Comparison of Volunteers in Public and Nonprofit Human Service Agencies

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a blurring of the traditional boundaries between the public and the nonpublic (for-profit and voluntary nonprofit) sectors. Studies in volunteerism to date have not yet addressed the issue of differences and similarities of volunteers in public and nonpublic agencies. In this article, we report on the first empirical study conducted of volun teers from the public and nonprofit sectors.

Challenging Human Service Organizations to Redefine Volunteer Roles

“…This finding support the Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1990) finding that there is no distinction in the roles performed by volunteers in the public or non-public sector.…”

“…Of the 28 items in the "motivation to volunteer" scale (Cnaan & Goldberg-Glen, 1990), only five items showed significant differences, all in the same direction. An examination of these five items shows that those who performed only two roles were motivated by self-directed motives while those performing all four roles were more motivated by other-directed motives.…”

Administrators of volunteer services: Their needs for training and research

“…A final question raised by the present analysis is the possible effects of organizaaonal auspices on volunteers and volunteer program. Research has started to appear with an explicit focus on contrasts (and similarities) between public and nonprofit organizations (Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen, 1990;Sundeen, 1990). As in the present study, findings are not conclusive, but they do suggest the importance of organizational auspices for volunteer involvement.…”

Volunteers in State Government: Involvement, Management, and Benefits

“…Second, scant comparative research has examined possible differences and similarities in volunteers and volunteer management across sectors. A 1990 symposium issue of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly on "Volunteers in Public and Nonprofit Settings" did uncover some intriguing differences (Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen, 1990;Sundeen, 1990). Brudney (1992) found some limited empirical support for a hypothesis linking nonprofit auspices to greater support of volunteer programs and their leaders.…”