research in volunteer settings as well as practical recommendations for a sustainable volunteer management are provided.     

Volunteerism and social capital in policy implementation: evidence from the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

We assess the link between a program's volunteer support and state social capital in the case of the joint implementation of the federal Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman Program by state and federal authorities. This program, which is designed to prevent elder abuse and ensure quality care in long-term facilities, is implemented at the state and local levels and relies heavily on volunteer staff. First, we find that volunteerism is vital to the efficacy of the program's monitoring and investigative functions. Second, we find that volunteerism in this program is tied to broader level conditions of a state's social capital. Last, we discuss the implications of our findings for volunteer-based programs devolved to the states.     

More is less? The volunteer stewardship framework and models

Scholars have devoted substantial attention to developing conditional models of volunteer administration and management, but no consensus surrounds the criteria underlying the different models or the rationale. The literature reveals a welter of possibilities but no clear choice. This study conceives the primary managerial challenges as securing access to and guiding volunteer energy into productive volunteering, and the volunteer administrator as the central actor in this process. Based on how volunteers are accessed and guided in their roles, we develop the Volunteer Stewardship Framework, which distinguishes volunteer administration according to two key dimensions: organizational access to volunteer energy (private resource vs. common pool) and guidance of volunteers (unitary vs. shared). Results of a survey of volunteer administration practitioners in the Netherlands show that respondents working under the four models emanating from the Framework recognize different elements of volunteer administration as “Very Important.”     

Relationship between news media coverage of medical research and academic medical centers and people volunteering for clinical trials

In academic medical centers an untested assumption is that positive media attention aids recruitment of patients into a medical study while negative news reporting is damaging. In this study we examine associations between the amount of newspaper coverage concerning medical research and the number of people who volunteer, and the positive or negative content of the reporting. We find evidence that a positive relationship, though not statistically significant, exists between the volume of media coverage and volunteerism; a positive relationship exists between positive media coverage and volunteerism; and no existence of an inverse relationship between negative news coverage and volunteerism. These results lay a foundation for more in-depth exploration into the role news media play in this type of volunteerism.