Volunteer Management: A Strategic Approach

by Jaclyn S. Piatak, Jessica E. Sowa

Overview

Winner of the 2025 Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit Division Book Award

Volunteers play a critical role in serving communities and delivering public services. Volunteers serve across many areas — in schools, human service organizations, emergency services, and more. By providing services to those in need, volunteers expand the capacity of organizations and can devote extra time to the populations they serve. While research on volunteering has shifted from a focus on recruitment and motivation to management and retention, the focus is largely on universal, one-size-fits-all prescriptions. Volunteer management only recently moved to a contingency perspective focused on organizational needs. However, volunteer management should adapt to meet the needs of organizations and volunteers.

Taking a strategic approach, this book provides an overview of volunteer management from planning and recruitment to engagement and evaluation, considering both organizational and volunteer needs and capacity. We develop a strategic volunteer management approach for volunteering to benefit not only the organizations and communities served, but also volunteers and society more broadly.

This book advances research on volunteer management by combining the organizational and volunteer perspectives, provides a guide for volunteer administrators and coordinators, and serves well as a text for courses in volunteer management, nonprofit management, and human resource management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032383651
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/11/2024
Series:	Routledge Studies in the Management of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jaclyn S. Piatak is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and teaches courses in the Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration Program, including Volunteer Management. Her research focuses on public and nonprofit management, including human resource management and volunteering. She currently serves as co-editor of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly as well as on nine editorial boards, including Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory and Public Administration Review. Her professional experience includes working in the federal government at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and at the Corporation for National and Community Service, now AmeriCorps. Her MPP is from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD in Public Administration is from American University.

Jessica E. Sowa is a Professor in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration at the University of Delaware. Dr. Sowa received her Ph.D. in Public Administration in 2003 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Her research focuses on public and nonprofit management with an emphasis on human resource management. She is the co-editor-in-chief of Perspectives on Public Management and Governance.

Table of Contents

Introduction   Chapter 1. Volunteering: Concepts and Context   Chapter 2. Volunteer Management Models   Chapter 3. Strategic Volunteer Management   Chapter 4. Volunteer Motivations and Benefits   Chapter 5. Determinants of Volunteering   Chapter 6. Types of Volunteering   Chapter 7. Volunteering on A Board   Chapter 8. Determining Organizational Needs   Chapter 9. Planning and Allocating Resources for Volunteer Management   Chapter 10. Recruitment, Screening, and Placement of Volunteers   Chapter 11. Orientation and Training   Chapter 12. Managing Volunteers & Organizational Relationships   Chapter 13. Leading, Communicating, and Engaging   Chapter 14. Recognition and Retention   Chapter 15. Evaluating and Communicating the Value of Volunteers   Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

Volunteer Management: A Strategic Approach is a must-have book for anyone who wants to study volunteer management. Piatak and Sowa cover all the essentials of volunteer management, from planning to evaluation. Their strategic approach to important issues and topics in volunteer management is perfect for student learning in both undergraduate and graduate classrooms. I will be sure to use this book in my volunteering courses.” Young-joo Lee, Ph.D., Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Eileen Lamb O’Gara Chair in Women’s Philanthropy, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

"Volunteer Management: A Strategic Approach is a very timely and much-needed book centering volunteers and their experiences in the various organizational contexts they serve. Piatak and Sowa do this by grounding their work in human resource management and volunteer management theory and research while making strategy the main player across the various chapters. A must-read for volunteer researchers and managers!" Marlene Walk, Professor at the School of Business and Economics at the University of Freiburg, Germany

"Volunteer management is almost an oxymoron. How can one manage people who are not obliged to serve, nor can they be financially motivated or sanctioned. Traditional Human Resource Management practices are only partially helpful. Not surprisingly, volunteer management is the most understudied aspect of volunteerism. This book significantly moves the needle and offers a comprehensive review of the field. Volunteer management becomes manageable. The book would be a most useful source of wisdom to both scholars and practitioners." Ram A. Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice

From the Publisher