Volunteer Management: A Strategic Approach

Jaclyn Piatak 

Abstract 

Volunteers play a critical role in serving communities and delivering public services. Volunteers serve across many areas – in schools, human service organizations, emergency services, and more. By providing services to those in need, volunteers expand the capacity of organizations and can devote extra time to the populations they serve. While research on volunteering has shifted from a focus on recruitment and motivation to management and retention, the focus is largely on universal, one- size- fits- all prescriptions. Volunteer management only recently moved to a contingency perspective focused on organizational needs. However, volunteer management should adapt to meet the needs of organizations and volunteers. Taking a strategic approach, this book provides an overview of volunteer management from planning and recruitment to engagement and evalua- tion, considering both organizational and volunteer needs and capacity. We develop a strategic volunteer management approach for volunteering to benefit not only the organizations and communities served, but also volun- teers and society more broadly. This book advances research on volunteer management by combining the organizational and volunteer perspectives, provides a guide for volun- teer administrators and coordinators, and serves well as a text for courses in volunteer management, nonprofit management, and human resource management services. Volunteers serve across many areas – in schools, human service organizations, emergency services, and more. By providing services to those in need, volunteers expand the capacity of organizations and can devote extra time to the populations they serve. While research on volunteering has shifted from a focus on recruitment and motivation to management and retention, the focus is largely on universal, one- size- fits- all prescriptions. Volunteer management only recently moved to a contingency perspective focused on organizational needs. However, volunteer management should adapt to meet the needs of organizations and volunteers. Taking a strategic approach, this book provides an overview of volunteer management from planning and recruitment to engagement and evalua- tion, considering both organizational and volunteer needs and capacity. We develop a strategic volunteer management approach for volunteering to benefit not only the organizations and communities served, but also volun- teers and society more broadly. This book advances research on volunteer management by combining the organizational and volunteer perspectives, provides a guide for volunteer administrators and coordinators, and serves well as a text for courses in volunteer management, nonprofit management, and human resource management 

Relevance to scouting 

Volunteers make Scouting possible. From contributing at world events to guiding day-to-day operations, volunteers around the world are engaging more than 60 million young people through impactful and life-changing educational initiatives, events and activities. Adults can make a big difference in the Movement by volunteering their time and skills so that more young people can experience the transformative impact of Scouting. To better manage this scale, WOSM recently adopted Rosterfy as a centralised volunteer management solution to streamline recruitment, screening, scheduling, communication, and recognition of volunteers. The strategic volunteer‑management research (on adapting management to organisational and volunteer needs) is directly relevant: Scouting requires methods that are adaptable across contexts (countries, cultures, scales), balancing formal policies with emotional and motivational factors.