A nonprofit manager's guide to online volunteering

As access to the Internet expands, volunteer managers have the option of using this new technology to manage pools of volunteers online. Online volunteering can appear deceptively simple: post an opening, select a volunteer, and then manage them by e‐mail. However, our evaluation of an active online volunteering service used by more than three hundred organizations and ten thousand potential volunteers indicates that additional planning and management are frequently needed. Through an analysis of two years of quantitative data and interviews with more than forty volunteers and managers, we have extracted suggested practices and programmatic implications for managers in the areas of program design, volunteer selection, training, ongoing operations, and evaluation.     

The why and how of volunteering

Volunteers: A Social Profile, by Marc A. Musick and John Wilson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007. 680 pp., $39.95 cloth. The Decision to Volunteer: Why People Give Their Time and How You Can Engage Them, by Beth Gazley and Monica Dignam. Washington, D.C.: ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership, 2008. 144 pp., $89.85 paper. Challenges in Volunteer Management, edited by Matthew Liao‐Troth. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age, 2008. 292 pp., $73.99 cloth, $39.99 paper.     

Older disabled workers' perceptions of volunteering

The activity of volunteering is readily available to, and undertaken by, able-bodied people in Australia and is recognized as a valuable social pursuit, particularly among citizens of retirement age. Despite the known benefits of volunteering, however, there are few reports of disabled people participating as volunteers and little is understood of their experiences or perceptions of volunteering. The aim of this study was to explore how older workers within supported employment settings perceived the opportunities for and barriers to volunteering. Fourteen people with long-standing impairments participated in this small qualitative study. Overall the participants were positive about volunteering, but noted they might require support to volunteer successfully. Drawing upon the participants' views, recommendations are made for developing training. Disabled workers facing retirement need to be supported to have opportunities for active participation in the community as volunteers if so desired.     

The role of social anxiety in volunteering

The volunteer management literature suggests that the most effective means of recruitment is personal asking. However, agencies that apply this method do not report the expected success in volunteer recruitment. Often they face the volunteer recruitment fallacy: those people assumed to be interested in volunteering do not necessarily volunteer. Based on the literature of shyness or social anxiety and on empirical observations, this article suggests that social anxiety often deters volunteering by new recruits. We hypothesize that people with greater levels of social anxiety will be less likely to volunteer. Furthermore, we hypothesize that people with high social anxiety will prefer to give monetary support to worthy causes rather than volunteer their time, and if they do choose to volunteer, they will do so alongside friends. Our hypotheses are supported based on the findings from a large‐scale nonrandom sample in North America. We suggest how to avoid the volunteer recruitment fallacy by creating a personal environment in which high‐social‐anxiety recruits feel safe and accepted. By removing the fear of being negatively judged by strangers as they enter the agency and creating a more personal approach, new recruits may have a higher probability of becoming long‐term and consistent volunteers.     

The decline of motivation?: From commitment to dropping out of volunteering

This article studies volunteerism through the phenomenon of dropping out. By ascertaining the achievements, difficulties, and dilemmas of volunteers at the Center for Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, we explored the process of dropping out as an encore to understanding the meaning of volunteerism that ends with abandoning a desired activity. On the basis of a longitudinal study, we argue that dropping out is not always a product of waning motivation—for many volunteers, dropping out was extremely difficult—but rather the outcome of unabridged discrepancies between “ought” and “actual” experiences. Volunteers expect to feel good about themselves. In contrast, the organization expects them to act as free agents who can independently manage feelings of pain and self‐doubt. When such discrepancies between expectations and reality occur, feelings of anger and disappointment set in. As a result, devoted volunteers drop out in order to preserve their positive self‐feeling. It is our contention that in order to understand the nature of volunteers' dropout and perseverance, close attention should be paid to processes of self‐regulation in the context of the specific relations between the volunteers and the organization.     

Differences in perceived barriers to volunteering to formal organizations: Lack of time versus lack of interest

This article reports the findings of a study of perceived barriers to volunteering to formal organizations by nonvolunteers. We examine the types of barriers, their frequencies, and their relationships with individual‐level sociodemographic characteristics of nonvolunteers. Data from a 2001–2002 national survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are analyzed using multiple regression techniques. Contrary to general expectations, only three barriers—lack of time, lack of interest, and ill health—are fairly common. Furthermore, as expected, different social class groups identify different types of barriers. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications of the findings (for example, how indicators of social and cultural capital affect access to volunteer opportunities) and practical implications concerning recruitment of volunteers.     

Health benefits of volunteering in the Wisconsin longitudinal study

We investigate positive effects of volunteering on psychological well-being and self-reported health using all four waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Confirming previous research, volunteering was positively related to both outcome variables. Both consistency of volunteering over time and diversity of participation are significantly related to well-being and self-reported health. The relationship of volunteering to psychological well-being was moderated by level of social integration, such that those who were less well integrated benefited the most. Mattering appears to mediate the link between volunteering and wellbeing. Controls for other forms of social participation and for the predictors of volunteering are employed in analyses of well-being in 1992. We find volunteering effects on psychological well-being in 2004, controlling for 1992 wellbeing, thus providing strong evidence for a causal effect.     

From personal troubles to public compassion: charity shop volunteering as a practice of care

This article analyses charity shop volunteering in the UK as an instance of individual commitment towards organizations devoted to combating suffering. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews focused on motives, the paper argues that some respondents found in volunteer work a way of regaining meaning, structure and belonging after experiences of social dislocation such as retirement and bereavement. The transition from social dislocation to ontological security via volunteering illustrates the way in which ‘the social’ – as expressed in fellowship, laughter, work, organizations and institutions – moderates charitable practice. From this perspective, volunteering appears as a relational, processual and affective practice of care; and as a sympathy catalyst – an institution that facilitates interpersonal sympathy exchanges and support for compassionate goals. The paper endorses a view of human subjectivity which takes seriously both human vulnerability and resilience – victimhood and agency – as well as the relevance of suffering and flourishing for social action. In so doing, the paper sheds light on the link between individual biographies and the institutionalized efforts to alleviate strangers' suffering that Natan Sznaider has termed ‘public compassion’.     

Participation in formal and informal volunteering: Implications for volunteer recruitment

This study examines factors influencing “formal” volunteering (that is, to an organization) and “informal” volunteering (that is, volunteering carried out individually outside of an organizational context) and the relationship between these two activities. We hypothesize that formal and informal volunteering activities are positively interrelated but that they are shaped by different types of personal resources: involvement in social networks increases the likelihood of both types of volunteering, but human capital increases the likelihood of formal volunteering rather than informal. The bivariate probit regression results emanating from the Independent Sector's “Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 2001” survey are generally supportive of the hypotheses. The findings suggest that nonprofit and public organizations that involve volunteers consider the pool of informal volunteers as a fertile ground for recruitment and find ways to better utilize older Americans in formal volunteering. The results also suggest that volunteer recruitment through organizational membership may be an effective strategy.     

Empowering Patients Through Access to Information

The United States federal government is in the midst of an e- government revolution characterized by a shift from paper-based citizen-government interactions to electronic-based interactions. Driven by the demands of citizens and supported by the President and Congress, federal departments are redesigning the look and feel of their Internet presences, moving away from traditional bureaucracy- centred presentation of information to more usable citizen-centred presentations. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the USA's principal federal agency tasked with protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, has undertaken a massive reorganization of its e-health enterprise. The most publicly visible component of this reorganization is the hhs.gov portal website. This desperately needed portal - usability testing indicated that more than 60 per cent of visitors to the Department's original website failed to find the information they sought - provides easy access to the wealth of HHS information and links its diverse operating agencies. The new HHS portal simplifies citizen access to the Department by: decompartmentalizing information by removing content from bureaucratic silos² and rearranging it in a natural navigation scheme; tuning content and navigation features to ensure that all users have access to information tailored for them; presenting content in appropriate and citizen-preferred formats; and complying with federal accessibility regulations for blind and vision-impaired users. This paper presents a series of lessons learned during the development of the HHS portal, and results of usability testing to determine what common design features present accessibility problems particular to the blind and vision-impaired communities. These discussions of practical avenues to improving the accessibility and usability of e-health websites through appropriate and effective information designs are followed by our thoughts on the future of Internet architectures and the limitations of 'layering' technologies when striving for universal accessibility.     

Access to occupations through social ties

Previous studies which examine the theory linking social resources to instrumental action have focused on a particular activated set of social ties in order to assess the effects of social resources on a specific action (finding a job or finding a stranger). However, the theory also implies that an individual's access to such social resources is contingent upon his/her social position as well as the nature of the social ties used. Assuming positions in the occupational structure represent resources, this paper reports a study designed to examine access to occupations through social ties.Data tend to support two major propositions in the theory. The strength of positions (as indicated by father's occupation) as well as the strength of ties (as indicated by the nature of the tie being a relative, friend or acquaintance) affect one's access to high-prestige occupations and affect the range of occupations accessed. Higher original positions and weaker ties (friends and acquaintances rather than relatives) provide better access to white-collar or more prestigious occupations, and, as a consequence, provide access to a wider range of occupations. Weaker ties provide better access to social resources than stronger ties, especially for those whose original positions are relatively low. There is also some evidence that friends, as opposed to relatives and acquaintances, may provide the widest access to different positions in the occupational structure. However, this finding is tentative since access through acquaintances may have been underestimated due to the particular measure used and to the possibility of a recall problem.     

A discussion of the differences in volunteering rates in the panel study of income dynamics,the current population survey,and independent sector volunteering studies

In this research note, I seek to explain differences in volunteering rates in three major volunteering studies—the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Philanthropy Module (known as the COPPS data), the Current Population Survey's volunteering supplement (CPS), and the Independent Sector's (IS) study, Giving and Volunteering in the United States. I compare each study in terms of survey methodology and volunteering questionnaire content. Then I discuss reasons for differences in the volunteering rates of these surveys based on methodology and questionnaire content.     

Show me the way to the next worthy deed: Towards a microstructural theory of volunteering and giving

Using the data from a survey undertaken in the United States in 1992, this article examines the effects of altruism, self-interest and social ties on motivations to give and volunteer, as well as the effects of volunteering on definitions of life goals. Social ties with non-profit organisations were good predictors of both the value of charitable contributions and the time volunteered for charitable causes. The level of prior philanthropic activism and social connections with philanthropic institutions had an effect on life goals. Altruism and the desire for self-improvement had effects on volunteering, but not on giving. Utilitarian motives (expected career advancement) had no observable effects on volunteering or giving. Based on those findings, a general microstructural model of philanthropic behaviour is proposed. A version of this paper was presented at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.     

Perceived family impact of volunteering among reintegrating post-9/11 Veterans

Family issues are common among returned post-9/11 Veterans. Traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression are each independently related to divorce whereas community ties and social support are protective factors for the family during reintegration. Evidence from elders on the benefits of one intervention, community volunteering, may indicate “spillover effects” of these benefits into the family. Few measures exist to assess the impact of military Veteran volunteering on the family. The authors report (1) an adaption of a benefits measure from elders to Veterans, (2) its preliminary reliability and validity, and (3) differences among subgroups. Reintegrating post-9/11 Veterans (N = 346) who completed a 6-month, stipended volunteer program were surveyed. Perceived impact of volunteering on the family was assessed after completion of the program using an 11-item self-report measure. Rank-based nonparametric tests were used to detect significant differences among subgroups. Preliminary findings support the scale’s adaptation to Veterans, internal consistency, and construct validity. At least one perceived family impact indicator differed significantly (p < .05) between subgroups based on demographic and psychological factors. Veterans in this civic service program perceived that their volunteering may have affected their families.     

The social,emotional, and behavioral skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

The disruptions to community functioning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred individuals to action. This empirical study investigated the social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 248, Mage = 20.6). We assessed eight SEB skills at the onset of a volunteering program, and students' volunteer hours were assessed 10-weeks later. Approximately 41.5% of the sample did not complete any volunteer hours. Higher levels of perspective taking skill, abstract thinking skill, and stress regulation were associated with more time spent volunteering. These results suggest that strength in particular SEB skills can prospectively predict prosocial civic behaviors.     

Medicaid Beneficiaries' Access to Residential Care Settings

Residential care settings (RCSs) are community-based housing and supportive services providers. Medicaid beneficiaries' access to RCSs is of concern to policymakers and other stakeholders because most people prefer community-based to institutional services and RCSs are generally less expensive than nursing homes. To better understand Medicaid beneficiaries' access to state-licensed RCSs, we examined Medicaid policies in 50 states and the District of Columbia, interviewed seven subject-matter experts, and conducted four state case studies informed by reviews of state policies and interviews with 27 stakeholders. Factors identified as influencing Medicaid beneficiaries' access to RCSs include Medicaid reimbursement rates for RCS services, the supply of Medicaid-certified RCSs and RCS beds, and policies that affect RCS room and board costs for Medicaid beneficiaries. Shifting Medicaid spending toward community-based instead of institutional care may require attention to these interrelated issues of RCS payment, supply, and room and board costs.     

Occupational inequalities in volunteering participation: Using detailed data on jobs to explore the influence of habits and circumstances

In this paper we present empirical results that show that detailed occupations have distinctive patterns of association with voluntary participation. We draw upon data from four secondary survey datasets from the UK (coverage 1972–2012). Occupations are shown to link to volunteering in a wide range of scenarios and in individual, household, and longitudinal contexts. We argue that these linkages provide insight into social inequalities in volunteering, and that they can help us to understand the relative influence of “circumstance” and “habits” in enabling or inhibiting voluntary participation.     

Doing good when times are bad: volunteering behaviour in economic hard times

This paper examines how the 2008–9 recession has affected volunteering behaviours in the UK. Using a large survey dataset, we assess the recession effects on both formal volunteering and informal helping behaviours. Whilst both formal volunteering and informal helping have been in decline in the UK since 2008, the size of the decline is significantly larger for informal helping than for formal volunteering. The decline is more salient in regions that experienced a higher level of unemployment during the recession and also in socially and economically disadvantaged communities. However, we find that a growing number of people who personally experienced financial insecurity and hardship do not explain the decline. We argue that the decline has more to do with community‐level factors such as civic organizational infrastructure and cultural norms of trust and engagement than personal experiences of economic hardship.     

绿色通道

北京：中关村瞄准五类人才本刊讯为吸引人才，《中关村科技园区五年上台阶行动纲要》提出，将在今后三年内实施“英才计划”，大力培养五类人才：高级软件工程师、技术经纪人、高科技企业管理和产品营销人才、金融投资管理人才、熟悉世贸组织规则和涉外法律的人才。同时，中关村将扩大园区企业社会保险覆盖率，建立“住房合作社”，切实解决人才面临的新困难和新问题。浦东：实施人才国际化工程据《解放日报》浦东的人才国际化工程包括以下具体内容：对于留学人员创办企业的，可实行直接登记制，并享受“三免五减半”的政策优惠；在浦东任职…