Volunteering Essay

3075 Words13 Pages
INTRODUCTION The word “volunteer” has become very popular around the world, people are more willing to give their time to help those in need. For those people that think volunteering only brings benefits to the needy may think again, since it is now considered to be a win-win situation for both the needy and the volunteers. This assignment will talk about the strategies for recruiting and retaining volunteers in the community and voluntary organisation, It will also define volunteerism, reason why people volunteer, importance of volunteering, steps in volunteering and strategies for retaining volunteers. Definition of Volunteerism There is a broad range of definitions describing the concept of volunteering. Many definitions of volunteering are used in research, creating confusion for readers and researchers (Petriwskyi and Warburton, 2007). The definition of volunteering varies from researcher to researcher, from organization to organization, and from country to country. Regarding who or what is considered a volunteer, according to Justin Davis Smith (2000), volunteering takes different forms and meanings in different context. Volunteerism can be defined as the “Activities of work done or of a person’s free will for the benefit of others (beyond the immediate family) for no payment other than, a small honorarium and/ or expenses” (Gaskin and David smith 1997 :7) Although volunteering has a variety of definitions, there are some core characteristics which constitute a voluntary activity. First, voluntary activities should not be undertaken primarily for financial gain. Voluntary action is not rewarded with a wage or salary. Some would argue that only purely altruistic behaviour should be considered as volunteering. Others think that there is no pure altruism behaviour so that all volunteering contains an element of exchange and reciprocity. Hence, some
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