Abstract
Volunteers are difficult to monitor because they are not liable to serious sanctions. We propose that we cannot learn about volunteer work from existing knowledge of paid employees. We then review the literature regarding volunteer commitment and performance. Based on a sample of 510 consistent volunteers in human service organizations, we assess three sets of variables (demographic, personality, and situational) to determine their significance in explaining variability in volunteer commitment and performance. The findings suggest that careful screening and use of symbolic rewards are significant in explaining variation in volunteer satisfaction, hours volunteered per month (commitment), and length of service (tenure).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-37 |
| Number of pages | 37 |
| Journal | Journal of Social Service Research |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 17 Aug 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported in part by a grant from the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy on behalf of the Lilly Endowment and other donors. Submitted: 3/96; Revision Received: 9/96; Accepted: 9/96.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Sociology and Political Science