A Community of Volunteers

A Community of Volunteers

“In the United States of America (USA), volunteers are a vital human resource for non-profit and faith-based organizations and for government agencies in providing social services and in addressing community needs… High turnover rates among volunteers create problems and have negative effects on volunteer institutions, placement sites and service recipients, as well as the volunteers themselves”( FENGYAN 859,860).  The problem is though people do not understand how much they can actually help the community by participating and supporting volunteers and volunteers organizations. Most people believe jobs just get done, and that is not true, it takes people giving their time to help others for no monetary return.  Volunteer service is satisfying for those who take part in it, and that is their pay. “Various aspects that are known to play a role in the job attitudes of paid employees (such as pay, security, advancement opportunities) do not necessarily apply in the case of volunteer workers”(Bozeman 897,898). There is an argument that paid employees work better because of the motivation, but I will show you that volunteers who have a personal stake in what they are doing perform better than paid employees who main focus is monetary gain. In this paper I will illustrate the importance of volunteers and how to combat the low retention rates in volunteer service.

Works Cited Bibliography

Boezeman, Edwin J., and Naomi Ellemers. "Intrinsic need satisfaction and the job attitudes of volunteers versus employees working in a charitable volunteer organization." Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology 82.4 (2009): 897-914. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 22 July 2011.

Michael J. Donahue, et al. "The Value of Volunteers as Resources for Congregations." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37.3 (1998): 470-480. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 July 2011.

FENGYAN, TANG, NANCY MORROW-HOWELL, and CHOI EUNHEE. "Why do older adult volunteers stop volunteering ?." Ageing & Society 30.5 (2010): 859-878. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 July 2011.

Harder, Ben. "The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions and Its Contribution to Overall Missionary Service." Christian Higher Education 10.2 (2011): 140-154. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

HUSTINX, LESLEY, and FEMIDA HANDY. "Where Do I Belong? Volunteer Attachment in a Complex Organization." Administration in Social Work 33.2 (2009): 202-220. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 July 2011.

Kim, May, Packianathan Chelladurai, and Galen T. Trail. "A Model of Volunteer Retention in Youth Sport." Journal of Sport Management 21.2 (2007): 151-171. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 July 2011.

Shye, Samuel. "The Motivation to Volunteer: A Systemic Quality of Life Theory." Social Indicators Research 98.2 (2010): 183-200. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 July 2011.