Abstracts from The Journal of Volunteer Administration
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Abstracts: Volume 22, Issue #4, 2004
RESEARCH
Volunteering in Cultural Institutions: A
Comparison Between the United States and Germany
Gesa Birnkraut, Hamburg, Germany
While volunteering in the arts in the United
States is already a very important factor for the arts sector, this
development has just started in Germany. This research is the first to
take a look at the standard of
volunteer activities and volunteer management in
the arts not only in the United States, but
also in Germany. A quite important factor is
the different history of volunteerism and the founding
of the arts institutions in both countries. Negative and
positive potentials as well as strengths and weaknesses of volunteer
activities in the arts are focused in comparison between the United
States and Germany.
Leadership Practices of Ohio AmeriCorps
Program Directors and Coordinators
R. Dale Safrit, North Carolina
State University, Raleigh, NC
Chadwick J. Wykle, Washington,
DC
Joseph A. Gliem, The Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH
The purpose of this exploratory study was to
investigate leadership practices of Ohio AmeriCorps program directors and
coordinators. The Leadership Profile Inventory (LPI) was used to collect
data from a census
regarding five leadership practices: (a) Challenging
the process; (b) inspiring a shared vision; (c) enabling others to act;
(d) modeling the way; and (e) encouraging the heart. Program directors
identified all five practices as utilized at least �fairly often,� while
program coordinators identified all five as engaged in �usually.� Even
though the overall leadership mean scores for both Ohio AmeriCorps
program directors and coordinators are positive, the researchers expected
higher scoreS. Although national leadership development training is
provided to AmeriCorps professional staff, these opportunities must
be offered to expanded program audiences. Volunteer administrators� abilities to combine
visionary leadership with efficient management will be critical not only
to the continued success of AmeriCorps programs, but to all volunteer based
programs as well.
Barriers to the
Development of Volunteer Leadership Competencies: Why Johnnie Can�t Lead
Volunteers
Barry L. Boyd, Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX
More than 109 million Americans volunteered for
nonprofit organizations in 1998, carrying out almost one-third of the work
of the organizations. A nation-wide Delphi study was conducted to identify
the competencies that will be required by volunteer administrators (VAs)
during the next decade as well as barriers that prevent VAs from acquiring
such competencies, and how those barriers may be eliminated. This article
discusses 12 barriers to acquiring volunteer leadership competencies, as
well as 21 methods for addressing those barriers and motivating volunteer
administrators to acquire them. It is recommended that organizations make
the acquisition of these competencies a part of the employee�s performance
expectations, and should redirect resources to assist volunteer
administrators in acquiring the competencies. Organizations
must also
create an organizational culture that values the contributions of volunteers and the
role of the volunteer administrator.
Volunteer Screening Practices, an Essential
Component of Volunteer Management: Implications from a National Study of
Extension Professionals
Cathy M. Sutphin, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Volunteers are a critical resource. As we have
increased the numbers
of volunteers,
we have also expanded the duties of volunteers who
work with vulnerable clientele, thus increasing
our
organizational responsibility to provide effective volunteer screening and management. This
study assessed volunteer screening and management practices among Extension professionals nationally.
Findings provide a picture of the community standard of care
within Cooperative Extension. The study also provides implications for those in
volunteer leadership in Extension and other volunteer organizations. In
addition, the study suggests several areas for future research
which would benefit the profession.
Volunteer Attrition:
Lessons Learned From Oregon�s
Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Program
H. Wayne Nelson, Towson University, MD
F. Ellen
Netting, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Kevin Borders,
University of Louisville, KY
Ruth
Huber, University of
Louisville, KY
A telephone survey of 136 active and 170 former
volunteer ombudsmen asked the two open ended questions reported here. Both
groups were asked to identify �the most discouraging aspect of the
ombudsman�s
job,� and former ombudsmen were also asked why they had
left the program. Responses fell into four general groups (each with
numerous sub-categories): (a) Program Factors (supervision, training,
policies),
(b) Personal Factors (health, family, time), (c) Power
Factors (volunteer status, legal authority), and (d) System Adversity
(troubled facilities, resident impairment, poor enforcement and so forth).
Although the Personal Factors group emerged as the number one ranked
reason for quitting, program factors (led by the sub-category of poor
supervisory support) emerged as the most discouraging aspect of service,
and
was the second ranked reason for quitting. Implications are
discussed with recommendations for reducing volunteer dissatisfaction and
turnover.
RESEARCH IN BRIEF
A Suggested Model for Contemporary Volunteer
Management:
Qualitative Research Bridging the Professional Literature
with Best Practices
R. Dale Safrit, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, NC
Ryan J. Schmiesing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Since the early 1970s, numerous authors have
suggested models for effective volunteer management. Some have been based
upon perceived best practices and actual field experiences. Others are
purely conceptual
entities built around a focused organizational
context and named with an easily-remembered acronym. Still others have
emanated from administrative or academic paradigms rather than applied
volunteer management contexts. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative
research was to identify valid and reliable components of effective
contemporary volunteer management based upon both the published
professional literature as well as contemporary best practices. The
researchers utilized a practitioner-research approach involving both
actual volunteer administrators (practitioners) and volunteerism experts
(consultants). Eight volunteer management components were identified by
practitioners and nine by experts, encompassing three holistic categories:
(1) (Personal) Preparation; (2) (Volunteer) Engagement; and (3) (Program) Perpetuation.
IDEAS THAT WORK
Building Volunteer Group Cohesiveness and
Teamwork: The Ball Toss Exercise
Steve Dunphy, Indiana University Northwest,
Gary, IN
Professional volunteer administrators and
not-for-profit managers sometimes express frustration with coordinating
and developing cohesiveness among their employees and volunteers. An
exercise is detailed involving the tossing or popping of a beach ball
among participants for the purpose of building group cohesiveness,
improving communication and developing espirit de corps. The exercise is
both didactic and fun. Participants learn the importance of group
initiation, cooperation
and control
in order to accomplish a task. The idea is
to take a �first step� towards removing employees and volunteers from their
cubicles of self-imposed isolation and moving them into the
ranks of a cohesive, motivated and productive work force.
A number of learning outcomes that result from the exercise are
specified in the �debriefing� section. These outcomes specify what the
volunteer services manager and his or her staff can
take back to the organization to improve group productivity and
job performance.
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