Articles

15th issue of Voluntary Action - Volume 5 Number 3

 

Cultivating voluntary action in deprived neighbourhoods:
a fourth sector approach
Colin C Williams, Department of Geography, University of Leicester

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This article aims to evaluate critically the policy approach that seeks to cultivate voluntary action in deprived neighbourhoods by pursuing the ‘third sector’ route of developing voluntary groups. Drawing upon evidence from recent UK government surveys of volunteering, it shows that this third sector approach of fostering formal volunteering (helping via groups) only develops one half of the voluntary sector, as well as promoting a culture of engagement relatively unfamiliar to people in deprived neighbourhoods. The argument, therefore, is that this third sector route needs to be complemented with a ‘fourth sector’ approach that seeks further to develop informal volunteering (helping on a one-to-one basis), which is more reflective of the existing participatory culture in deprived areas. The article concludes by outlining some possible policy initiatives that can be used to implement this fourth sector approach.

Perceptions of and reflections on volunteering: the impact of community service on citizenship in students
Dr Diann Eley, Institute of Youth Sport, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University

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Research provides considerable evidence for the positive impact that volunteering can have on young people. Yet just as each young person is different, so too is each volunteering experience. Contributing to these differences are dispositional variables, such as personal beliefs, values and personality traits, all of which colour our perceptions of experience and influence our decisions relating to them. Important to our decision-making and to how we make sense of our experiences are our perceptions of, and reflections on, those experiences. This article reports on a longitudinal study of a volunteering programme that aims to increase the citizenship potential of students. It describes the results of this study in relation to the students’ perceptions of what volunteering and citizenship mean to them and their reflections on the impact of their volunteering experience.

Volunteering and the concept of social capital
Dr Judith Sixsmith, Department of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Dr Margaret Boneham, Department of Health and Social Studies, Bolton Institute

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This article will present some findings from a project funded by the Health Development Agency on the relationship between social capital, gender and health. The project involved a case study analysis of a socially deprived community in the north west of England and was carried out between November 1999 and March 2001. Findings suggested that the role of participation in voluntary organisations was crucial in the development of social capital for some community members and yet exclusionary for others.

The volunteer life cycle: a marketing model for volunteering
Helen Bussell and Deborah Forbes, School of Business and Management, University of Teesside

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As the competition for volunteers becomes more acute and volunteer managers become increasingly concerned with the recruitment and retention of volunteers, marketing techniques are playing an ever more important role. Using the findings of a series of focus groups, this article examines the recruitment and retention of volunteers in north-eastern England. The findings indicate that volunteer behaviour goes through a number of stages. A ‘volunteer life cycle’ model is developed which emphasises the relevance of voluntary organisations using marketing communications, recruitment and retention strategies to facilitate the volunteer’s experience, so that it results in continued volunteering rather than an exit from the activity.

Hold on to what you’ve got: the volunteer retention literature
Michael Locke, Angela Ellis and Justin Davis Smith

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This article, based on a review of the literature on volunteer retention, finds many areas of disagreement among researchers about the factors that cause people to remain as volunteers. The section on ‘personal factors and life events’ suggests that changes in personal circumstances may cause people to leave volunteering and that domestic stability may cause them to stay, but is unable to give a clear answer on the part played by people’s demographic profiles or by their personalities, attitudes and religious beliefs. In the same way, the section on ‘organisations and contexts’ suggests that poor management may cause volunteers to leave organisations and that management which is ‘explicit, developmental, supportive and appreciative’ may encourage them to stay, but is forced to point out that the evidence on the influence of the motivation, commitment and satisfaction of the individual volunteer on retention is as yet inconclusive. One of the main conclusions of the article is that any future research into volunteer retention will need to ‘analyse complex situations and multiple factors’.