Administration Review of Public Personnel - nclc203wagner

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Review of Public Personnel

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DOI: 10.1177/0734371X9301300106

1993 13: 67Review of Public Personnel AdministrationAbraham Wandersman and Jeanette Alderman

Volunteers in One StateIncentives, Costs, and Barriers for Volunteers: A Staff Perspective on

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67

PROFESSIONAL NOTES

Incentives, Costs, and Barriers for Volunteers: AStaff Perspective on Volunteers in One StateAbraham Wandersman and Jeanette Alderman

olunteerism is in the limelight, as evidenced by President Bush’s 1992request to Congress for $25 million a year to promote communityservice. This is a modest investment considering a recent estimate inNewsweek that 80 million adults average 4.7 hours of volunteer work perweek, for a total of 19.5 billion hours. The monetary value of those hourstotals a staggering $150 billion. There are many reasons why people becomeinvolved in volunteer work. People may participate in volunteer work as away of achieving personal growth and achievement, or they may volunteerfor more altruistic reasons. While these volunteer personnel resources are avaluable contribution to the public service, problems of staff and volunteerturnover and the general management efficacy of voluntary and non-profitorganizations require a systematic look at the reasons why people volunteer,the effective use of volunteers, and staff-volunteer relations.

BackgroundConflict in any organization is inevitable, and voluntary organizations are notimmune. A study by Temkin and Cummings (1986) suggests that whenvolunteers are in conflict with other volunteers regarding organizationalconcerns, they will use significantly more controlling strategies than wouldstaff if they were the parties in conflict with volunteers. However, they didnot find a significant difference in the degree of control either board membersor staff members use when they are in conflict with volunteers over organiza-tional concerns.

Recruiting and retaining volunteers is often a difficult task. Watts andEdwards (1983) found word of mouth to be the most common method of

recruiting volunteers. In an effort to retain their volunteers the agencies inthis study used training, flexible scheduling, and increasing responsibility.Reimbursement and promotion to paid employment were used less than themore traditional methods mentioned above.



68

Dailey (1986) found that job satisfaction played a critical role inunderstanding commitment among volunteers. The decision to join avolunteer organization is largely determined by the degree of fit betweenpersonal needs and the goals of the organization. Dailey suggests thatemployee behavior and attitudes function in a similar fashion to the workattitudes of volunteers.

The research literature on the costs and benefits of volunteerism and thestaff-volunteer relationship is remarkably sparse. This study explores theseissues and builds upon earlier research on the costs and benefits of relianceon volunteer personnel (Clark and Wilson, 1961; Knoke and Woods, 1981;Prestby and Wandersman, 1985; Prestby et al., 1990).

This article describes a case study which explores major issues ofvolunteerism from a staff perspective, including recruitment, selection,training and evaluation of volunteers; structure of volunteer positions; andstaff-volunteer relations. While the specific results may vary in theirgeneralizability to other volunteer situations, we are confident that the issuesand concerns investigated are relevant to many volunteers and to volunteer-staff relations in many organizations.

Methods

This case study was conducted with the cooperation of a state division of theAmerican Cancer Society (ACS). The purpose was to explore the costs,benefits, and barriers of volunteering from the perspective of the unit staff.The American Cancer Society is one of the oldest and largest voluntary healthagencies in the United States. ACS is composed of both volunteers and paidstaff at every level of the organization. Currently, over two and a half millionACS volunteers are supported by approximately 3,000 paid staff.

ACS relies heavily on volunteers and sees the relationship between itsvolunteers and staff as a partnership. In order to explore key issues involunteer management, we asked the paid staff of ACS for their input. Thisarticle combines information generated by two rounds of surveys. In Survey1, we sent questionnaires to a representative from each unit of a state divisionof the American Cancer Society. Fifteen of the twenty questionnaires werereturned for a response rate of 75%.

The staff were asked questions dealing with the daily operations of theindividual units, as well as their views on various aspects of volunteerism. Inaddition, staff members were asked if they had any ideas for future researchon this topic. The respondents consisted of six field representatives, fivesenior area representatives, three area representatives, and one programcoordinator /unit secretary. Fourteen of those responding were female andone was male. The respondents had a median length of involvement with theACS of two years and five months, and had held their current positions for amedian length of one year and six months.



69

Survey 2 was an attempt to prioritize issues which were raised inSurvey 1. Fourteen of twenty questionnaires mailed out were returned, for aresponse rate of 70%. The respondents consisted of six field representatives,three senior area representatives, three area representatives, one programcoordinator/secretary and one senior vice president for public relations.Several of the units had recently acquired new staff members, which mayaccount for the lower response rate. Fourteen units were represented inSurvey 2.

Results

Recruitment and characteristics of volunteers

o How are volunteers recruited? Eighty percent of the respondentslisted the recommendations of present and former volunteers as the mostcommon form of recruitment of new volunteers. Other responses, mentionedat a rate of 27% each, were friends and personal contacts of the staff, nominat-ing committees, and special events. Some infrequently mentioned methodsincluded placing ads in the paper, recruiting members from various clubsand organizations, making contact by phone, and requesting staff recommen-dations. The method of recruiting which seems most popular at the unit levelof ACS is recommendations from present and former volunteers.

o Which groups of people would you most like to recruit? The staffwas asked to list the characteristics of their target recruitment population.Forty percent reported the upper middle to upper class as being a targetpopulation, although 33% targeted diverse groups when recruiting volun-teers. Twenty percent of recruiters were seeking volunteers with relevantskills, while less than fifteen percent sought young professionals. Othergroups, mentioned less than 10% of the time, were young people, businesspeople, the retired or unemployed, and those over 60 year of age.

When asked to rank the groups that they would most like to recruit,58% listed those with relevant skills as first. Business people were rankedsecond (43% of the respondents). Medical professionals came in third with28% of the respondents. Young professionals were fourth, middle agedpeople came in fifth. Young people were ranked in sixth place and theelderly had the lowest ranking.

The representatives appeared to favor business people as volunteersbecause of their contacts and their work skills. One respondent commentedthat her unit appears to be moving toward more business-oriented, profes-sional volunteers.

9 Which groups do you have difficulty recruiting? Thirty-three percentof the respondents reported having difficulty recruiting minorities anddisadvantaged groups. Several individual units reported problems recruitinggroups such as working women, medical professionals and the middle aged.Although only one of the units had ever encountered a handicapped volun-teer, 47% said that they would be willing to make provisions if necessary.



70

The respondents were mostly concerned about having committedvolunteers and would be interested in recruiting anyone who be able to fulfilltheir commitment to ACS.

o What are the demographic characteristics of volunteers? The typicalvolunteer was characterized as being a middle to upper middle class whiteprofessional, although there was a wide variation in the units with regard toage and gender. When asked what percentage of volunteers were over theage of 60, responses ranged from 5% to 60%, with a median of 10%. Thenumber of volunteers in a unit who were white ranged from 75% to 99%,with a median of 95%. Males ranged from 5 to 90% of all volunteers, with amedian of 35% reported.

o How has the ACS adjusted to the increase in working women? Fortypercent felt that they had adequately adjusted to the increase in workingwomen. Although 27% of the respondents reported having more difficultyobtaining volunteers for the residential crusade and public educationprograms, there were many benefits to having volunteers who work. Fortypercent thought that the community contacts of working women were animportant asset to the ACS. Thirty-three percent thought that these womenwere more efficient and organized than housewives. Twenty percent of therespondents also found them to be more flexible. Other reported benefitswere greater sophistication, greater pride in their work, and a more business-like attitude.

Respondents were asked to rank, in order of importance, 10 characteris-tics of working women. (These characteristics were obtained from responsesto an open-ended question in Survey 1). Four out of fourteen respondentsfelt that the major characteristic of working women was their efficiency andorganization. Four other respondents reported that being less availableduring the day was their number 1 issue in dealing with working women.Three staff members ranked a more businesslike attitude as the second most

important characteristic, while four other staff members felt that organizationand efficiency ranked third. Staff members ranked more communityconcerns and greater sophistication as being least important. As a result ofthere being 10 items to rank, few respondents appear to agree on what themost important issues are when dealing with working women.

Selection and training of volunteers

o How do you select volunteers? Staff members were asked whether ornot they used a screening interview. Sixty percent of the respondentsreported that they did not use a screening interview when recruiting volun-teers. Respondents were then asked, in an open-ended question, to describewhat type of screening tool they would find helpful in matching volunteers tojobs. Two respondents felt that an application would be helpful. Several



71

other suggestions were made. One respondent felt that discussing an interestin and an ability to do the job would be important when screening potentialvolunteers. Other respondents felt that job descriptions and interviewswould be helpful.

w Are volunteers given job descriptions? Forty-seven percent of theunits reported giving volunteers job descriptions. One respondent felt thatthe volunteers follow through on tasks if they know exactly what it is thatthey are expected to do, another respondent said that volunteers are usuallyprovided with job descriptions because, while some people are hesitant tohave a structured position, others thrive on it. Twenty percent felt that therewas no need for job descriptions, and used job descriptions only for certainpositions.

o How are volunteers trained? When asked about training, 47% ofrespondents reported having orientations specifically for board members.When asked about training for non-board volunteers, 40% of the respondentsreported they provided training for specific programs, 20% reported usingvolunteer development programs, and 20% gave volunteers a brief overviewof the job. Only 20% had no form of volunteer training. When asked to listthe most commonly used forms of training, 70% of respondents reportedtraining for specific programs to be important in their unit.

&dquo; Are volunteers evaluated? Thirty-three percent of the units did notevaluate volunteers in any way. One unit asks volunteers for two years ofservice and at the end of that time the unit has the option to ask the volunteerto serve longer. Twenty percent reported follow-up evaluations on boardmembers and 13% evaluated volunteers informally using their personalopinions. Less than 10% of the respondents indicated that they used evalua-tion sheets. Individual units also reported using specific evaluations forcertain situations (such as running a workshop) and some used the opinionsof coworkers. One respondent reported that she secretly evaluated thevolunteers and wondered to herself how they could improve.

The most common evaluation method used by ACS was reported to bepersonal opinion. The opinions of coworkers was rated second and theopinion of other volunteers was rated third.

* Are volunteers ever fired? The responses for this item were takenfrom an open-ended question. When asked how a volunteer who was notfulfilling his or her commitment was handled, several respondents said thatthe volunteer could be fired. Twelve out of fourteen staff members reportedthat they would offer to help a volunteer who was not fulfilling his/herduties. Eighty-five percent of respondents would work around a nonproduc-tive volunteer and another 80% would simply not re-recruit such volunteers.Nearly 45% of respondents would reassign the volunteer to an unimportantposition. One representative felt that dealing with unproductive volunteerswas like walking on egg shells. Several staff stated that they would let thevolunteer know they were not meeting expectations, ask them if they



72

understood the responsibility, or offer to help. One representative said thatsuggestions for improvement would be made, but if that did not work thenshe would thank the volunteer for his/her time and move on. Another

respondent reported that they sometimes &dquo;cop-out&dquo; and let a situation gounnoticed until the problem can be eliminated. Another person said that thevolunteer is usually not fired, but left to fall by the wayside.

One respondent had several ideas about how to deal with this situation.She said that she

&dquo;tried to fmd out why they were not doing the job. Offered to helpcomplete the task or get another volunteer to help show the importance ofthe job. Have, as a last resort, worked around the volunteer &dquo;I never wantto embarrass or belittle a volunteer. They are the ACS and deserverespect, even though they may not always &dquo;measure up&dquo; to ourexpectations. If we, as staff, are worth our salt, we can change that.&dquo;

Respondents were asked if they had any suggestions on how to moveor realign volunteers into a more useful niche. One suggestion was to requirevolunteers and board members to work in at least one project in all programareas during the year. Another staff member suggested finding out why thevolunteer is not productive and look for a skill that he/she might have whichwould be useful in another program. Other respondents encouragedvolunteers to get involved in ACS projects which the volunteer foundinteresting.

Roles and structure of volunteer positions

o What jobs do volunteers perform? Since the ACS is primarily avolunteer organization, volunteers are placed in a wide variety of jobs. Thesejobs include everything from stuffing envelopes to providing public andprofessional education. Fund raising, mentioned 33% of the time, was themost frequently occurring job, and was ranked the most important job byover half of the respondents. Clerical and public education positions werealso high on the list, each appearing in 27% of the questionnaires. Recruitingwas listed on 20% of the questionnaires and memorial programs werereported in 13%. Several other jobs were listed, but appeared only 7% of thetime. These positions were: professional education, service rehabilitation,special event coordination, treasurer, and jobs that are the same as staff jobsand board member positions.



73

e How structured are volunteer jobs? Twenty-seven percent of the stafffelt that the volunteer was much less accountable to the ACS and 20% felt thatthe volunteer jobs were less structured than the paid positions. Thirteenpercent thought that volunteering did not require as much of a time commit-ment as a job does and employees also saw the volunteers as more visible.Seven percent of the staff felt that the paid employees were only supposed toguide and advise the volunteers. They also felt that the staff was responsiblewhen the volunteer did not follow through on their obligations.

e Are staff members open to the suggestions of volunteers? Whenasked if there had ever been a change in policy due to the suggestion ofvolunteer, 80% of respondents said yes. One unit reported that their financialaid policy had been revised based on the findings of a volunteer committee.Another representative reported using a new more condensed and systematicmethod of keeping records which was developed by an ACS volunteer. In adifferent unit a $10,000 fundraising event was changed to another event bythe chairman even after all of the details had been organized.

Staff and volunteer relations

e Should staff and volunteers follow the same rules? Fifty-threepercent of respondents felt that the volunteer should not be expected tofollow the same rules as the employees. They felt that volunteers have moreflexibility than staff. One staff member said that it would be nice if thevolunteers followed the same rules as staff but stated that they do not. Shesaid that she expects them to follow through on their projects, but com-plained that when they did not it is up to her to get the work done. Thirteenpercent felt that the volunteers should be expected to hold up the standards ofthe ACS and 27% thought that the volunteers should be held to the samerules and regulations as members of the staff.

o How often do conflicts occur between staff and volunteers? One

third of the staff reported no conflicts between workers and volunteers.Personality clashes, volunteers not pulling their weight, lack of communica-tion and disagreements on how to handle situations were each mentioned by13% of the respondents. Only 7% of respondents complained about volun-teer attitudes toward staff members. The most common problems to occurbetween staff members and volunteers is a lack of communication. While

most respondents reported either minor conflicts or no conflicts at all, thefollowing comment captures the flavor of several responses:

&dquo;Often, volunteers do not feel that their staff person spends as muchtime with their particular unit as they should. Volunteers often do notrealize that staff have other units or duties to attend to, so they think thestaff are not pulling their weight. Other conflicts include personalityclashes, volunteers comparing new staff to old staff, and also the problemof &dquo;volunteers not pulling their own weight, which can cause staff to beoverworked or to look bad&dquo;.



74

Costs and benefits of being a volunteer

9 Why do people volunteer? Most of the respondents gave severalanswers when asked why they felt people volunteered to work for the ACS.Sixty-seven percent of the respondents felt that most volunteers had had apersonal or family experience with cancer. Thirty-three percent thought thatvolunteers joined the ACS primarily because they believed in the cause, while33% thought that volunteers joined in order to fulfill social needs. Twenty-seven percent saw altruism as a major motive, while 27% felt that theopportunity for community contacts or to build resumes drew volunteers.Other reasons for volunteering were: a sense of duty, feeling needed,emotional reasons, exposure in the community, business reasons, fear ofcancer, and filling spare time. The least common reason for volunteering wasreported to be to increase skills.

o Do you provide incentives for volunteers? When asked whatincentives they provided for volunteers, 73% listed recognition in the form ofawards, medals, newspaper pictures, etc. Thirty-three percent listed appre-ciation as an incentive that they offered to volunteers. Several units usedpromotion, the chance to make community contacts, and the opportunity toimprove certain skills as incentives. One unit mentioned using gifts toreward volunteers. Another felt that giving the knowledge of what they cando to make a difference serves as an incentive. One other representativeresponded by saying that the volunteers are given the opportunity to be apart of the biggest and best voluntary organization in the world. Most of theincentives mentioned were personal; two respondents mentioned &dquo;collectivegood&dquo; incentives.

o What are costs of volunteering? In response to a question about theperceived costs of volunteering, 80% of the respondents felt that the amountof time involved was a major disadvantage. Twenty-seven percent felt thatlack of appreciation or recognition was also a major problem. Twenty-sevenpercent listed the amount of energy required as a disadvantage and 13%listed burnout. Other disadvantages listed were: the pressure of furthercommitment, the amount of structure required, lack of proper skills, and lackof direction from staff. In order to minimize these costs to the volunteer, 47%of the respondents reported being extremely supportive of volunteer efforts.Twenty percent indicated that they made an effort to reduce the amount oftime spent by the volunteer by delivering supplies or meeting them inconvenient locations. Individual units also reported minimizing financialcosts by using ACS supplies, giving receipts for tax purposes, and reimburs-ing volunteers for large expenses. One respondent said &dquo;I do not think thatthis is applicable to our organization since there are no costs&dquo;.

When staff members were asked to rank order the costs of volunteer-

ing, 46 percent of the respondents felt that the time required to be a volunteerwas the most important cost. Thirty-eight percent of staff members listedburnout as the second highest cost of volunteering. Staff members also felt



75

that the pressure for further commitment and the energy it takes to volunteerwere costs. When asked what they did to try to alleviate the costs, 45% ofrespondents reported that they encouraged volunteers to become friends witheach other.

Conclusion

The responses that were generated from these surveys suggest that therelationship between the volunteer and the paid staff is one of negotiationand diplomacy. There are several issues that make this relationship a delicateone. The lack of structure in many volunteer positions often leaves thevolunteer unsure of his/her role within the organization; this may contributeto the volunteers’ perceived lack of commitment to the organization.

In order to make these positions more structured, volunteers should bescreened and interviewed in much the same way that an employee is selected.Smith and Reddy (1972) suggest that one way to obtain high participation involuntary action groups or programs is to insist that all members play anactive role or drop out. They believe that the active members, even if they aresmall in number, would tend to do better if those who contribute little or

nothing to the group are excluded. This would let the volunteer know whatwas expected of him/her and would inform him/her of the consequences ofnonparticipation. The volunteer should also have an understanding of thegoals of the organization and what their role as a volunteer is to be. Placing avolunteer in a position where he/she can do something that he/she findsinteresting is important. However, it is also necessary to make sure that thevolunteer has the skills required to handle the project. Often times a volun-teer is assigned to a position because he/she has an interest in the job, yetdoes not have the skills necessary to do the tasks effectively. This can causeproblems and may leave a volunteer frustrated and cause an otherwiseproductive person to lose interest.

It is important to look at the organizational structure of volunteerorganizations. ACS is a voluntary organization with thousands of staff andvolunteers. The organization must not only work to retain volunteers, but toreduce the turnover rate of staff members as well. The staff must be recog-nized for their expertise and also be able to negotiate with volunteers overprograms, and then turn the programs over to the volunteers for completion.

When organizations work with volunteers it is important for them toprovide the volunteers with incentives to help enhance their motivation forwork. This may be done through the presentation of awards, offeringcompensation for expenses and as one staff member suggested, &dquo;nurturethose productive volunteers.&dquo;



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References

Clark, P.B. and J. Q. Wilson (1961). "Incentive Systems: A Theory ofOrganizations." Administrative Science Quarterly 6: 129-166.

Dailey, R. C. (1986). "Understanding Organizational Commitment forVolunteers: Empirical and Managerial Implications." Journal of VoluntaryAction Research 15, 1: 19-31.

Knoke, D. and J. R. Woods (1981). Organized for Action: Commitment inVoluntary Association. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Newsweek (1989). "Volunteerism Increases." July 10: 26.Prestby, J.E. and A. Wandersman (1985). "An Empirical Exploration of a

Framework of Organizational Viability: Maintaining BlockOrganizations." Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 21: 287-305.

Prestby, J.E., A. Wandersman, P. Florin, R. Rich and D. Chavis (1990)."Benefits, Costs, Incentive Management and Participation in VoluntaryOrganizations: A Means to Understanding and PromotingEmpowerment." American Journal of Community Psychology 18, 1: 117-149.

Smith, D.H. and R. Reddy (1972). "Contextual and OrganizationalDeterminants of Individual Participation in Organized Voluntary Action."In Voluntary Action Research (ed.) D.H. Smith. Lexington, Mass.:Lexington Books, D. C. Heath.

Temkin, T. and H. W. Cummings (1986). "The Use of Conflict ManagementBehaviors in Voluntary Organizations: An Exploratory Study." Journal ofVoluntary Action Research 15, 1: 7-18.

Watts, A.D. and P. K. Edwards (1983). "Recruiting and Retaining HumanService Volunteers: An Empirical Analysis." Journal of Voluntary ActionResearch 12, 3: 9-22.

A Note on Job Transfer, Pension Portability, andCompensating Salary DifferentialsCharles E. Hegji

Most large pensions in the United States, including those offered byacademic institutions, are &dquo;defined benefit plans.&dquo; These plans offer anannuity to workers at retirement based on years of tenure and final wage.Moreover, since pension benefits are based on years of service in a job, whenthere is a job change, there is often a loss of pension benefits that is associatedwith the change. This is sometimes referred to as portability loss and hasbeen studied from a variety of perspectives (see Lofgren, 1990).

The economic literature has addressed these costs primarily from the



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Administration Review of Public Personnel - nclc203wagner