What skills do volunteer leaders need? A Delphi study

Abstract

Non-profit and volunteer-based organizations are tasked with meeting the needs of their communities with limited resources. Today, more than ever, these organizations are stretched to their limits increasing the workload for paid staff. Training volunteers to lead the volunteer efforts is one way to spread the workload throughout the organization. Although there are guidelines for leadership development in for-profit organizations, there is limited literature pertaining to specific competencies and skills volunteer leaders in nonprofit and volunteer-based organizations should possess. This study, employing Delphi methodology, was conducted with volunteer directors in the community to identify leadership competencies for volunteer leaders. At the conclusion of three rounds of iteration, 42 competencies were identified. Introduction/Literature Review Nonprofit volunteers and for-profit employees differ in their reasoning and motivation for engaging in their respective jobs (Boezeman & Ellemers, 2014; Cnaan & Cascio, 1999; Pearce, 1993). For this reason, leadership styles directed at for-profit organizations are not appropriate for nonprofit organizations (Farmer & Fedor, 2001). Moreover, the traditional single leader model is becoming less effective as the demands of nonprofit organizations increase. Small (2007) suggests "Traditionally, leadership theories have focused on vertical leadership, in which a person who has been appointed to a position of authority exerts downward influence on subordinates. However, appointed leaders are not the only ones who can demonstrate leadership behavior. In team situations, team members can exert influence on each other and share the leadership process." (p. 5) The transition toward team work structures, particularly in capacity-limited nonprofit organizations, can present a challenge in providing the leadership necessary to achieve organizational success. Volunteer-based organizations must identify ways to provide the requisite leadership for their volunteers to accomplish personal and organizational goals. "Volunteer leadership remains a vast untapped resource for nonprofits not only to expand capacity for service and volunteering but also to provide a strategy for addressing

Developing the Teacher Mentoring Self-Efficacy Scale (TMSES) Using the Delphi Method and Exploratory Factor Analysis

“…A cut-off criterion for inclusion of 80% of panellists rating the importance as 4 'important' or 5 'very important' was chosen based on the guidelines suggested by de Loe (1995), as this level of consensus in two contiguous categories indicates a 'high level of agreement.' The mean (M) value for competency importance was also used, with a M  4.25 chosen to signify that a competency failing to reach the 80% cut-off should still be considered for inclusion in the final list (Morrison & Greenhaw, 2018).…”

Personality, Prosperity, Priority, Productivity, and Piety: Selecting Congregational Valued Lay Leaders

“…Therefore, the valued members would need to be dependable and hardworking. In fact, valued members would likely be expected by clergy and congregational members to consistently volunteer where no hired support or other assistance exists, as a means of collective religious responsibility (Cnaan et al, 2002;Harris, 1998;Morrison & Greenhaw, 2018). Every member cannot be available on a daily nor weekly basis to carry out tasks including bookkeeping, building maintenance, leading the choir, and organizing volunteers.…”

Strengthening and transforming non‐profits with leadership profiles and assessments

“…Volunteer roles often include serving on task forces, standing committees, strategic planning teams, councils, and articles, as well as micro‐volunteer (one day or less) opportunities. Volunteers need a wide range of leadership skills because of the various ways in which they contribute to carrying out the organization's purpose, goals, programs, and services (Morrison & Greenhaw, 2018). This is especially true for the many nonprofits that do not have sufficient staff to perform these core tasks.…”