Volunteerism is like a living organism. It grows, declines and changes in response to the stimuli surrounding it. Changes in society, changes in the way we view work, changes in the availability of free time, changes in motivations and attitudes about reciprocity have direct effects on volunteering. As changes occur, new language emerges to describe new patterns of volunteering, and researchers begin to examine why some patterns gain momentum while others fade away.

Managers of volunteers often experience these trends before they are labeled and analyzed. But it is always helpful to step back and look closely at what is gaining momentum, and to consider the management implications for supporting these emerging patterns.

Employee Volunteering

Prior to the 1950s, business leaders had been engaged in philanthropy, but corporations were legally prohibited from becoming involved in social affairs. A Supreme Court decision in the 1950s loosened those restrictions and by the 1960s progressive companies like Dayton Hudson, Levi Strauss, and Cummins Engine were giving away up to 5% of their pre-tax income. By the 1970s, corporations were using their philanthropy strategically to form alliances in the community to position themselves as good corporate citizens. One of the earliest manifestations of what has become known as corporate volunteerism began in the mid 1980s when IBM intentionally linked philanthropy and volunteerism to its human resources strategies. What emerged is a pattern of linking employee participation with philanthropic dollars. In the last 20 years there has been growth in employee volunteering through workplace programs.

These program vary widely, from highly organized and supported corporate programs that link engagement with strategic business initiatives, to less formal, employee driven programs. Employee volunteer activities, incentive, and support vary considerably. Advocates promote employee volunteerism by citing benefits that accrue for the employee (skill development, networking and employee morale and enhanced self esteem), the community (heightened sense of community, stronger community connections, increased and enhanced community services), and the employer (corporate social responsibility, increased employee retention, and public image).

The increase in this form of volunteering has pressured managers of volunteer programs to develop short-term, project-oriented volunteer opportunities. More attention is also being given to the skill-building potential of volunteer assignments and the need to document skill development for employee volunteers.

Employee volunteerism is a strategic approach to service. Corporations strategically align corporate goals with service initiatives and employees engage in volunteer activities that develop or enhance skills that can strategically advance them in the workplace.

Episodic Volunteerism

Nancy Macduff identified episodic volunteering almost 15 years ago. She defined it as “service of short duration” performed on a one-time-only basis, or work on a specific project or assignment that reoccurs annually (Macduff, 1990). Many volunteer-based organizations have seen significant decline in long-term volunteering as episodic volunteering has become the pattern of choice across all age groups. Findings by the Independent Sector and the US Department of Labor suggest that one-third to one-half of all volunteers define themselves as sporadic volunteers.

Belgium researchers suggest that volunteerism has changed as a result of larger societal shifts (Hustinx & Lammertyn, 2003). In the first half of the century individuals volunteered because of strong social and civic bonds that encouraged and promoted volunteer commitment. Strong social connections, such as religious and civic associations, fostered and promoted a form of volunteerism that no longer exists because there is no longer an emphasis on or tendency toward collective action.

Hustinx & Lammertyn suggest that society’s change leads to reflexive volunteerism that is individualized rather than collective.

Nowadays, willingness to participate in volunteering seems to be more dependent on personal interests and needs than on service ethic and a sense of obligation to community. Motivated by a search for self-realization, volunteers demand great freedom of choice and clearly limited assignments with tangible outcomes. Volunteer activities have to be spectacular and entertaining to keep volunteers involved. . . The archetypal reflexive volunteer does not participate for the sake of belonging to group-bounded organizations, but is more pragmatically focused on the services offered or activities undertaken. (Hustinx & Lammertyn, 2003, pp. 168 & 176)

Episodic volunteering is an individualized approach to volunteering. Volunteer activities are built around individual availability, interests, skills, motivations and commitment.

Virtual Volunteerism

Virtual volunteering began with the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web. The earliest developers of the World Wide Web formed the Open Source Society that is a worldwide network of volunteers contributing to the development of the Web and software applications. A more formalized approaches to virtual volunteerism began to emerge in the late 1990s through the serviceleader.org program at the University of Texas at Austin.

Virtual volunteering means volunteer tasks completed, in whole or in part, via the Internet and a home or work computer. It’s also known as online volunteering, cyber service, online mentoring, teletutoring and various other names. Virtual volunteering allows agencies to expand the benefits of their volunteer programs by allowing for more volunteers to participate, and by utilizing volunteers in new areas. (serviceleader.org, 2005).

Currently, there is considerable growth in online matching services, but the growth in virtual volunteering has been gradual. Potential volunteers are interested because it offers the promise of connecting resources across distances and of providing highly customized volunteer opportunities. Managers of volunteers have been reluctant to develop or pursue this new pattern of volunteering. It may be that they lack personal knowledge or organizational capacity, or perhaps there is a shortage of work that can be done by online volunteers. The Virtual Volunteer Project of the United Nations Volunteer Program demonstrates this is an effective and efficient venue for engaging new volunteers. This form of volunteerism is not for everyone, but indications are that it will continue to grow and expand.

Virtual volunteering is service from a distance. It fosters the individualized approach of reflexive volunteering, and promotes service that can be done anywhere, anytime.

Cross-National Volunteering

International volunteering is not a new phenomenon. Research suggests that World War I may have served as a catalyst for the development of cross-national volunteering as individuals responded to post war revitalizations efforts. The Peace Corps, United Nations Volunteers, and Voluntary Service Overseas (United Kingdom) have been sending volunteers working with international exchange volunteers for many years. As technology has increased communications about global issues and concerns, there has been greater interest in sharing skills and expertise across national boundaries. For many years, cross-national volunteerism has been available only to the educated elite from the developed countries. Recent shifts are changing the patterns and promoting volunteering within and among developing countries.

Corporations in the United States and other countries are participating in cross-national volunteer efforts, sponsoring employees for short-term, project-specific volunteer assignments in developing counties. This continues to add to the shift away from long-term commitments and raises questions about the long-term impact of the volunteer work. A consistent criticism of this form of volunteerism is limited accessibility. While there are continuing efforts to expand accessibility to cross national volunteering opportunities, it continues to be most accessible for higher socioeconomic volunteers from developed countries.

Cross-national volunteering is service that focuses on the exchange and benefits. There is growing emphasis on the benefits gained by volunteers as well as the benefits gained by the host community.

VolunTourism

Opportunities to take a volunteer vacation have been available for many years. Global Volunteers has been coordinating international service placements since 1984. The growth of study abroad programs in the 1970s, ecotourism in the 1980s and volunteer vacations in the 1990s have increased interest in combining travel and service.

The VolunTourism organization was formed in 2000 to promote “a seamlessly integrated combination of voluntary service to a destination and the best, traditional elements of travel – arts, culture, geography, and history – in that destination.” Started as a marketing strategy within the tourism industry, this concept is being developed to accommodate inbound and outbound travelers. Organizations and corporations hosting national or regional conferences are encouraged to include a day of service at their conference site so that inbound attendees can engage in teambuilding activities while making a genuine contribution of service to the host community (inbound service). Individual or group travelers are encouraged to build service into their vacation plans, offering an opportunity for service that enriches the host community and increases the travelers’ knowledge and exposure to local issues (outbound service).

Efforts are underway to establish voluntourism as a national concept that will be promoted as a service learning experience for high school and university students and for families wishing to merge volunteerism with travel. There are predictions that the movement will expand through the corporate sector in the European Union as corporate social responsibility increases globally.

While the tourism industry serves as the travel specialists, they realize that the overall effectiveness of voluntourism rests with the nonprofit sector, which must effectively engage and manage these traveling volunteers. The industry needs to guarantee good service experiences and are looking to partner with the nonprofit sector. There is a potential for nonprofits to enhance their income by partnering with the tourism industry to provided the onsite volunteer management functions.

Voluntourism is a mass marketing approach to service. This is a new opportunity to form creative partnerships for short-term, individualized volunteer assignments.

Summary

These are five examples of emerging patterns in volunteerism. They highlight the changing nature of what people are doing and how they are doing it. It is helpful to recognize and understand these patterns, so that programs can be adapted to continue to attract a wide range of volunteers.

References

Brudney J.(Ed) (2005). Emerging Areas of Volunteering, ARNOVA Occasional Paper Series, 1:2.

Hustinx, L. & Lammertyn, F. (2003). Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering: A Sociological Modernization Perspective. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 14:2, June 2003

Macduff, N. (1990). Episodic volunteers: Reality for the future. Voluntary Action Research (Spring), 15-17

McMillon, B., Cutchins, D. & Geissinger, A (2003). Volunteer Vacations. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Serviceleaders.org: Virtual Volunteering (2005). Virtual Volunteering. Downloaded 8/15/05: http://www.serviceleader.org/new/virtual/index.php

VolunTourism (2005). An overview of VolunTourism. Downloaded 8/25/05: http://www.voluntourism.org

Whetter, L. & Pybus, V. (2000). International Directory of Voluntary Work. Oxford: Vacation Works.

This article was first published in 2005 and is licensed under a Creative Commons License. It may be reproduced in its entirety provided that you give the original author credit.