Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Latest Research On Volunteerism

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Read about the latest research and statistics on volunteering.

Why I Volunteer, Demi Sintz

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

I began working with nonprofit organizations as a youth advocate for Epilepsy Awareness, from there I became a Director of Fundraising events for an organization that assists families with the expenses of training and matching with a service dog. Later I spent 18 months in L.A County volunteering in the community and leading youth seminars on positive social media use and training community leaders on the importance of family history and making it an accessible tool in their communities. Now I am a marketing advisor at WikiCharities, a platform that makes collaboration between organizations possible and increases accessibility to care …

10 Keys On Volunteerism, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Every year, the majority of nonprofits are run and sustained by volunteers around the United States (McKeever, 2016). There is a great need to better understand how to obtain and then retain these volunteers in helping move your cause forward as a nonprofit. This article will address 10 ways to approach volunteerism as you find volunteers, and then work to actively retain them in your efforts.

Skills-Based Volunteering As Both Work And Not Work: A Tension-Centered Examination Of Constructions Of “Volunteer”, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The Corporation for National and Community Service defines professional skills-based community service as “the practice of using work-related knowledge and expertise in a volunteer opportunity.” Traditional definitions of volunteer work in organizational communication scholarship, however, are typically based on (1) the bifurcation between work and volunteer activity; (2) low barriers to volunteer entry and exit; (3) the lack of managerial power/control over volunteers; and (4) the altruistic focus of volunteer work. An analysis of interviews with 19 skills-based volunteers highlights the identity and role tensions inherent in professional volunteering and serves as the basis for a proposal for a new …

Who Benefits From Giving Circles In The U.S. And The U.K.?, Angela M. Eikenberry

The Foundation Review

Giving circles have emerged around the world as an alternative to mainstream, bureaucratic philanthropy. This article examines the types of organizations that benefit from giving circles in the U.S. and the U.K., drawing on data from interviews, surveys, observations, and documentation collected in both countries.

The findings show that giving circles tend to fund certain types of organizations — often those that are small and locally based, startups and newer organizations that are reorganizing or transitioning, those that have a business orientation, and those that can engage members or show significant impact in relation to their size.

While some populations, …