Retention of volunteers in the non-profit sector: Volunteer management influence on volunteer retention

Details

Supervisors

Wagener, Martin

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en gestion des ressources humaines, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

This thesis is written on the basis of the internship I had the privilege of carrying out in the non-profit organisation, Serve the City. It aims at studying the influence the volunteer management operated in the non-profit organisation has on the retention of its volunteers. In order to do so, a literature review on volunteer motivation and engagement - taking into consideration the distinction between job vs organisational engagement made by Malinen & Harju (2017) - on volunteer management and on the digitalisation in the third sector was operated. For the purpose of this study, ten interviews were conducted with volunteers, of which some were project leaders. The results showed that volunteers engaged in volunteering activities, not only for the sake of helping other people, but also for personal development and for social interaction purposes. Overall volunteers are primarily engaged towards their volunteering job, even more so when supported by the management, and develop an engagement towards the organisation itself the more they engage with the goings-on of the non-profit. The volunteer management effectively manages to retain its volunteers by applying a leadership and managerial approach, a personal development approach, and an emotional approach, as summarised by Tiltay & Islek (2020). Additionally, the effective use of communication channels for internal purposes further contributes to retaining the volunteers.