Week13DiscussionOutline_Gross

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MPA-561

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Civil Engineering

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Apr 3, 2024

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Week 13 Discussion Outline MPA561 Nonprofit Human Resource Management: Part 9 (Ott) Managing Volunteers - Volunteering and Voluntarism both are concepts that cannot be easily explained in a simple definition, since both processes are so complex. - Definitions of volunteer vary on four key dimensions, according to Cnaan, Handy and Wadsworth (1996) o The voluntary nature of the act o The nature of the reward o The context or auspices under which the volunteer activity is performed o Who benefits [from the act of volunteerism] Why People Volunteer - Volunteering “provides a way to help others in the community and also offers a means for gaining self-fulfillment, skills, confidence, and a social network” (Ott, Dicke & Meyer, 2016, p. 294). - Other reasons also include altruistic, values-based, social, and utilitarian motives. o Altruistic or values-based motivations include religious beliefs, support for causes and the desire to help others. Most volunteers (96%) reported feeling compassion toward people in need. o Social motives may be driven by trying to extend social networks or making connections, because their social group is also volunteering, or because of general social pressure to volunteer. o Utilitarian motives tend to adhere more to people volunteering to strengthen their human capital by earning experience that can be utilized in future careers or professional situations, (i.e. enhancing a résumé, learning/developing new skills, or making connections within a field). - Which of these reasons do you think motivates people to volunteer the most/which one motivates you to want to volunteer? - How can nonprofit organizations (or your chosen organization) use this knowledge about why people volunteer to increase their volunteer participation? Risk Management - Organizations must be cognizant of the risks associated with utilizing volunteers and what activities the volunteers will be completed in order to manage and mitigate potential risks. - The organizations should be paying specific attention to: o Policies that will anticipate high-risk situations

o How much autonomy the volunteers should be allowed in terms of decision-making o Whether or not performance reviews will occur and who will administer them o Whether or not a background check, licenses or other qualifications are necessary o How they can best protect the vulnerable populations they work with and how they will train the volunteers to make sure they will fulfill this duty - In your prior experience volunteering, did they address all of these things? Were they any additional situations they had you go through beforehand, or did they skip over any of these things? The Net-Cost of Volunteering - The net-cost approach, when applied to volunteering, assumes that “volunteers provide a service for which they do not get material rewards, or if they do, their costs exceed these rewards (without considering them obtaining material rewards like job skills or business contacts)” (Ott, Dicke & Meyer, 2016, p. 302). - Selflessness is one of the most important components of the definition of volunteering because when someone only volunteers to gain something from it, that is “too calculated or utilitarian to be considered a real gift of time” (Ott, Dicke & Meyer, 2016, p. 302). - There are some programs in the United States designed to attract volunteers for contracted years of service (i.e. AmeriCorps, MVC, JVC, Peace Corps, etc.). While these organizations do compensate their participants with stipends and scholarships, they do not receive an egregious amount of compensation, rather, they receive enough to live off of, and are rewarded after with scholarships/loan credits because furthering education/reducing student loan debt is considered another positive influence on society. - Why do you think interest in volunteer programs like these has risen significantly in recent years? Distinctions Between Volunteering and Activism/Helping/Care Work - Volunteering and activism differ in that volunteering targets people and is widely considered a short-term solution, whereas activism targets structures and is viewed as the longer-term solution to the social issue at stake. - The concepts of volunteering and caring/helping both have qualities in common with each other but differ in terms of how exactly they are applied specifically. o Volunteer work differs from informal helping since volunteer work is typically associated with a specific organization that has a mission, vision, and policies in place, and the process is much more formal and bureaucratic in comparison to informal helping, which occurs on a more casual basis. o Care work is often associated with relatives, as it is help that one provides to someone that they feel they have some sort of social responsibility to, in terms of making sure they are cared for. A common example of this is taking care of parents/grandparents in their old age/if they are sick. This differs from traditional

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