摘要
With nonprofit organizations expanding due to a weakened economy and a growing population, there is an increased need for volunteers to staff and support these organizations. Since most nonprofits operate with limited finances, these organizations have to generate and retain a group of effective and committed unpaid organizational members. In this study, I argue that the best way for nonprofits to cultivate efficient and dedicated volunteers is to use communication tactics that encourage members to identify with the organization. I also argue that if volunteers strongly identify with an organization, they are more likely to continue contributing their time and effort to the organization, leading to lower volunteer turnover rates and stronger relationships between the organization and volunteers. In order to discover the ways in which volunteers express identification, I conducted in-depth interviews with volunteers from a Midwestern animal welfare organization. From the interviews, three major themes emerged, including: ways in which participants expressed organizational identification, the organizational struggles participants encountered, the organizational challenges facing identification, and within this final theme, the impact of organizational communication on identification. The results present interesting findings because participants expressed being so identified with the Midwestern Animal Society that they expect to receive information and responsibilities typically given to employees and desire to have personal relationships with employees so as to receive more communication and maintain a more intimate relationship with the organization.
摘要译文
随着非营利组织不断扩大，由于经济疲软和不断增长的人口，有志愿者更加需要工作人员和支持这些组织。由于大多数非营利组织与有限的资金运作，这些机构必须生成并保留一组有效的，并承诺无偿组织成员。在这项研究中，我认为，对于非营利组织，培养高效，敬业的志愿者最好的办法是使用鼓励成员认同该组织的沟通策略。我还认为，如果志愿者强烈的组织辨认，他们更可能继续贡献他们的时间和精力来组织，从而降低志愿者流失率与组织和志愿者之间的更紧密的关系。以发现其中的志愿者表达的识别方式，我进行了深入访谈与来自中西部的动物福利组织的志愿者。从访谈中，三大主题出现了，其中包括：如何使与会者组织认同，组织斗争的参与者遇到，面对鉴定组织的挑战，并在这最后的主题，鉴定组织沟通的影响。结果本有趣的发现，因为与会者被如此确定的中西部动物协会，他们希望得到通常给员工和信息的愿望和责任与员工的个人关系，以获得更多的沟通和维护与一个更亲密的关系组织。
Pilak, Nora Beth. Cultivating and retaining commited volunteers: An analysis of volunteer identification in nonprofit organizations[D]. US: Marquette University, 2012