The Role of Volunteerism in Non-Profit Organizations during Times of Fiscal Stress

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1 The Role of Volunteerism in Non-Profit Organizations during Times of Fiscal Stress Helisse Levine Long Island University Maria J. D Agostino John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY mdagostino@jjay.cuny.edu ABSTRACT Government is calling on nonprofits and communities throughout the country to contribute their service through volunteering. This study uses qualitative data retrieved from a purposive sample of nonprofit administrators to determine whether nonprofits effectively make use of volunteers during the economic downturn that began in Findings conclude that although government initiatives, including $50 million of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated to the Strengthening Communities Fund provided nonprofits the opportunity to draw on an influx of a highly skilled pool of volunteers many nonprofits remain underfunded, understaffed and unequipped to achieve their mission of serving the community. Keywords Nonprofit organizations, volunteerism, SWOT analysis 1 INTRODUCTION As part of government s cost saving agenda during the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression, the nonprofit sector and communities throughout the country are being called upon to contribute their service through volunteering. For example, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided $201 million in funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the nation s largest grant maker supporting volunteering as a means to further expand AmeriCorps State and National, and AmeriCorps VISTA programs through grants aimed at leveraging more than 135,000 volunteers to serve 1.1 million clients (Corporation for National Community Service, n.d.). Also under the ARRA, $50 million was provided for the Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF), an initiative with the purpose of build[ing] the capacity of nonprofit organizations to increase[e] [their] involvement in the economic recovery effort (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). 1 The Edward M. Kennedy Serve 1 The Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF) is authorized under Section 1110 of the Social Security Act governing Social Services Research and Demonstration activities; Title America Act, which intends to triple the number of volunteers from 75,000to 250,000, was also signed into law in March Although it may be that volunteers can contribute to service delivery, and have historically been considered efficient and responsive service providers due to their ability to minimize costs through the use of volunteers (Ross & Brudney, 1998), nonprofit services are not free (Brudney & Duncombe, 1992; Lipsky & Smith, ) nor are nonprofits always equipped to make the most of their volunteers in terms of reducing costs (Urban Institute, 2004). Although a host of literature including Salamon and Sokolowski (2001), Ross and Brudney (1998) and Grantmaker (2003), examine the implications and benefits of volunteers in nonprofit organizations, whether these factors contribute to the effectiveness of nonprofits during times of fiscal stress remains under-researched. The purpose of the paper is to examine nonprofits as a government cost-savings strategy during times of fiscal stress with particular focus on volunteerism. This study examines whether nonprofits effectively make use of volunteers during the current economic downturn. Two research questions emerge: 1) what are the cost and benefits of volunteers in nonprofits during times of fiscal stress? and 2) does government s cost saving agenda impact nonprofits ability to effectively serve the community? Even though the value and expectation of volunteers are increasing in importance (Brudney & Meijs, 2009), the time available to serve is decreasing as the type of volunteer turns more to reflect societal and economic changes (Merrill, 2006). On one hand, the result is the concentration of a new prototype of episodic volunteer that has been shown to be a cost factor in nonprofit organizations (Macduff, 1995; Brudney, 2005). VIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law (P.L.) The SCF is made up of a second program aimed at State, Local, and Tribal Government Capacity Building programs, which is beyond the scope of this study. Other Topics Page 711

2 On the other hand, as more citizens are either out of work or underemployed, more professionals are volunteering their time, which has been reported as a benefit to the organization (Handy, Mook & Quarter, 2008). As governments increasingly turn to nonprofits, this study adds to the extant literature by discovering whether nonprofits effectively make use of volunteers during the current economic downturn Based on literature reviews, we build a SWOT matrix to capture the cost and benefit factors of volunteers in nonprofits during times of fiscal stress. Then using the SWOT framework, data are collected from semi-structured phone interviews to a purposive sample of 33 administrators of New York City nonprofits organizations. As governments navigate their way through decreasing funding sources, increasing expenditures and a greater demand for services understanding, the effectiveness of nonprofits and volunteerism furthers the government s ability to better utilize resources during times of fiscal stress. The purpose of the paper is to examine nonprofits as a government cost-savings strategy during times of fiscal stress with particular focus on volunteerism. This study examines whether nonprofits effectively make use of volunteers during the current economic downturn. Two research questions emerge: 1) what are the costs and benefits of volunteers in nonprofits during times of fiscal stress, and 2) does government s cost saving agenda impact nonprofits ability to effectively serve the community? Even though the value and expectation of volunteers are increasing in importance (Brudney & Meijs, 2009), the time available to serve is decreasing as the type of volunteer turns more to reflect societal and economic changes (Merrill, 2006). On one hand, the result is the concentration of a new prototype of episodic volunteer that has been shown to be a cost factor in nonprofit organizations (Macduff, 1995; Brudney, 2005). On the other hand, as more citizens are either out of work or underemployed, more professionals are volunteering their time, which has been reported as a benefit to the organization (Handy, Mook & Quarter, 2008). 2 METHODS This research relies on qualitative data to assess whether government s cost savings strategy impacts nonprofits ability to effectively make use of volunteers during the current economic downturn. Two main research questions are examined: 1) what are the cost and benefits of volunteers in nonprofits during times of fiscal stress? and 2) does government s cost saving agenda impact nonprofits ability to effectively serve the community? In order to examine the first question we develop a SWOT analysis. Then, using the SWOT framework, semi-structured telephone interviews are conducted to assess the effectiveness of nonprofits use of volunteers during times of fiscal stress. The first step in the SWOT analysis was to identify three categories of costs and benefits borrowing from Hager and Brudney s (2004) model of challenges and benefits to volunteer involvement in nonprofits. Then, literature review data were used to further detail the cost and benefits which were mapped according to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Three resultant categories include: 1) volunteer management, 2) extent of volunteer involvement, and 3) type of volunteer involvement. Volunteer management is defined as the extent of adoption of management practices and the presence of a volunteer coordinator. Data Collection Based on the framework developed via the SWOT analysis, the next phase of our study set out to answer the second research question: Does government s cost saving agenda impact nonprofits ability to effectively serve the community? The data collection, in the form of semistructured interviews, took place over a two-week period from April 26, 2010 to May 10, 2010 from a purposive sample of 33 nonprofit organizations identified as strengthening communities nonprofits. These nonprofits qualified for SCF funding, that is, their mission contributes to the economic recovery effort. The nonprofits, listed on the NYC.gov service website, have posted volunteer opportunities in the New York City area as part of the Strengthening Communities initiative. Interview informants included executive directors and directors of nonprofit organizations. Interview questions were ed to participants prior to the scheduled interview. Of the 33 organizations contacted twenty agreed to be interviewed. Each of the interviews lasted approximately minutes to complete and was designed to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of nonprofits during times of fiscal stress. Although the sample size is not large enough for statistical analysis, in-depth interviews are capable of detecting sufficient variation among respondents and the thick description that results in theoretical saturation (Strauss, 1987). 3. FINDINGS Volunteer Management Nonprofit managers have indicated varied strengths and opportunities to managing an increased number of volunteers during the fiscal downturn. Not only were managers receiving an increasing number of resumes, they specifically indicated an influx of great resumes with skills ranging from investment bankers, web designers, IT techs as well as accountants and lawyers who are willing to volunteers their services in exchange for Other Topics Page 712

3 promoting their company Given the availability of skilled volunteers a few nonprofits indicated they had the opportunity to expand services, such as one nonprofit that started the professionals in the workplace program. However, a number of managers reported a much different experience regarding the opportunities in managing increasing numbers of volunteers. Several nonprofits expressed their frustration with not being able to seize the opportunity of working with such highly skilled volunteers, to expand services and better address the needs of the community. As stated by one manager, we need to constantly identify our needs and narrow in on what we could expand so if this were to happen again we could be better positioned to make use of the volunteers to our advantage Others specifically referred to how the recession inhibited their ability to take we had to lay off people it was hard to supervise. The fact that the influx of volunteers brought many highly skilled volunteers to the pool of those willing to contribute their time also meant that they were harder to place. The challenge confronting these nonprofit managers was more than matching skills to an organizational need. Many of the volunteers were unemployed and seeking a volunteer opportunity to provide them with new skills. Moreover, the transient nature of the current pool of volunteers (i.e. many were in between jobs) posed a threat to the organizations long term sustainability. The nonprofit managers we spoke with voiced concern that the nonprofit mission to service to the community would be compromised. As one nonprofit relayed to us, the skilled volunteers are unemployed so once they find a job they leave and the tasks that there were able to take on just are left undone and pile up. A number of managers acknowledged the challenges of not being able to support even those volunteers that came to serve with altruistic intentions. To the point, due to the loss of staff, there were no resources to recruit, train and/or supervise. For example, as one volunteer manager expressed, volunteers that were looking for a true volunteer opportunity and not just a transition or job opportunity---we were not able to take on nor were we able to provide new or more services to the community Furthermore, the loss of staff also presented itself as a lost opportunity, not only for the volunteers, but also for nonprofits that would have valued the opportunity to take advantage of the increased interest in volunteering but since it takes a lot of time to prepare...a bigger meatier project it wasn t possible with less staff. Extent of Volunteer Involvement Interviewees acknowledged several benefits due to the scope of volunteer use and the number of different ways volunteers contributed to their organization, including task permeability, taking on key roles and completing tasks more efficiently. Several nonprofit managers communicated that volunteers who had contributed their time prior to the recession had become even more active after losing their full time jobs. As expressed by one volunteer manager, one of our volunteers lost her job last year so she has been more active as a result. Moreover, not only have current volunteers been contributing more hours, many individuals who have been laid off and looking for volunteer opportunities have been able to take on key roles that have been left vacant due to hiring freezes, retrenchment or both. For example, nonprofit managers reported placing volunteers in human resource positions as well as in consultant capacity. Notably, not only have volunteers helped to sustain nonprofits during the recession other opportunities and strengths surfaced. These volunteers have also made possible the opportunity to 1) be responsive to specific community needs by completing tasks that otherwise would have remained unfinished or low on the priority list and 2) transfer skills to accomplish the same tasks as those performed by paid staff. One manager shared a story about a volunteer that offered her services to revamp their entire website for free in exchange for grant writing for them on a regular basis. Although their website was in need of updating, it was a low priority and a task that otherwise would have remained unfinished had it not been for the volunteer. In fact several nonprofit managers communicated that the volunteers have been so highly skilled that they have been able to give them a project and let them run with it with no supervision. We were also told that the willingness of volunteers to take on more tasks in order to develop new skills was a welcome opportunity. Overall, nonprofits have been very receptive and accommodating to increased volunteer interest which has provided the opportunity for several nonprofits to tailor requests to volunteer to specific emerging community needs. For example, as relayed to us by one volunteer manager, we have been able to develop many informal volunteer opportunities that are available via the website that is anyone coming in wanting to give their time we try to develop an opportunity that suits their interests and that would help the community for example, there has been an increased community need in resume writing and we have been able to match this need to volunteer skills and interest. The extent of volunteer involvement brings with it the major concern that many of these volunteers are in-between jobs and almost dive into volunteering as a therapeutic activity to avoid depression. As expressed by one volunteer manager, the opportunity to volunteer after losing one s job is almost a luxury, in some cases people who were available to volunteer were forced to seek full time employment due to Other Topics Page 713

4 other family members losing their job. Another manager brought to our attention that, You have to work and plan around a lot of schedules. It s not always easy to plan events or get work done in a timely fashion when you have to rely solely on volunteers. We had volunteers cancel on us at the last minute or if they were going to help with a function arrive hours late because of their other commitments. However, aside from these difficulties, when prompted to discuss any weaknesses, including task unavailability and underutilization of skills and experience, unanimously, none of our interviewees reported any of these weaknesses. These responses might reflect that volunteers are interested in serving in whatever available capacity is available to them. Specific to the economic downturn, it is also possible that volunteers will continue in the nonprofit organization with the expectation that a paid position will eventually develop. Lastly, only half our respondents affirmed the existence of a formal volunteer program. One manager mentioned that [t]heir organization maintained a formal volunteer program for board of directors only. Type of Volunteer Involvement The increased number of volunteers during the current economic downturn has provided some nonprofits with the advantage of a more sustainable pool of volunteers to call upon when needed. As articulated by one volunteer manager, we now have "a more consistent core group of volunteers... [They] have usually come in once or twice a week, and then all of a sudden were coming in every single day of the week. Since the majority of these individuals suddenly had more time since they lost their jobs, most were not young recent college graduates but those who were more experienced and looking to hone certain skills or make a career change. For instance, an individual was laid off from work and decided to pursue a career as a writer and though that volunteering would help hone her skills. However, a downside of this type of volunteer, given the economic downturn, is that many approach the pursuit of volunteer opportunities and nonprofits as unemployment agencies. As a result, those nonprofits that operated solely on volunteers, and not paid staff, were less attractive to volunteers as they did not provide opportunities for volunteers to get hired. Consequently, several nonprofits expressed frustration and poor utilization of their limited resources. This concern is best articulated by some of the comments that emerged in our interviews: [W]e were overwhelmed with people that wanted jobs it was almost a turnoff we were looking for [volunteers], and spent a lot of time, selecting those that could give us a long term commitment and were interested in being here At the same time, other managers were concerned that the short-term availability of most volunteers did not suit their organizational mission. As best expressed by one volunteer manager, given the work we do with children we need consistency and a volunteer commitment for the long-term at least one year; short term is not as good and that is mostly what has been available However, other nonprofits would have liked to have been better positioned to capitalize on the short-term volunteers, for instance, if our readers program were developed, we could have benefitted from the availability of short-term volunteers Several other nonprofits reflected on how they could use this opportunity to be more responsive to both volunteer interests and better meet community needs. For instance some nonprofits utilized their VISTA volunteers to start new programs: one of the NYC Vista volunteers we were awarded has been working on developing a pilot program that would develop opportunities for short-term volunteers and fill an organizational need ; and another organization was awarded three VISTA volunteers that have been working to develop a new program, the Occasional Volunteer Adult Program...this is the area where we can use, and take advantage of the available occasional volunteers Nonetheless, an increase in the number of short-term volunteers also presents issues of cost, training, and sustainability. For example, we have seen an increase in volunteers over the past 5 years. In 2009 we worked with over 35 volunteers. This year we expect that number to double - however we don't have the training available for all these volunteers. What s more, and an additional cost, the intransient nature of these volunteers bring with them a concern of sustainability once they find a permanent position, as best expressed by some of the volunteer managers in our interviews: [I]n our program we had forty volunteers this time last year that we trained and we invested our resources in them a year later we only have five volunteers and as the job market picks up I really don t think it will be the same we still have a few people [volunteers] but not at this level 4 CONCLUSION In sum, the government s cost savings strategy has enabled nonprofits to continue, if not increase, services to communities during times of fiscal stress. Key to their continuance has been the effective use of volunteers; volunteers have provided the capacity for nonprofits to develop specific programs in order to address growing community needs during the current recession as well as sustain their core services. Nonetheless, it should not be overlooked or understated that the organizational changes taken to navigate through this torrid time may have long-term effects for government, Other Topics Page 714

5 nonprofits, volunteers and the community. Can programs developed during this time be sustained once the majority of volunteers have returned to work? Have nonprofits lost an opportunity to involve younger volunteers? Have nonprofits had to re-focus their mission in order to survive? If so what does this mean for the community? What about the nonprofits that have not been able to take advantage of short-term volunteers but still deliver critical services to the community? These are not only questions for future research but issues that need to be considered by nonprofits and government if their partnership is to be an effective one in times of fiscal stress and during economic largess. REFERENCES Brudney, J. L. and W. D. Duncombe, An economic evaluation of paid, volunteer, and mixed staffing options for public services. Public Administration Review 52 (5): 474. Retrieved on March 29, 2010, from Platinum Periodicals. (Document ID: ) Designing and managing volunteer programs. In The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, edited by Robert D. Herman and Associates, 2 nd edition. New York, NY: Wiley. and L. Meijs It ain't natural: Toward a new (natural) resource conceptualization for volunteer management. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 38 (4): Corporation for National and Community Service New federal report shows volunteering strong in America, but 1 in 3 volunteers out in Available on November 1, 2007 at detail.asp?tbl_prid-682. Grantmaker The cost of a volunteer: What it takes to provide a quality volunteer experience. The Grantmaker forum on Community & National Service. Available at Hager, M. A. and J.L. Brudney Volunteer management: Practices and retention of volunteers. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute. Handy, F., L. Mook and J. Quarter The interchangeability of paid staff and volunteers in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 37 (1): Lipsky, M. and S. Smith. 1989/1990. Nonprofit organizations, government, and the welfare state. Political Science Quarterly 104 (4): Macduff, N Episodic volunteering. In The Volunteer Management Handbook, edited by T.D. Connors. New York, NY: Wiley Merrill, M. V Global trends and challenges for volunteering. International Journal of Volunteer Administration 24 (1): National Council of Nonprofits Economic stimulus & recovery special report, Number 1 February 23, 2009 Federal Economic Stimulus Legislation: Nonprofit Grant Opportunities. Available on May 15, 2009 at Ross, M. and J. Brudney Volunteer administration: Useful techniques for the public sector. Journal of Volunteer Administration 16 (2): Salomon, L. M. and W. Sokolowski Volunteering in cross-national perspective: Evidence from 24 countries. Working paper. The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. Strauss, A Qualitative research for social scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Available on May 29, 2010 at Urban Institute Volunteer management capacity in American s charities and congregations. Available at Other Topics Page 715

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