Evidence-based volunteer management: a review of the literature

C Einolf

Abstract

This article reviews 81 articles that directly tested the effectiveness of volunteer management practices. Many articles measured volunteers’ perceptions of the quality of management practices, not the practices themselves, making their utility to volunteer managers limited. Most articles used self-reported, cross-sectional surveys and subjective outcome measures such as satisfaction and intent to continue volunteering. Despite these limitations, current research supports the effectiveness of 11 best practices: liability insurance, clearly defined roles, job design, recruitment strategies, screening and matching, orientation and training, supervision and communication, recognition, satisfying motivations, reflection and peer support. No support has yet been found for three supposed best practices suggested by the practitioner literature: written policies, recordkeeping and individual evaluations. Future studies should use more rigorous methods, including validated measures, external ratings of volunteer effectiveness, field experiments and longitudinal surveys.ractices. Many articles measured volunteers’ perceptions of the  quality of management, making their utility to volunteer managers limited. Most articles used

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.