Management Nonprofit Organization : How To Recruit and Retain Volunteers

Résumé du document

It is not possible to speak about the nonprofit sector without mentioning volunteers, since they represent the principal asset that enables the third sector organizations to achieve their goals. According to the White Paper on Voluntary Activity published by the Irish Government in September 2000, volunteering is defined as, "The commitment of time and energy, for the benefit of society, local communities, individuals outside the immediate family, the environment and other causes. Voluntary activities are undertaken on a person's own free will, without payment". We can draw a parallel between this definition and the definition of philanthropy which is defined as "values, organizations and practices that entail voluntary action to achieve some vision for public good or the private production of public goods". According to these two definitions, volunteers give their time in order to make a difference. In Ireland, 37.1% of the total population (4,234,925) volunteers regularly, providing in-kind revenue from c. 200-600 million.

Extraits

[...] As a result, a contract, even informal and just moral, between the organization and the volunteer is necessary. It should include the minimum length of time the volunteer has to be involved in the organization in order to amortise the cost of the training. In The tyranny of the volunteer: the care and feeding of voluntary workforces (1996) the example of the Samaritan's approach is described. In order to select the most reliable volunteer for the training, the candidates have to insist on a pre-selection training course of 18 hours. [...]

[...] After this, the organizations will have to work on team works[28] in order to foster their efficiency and more researches will have to be done to understand the impact of the size and the organizational structure[29] in the management of the principal asset of nonprofit organizations: volunteers. References Core texts Using volunteers in economic development, Taylor, Carole S. Economic Development Review. Park Ridge: Summer 1995. Vol Iss. pg pgs How to manage unpaid volunteers in organizations, Sunney Shin, Brian H Kleiner. Management Research News. Patrington: 2003. Vol Energizing boards, commissions, task forces, and volunteer groups, Greeley, Paul J. Economic Development Review. [...]

[...] As he is verbally fluent and outspoken, it could be a tangible volunteer to give free public speech and promote the organisation. The Affiliation Oriented Volunteer. He wants to be liked and accepted: they seek warm and friendly relationship with other and are prepared to help and invest their loyalty in a leader who pays attention to them. The volunteer manager has to keep in mind these different motives when recruiting new candidates. Recruiting Two different approaches of the recruiting process are used in the non profit sector. [...]

[...] Reward: recognition for both paid employees and volunteers is important. Risk. More innovation could come from the non-profit sector since the volunteers are usually more risk taker than traditional firms. Warmth and Support, between members and between members and managers are an essential key of a good working environment. Empathy and acknowledging volunteer's feelings create trust and loyalty. Standards. The evaluation is important to confirm that the goals have been reached. High standards demonstrate that the volunteer's has a concrete impact in the society Conflict. [...]

[...] Recruiting: an ongoing process Recruiting getting enough of the right people- is an ongoing task for every organizations and the most basic challenge of working with volunteers. As a result, devoting some resources to develop a recruiting plan, both in term of time and money is essential. The recruiting process needs to be done with the same precision than the one adopted in commercial societies. Personnel manager has to use the marketing principle of segmentation to identify what type of person could be interesting in doing the job to strategically meet their needs. [...]