Enhancing Volunteer Retention: The Role of Experienced Volunteers

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2025.0327

References

  • Ahmad K (2023) New research reveals nonprofit volunteers more valued than ever, but scarce. Univ. Maryland Division Res. (February 8), https://research.umd.edu/articles/new-research-reveals-nonprofit-volunteers-more-valued-ever-scarce.Google Scholar
  • Akşin Z, Deo S, Jónasson JO, Ramdas K (2021) Learning from many: Partner exposure and team familiarity in fluid teams. Management Sci. 67(2):854–874.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Allen DG (2006) Do organizational socialization tactics influence newcomer embeddedness and turnover? J. Management 32(2):237–256.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • AmeriCorps (2021) Volunteering and civic life in America research summary. Report, AmeriCorps, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
  • Ata B, Tongarlak MH, Lee D, Field J (2024) A dynamic model for managing volunteer engagement. Oper. Res. 72(5):1958–1975.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Autrey RL, Bauer TD, Jackson KE, Klevsky E (2019) Deploying “connectors”: A control to manage employee turnover intentions? Accounting Organ. Soc. 79:101059.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Avgerinos E, Gokpinar B (2017) Team familiarity and productivity in cardiac surgery operations: The effect of dispersion, bottlenecks, and task complexity. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 19(1):19–35.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Baron RA, Byrne DE (1977) Social Psychology: Understanding Human Interaction (Allyn and Bacon, Boston, Toronto).Google Scholar
  • Barsade SG (2002) The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Admin. Sci. Quart. 47(4):644–675.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Benkard CL (2000) Learning and forgetting: The dynamics of aircraft production. Amer. Econom. Rev. 90(4):1034–1054.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Berenguer G, Shen Z-J (2020) OM forum—Challenges and strategies in managing nonprofit operations: An operations management perspective. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 22(5):888–905.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Berenguer G, Haskell WB, Li L (2023) Managing volunteers and paid workers in a nonprofit operation. Management Sci. 70(8):5298–5316.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Clary EG, Snyder M, Ridge RD, Copeland J, Stukas AA, Haugen J, Miene P (1998) Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 74(6):1516–1530.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Darley JM, Latané B (1968) Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 8(4, Pt. 1):377–383.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Dwiggins-Beeler R, Spitzberg B, Roesch S (2011) Vectors of volunteerism: Correlates of volunteer retention, recruitment, and job satisfaction. J. Psych. Issues Organ. Culture 2(3):22–43.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Finkelstien MA (2009) Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivational orientations and the volunteer process. Personality Individual Differences 46(5–6):653–658.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Gagné M (2003) The role of autonomy support and autonomy orientation in prosocial behavior engagement. Motivation Emotion 27:199–223.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Gallus J (2017) Fostering public good contributions with symbolic awards: A large-scale natural field experiment at Wikipedia. Management Sci. 63(12):3999–4015.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Garner JT, Garner LT (2011) Volunteering an opinion: Organizational voice and volunteer retention in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quart. 40(5):813–828.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Gleaners (2024) Gleaners impact statement fiscal year 2023. Report, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN.Google Scholar
  • Gokpinar B, Hopp WJ, Iravani SMR (2010) The impact of misalignment of organizational structure and product architecture on quality in complex product development. Management Sci. 56(3):468–484.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Goodman PS, Leyden DP (1991) Familiarity and group productivity. J. Appl. Psych. 76(4):578–586.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Grensing-Pophal L (2025) Position community volunteering as an employee benefit. SHRM (April 18), https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/position-community-volunteering-employee-benefit.Google Scholar
  • Grube JA, Piliavin JA (2000) Role identity, organizational experiences, and volunteer performance. Personality Soc. Psych. Bull. 26(9):1108–1119.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Haski-Leventhal D, Bargal D (2008) The volunteer stages and transitions model: Organizational socialization of volunteers. Human Relations 61(1):67–102.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Haski-Leventhal D, Cnaan RA (2009) Group processes and volunteering: Using groups to enhance volunteerism. Admin. Soc. Work 33(1):61–80.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Hassan S (2013) The importance of role clarification in workgroups: Effects on perceived role clarity, work satisfaction, and turnover rates. Public Admin. Rev. 73(5):716–725.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Heim J (2023) Nonprofits need more help than ever. Why aren’t Americans volunteering? Washington Post (December 11), https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/09/volunteer-decline-homeless-pandemic/.Google Scholar
  • Huckman RS, Staats BR (2011) Fluid tasks and fluid teams: The impact of diversity in experience and team familiarity on team performance. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 13(3):310–328.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Huckman RS, Staats BR, Upton DM (2009) Team familiarity, role experience, and performance: Evidence from Indian software services. Management Sci. 55(1):85–100.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Hyde MK, Dunn J, Bax C, Chambers SK (2016) Episodic volunteering and retention: An integrated theoretical approach. Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quart. 45(1):45–63.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Independent Sector (2024) The value of volunteer time. Accessed June, 2024, https://independentsector.org/research/value-of-volunteer-time.Google Scholar
  • Janis IL (1972) Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions and Fiascoes (Houghton Mifflin, Boston).Google Scholar
  • Kish-Gephart JJ, Detert JR, Treviño LK, Edmondson AC (2009) Silenced by fear: The nature, sources, and consequences of fear at work. Res. Organ. Behav. 29:163–193.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Kramer MW, Meisenbach RJ, Hansen GJ (2013) Communication, uncertainty, and volunteer membership. J. Appl. Comm. Res. 41(1):18–39.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Lacetera N, Macis M, Slonim R (2014) Rewarding volunteers: A field experiment. Management Sci. 60(5):1107–1129.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Lawler EJ, Thye SR, Yoon J (2000) Emotion and group cohesion in productive exchange. Amer. J. Sociol. 106(3):616–657.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • McPherson M, Smith-Lovin L, Cook JM (2001) Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Rev. Sociol. 27(1):415–444.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Merrilees B, Miller D, Yakimova R (2020) Volunteer retention motives and determinants across the volunteer lifecycle. J. Nonprofit Public Sector Marketing 32(1):25–46.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Niewoehner RJ III, Diwas KC, Staats B (2023) Physician discretion and patient pick-up: How familiarity encourages multitasking in the emergency department. Oper. Res. 71(3):958–978.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Omoto AM, Packard CD (2016) The power of connections: Psychological sense of community as a predictor of volunteerism. J. Soc. Psych. 156(3):272–290.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Omoto AM, Snyder M (1995) Sustained helping without obligation: Motivation, longevity of service, and perceived attitude change among aids volunteers. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 68(4):671–686.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Omoto AM, Snyder M (2002) Considerations of community: The context and process of volunteerism. Amer. Behav. Sci. 45(5):846–867.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Omoto AM, Snyder M (2010) Influences of psychological sense of community on voluntary helping and prosocial action. Stürmer S, Snyder M, eds. The Psychology of Prosocial Behavior: Group Processes, Intergroup Relations, and Helping (Wiley Blackwell, Chichester, UK), 223–244.Google Scholar
  • Penner LA (2002) Dispositional and organizational influences on sustained volunteerism: An interactionist perspective. J. Soc. Issues 58(3):447–467.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Piatak JS, Carman JG (2023) Unpacking the volunteer experience: The influence of volunteer management on retention and promotion of the organization. J. Public Nonprofit Affairs 9(3):278–296.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Reagans R, Argote L, Brooks D (2005) Individual experience and experience working together: Predicting learning rates from knowing who knows what and knowing how to work together. Management Sci. 51(6):869–881.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Saksida T, Alfes K, Shantz A (2017) Volunteer role mastery and commitment: Can HRM make a difference? Internat. J. Human Resource Management 28(14):2062–2084.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Samuel O, Wolf P, Schilling A (2013) Corporate volunteering: Benefits and challenges for nonprofits. Nonprofit Management Leadership 24(2):163–179.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Smith SL, Grove CJ (2017) Bittersweet and paradoxical: Disaster response volunteering with the American Red Cross. Nonprofit Management Leadership 27(3):353–369.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Stukas AA, Snyder M, Clary EG (2016) Understanding and encouraging volunteerism and community involvement. J. Soc. Psych. 156(3):243–255.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Tajfel H (1979) An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. Hogg MA, Abrams D, eds. Intergroup Relations: Essential Readings (Psychology Press, Philadelphia), 94–109.Google Scholar
  • Tornes M, Kramer MW (2015) The volunteer experience in temporary organizations: Volunteer role negotiation and identification in a pop-culture convention. Comm. Stud. 66(5):590–606.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Urrea G, Yoo E (2023) The role of volunteer experience on performance on online volunteering platforms. Production Oper. Management 32(2):416–433.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Urrea G, Pedraza-Martinez AJ, Besiou M (2019) Volunteer management in charity storehouses: Experience, congestion and operational performance. Production Oper. Management 28(10):2653–2671.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Walk M, Zhang R, Littlepage L (2019) “Don’t you want to stay?” The impact of training and recognition as human resource practices on volunteer turnover. Nonprofit Management Leadership 29(4):509–527.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Zappala G, McLaren J (2004) A functional approach to employee volunteering: An exploratory study. Australian J. Volunteering 9(1):41–54.Google Scholar
INFORMS site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; Others help us improve the user experience. By using this site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Please read our Privacy Statement to learn more.