Suchergebnisse

AbstractOn April 27‒29, 1997, Philadelphia hosted the first‐ever Presidents' Summit for America's Future, an historic meeting that brought unprecedented attention to volunteerism in service to the nation's young people. Based on the experience and careful analysis of a summit delegate, this article concludes that although the spotlight afforded volunteerism was helpful, the hard work to be done by the local delegations to accomplish the summit agenda is not likely to be as successful as organizers hope because of limitations in follow‐up mechanisms and in the capacity and expertise of nonprofit organizations to integrate and manage volunteers effectively.

AbstractDespite the importance of volunteer administrators to nonprofit and many government organizations, little systematic research has been focused on these officials. Using a large national survey of volunteer practitioners conducted in 1989‐1990, this article examines empirically several hypotheses concerning organizational support to meet administrator needs for continuing education. Using the survey responses, the article also elaborates the subjects recommended by the administrators for treatment in a basic seminar in volunteer management, in an advanced seminar, and in further research.

Government by proxy—the use of third parties rather than government employees and organizations to deliver publicly funded services—is on the increase. Volunteers constitute one of the third parties through which governments fulfill important service responsibilities. This article discusses the advantages of this form of government by proxy as well as the implica tions of volunteer involvement for public management.

Estimates from survey research place the number of volunteers at nearly half the American populace. This article finds, in contrast, that the percentage of volunteers who satisfy the needs of public organizations for delivering services is far smaller and decreasing. Moreover, local governments ma)' well be at a competitive disadvantage to nonprofit agencies in attracting and sustaining their contributions. The article concludes with a discussion of strategies to enhance recruitment efforts.