Volunteerism

The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook provides detailed information both for organizations to get started with involving and supporting volunteers online, and for organizations that are already engaged in virtual volunteering that want to improve and expand their programs. Based in years of research and practical experience, it is packed with examples and case studies, including international perspectives. 

Translation studies finds itself today at a stage where its traditional focus on translator and interpreter training and on the advancement of the status of translators and interpreters as professionals is no longer sufficient to address the complexity of real-life situations of translating and interpreting. As increasing numbers of non-professionals translate and interpret in a wider range of contexts and in more diversified forms, their work emerges not only as an alternative to established professional practice, but also as a distinctive phenomenon, which the discipline has yet to recognize as a noteworthy area of study. This article looks into the relatively uncharted territory of non-professional translation and interpreting, drawing mainly on Arjun Appadurai’s conceptualization of global transactions, and offers a number of insights into what these new developments might mean for the discipline at large.

Firewise Communities/USA® is a national program designed to encourage residents of wildfire-prone areas to take action to reduce wildfire risks to their homes and neighborhoods. Residents of homeowner associations and small communities who are interested in improving their wildfire safety work with state forestry and fire professionals and follow a simple, flexible process to become recognized as Firewise. To maintain their status, they must conduct annual mitigation work, hold a Firewise Day, and document their activity. This paper examines the successes and challenges of the program, taking into account the voluntary nature of participation, and explores challenges to program adoption, particularly factors that lead to loss of interest in pursuing ongoing Firewise activity.

"The paper draws upon fieldwork conducted with volunteers who assist refugees in old abandoned buildings and explores the ambiguities and limitations of their encounters.

In particular, the essay illuminates the problem of the gift; the political dangers embedded in gift-giving to refugees and the left-wing volunteers' attempts to overcome the hierarchical consequences of gift-giving."

The present work has a two-fold aim: (a) to verify the difference in civic behavior enacted by socially engaged young people in a lasting and structured form, sealed by membership in an organization, on the one hand, and in non-engaged young people, on the other hand; (b) to identify a pattern of characteristics (personal, social, and familial) able to explain civic behavior. Participants, 577 young adults from ages 19 to 29, filled out a self-report questionnaire. The results of the t test for independent samples confirm the presence of the difference between means of scores on the civic behavior. Moreover, data confirm a model in which civic behavior is predicted by personal identity, engagement values, family discussion of current events, the quality of previous membership experiences in socially oriented groups (membership), and finally, in a mediator position, by sense of community. The present study has many implications for researchers and practitioners.

Young people are increasingly encouraged to volunteer, perhaps as a panacea to combat personal and social problems (Sheard, 1995). This paper will explore why volunteering policy has developed this instrumental tendency in recent history. It will analyse Michel Foucault’s theories of governmentality, and use these as a frame to consider the advances made in youth policy over the last half century, but with particular regard to volunteering policy in the last 15 years. Using governmentality as a tool of analysis, it will argue that volunteering policy has become a device to responsibilize younger generations; a method to improve the authority of the young over their own lives and their local areas, whilst moulding behaviour which brings about individual and collective wellbeing. It is also argued that this follows a natural progression of youth policies to tackle the ‘problem of youth’.

With the purpose of bringing added depth to our understanding of sporting event volunteerism by taking a new approach to research on the topic, the current study employed the critical incident technique to explore the perceptions of volunteers at a professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour event. Our findings suggest both connections to and departures from existing work on sporting event volunteerism. Specifically, the current study highlights a range of factors relevant to understanding sporting event volunteers’ experiences, including (a) the prominence of sport interest as a reason for volunteering, (b) the importance of social interaction and a feeling of contribution in the volunteer process, (c) the relevance of management practices in impacting volunteers’ experiences, (d) the gendered, raced, and classed nature of volunteerism, and (e) the implications of the overall high satisfaction levels of volunteers.

This paper introduces the concept of volunteering in the hospitality industry. Used to great success in other industries, volunteering is almost unheard of in hospitality and this paper argues that substantial benefits might accrue to not only the volunteer, through the development of skills and knowledge, but also to the hospitality industry, through the identification of quality and committed employees. The paper defines volunteering and presents an indication of the extent of volunteering in the UK. Thereafter, the paper examines contemporary motivations to volunteer and discusses the potential benefits of the creation of a structured volunteering scheme for the hospitality industry.

The authors discuss recruitment of volunteers to serve in local nonprofit organizations. A conceptual model describing the determinants of volunteering is described. The model is useful in understanding the various influences affecting a person’s volunteer behavior. Marketing tactics, which take into account prior research, are presented in order to help the volunteer program manager (VPM) more effectively recruit volunteers. While the work is academically strong, efforts are made to make this work very practical.