Fit Themes in Volunteering: How Do Volunteers Perceive Person–Environment Fit?

Abstract

Worldwide, millions of people volunteer for nonprofit organizations. These organizations heavily depend on volunteers, such that successfully retaining them represents an indispensable task, as well as one that might benefit from the application of fit theory. The complex mechanisms that shape volunteers' fit throughout their volunteering experiences in the nonprofit environment have been scarcely analyzed though, and fit research has only selectively assessed volunteer experiences. Therefore, the current study investigates how volunteers perceive person-environment fit using a qualitative research design that relies on narrative interviews. Eight service-related and daily-life-related fit themes emerge at the organizational, collaborational, individual, and external levels. These identified fit themes help clarify how volunteers relate distinctly to the environments established by the organizations for which they volunteer. In addition to extending research on volunteering experience, this qualitative analysis of perceived fit among volunteers enriches fit theory, by contextualizing the concept of fit for volunteers.

Inequality in Volunteering: Building a New Research Front

“…Conversely, a recent study indicates that highly structured and activity-centered volunteering enables a discrete, bounded form of sociality that appeals to more introverted volunteers (Grubb, 2021 ). While studies on volunteer recruitment and retention have long addressed social contacts and group formation (Englert et al, 2020 ; Haski-Leventhal & Cnaan, 2009 ), a more systematic focus on potential disadvantages of such processes in terms of inequality and exclusion (e.g., social closure) is needed.…”

Creating Meaningfulness in Public Service Work: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Public and Nonprofit Managers’ Experience of Work

“…Managers are also familiar with the broader external work environment and how this shapes internal organizational goals, performance, and values (see Jin & McDonald, 2017). Managers from an array of public and nonprofit organizational settings participated in the study, helping ensure that a range of “person-environment configurations,” were represented (see Englert et al, 2020, p. 339). Although the research on meaningful work indicates that individuals across myriad occupations and work settings all engage in a meaningfulness-making process at work (see Bailey & Madden, 2016), emerging research suggests that the increasing influence of market-based ideologies can affect individuals’ sense of meaningful work and identity across professional and organizational settings, including public service settings, in unique ways (e.g., Florian et al, 2019; Hendrikx, 2021; Meyer & Hammerschmid, 2006; Shams, 2019).…”

“…We utilized a snowball nonprobability sampling strategy because we sought a variety of experiences of meaningful work across a range of public and nonprofit organizational settings. Snowball sampling allowed us to engage with information-rich practitioners who are not easily accessible using more rigorous sampling approaches (i.e., there is no centralized database of public service and nonprofit workers from which to sample) while establishing an open and trusting environment that benefits exploratory research on personal topics (Creswell & Poth, 2018; see also Englert et al, 2020; Cohen, 2018) such as meaningfulness in work. Furthermore, snowball sampling is a suitable sampling strategy in qualitative studies if it is done with a purposive reason, that is, because subsequent informants can yield new or additional information on the phenomenon under study (Yin, 2011).…”

Volunteers as Active Shapers of their Work: The Role of Job Crafting in Volunteer Satisfaction and Organizational Identification

“…For instance, Hager & Brudney (2008) find that only 44% of surveyed nonprofits use written policies and job descriptions for their volunteers to a large degree. Further, volunteer work is also characterized by autonomy and flexibility in how volunteer tasks can be completed (Englert et al, 2020); both autonomy and flexibility are influencing factors for job crafting (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). We, therefore, deem the job crafting construct as particularly meaningful to study in the volunteer context.…”