As we approach 2001 and the International Year of the Volunteer I thought itmight be interesting to reflect on the definitions of volunteer and volunteering in our contemporary society. A search of literature turns up a wide variety of definitions but many do not seem to encompass the full scope of citizen participation we see happening around us today. For years Steve McCurley has had an exercise that asks participants to read a short statement about who/why a person is volunteering and then to decide if the person is a volunteer or non-volunteer on a scale of 1 to 5. This activity always generates a lot of discussion as participants begin to discuss their perceptions of who is a"true volunteer". This article is intended to stimulate debate on this topic. Dr. Safrit (co-author) and I encourage you to think about your perceptions and definitions of volunteerism in our contemporary society. As we focus on the International Year of the Volunteer and the role of volunteers around the world we may find new terms, new language, new definitions that challenge and stretch our current thinking. I invite readers to share their thoughts on this important topic.
What images come to mind when you hear the word "volunteer?" Do-gooders? Activist? Gray haired ladies? Mobilizers? Helpers? Idealists? Nice people? Fund raisers? Citizens? Cheap labor? Busybodies? You may or many not agree with these specific responses, but they are just a few offered by a group of for-profit and non-profit professionals during a recent university level seminar aboutthe history of volunteerism.
Volunteers and volunteerism are highly prevalent concepts in today's society. In 1998, over 109 million people age 18 or older volunteered services worth more than $225 billion dollars (Independent Sector, 1999). This represents 56% of the American adult population. Volunteers contributed an average 3.5 hoursper week, and the amount of volunteer time totaled 19.9 billion hours, which represents a two percent decrease from the 20.3 billion hours in 1995. Volunteering increased by more than 10% among women, African-Americans and persons between the ages of 35 and 44 years of age.
Although the concepts of "volunteer" and "volunteerism" are extremely familiar to most individuals, they are not consistently defined. Park (1983, p. 118) suggested that "the heart of volunteerism is the countless individual acts of commitment encompassing an endless variety of. . . tasks." The Webster's third International Dictionary, (Gove, 1986, p. 2564) defines "volunteer" as "one who enters into or offers himself forany service of his own free will". In the Volunteer 2000 Study conducted by the American Red Cross, Smith (1989) defined volunteers as individuals who reach out beyond the confines of their paid employment and of their normal responsibilities to contribute time and service to a not-for-profit cause in the belief that their activity is beneficial to others as well as satisfying to themselves. Although functional definitions of volunteerism are as varied and contrasting as the volunteers themselves, a unifying concept is the idea that volunteers arenot paid for their services. Scheier (as cited by McCurley, 1985) defined volunteerism as any activity that is relatively uncoerced, intended to help, conducted without primary or immediate thought of financial gain, and is work, not play. Brudney (1990, p. 3) noted that some organizations "allow that [volunteers] may receive partial subsistence remuneration and/or reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses."
"Volunteer" and "volunteerism" are also defined operationally, the Extension Service, United States Department of Agriculture (1990) defines a volunteer as any person, adult or teen, in a leadership capacity whocontributes time to the promotion, organization, assistance, or leadership of an organization, and is not paid for services rendered. The United States Department of Labor (as cited in Tufts et all, 1994, p. 5) defines volunteers as "individuals who perform services for a public agency (a unit of state or local government) for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered". In investigating volunteerism in Ohio cities and urban communities, Safrit, King and Burcsu (1994) defined volunteerism operationally as "giving time, energies, or talents to any individual or group for which [the individual] is not paid" (p.7). The Extension program of The Ohio State University defines a volunteer as anyone who contributes time, energies or talents to Ohio State University Extension programs and is not paid by O.S.U. Extension funds (Safrit et al., in press). This definition emphasizes an active involvement and partnership between the University and individuals as volunteers. In contrast, those individuals who contribute financial and/or material resources to O.S.U. Extension are recognized as donors or sponsors.
Contemporary volunteer programs also offer new challenges to defining "volunteer" and "volunteerism". Learn and Serve America: School and Community Based programs (n.d., p. 2) "involve school age youth incommunity service that addresses local needs in four national service priority areas: education, public safety, human services, and the environment". Such programs utilize "service learning" as a teaching tool, and may or may not incorporate the actual word "volunteer" into descriptions of Learn and Serve programs. The National Civilian Community Corps (n.d., p. 1) is aresidential national service program that "expands opportunities for youngAmericans to work in teams to meet critical needs in urban and rural communities". The Corps is one facet of AmeriCorps, a national network of service programs created as part of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993.Again, although members of the Corps are engaged in active service to their communities, "volunteerism" is not an inherent focus of the program's terminology. Like Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps utilizes a language of "service" in describing activities that traditionally may be considered "volunteerism".
Toward a Shared, Contemporary Understanding
Although published literature and definitions contained herein are "timeless" in the academic world we would suggest that "volunteer" and "volunteerism" are not. Should we, as volunteer administrators and manager, confine our professional focus to traditional concepts and definitions of "volunteer" and "volunteerism"? Should we strive for more inclusive definitions that incorporate traditional human behaviors into contemporary programs and institutional structures? Our purpose is not to provide thedefinitive definition of the societal activities upon which we each focus our professionals in the field. Rather, we challenge each of you to search within yourself, your professional philosophy, and your organization's culture to developa contemporary definition of volunteerism inclusive of the myriad of activities, programs, and professionals working diligently to address serious social problems facing our communities and our country through active involvement of individual citizens and citizen groups.
Based upon the ideas, concepts, and challenges shared above, and our personal and professional experiences in the field of volunteerism, we encourage you to consider the following tenants that could comprise a contemporary definition of "volunteerism". We believe that these tenants encompass traditional, contemporary and emerging perspectives of this human behavior.
Volunteerism Implies Active Involvement
The act of volunteerism involves active participation or contributions of time, energies, or talents; it is not merely the giving of financial or material resources as a donor/sponsor. The serious social issues facing us today cannot be resolved solely through monetary means. We agree with Lappe and Duboios (1994) that effective and long term solutions to such problems and issues will only be reached through the active participation of each of us as concerned citizens using the power of our relationships with each other.
Volunteerism is (Relatively) Uncoerced
Individuals give of their time, energies, and talents as volunteers of theirown free-will, mainly as the result of intrinsic motivations (Safrit, King and Burcsu, 1994). However, the act of volunteerism does not always occur spontaneously. The outcomes of volunteerism may be similar, whether they have their origins in individual altruism, informal encouragement, formal incentives in the workplace or classroom, or individual options through the judicial system. The similarities between many individual concepts of "volunteerism" and "service" usually outweigh the differences.
Volunteerism is Not Primarily Motivated by Financial Gain
For four decades, programs have reimbursed volunteers for personal and material expenses incurred during their service (Ellis and Noyes, 1990). Such financial remuneration has been termed "reimbursement", "stipend",or "living expenses" but never "salary". Considering the contemporary financial realities facing many individuals and households, and the desire to emphasize diversity among volunteers, some monetary aspect of volunteerism may be rapidly becoming necessity. Individuals with limited financial resources often have the desire to volunteer. However, they may not be able to afford time away from income-producing work, nor potential our-of-pocket expenses (Safrit and Smith, 1991).
Volunteerism Focuses Upon the Common Good
Although reasons for volunteering may be individualized and perhaps even self-serving, the outcomes of volunteerism should be focused beyond the individual towards a larger, common good. Although altruism may serve as both an ultimate goal of volunteer activities as well as a means towards that ultimate goal, personal motivations that are purely self-serving may still lead to that same, common altruistic goal. Furthermore, the origins of purely self-serving reasons for volunteering, such as school and job requirements or judicial options, should not be as important as the outcomes of the activities and behaviors.
References:
AmeriCorp National Civilian Community Corps. (n.d.) Fact about AmeriCorps NCCC[brochure]. Washington, D. C.: Author.
Brudney, J.L. (1990). Fostering volunteer programs in the public sector. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Ellis, S.J. & Noyes, K. H. (1990). By the people: A history of Americans as volunteers. . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Extension Service - USDA (1990). Tax-exempt status of 4-H organizations authorized to use the 4-H name and emblem (program aid #1282). Washington DC: United States Department of Agriculture.
Gove, P.B. (Ed.). (1986). Webster's third new international dictionary of the English language unabridged. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., Publishers.
Independent Sector. (1999). Giving and volunteering in the United States: Finding from a national survey, 1999 edition. Washington DC: Author
Lappe, F.M. & DuBois, P.M. (1994). The quickening of America: Rebuilding our nation, remaking our lives. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Learn and Serve America: School and Community Based Programs (n.d.) School and community programs: Learn and Serve America [brochure]. Washington DC: Author.
McCurley, S.H. (1985). 'A volunteer by any other name': What's your definition of volunteering? Voluntary Action Leadership, Winter, 24-26.
Park, J.M. (1983). Meaning well is not enough: Perspectives on volunteering. South Planfield, NJ: Groupwork Today.
Safrit, R.D., Erwin, S., Nester McNeeley, N., & Swartz, V. (in press).Volunteerism and Ohio State University Extension: A wining team. Columbus: Ohio State University Extension, The Ohio State University.
Safrit, R. D., King, J.E., & Burcsu, K. (1994). A study of volunteerism in Ohio cities and surrounding communities. Columbus: Department of Agricultural Education, The Ohio State University.
Safrit, R.D. and Smith, W.C. (1992). Volunteerism and limited resource audiences. In M.R. Spiegel (Ed.), Reaching Families and Youth Who Have Limited Resources (pp. 54-56). Columbus: Ohio State University Extension, The Ohio State University.
Smith, M.P. (1989). Taking volunteerism into the 21st century: Someconclusions from the American Red Cross. Journal of Volunteer Administration, 8(1), 3-10.
Tufts, S., Tremper, C., Seidman, A., and Kahn, J. (1994). Legal barriers to volunteer service: A community service brief from the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. Washington DC: Nonprofit Risk Management Center.