Jeffrey L. Brudney
The Effective Use of Volunteers: Best Practices for the Public Sector
jeffrey l brudney introduction several myths surround involvement volunteers public nonprofit organizations delivery services 1 perhaps common volunteers free impose monetary costs host organization save agencies teetering edge financial ruin 2 nearly common assertion volunteers cannot fired extreme form cannot managed 3 myths include beliefs volunteers perform job task readily available organizations want 4 volunteer programs lamentable drawback however engender adversarial relationships paid staff 5 like myths pertaining involvement contain grain truth programs designed carefully likely fall prey identified maladies worse 6 alternatively programs structured carefully participation help agencies realize benefits avoid pitfalls using volunteers successful programs implement mechanisms procedures administer effort manage novel human resources effectively 7 although part academic literature considered issue best practices program design administration 8 much practitioner literature describes detail characteristics thriving program based large sample survey programs public agencies article attempts provide tentative evidence frequency best practices public agencies article posits relationship best practices benefits realized involvement considering analysis reader aware two factors first validated measures performance exist measures benefits used emanate perceptions program directors second parameters population programs government unknown sample programs analyzed cannot said representative 9 nevertheless sample large heterogeneous previous research systematically examined efficacy purported best practices despite manifest need next two sections article present necessary background part ii defines governmentbased programs delimit empirical analysis part iii examines extent scope involvement public sector part iv discusses elements contribute best practices workers article considers part v data collected sample governmentbased programs methods used analysis presents interprets empirical findings part vi article concludes summary discussion implications research ii defining volunteer programs public sector definition volunteer related concepts volunteerism voluntarism controversial early treatment concept david horton smith noted voluntarism represents category human activity varied defies adequate description yet hope deal rationally great variety activities devise shorthand ways referring major subtypes volunteers voluntarism 10 twenty years later reviewing voluminous literature fieldmore 300 articles reportsram cnaan colleagues uncovered great many interpretations concept constituent dimensions measurement methods indicators 11 concluded although scholars agree importance volunteerism little consensus volunteerism