Prediction of Longevity of Volunteer Service: A Basic Alternative Proposal

Abstract

A problem for many organizations is the low continuity of volunteers. Diverse theoretical models have been developed to explain sustained volunteerism, but most of these models have focused on the study of welfare volunteerism and not have verified whether their results could be generalized to other types of volunteerism. In this study, we propose a basic model to explain sustained volunteerism in any type of volunteerism. The aim of this study is to examine this basic model empirically in a sample of socio-assistential volunteers and in a sample of environmental volunteers. For this purpose, 290 volunteers completed a questionnaire and subsequently, two telephone follow-ups were carried out to determine whether the volunteers remained in the NGO one year later. The results show that the basic model offers an acceptable explanation of sustained volunteerism in the two types of volunteer samples studied, but it accounted for a low percentage of variance of the duration of service in both samples. Various relevant implications for the practical management of volunteerism in organizations are derived from theses findings. Keywords: volunteerism, retention, satisfaction, organizational commitment, intention to continueUno de los problemas a los que se enfrentan muchas organizaciones es la escasa permanencia de los voluntarios. Para predecir la permanencia se han desarrollado diversos modelos teóricos, pero la gran mayoría se ha centrado en el estudio del voluntariado de carácter sociosanitario y no se ha comprobado si los resultados podrían generalizarse a otros tipos de voluntariado. En este trabajo se propone un modelo teórico básico que pueda explicar la permanencia de cualquier tipo de voluntariado, independientemente de las peculiaridades de los mismos. El objetivo de este trabajo es contrastar empíricamente en una muestra de voluntarios socioasistenciales y en una muestra de voluntarios medioambientales dicho modelo básico. Para ello, 290 voluntarios contestaron un cuestionario y participaron en dos seguimientos telefónicos durante un año para evaluar su permanencia en la organización. Los resultados muestran que el modelo básico propuesto obtiene un ajuste aceptable tanto en voluntarios socioasistenciales como en voluntarios medioambientales, aunque logra explicar reducidos porcentajes de varianza de la permanencia en ambos casos. De estos hallazgos se derivan distintas implicaciones para la gestión práctica del voluntariado en las organizaciones. Palabras

Association Between Dentists’ Participation in Charitable Care and Community–Based Dental Education

“…Overall, satisfaction with providing charitable care was the strongest predictor associated with providing charitable care in the office and the community. This is similar to studies in psychology that have found associations between participation in volunteer activities and satisfaction with the activity 26 , 29 . It has been suggested that because satisfaction with volunteering in an organization is associated with continued volunteer participation, organizations should provide incentives and positive environmental settings to increase volunteer satisfaction 29 .…”

“…This is similar to studies in psychology that have found associations between participation in volunteer activities and satisfaction with the activity 26 , 29 . It has been suggested that because satisfaction with volunteering in an organization is associated with continued volunteer participation, organizations should provide incentives and positive environmental settings to increase volunteer satisfaction 29 . Organizations that rely on volunteer dentists should continually assess the satisfaction of their volunteers to help ensure the continuity of the relationships between the dentists and the organizations.…”

“…Additional questions were included to examine other potential predictor variables associated with providing charitable care. These variables were selected based on the literature 21–29 and their potential to influence whether dentists provide charitable care. The following potential predictor variables were included on the questionnaire: volunteer experience prior to and during dental school (yes vs. no); perceived busyness within the dental office (too busy to treat all those who requested care vs. adequate patient load vs. not busy enough); satisfaction with dentistry as a career; satisfaction with current income; and satisfaction with past volunteer experiences.…”

Religiosity, motivations, and volunteering: A test of two theories of religious prosociality

“…Our success at establishing a mediational pathway which plausibly reflects real-world processes encouraged us to attempt a replication of these results in Study 2. Fuertes, 2007;Law & Shek, 2009;Okun & Sloane, 2002), echoing the widely reported intention-behavior gap in behavioral research (Sheeran, 2002;Sutton, 1998). Additionally, whether one volunteers is shaped by various practical barriers (e.g., time, distance, not being asked; Schuldt, Ferrara, & Wojcicki, 2001;Sundeen, Raskoff, & Garcia, 2007) which can prevent intentions from translating into behavior.…”

“…A key difference between this and prior research is the reliance on volunteering intentions, rather than behavior, as an outcome variable. It should be noted that there is a well‐reported discrepancy between intentions to volunteer and volunteering behavior (de León & Fuertes, 2007; Law & Shek, 2009; Okun & Sloane, 2002), echoing the widely reported intention‐behavior gap in behavioral research (Sheeran, 2002; Sutton, 1998). Additionally, whether one volunteers is shaped by various practical barriers (e.g., time, distance, not being asked; Schuldt, Ferrara, & Wojcicki, 2001; Sundeen, Raskoff, & Garcia, 2007) which can prevent intentions from translating into behavior.…”