The Limits and Possibilities of Volunteering: A Framework for Explaining the Scope of Volunteer Involvement in Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Despite popular rhetoric concerning the benefits of volunteerism for public and nonprofit organizations, the use and management of volunteers to assist in the delivery of services is uneven: some organizations rely heavily on volunteer labor for this purpose, while others circumscribe volunteer contributions or eschew volunteer involvement altogether. This article introduces eight dimensions of volunteer involvementfour involving organizational decisions and four regarding volunteers' decisionsthat make up the overall scope of volunteer involvement in an organization. Based on a review of the literature, the article presents a conceptual framework and several research propositions concerning how organizational characteristics, volunteer management, and environmental factors affect the overall scope of volunteer involvement in an organization. Evidence for Practice Organizational characteristics, volunteer management, and environmental factors all contribute to the scope of volunteer involvement within an organization. Organizations that are struggling to broaden the scope of volunteer involvement can actively work to create more supportive organizational structures. Organizations that are struggling to broaden the scope of volunteer involvement need to be attentive to volunteer management capacity and practices used to manage volunteers.