Sustaining and Retaining a Healthy Volunteer Population
Advisor Information
Lisa Scherer
Location
UNO Criss Library, Room 232
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
6-3-2015 9:30 AM
End Date
6-3-2015 9:45 AM
Abstract
With the unstable economy leading to an increase in demand for support services and a decrease in budgets, nonprofits depend on volunteers now more than ever (DeVita, 2012). Despite need, in 2012, volunteer attrition across the United States averaged 34 percent (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2013). The primary purpose of this study is to better understand volunteer retention efforts by investigating factors that affect burnout in volunteers using the job demandsresources model as a supporting theoretical framework (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Evidence suggests organizational constraints (e.g., poor equipment or environment and lack of support) and lack of resources are sources of burnout (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Halbesleben & Buckley, 2004; Lee & Ashforth, 1996), which leads to intentions to quit in volunteers (Jourdain & Chênevert, 2010; Bakker, Demerouti & Verbeke, 2004). Because job satisfaction, or one’s positive attitude about their job, is negatively correlated with burnout (Bacharach, Bamberger & Conley, 1991) and organizational constraints are related with job dissatisfaction (Spector et al, 1988; Jex & Gudanowski, 1992), we propose job satisfaction is a resource that can reduce organizational constraints and mitigate the negative psychological costs associated with job demands (Figure 1). Results demonstrated a significant conditional indirect relationship between satisfaction and burnout at each level of importance of organizational constraints (Table 1, Figure 2). That is, volunteers who experienced high constraints were less burned out when they were satisfied with the nature of their work. However, as predicted, those who were unsatisfied with their work experience more burno.
Sustaining and Retaining a Healthy Volunteer Population
UNO Criss Library, Room 232
With the unstable economy leading to an increase in demand for support services and a decrease in budgets, nonprofits depend on volunteers now more than ever (DeVita, 2012). Despite need, in 2012, volunteer attrition across the United States averaged 34 percent (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2013). The primary purpose of this study is to better understand volunteer retention efforts by investigating factors that affect burnout in volunteers using the job demandsresources model as a supporting theoretical framework (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Evidence suggests organizational constraints (e.g., poor equipment or environment and lack of support) and lack of resources are sources of burnout (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Halbesleben & Buckley, 2004; Lee & Ashforth, 1996), which leads to intentions to quit in volunteers (Jourdain & Chênevert, 2010; Bakker, Demerouti & Verbeke, 2004). Because job satisfaction, or one’s positive attitude about their job, is negatively correlated with burnout (Bacharach, Bamberger & Conley, 1991) and organizational constraints are related with job dissatisfaction (Spector et al, 1988; Jex & Gudanowski, 1992), we propose job satisfaction is a resource that can reduce organizational constraints and mitigate the negative psychological costs associated with job demands (Figure 1). Results demonstrated a significant conditional indirect relationship between satisfaction and burnout at each level of importance of organizational constraints (Table 1, Figure 2). That is, volunteers who experienced high constraints were less burned out when they were satisfied with the nature of their work. However, as predicted, those who were unsatisfied with their work experience more burno.