Abstract
National Day of Service (NDS) volunteering events have become common, yet little is known about how the design of such events affects volunteer satisfaction. This relationship is important because volunteer satisfaction ensures a strong volunteer base for special events and promotes sustained volunteerism. We explore how the design of NDS projects promotes volunteer job satisfaction. Our approach to the research question is informed by work design theory. Based on interview, participant observation, and focus group data from an NDS in the Netherlands, the findings suggest that nonprofit organizations can elicit volunteer job satisfaction by designing NDS projects that create a sense of added value, support productivity, and make volunteers feel comfortable. Designing NDS projects that incorporate task significance, symbolic social support, feedback from others, beneficiary contact, task identity, project preparation, physically demanding work, social support, and limited autonomy help to achieve these goals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 866-888 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 29 Dec 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank NVSQ Editor Susan Philips for her guidance and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and comments throughout the review process. The authors also wish to express gratitude toward Samer Abdelnour, Ram Cnaan, and Derck Koolen for their assistance. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- episodic volunteering
- National Day of Service
- volunteer job satisfaction
- volunteer management
- work design
