The Effective Use of Volunteers: Best Practices for the Public Sector

Brudney posits a relationship between the best practices and the benefits realized from volunteer involvement. A volunteer program in the public sector is sponsored by a government agency and, thus, occurs in an organizational context; remuneration is not provided for volunteers\u27 contributions, but reimbursement for their expenses is permitted; the time is given freely, yet volunteers may certainly benefit as well, and the work fulfills ongoing responsibilities of the host agency

Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers

This report is the second in a series of briefs on a 2003 survey of volunteer management capacity among public charities in the United States. It focuses on charities' adoption of nine volunteer management practices: supervision and communication, liability coverage, screening and matching, regular collection of volunteer numbers and hours written policies and job descriptions, recognition activities, measurement of volunteer impacts, training and professional development, and training for paid staff in working with volunteers. We report on the extent of adoption of these practices by charities with different characteristics, and the relationship between volunteer management practices and retention of volunteers

When to Use Volunteer Labor Resources? An Organizational Analysis for Nonprofit Management

Volunteer labor is commonly used to produce many goods and services in our economy. Many studies examine the supply of volunteer labor and determine why and how individuals give their time without remuneration (Freeman, 1997; Menchik, & Weisbrod, 1987; Smith, 1994; Vaillancourt & Payette, 1986). Fewer studies examine the demand for and the use of volunteer labor by organizations that receive it (Emanuele, 1996; Handy & Srinivasan, 2005). However, not surprisingly there exists a strong demand for volunteer labor; given it’s relatively low cost and individuals willing to supply unpaid labor. For example, 93% of volunteers are engaged by 161,000 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2004 b). In the United States, a national study found 80% of charities use volunteers (Hager, 2004)

A New Tool for New Times? Using Geographic Information Systems in Foundations and Other Nonprofit Organizations

The literature on nonprofit organizations exhorts them to understand and develop their communities’ strengths and capacities. Yet, identifying those communities, appreciating the conditions that affect them, and integrating organizational stakeholders can pose difficulties for any nonprofit, including foundations. This article examines how a tool relatively new to nonprofits — geographic information systems — can be used to support community building by bringing together different stakeholders. A geographic information system is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data, thus allowing an organization to map its community and share that visualization with its stakeholders. This article also shows how geographic information systems can assist foundations and other nonprofits in identifying and strengthening their communities by mobilizing the resources dedicated to core issues and improving relations and knowledge-sharing between nonprofit administrators and their various stakeholders. It discusses how geographic information systems tools can help to build community while illustrating the challenges involved with implementing, using, and sustaining it in the nonprofit sector

Quantitative Analysis and Skill Building in Public Administration Graduate Education

Trabajo de suficiencia profesionalEl presente trabajo consiste en la Implementación de control PID en un microcontrolador PIC para un esterilizador de calor seco. El diseño contempla una interfaz de usuario para poder configurar la temperatura de esterilización, según la cual el sistema regula la temperatura mediante el control PID digital y control de potencia por PWM usando como actuador una resistencia calefactora de 700 watios y como sensor de realimentación una termocupla tipo J, además controla el tiempo de esterilizado que también es configurable. Este equipo va a utilizarse para eliminar microorganismos en los materiales quirúrgicos y de laboratorio que soporten temperaturas entre los 25°C y 170°C. En tal sentido el presente informe de suficiencia profesional consta de IV capítulos : Capítulo I se detalla el problema por el cual se quiso hacer esta tesina, los objetivos la hipótesis y limitaciones y facilidades. Se quiso crear este arquetipo que fue debido a la experiencia que tuve en los trabajos en los hospitales por las dificultades que tienen los hospitales al no tener equipos de necesidad inmediata. Capítulo II se detalla la teoría para poder diseñar el esterilizador a calor como el uso de la modulación PWM ,el control PID, control encendido y apagado con respecto al control de potencia. Esta teoría ayudó en gran magnitud al análisis respectivo de los dispositivos necesarios para armar este equipo. Capítulo III se detallan los resultados obtenidos por MATLAB,PROTEUS utilizando un data logger. Se necesitó un osciloscopio de una entidad privada para la obtención de los datos necesarios en la construcción de este esterilizador a calor seco. Capítulo IV se detalla el desarrollo de los circuitos electrónicos diseñados para el esterilizador usando el PIC de la familia 16F8XX, como dispositivo de control de potencia basado en el SCR y un acondicionador de señal para el uso del sensor

Social and cultural origins of motivations to volunteer a comparison of university students in six countries

Although participation in volunteering and motivations to volunteer (MTV) have received substantial attention on the national level, particularly in the US, few studies have compared and explained these issues across cultural and political contexts. This study compares how two theoretical perspectives, social origins theory and signalling theory, explain variations in MTV across different countries. The study analyses responses from a sample of 5794 students from six countries representing distinct institutional contexts. The findings provide strong support for signalling theory but less so for social origins theory. The article concludes that volunteering is a personal decision and thus is influenced more at the individual level but is also impacted to some degree by macro-level societal forces

Student Volunteering in Zagreb in a Comparative Perspective

U ovom su radu analizirani rezultati istraživanja volontiranja studenata Sveučilišta u Zagrebu te Tehničkog i Društvenog veleučilišta u Zagrebu, provedenoga 2006.-2007. godine, a u sklopu međunarodnoga komparativnog istraživanja studenata u 14 zemalja svijeta. Cilj istraživanja bio je prikupiti podatke o različitim vidovima volontiranja (iskustvo, osnovni oblici, razlozi i koristi volontiranja, vrijednosti povezanih s volontiranjem), a posebice dobiti uvid u međunarodne razlike. S obzirom da su u ovom radu posebno fokusirani hrvatski rezultati, oni su pokazali da se hrvatski studenti, zajedno s japanskima, nalaze na začelju analiziranih zemalja. Kada volontiraju, studenti to čine uglavnom neredovito i neformalno, a najviše volontiraju za gradsku četvrt/lokalnu aktivističku grupu, u domovima za starije i nemoćne, prenoćištima i sličnim organizacijama. Intrinzični razlozi volontiranja su najviše naglašeni, ali njima komplementarni su i oni instrumentalni. Analizirane su i koristi od volontiranja. Istraživanje je također pokazalo da se volontiranje uglavnom ne promiče kroz obrazovni sustav, a da studenti smatraju takve inicijative korisnima. Rezultati istraživanja uspoređeni su s rezultatima dosadašnjih istraživanja volontiranja u Hrvatskoj, a interpretirani su u okviru analize razvoja civilnog društva u Hrvatskoj i drugim postkomunističkim zemljama te su komentirane dobivene razlike među zemljama.The paper presents an analysis of the results of the research of volunteering of students of the University of Zagreb and Technical and Social Sciences Polytechnics in Zagreb conducted between 2006-2007 within the international comparative research of students in 14 countries of the world. The aim of the research was to collect the data on various aspects of volunteering (experience, basic forms, motivations and benefits of volunteering, values connected with volunteering), and especially to gain insight into international differences. Considering the fact that the paper in particular focuses on the Croatian results, they have shown that the Croatian students, alongside with the Japanese students, are trailing behind all analysed countries. When they volunteer, students in general do it irregularly and informally, and they do most volunteer work for neighbourhood group or local activist organization, in homes for the elderly and the infirm, shelters and similar organisations. Intrinsic reasons for volunteering are emphasised the most, but the instrumental ones complement them. The research has also shown that volunteering is mostly not promoted through the system of education, and that the students consider such initiatives to be useful. The research results are compared with the results of research of volunteering in Croatia to date, and are interpreted within the analysis of civil society development in Croatia and other post-communist countries, and the differences between the countries are commented

Predicting youth participation in urban agriculture in Malaysia: insights from the theory of planned behavior and the functional approach to volunteer motivation

This study examines factors associated with the decision of Malaysian youth to participate in a voluntary urban agriculture program. Urban agriculture has generated significant interest in developing countries to address concerns over food security, growing urbanization and employment. While an abundance of data shows attracting the participation of young people in traditional agriculture has become a challenge for many countries, few empirical studies have been conducted on youth motivation to participate in urban agriculture programs, particularly in non-Western settings. Drawing on the theories of planned behavior and the functional approach to volunteer motivation, we surveyed 890 students from a public university in Malaysia about their intention to join a new urban agriculture program. Hierarchical regression findings indicated that the strongest predictor of participation was students’ attitude toward urban agriculture, followed by subjective norms, career motives and perceived barriers to participation. The findings from this study may provide useful information to the university program planners in Malaysia in identifying mechanisms for future students’ involvement in the program