Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Based on a qualitative content analysis of twenty national and international newspaper editorials and articles, we lay out the scope of problems and frustrations as experienced and reported by volunteers working in non-profit organizations that primarily serve the needs of women and their children. Starting with our own personal experiences as frustrated volunteers, we categorize common complaints from our sample and then discuss the implications of these complaints for volunteer workers, generally. We argue that the persistent frustrations emergent from our data analysis reflect larger structural problems arising from cuts in government spending on social services, less funding for non-profit organizations, and over-reliance on individual community support of local non-profit organizations. Other research demonstrates that non-profits must establish legitimate organizational structures to maintain competitiveness for both government and philanthropic funding. Legitimate structures translate into bureaucratic systems, long studied for such problems as overall inefficiency and decoupling from stated missions and actual practices. These systemic problems increasingly shift the burden of social service work from governments and employers to non-profit organizations. Further, as non-profits receive less funding and yet are taking increasing numbers of projects, their overall organizational structure shifts such that volunteers feel the brunt of more work. This increasing workload often includes paperwork and other mundane chores that paid staff no longer have the time to complete. Hence, volunteers’ frustrations stem from problems beyond the immediate purview of individual non-profits, often resulting in volunteers’ feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, and disappointment. From this research, we can learn how to identify volunteers’ needs for expression of altruism and mediate those needs while continuing to effectively manage non-profits.