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Professionalization is an important issue in many all-volunteer nonprofit organizations (e.g. recreational sports clubs). Therefore, this study relied on the competing values framework and self-determination theory to investigate whether a newly developed intervention can effectively strengthen the management processes and leadership styles in all-volunteer sports clubs.

For this purpose, a rigorous non-equivalent pre-test post-test control group design was used. The intervention involved two sessions organized in sports clubs in which internal stakeholders (e.g. board members, coaches, volunteers) were invited to discuss change initiatives aimed at enhancing the organizational processes.

An effect on both the management processes and leadership styles was found. As for the management processes, the intervention had an impact on the internal processes, with especially the development of an internal communication plan and the annual assessment of the organization's operations being promoted by the intervention. Regarding the leadership styles, the intervention had an effect on the controlling and chaotic leadership style, with leaders becoming less chaotic and controlling in situations in which (respectively) the business plan was established and the tasks were distributed within the organization.

This intervention study adopted an innovative approach to organizational intervention research by focusing on the enhancement of both the management processes and the leadership styles. Its principles are also relevant and valuable to organizations operating in other organizational contexts.

This study aims to address the challenge many organizational leaders face in fostering workforce cohesion. Focusing on the context of sports club volunteering, this study investigates how leaders can enhance group cohesion among volunteers. The study findings provide valuable insights applicable across various work settings.

Through a multilevel design, this study examined the role of autonomy–supportive and structuring leadership in shaping social and task cohesion within volunteer teams at the group level. In total, 557 volunteers nested within 52 nonprofit sports clubs situated in the Flemish region of Belgium were involved in this study, providing a robust foundation for our analysis.

This research revealed that regular volunteers form “true groups”, exhibiting substantial between-group variance in social and task cohesion and a strong within-group consensus. Additionally, the findings underscored the significance of autonomy–supportive leadership in fostering cohesion, demonstrating a positive relation with social and task cohesion at the group level.

This study demonstrates that volunteer teams, like work teams in the for-profit sector, actively engage in interpersonal exchanges within their organization, which help shape their collective sense of unity and alignment with common objectives. Leaders can enhance these interactions by fostering an autonomy–supportive environment where members feel empowered to share their perspectives and ideas. Additionally, the findings suggest that the nature of the task and the specific context can influence which leadership style is most effective, with the provision of structure also playing a role. With these insights, leaders in diverse organizational settings can effectively nurture the development of cohesive groups.

A substantial amount of previous literature has investigated recruitment and retention of workers in paid jobs in the for-profit sector. Additionally, some of this work has developed differentiated recruitment and retention strategies for different groups of workers based upon their age. However, in the voluntary sector, potential for this type of tailoring remains an under-researched area.

The authors analyse data from a national survey from the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 16,966) using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square to investigate motivations to volunteer amongst younger and older volunteers and compare these to a core age group.

The authors find differences across different age cohorts in both motivations to volunteer and also in rewards sought from volunteering. By analysing these differences, the authors then develop a framework of tailored recruitment and retention strategies to maximise the potential pool of volunteers for organisations in the not-for-profit sector, whilst also optimising rewards for those who volunteer.

Although recruitment and retention are both core research themes in Employee Relations, a recent special issue on the not-for-profit sector noted that these processes were under-researched outside of a for-profit setting. Literature from the fields of human resource management (HRM) and not-for-profit management is synthesised and integrated.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how performance management systems in nonprofit organizations are influenced by their funding sources. It explains how resources motivate organizations to diversify their strategies with attended performance management systems.

It adopts a qualitative case study approach involving semi-structured interviews with key informants in a nonprofit organization to understand the evolving nature of performance management systems associated with different funding sources.

The findings suggest that the case study organization changed its revenue base along with its performance management systems to satisfy the reporting and accountability requirements of different funding sources. Despite external funding sources detailing different restrictions and requirements, the overall performance management system was able to manage these different expectations.

This study is based on a single case study, and its findings need to be interpreted with care, as there are differences between nonprofit organizations because they differ in their environments, services and funding.

This paper contributes to extant knowledge on how organizational performance management is influenced by funding sources, providing insights at the operational and governance levels.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of Age in the relationships between leader-member exchange dimensions (Affect, Loyalty, Contribution, and Professional Respect) and Job Satisfaction and between Job Satisfaction and Intention to Stay among volunteers in nonprofit sport organizations.

A series of moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses was conducted using the survey responses of 214 volunteers in 22 nonprofit sport organizations.

The results indicated that Age moderated the relationship between Professional Respect and Job Satisfaction such that it was stronger for younger volunteers, and Job Satisfaction had a greater positive influence on Intention to Stay for older rather than younger volunteers.

These findings provide valuable insights into how age may be an important factor influencing volunteers’ job satisfaction and intention to continue to volunteer. Implications for practitioners and future research are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the conditions associated with serving on boards by investigating the factors that distinguish older volunteers who serve on nonprofit boards from those who only volunteer programmatically.

Surveys of 354 residents of Southeastern North Carolina over age 50. Measures include education, wealth, retirement status, public service motivation (PSM), patterns of residential mobility, secular and religious organization meeting attendance, and volunteer activity in the past year. Data were analyzed using a Heckman probit selection model.

Respondents who have higher levels of education, are retired, or have lived in the community for longer periods are more likely to report board volunteering, but are not any more likely to volunteer programmatically. Those with higher levels of PSM are more likely to report general volunteering, but are not any more likely to volunteer on boards. Two measures reveal divergent findings based on type of volunteering: moving frequently in one’s lifetime and attending weekly religious services are associated with a greater likelihood of programmatic volunteering but a reduced likelihood of serving as a board member.

Limitations include self-reported, cross-sectional data, and a geographically restricted American sample that is older, more educated, and more likely to own a second home than average.

In order to better address board member recruitment, nonprofits should consider extending opportunities through strategies targeting retired community newcomers.

This study contributes an analysis of PSM among nonprofit board members, and identifies factors that distinguish programmatic and board volunteers, in order to better understand the conditions associated with board service.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the extent to which new forms of capital are noticed by different members of nonprofit organizations (directors, employees, and volunteers) and valued as a factor of organizational capacity.

Using survey research methodology, the authors studied a nonprofit institution – a delegation of the Portuguese Red Cross located in Fafe, a city in northern Portugal, by giving a questionnaire to all its members.

The respondents revealed that the existence of other forms of capital (in addition to financial capital) is recognized and valued and that human capital as a whole is particularly relevant to the fulfillment of the Fafe Delegation of Portuguese Red Cross’ mission.

This is the first study on the perceptions of human capital, social capital and financial capital in a Portuguese nonprofit organization.

After eight years of reforms, the French Red Cross (FRC) changed status from humanitarian association to nonprofit organization (NPO). This in-depth study of the organization’s recent past (2005-2013) aims to highlight several identity threats linked to the ongoing process of organizational rationalization and managerialization. The main contribution of this paper is based on the responses provided by this NPO to deal with it.

This communication has been produced as part of a three-year research contract (2010-2013) for the FRC. A total of 39 semi-structured interviews conducted between February and June 2013, participatory observation and documentary study. Of the 39 interviews, 29 were usable, and these were analyzed using ALCESTE software. This software enabled the authors to quantify and extract the strongest signifying structures.

The “Red Cross” meta-identity has so far enabled FRC to change its identity, not without difficulty, but without major organizational crises. In this case, the results confirm the Ravasi at Schultz model (2006) by underlining the difficulty to create a “giving sense process.” At managerial level, the choice of “self-regulated” professionalization seems to have made the most impact in changing the members’ identity understanding. In response to the threat of the fragmentation of social links, the implementation of an important internal communication policy around the idea of a “community of actors” has not had the expected results.

This study is based on a unique case with unusual dimensions (18,025 employees and 56,136 volunteers).

The example of the FRC is indicative of what happens in the nonprofit sector. The answers provided by this extraordinary association may inspire other organizations facing an identity crisis.

This paper reveals two major contributions. First, it validates the appropriateness of the Ravasi and Schultz model (2006) for the study of identity change in social enterprises. Second, it assists managers through its analysis of the appropriateness of procedures and tools used to support identity change. From an international perspective, this paper also contributes by describing the evolution of NPOs in the French context.

Volunteers in some organisations are subject to new protections under legislative amendments in Australia which proscribe workplace bullying. These new protections provide impetus for the question of whether workplace bullying is an issue for (unpaid) volunteers and (paid or unpaid) volunteer managers. The purpose of this paper is to outline key exploratory findings.

This exploratory and descriptive qualitative study employed an online survey to collect data on the experiences of participants and on their perception of what constitutes bullying in volunteering.

The evidence suggests that many of the negative behaviours which might be found in workplaces are also found in volunteering, but there are also aspects unique to this setting.

This study was exploratory in nature and will benefit from further expansion and empirical testing.

Many respondents reported that they have been subject to, or witnessed events which they considered to be bullying. Recognition of the possibility of bullying in volunteering is a step towards amelioration.

Volunteering has benefits for individuals and organisations, as well as contributing to social capital. Organisations which are cognisant of, and actively build positive cultures are better able to attract and retain talented and committed volunteers and managers.

There is an absence of research relating to workplace bullying in volunteer settings. As context plays a significant role in workplace bullying scenarios, this study opens up a unique perspective to this negative behaviour in a new setting.