Virtual Volunteering: Are We Finally Ready to Talk about Direct Service?

Cravens, Jayne

doi:10.1002/9781119154792.ch13

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Especially important in times of social distancing due to COVID-19, geographic proximity to institutions of higher learning need not pose an obstacle to the design or implementation of these volunteer programs. As Cravens and Ellis (2014) maintain, by the early 2010s “virtual volunteering” online through electronic means had become so common in volunteer programs that the basic principles of volunteer management should apply equally to volunteers working online or onsite, and online volunteers should be integrated into an organization’s overall strategy for involving volunteers. Relatedly, virtual volunteering, which calls for electronic rather than personal oversight, can be feasible and helpful to local governments in coping with a health pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Don’t You Want My Help? Volunteer Involvement and Management in Local Government

Brudney

Yoon

2021

The American Review of Public Administration

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The global COVID-19 health pandemic has put extraordinary pressure on already fiscally strapped local governments. As local jurisdictions search for strategies to meet rising service expectations with declining resources, use of volunteers would seem to offer significant advantages. This study examines the involvement of volunteers to deliver services in all county governments in one U.S. state, as well as the factors that explain the extent of use of this service approach. Our analysis is based on information collected from a survey of county government officials working in 10 service domains, supplemented by demographic and other data drawn from a variety of sources. To arrive at valid estimates of volunteer involvement in the delivery of county services, we introduce a novel methodology that corrects our survey data for possible sample and response biases based on a calibration estimator using auxiliary information. The results of our inquiry reveal a higher use of volunteers to deliver services by county governments than suggested by the literature. The findings show, moreover, that counties with higher per capita income, greater percentage of residents attaining a bachelor’s degree or higher formal education, and lower unemployment are likely to involve volunteers in the delivery of more services, as are those county governments with greater per capita spending and per capita property tax revenues. These results have important implications in regard to the capacity of local governments to use volunteers, which we treat in the Discussion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Don’t You Want My Help? Volunteer Involvement and Management in Local Government

Brudney

Yoon

2021

The American Review of Public Administration

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“…Websites like VolunteerMatch and UN Volunteers allow people to connect with a variety of volunteer opportunities virtually (Mukherjee, 2011). Virtual volunteers tend to be more highly educated, highly skilled, and of higher socioeconomic status (Cravens & Ellis, 2014). Virtual volunteers may experience the same benefits as in-person volunteering, including a sense of purpose (Mukherjee, 2010) and the development of social ties (Amichai-Hamburger, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Older Adults’ Attitudes Toward Virtual Volunteering During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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This study explored older adults’ technology use patterns and attitudes toward virtual volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 22-item survey was administered to 229 volunteers in the St. Louis region who tutor children through the Oasis Intergenerational Tutoring program. Although most respondents are familiar with technology and expressed that they are likely to volunteer virtually, their responses varied significantly by age, education, gender, income, and school districts. Some tutors expressed that virtual volunteering may eliminate barriers to in-person volunteering, while others were concerned with establishing a personal connection with students online. These findings suggest that tutors anticipate both benefits and challenges with virtual volunteering and that efforts to engage older adults during the pandemic should factor in prior use of technology and ensure that different subgroups are not marginalized.

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Virtual Volunteering: Are We Finally Ready to Talk about Direct Service?

Cited by 2 publications

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Don’t You Want My Help? Volunteer Involvement and Management in Local Government

Don’t You Want My Help? Volunteer Involvement and Management in Local Government

Older Adults’ Attitudes Toward Virtual Volunteering During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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