Research Brief
Volunteer Roles in Faith-based Organizations “We are really proud of the folks who fix lunch, you know. They could come down here and lay up pimento and cheese sandwiches and be done with it. But no, they come down and they put table cloths out on the table where we have lunch, there are baskets of flowers, they make sure they serve each lady, and then they come out and they sit with them and they talk with them, and they nurture and create relationships with them.” -from a life skills program director in a large Protestant congregation This brief describes what the FASTEN research team headed by staff of Baylor University’s School of Social Work has learned about the roles of volunteers in faith-based programs.[a] FASTEN is using the term volunteer for those persons who are not receiving financial compensation from the programs where they serve. This brief is written for any program leader who works with and knows the value of volunteers. Some Lessons Learned on the Role of Volunteers Did you know that 44% of adults volunteer at an annual estimated value of $239 billion (Independent Sector Survey on Giving and Volunteering, 2001)? That is almost 90 million Americans. A variety of recent studies tell much about why volunteers do what they do (Clary, Synder, & Stukas, 1996; Ellis & Noyes, 1990; Farmer & Fecor, 1999; Goverkar & Goverkar, 2002; Pearce, 1993; Perlmutter & Cnaan, 1993; Smith, 1994). Here are some of the lessons we have learned about the roles of volunteers in the faith-based programs we have studied: 1. It is not always possible to separate out paid staff, volunteer, and even participant (service recipient) roles. Staff composition in these programs is so intertwined between those persons who are paid and those who are volunteers that distinguishing between them is difficult. For example, a volunteer physician in a faith-based clinic may work side-by-side with a paid staff physician. Volunteers may have professional expertise or be professionals in training. Paid staff and volunteers may be full-time, part-time, PRN (pro re nata, as needed staff), paraprofessional, even quasi-staff (having characteristics of both staff and volunteers). Moreover, paid staff members often begin as volunteers, working their way into part-time and full-time positions. Participants may also serve as volunteers both during and after their time as service recipients. As a result, we sometimes observed participants being served by the program one day and volunteering with professional staff to prepare for an event the next day. 2. Volunteers are, as one program administrator put it, “a diverse collage.”He continued, “We have professionals who are volunteers. We also have stay-at-home moms. We have senior adults, retired individuals. We have retired military.” And not only do volunteers come from different backgrounds, they also vary in the types of service they offer to the FBO. Some are “core” volunteers, meaning they perform regular activities. Others are “event” volunteers; they are more episodic in their activities. There are also “mission” volunteers who are lent to the agency by a religious job corps or order for a period of up to two years. 3. Even the smallest organizations studied appear to have at least part-time paid staff, although many began as all-volunteer. Even at small organizations, the board (also volunteers) and paid staff face decisions about multiple items such as who to hire and what staff input to solicit. Both paid staff and volunteers face challenges in the process of program decision-making. For example, both low pay for staff and heavy dependence on volunteers are constant concerns for many program administrators. The processes required to make the program come alive–everything from orienting staff (paid and volunteer) to quality assurance–suggest the value of the multiple roles of volunteers in an organization. 4. Both paid staff and volunteers often describe the motivation for their work as faith-based. Volunteers frequently speak of their presence in terms of vocation, saying they have been called to serve or feel divinely directed. Some tell of their religious roots, explaining they were raised in the Church and that their service flows from this identity. Service is described by some as a duty; others talk of their work as being pleasing to God. Other motivating factors underlying service include the rewarding nature of the work, being recognized by the agency, having opportunities to advance, or possessing a passion for the mission. 5. Faith as a factor in the experience of volunteers at faith-based organizations is manifested in numerous ways in programs.The FBO’s faith commitment may lead to the creation of certain positions, such as a paid or volunteer chaplain. It may influence hiring decisions, such as employing a CEO from a certain faith tradition. It may influence program leadership, as when clergy are specifically recruited into decision-making roles. It can shape the ethos and values of the FBO and its approach to its work, such as when programs are crafted to meet spiritual and emotional, as well as physical and material, needs. An FBO’s faith perspective affects how it views participants (e.g., insisting that each participant be respected as a child of God) and how it organizes its work (e.g., holding prayer at meetings, offering staff and volunteers spiritual development opportunities, or recruiting volunteers specifically as “prayer warriors”). And volunteers themselves may choose a service role that is a direct outgrowth of their faith. As one program administrator explained: “We have prayer warriors who just pray for the ladies. They may never even meet the woman, they may not ever know who she is; they never see her. But they have her name and they pray for her.” 6. Both paid staff and volunteers are recruited (or come to the program) from numerous sources, including faith-related (e.g. churches, seminaries, etc.) and secular (civic groups, community professionals, corporations, etc.) ones. Sources of volunteers are as diverse as human imagination allows. Volunteers and paid staff come from churches, seminaries, church-related schools, religious orders, the indigenous community, colleges/universities, civic groups, collaborating organizations, and corporations. 7. Whereas some programs are constantly seeking new volunteers, other programs have the opposite dilemma – too many from whom to choose. The director of a lifeskills program in a large Protestant congregation told us, “We have people waiting to be part of the team. In as long as I have been involved in church work, I have never operated a program where I had too many volunteers until [this program] came along. And suddenly I’ve got this group that is incredibly dedicated, incredibly gifted, and they keep coming back.” Conversely, programs that are highly dependent upon student volunteers indicate that it is difficult to cover required tasks when midterms or holiday breaks occur. 8. Both paid staff and volunteers talk about the personal benefits they receive. These benefits come from their work, including the flexibility of their positions, learning and service opportunities, a family “feel” to the program/agency, the manageable size of the program, rewards of the work, chances for informal interaction, and pride in the program’s external recognition. There appears to be a reciprocity between these personal benefits and the program benefits that volunteers and paid staff members receive. Comments by paid administrators or program coordinators about both paid staff and volunteers include that they “go the extra mile,” are good advocates for service participants, engage in “intensive hand-holding,” and exhibit “passion.” Implications for Leaders Interested in Volunteers Because people who serve in your organization share roles and work side-by-side with each other, volunteers and staff who perform overlapping roles can participate in the same training. This may be particularly helpful for small organizations, where there are large numbers of volunteers and few resources to provide training. Cross-training may also be important, so that the same people can “wear different hats” as needed. Find out how volunteers, paid staff members, and participants who may also be volunteers feel about any overlap in roles. In what places are overlapping responsibilities helpful? What problems does it create? Discussing roles and experiences may present you with challenges, but it may also serve to strengthen your volunteer program and the services they provide. If a program needs more volunteers, whether it is faith-based or not, consider using both faith-based and secular venues for recruiting volunteers. The following are possibilities for telling people about your volunteer opportunities: churches, seminaries, church-related schools, religious orders, the indigenous community, former participants, colleges/universities, community professionals, retirees, civic groups, collaborators, and corporations. Similarly, make sure that people within your organization know about these opportunities to volunteer. Because participants in the program and paid staff of the program may choose to volunteer, they need to know about these opportunities. They can also mention these volunteer needs to people within their personal networks, thus broadening your recruitment efforts. Recruit volunteers to fit the opportunities. Core volunteers are regular and ongoing players within the program. Be sure individuals recruited for these roles have sufficient time in their schedules to perform faithfully their responsibilities. Special events may require multitudes of short-term volunteers. You might think of recruiting these as a cohort. Given the high need for volunteer labor, recruiting from inside and outside of the organization may make sense. Determine what motivated volunteers to serve in your program and whether or not the volunteer experience has strengthened that motivation or changed it. What is motivating each volunteer to stay involved? In shaping the volunteer’s tasks and responsibilities, be sure that these motivations are being addressed. Be sure volunteers, as well as paid staff, have a chance to discuss what motivates them to volunteer and what they gain from the experience. Volunteers are very diverse, and so, as a result, FBOs may choose to be intentional about communication regarding volunteer jobs and how they should be done. People from a variety of perspectives are more likely to have differing opinions—the greater the diversity, the greater the need for intentionality in building unity of understanding. Conclusion In the promising programs studied, volunteers and paid staff play multiple, often overlapping roles. Beginning as all-volunteer or one-person operations, these faith-based programs have developed into places where professionals and paraprofessionals (both paid and volunteer) work together. The moral imperative or faith-based nature of the work appears to be a recruiting tool for both paid staff and volunteers, as well as an expressed personal benefit for both. References Clary, E.G., Synder, M., & Stukas, A. A. (1996). Volunteers’ motivations: Findings from a national survey. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25 (4), 485-505. Ellis, S. J., & Noyes, K. H. (1990). By the people: A history of Americans as volunteers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Farmer, S. M., & Fecor, D. B. (1999). Volunteer participation and withdrawal: A psychological contract perspective on the role of expectations and organizational support. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 9, 349-367. Govekar, P. L., & Govekar, M. A. (2002). Using economic theory and research to better understand volunteer behavior. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 13(1), 33-45. Pearce, J. L. (1993). Volunteers: The organizational behavior of unpaid workers. New York: Routledge. Perlmutter, F. D., & Cnaan, R. A. (1993). Challenging human service organizations to redefine volunteer roles. Administration in Social Work, 17 (4), 77-95.
[a]This is part of a series of Research Briefs authored by the FASTEN research team and released by Baylor University School of Social Work as part of a 30-month research project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. This project is designed to identify the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in addressing problems of urban poverty. Baylor is leading the FASTEN research team which includes researchers from Baylor University’s school of social work and business school, the schools of social work at the University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. A team of researchers from these four universities have interviewed various stakeholders from fifteen (15) promising faith-based programs in four United Statescities. This ends the data collection portion of Phase I of a grounded theory research project in which participants, board members, administrators, program coordinators, and collaborators in these fifteen programs have been interviewed face-to-face. The findings of this first phase will be the foundation for a quantitative national survey designed to determine the extent to which the grounded theory that emerges in the project’s first phase can be applied nationally across the diversity of faith-based social services in the United States. The Hudson Institute and the Center for Faith and Service of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), Baylor’s partners in this project, are disseminating the findings of this research through the creation of the Faith & Service Technical Education Network (FASTEN). |
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