A nonprofit manager's guide to online volunteering

Dhebar, Beatrice Bezmalinovic; Stokes, Benjamin

doi:10.1002/nml.200

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…First, echoing existing literature (Boles, 2013;Dhebar & Stokes, 2008;Jaskyte, 2012;Merrill, 2006), our findings show that technology has reconfigured volunteer management in several important ways: Enabled nonprofits to enlarge and diversify their volunteer pool; enhanced the precision and speed of volunteer management; enhanced the ability to recruit professionals or volunteers with special skills; and significantly reduced the administrative burden of volunteer management. As argued by Proulx, Hager, and Wittstock (2018), these advantages can free up resources that could be reallocated to improve other aspects of organizational performance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Examples include electronic mail, videoconferencing, electronic databases, intranets, and extranets” (Zorn, Flanagin, & Shoham, , p. 9). To this end, there is a limited but growing body of literature in which an examination has begun into how ICT (or technology), as part of technological innovation, affect nonprofit management (Burt & Taylor, ; Dhebar & Stokes, ; Ihm, ; Pressrove & Pardun, ). Yet, relatively few studies have explored how technology affects volunteer management responses and practices from an organizational perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Practical measures in facilitating effective volunteer management have also been proposed, including, inter alia, establishing clear objectives and strategic planning regarding volunteer management (Eisner, Grimm, Maynard, & Washburn, 2009;O'Meara, Tourle, & Rae, 2012), diversifying and streamlining volunteer recruitment (Bussell & Forbes, 2006;Lynch & Smith, 2010), ensuring expectation management through training and professional development (Hager & Brudney, 2011), establishing and maintaining regular and open communication and feedback (Dhebar & Stokes, 2008), and role recognition and rewarding volunteers' contribution (Nichols, 2013). Wymer and Starnes (2001) proposed that high-quality recruitment allows resources (e.g., volunteers) to be efficiently allocated to meet the actual needs of the organization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of technology in reconfiguring volunteer management in nonprofits in Hong Kong: Benefits and discontents

Chui

Chan

2019

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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There is plenty of evidence demonstrating that volunteering generates benefits for individuals and society at large. However, the role of technology used in recruiting, managing, and retaining volunteers in nonprofits is underexplored in East Asia. Drawing from in‐depth interviews with representatives of eight nonprofits, we examine how technology reconfigured volunteer management in nonprofits, identify its limitations and shortcomings, and discuss strategies in which technology can be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer management. We found, through this study, that the use of technology reconfigured key aspects of volunteer management: improving recruitment by enlarging and diversifying the volunteer pool; enhancing precision and speed of volunteer matching; improving nonprofits’ ability to recruit professionals; and reducing overall administrative burden of volunteer management within these nonprofits. However, challenges in volunteer management resulting from technology uptake were also observed, including resistance among frontline staff to adopt technology, and volunteer accountability and quality assurance. Specifically, it was found through this study that the extent to which nonprofits are able to effectively utilize technology in volunteer management is contingent on how well volunteer managers are able to actualize the notion of capacity optimization, create a friendly volunteer environment, and build rapport with volunteers. Implications for enhancing organizational capacity in volunteer management vis‐à‐vis the role of technology in the third sector are further discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of technology in reconfiguring volunteer management in nonprofits in Hong Kong: Benefits and discontents

Chui

Chan

2019

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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“…In the literatures of human behavior, [21] has previously undertaken research into the 'Zoouniverse' projects where online volunteer contribute their skills to online project to feel better about themselves, gain new learning perspectives, to express personal values as well as to shield themselves from problems. [22] also discover that regular communication between managers and participants as the main motivational element behind participation in online volunteering projects.…”

Section: Literature Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Exploring the Decision to Volunteer Online in Health Virtual Community

Nor¹,

UniSHAMS²

2019

IJBM

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This paper is part of ongoing research seeking to explore why doctors volunteering online through health virtual community (HVC). Although many studies have investigated the reasons individual volunteer online, there has been scant research on the decision that influence doctors to participate online via HVC. Here, researchers report on the factors that influence doctors to volunteer online in HVC as the doctor's heavy workload may postulated source of work-family conflict. A qualitative case study approach was used to explore and understand why doctors volunteering online in a HVC called DoktorBudak.com (DB). Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with pediatricians and pediatricians related specialists. Important factors related to technological and human aspects were identified. Factors were related to information and communication technology (ICT), knowledge sharing, peers influence and rewards. This qualitative study offer some unique insights about factors affecting doctors volunteering online in HVC, which were rarely addressed in the existing literature of online volunteer. Since the healthcare system is undergoing the digitalization revolution through the inception of the HVCs, this study had discussed the factors that must be in place for digital systems to be operative.

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“…Websites are key to the third sector's accountability efforts, making available annual reports, financial statements, and organizational missions. These public disclosure practices correlate with improved levels of trust, increased charitable giving, and greater volunteerism (Dhebar & Stokes, 2008;Gandía, 2011). Mission statements are key, because organizations "lacking a profit motive rely on a mission statement to articulate their raison d'être" (Kirk & Nolan, 2010, p. 474).…”

Section: Emergent Smart Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Third Sector and Social Media

Deschamps¹,

McNutt²

2014

CJNSER

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While social media has become a mainstay of communication in the twenty-first century, many organizations still struggle to include it in their operations. This is no less the case for organizations in the third sector. However, evidence-based practices tying social media activity to social media success are still elusive in the field. Examining the Facebook and Twitter presence of 45 Canadian organizations concerned with education, disaster relief, and environmental advocacy, the authors evaluate social media practices used by third sector organizations. Borrowing from Mark Granovetter's (1973) work on the strength of social ties, the authors found that disaster relief organizations tended toward activities to build emotionally intense, or "strong," relationships, while educational organizations offered more informational means to build "weak" relationships based on common interests. Environmental organizations used both strategies, but were less likely to broaden their activities beyond Facebook and Twitter. The authors propose identifying organizations' weak-tie/strong-tie strategies as a tool for evaluating social media activity in the not-for-profit sector. They argue that co-ordinating both types of strategies is necessary for successful social media campaigns. RÉSUMÉBien que les médias sociaux soient devenus omniprésents dans la communication au 21 ème siècle, plusieurs organisations tardent à les inclure dans leurs opérations. Ceci n'est pas moins le cas des organismes du troisième secteur. En même temps, la recherche établissant un rapport entre le recours aux médias sociaux et le succès d'une organisation demeure peu concluante. Dans cet article, les auteurs évaluent l'utilisation de médias sociaux par des organisations du troisième secteur en examinant la présence sur Facebook et Twitter de quarante-cinq organismes canadiens se spécialisant en éducation, en secours aux sinistrés et en activisme écologique. En recourant à l'oeuvre de Mark Granovetter sur la puissance des liens sociaux, les auteurs ont trouvé que les organismes de secours aux sinistrés tendaient à effectuer des activités axées sur des relations intenses d'un point de vue émotionnel, donc « fortes », tandis que les organismes éducationnels avaient une Vol. 5

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A nonprofit manager's guide to online volunteering

Cited by 27 publications

References 0 publications

The role of technology in reconfiguring volunteer management in nonprofits in Hong Kong: Benefits and discontents

The role of technology in reconfiguring volunteer management in nonprofits in Hong Kong: Benefits and discontents

Exploring the Decision to Volunteer Online in Health Virtual Community

Third Sector and Social Media

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