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Reviews the development of the Irish voluntary sector and examines the unique characteristics of the legal framework in which voluntary organizations operate and the funding and staffing arrangements. Focuses on recent changes in the relationship between the state and organizations. Speculates on the future of these organizations by examining issues such as contracting, cohesiveness and general evolutionary trends.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on postcolonial theorising on hybridity as a heuristic to explore current tensions described by managers in voluntary organisations engaging with diversity issues. Voluntary organisations are particularly valued for their innovative services developed in response to the needs of their constituents. However, managers describe increasing tension between their organisation's mission on behalf of marginalised and excluded groups and the increasing expectation that these organisations act as contractors to the state and as providers of professionally managed services.

The paper draws on interviews with a range of key informants, including chief executives, specialist diversity managers and project workers, working in UK‐based voluntary organisations; the interviews explored diversity issues in a broad sense including campaigning and advocacy work as well as service provision.

Evidence was revealed of innovative ways of working that respond to the needs of particular communities and constituencies – thereby supporting the rationale behind the “business case” for diversity. Also found was evidence of pressures from regulators and funders to standardise that make such innovation less likely; involving processes of undermining the efforts of organisations to manage and organise themselves independently, and of essentialising – fixing the subjects of diversity in an identity of difference and inferiority. The findings suggest that “managing diversity” is inherently problematic.

There is little academic research that applies a critical perspective to voluntary organisations and less using postcolonial theory as a heuristic. However, voluntary organisations are central to both national and international anti‐poverty initiatives and programmes designed to facilitate community renewal.

The evolution of European Union (EU) toward a real political integration cannot omit the importance of building a European civic culture. Generating civic virtues is directly linked to the establishment of associative networks. In this sense, voluntary organizations, as “schools of democracy,” work as one of the main channels and mechanisms, from liberal tradition as well as republican one, to improve the quality of democracies.

Some works have already argued that involvement in voluntary organizations presents positive effects on several elements that shape political culture in a country, by increasing political interest in public affairs, growing individual political efficacy, encouraging people to put in practice a broader socio-political activism, etc. Only by this way, it is possible to create a genuine “European public sphere,” where public debate and independent judgements can exist beyond EU institutions.

From that theoretic framework, this document expounds the connections between socio-political participation in voluntary organizations and some elements of political culture linked to civic skills. The first wave of the European Social Survey (2002–2003) will be used as the main data source for a comparative analysis among more than twenty European countries.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on organizational perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of engaging older volunteers, and on how they might best capitalize on the availability of older volunteers in different countries and sectors.

The paper draws from 74 case studies of voluntary organizations carried out in eight European countries, conducted mainly between spring 2009 and autumn 2010. On‐site interviews adopting common guidelines were carried out with organizational representatives.

From the organizational perspectives, some disadvantages of engaging older volunteers are: difficulties matching older volunteers to tasks; problems relating to health and declining capacities; the need for special training efforts. Examples of perceived advantages are: considerable knowledge, skills, experience, reliability and strong commitment of older volunteers. In spite of the very different contexts, objectives and notions of “performance”, cost‐benefit assessments of older volunteers do not differ greatly from those generally held by employers about older employees. Countries differ considerably in the recognition of older volunteer potential.

Organizational policies and initiatives to capitalize on the availability of older volunteers are examined in the paper. Country and sector‐related reflections show how different and changing are the environments for volunteering. Policy makers need to recognise these when implementing active ageing policies. Voluntary organizations should raise their awareness of the need for innovation in volunteer management, especially relating to older people.

There has been much research about the experiences of older volunteers and how they benefit from the operations of civil society organizations. The perceptions of the organizations have, however, been neglected and these are explored in this paper.

The purpose of this research paper is to identify the impact of contextual and processual factors on the development, use and impact of performance measurement systems in voluntary and community organisations.

The paper reviews the applicability of business and public sector performance measurement frameworks to voluntary organisations. It presents the findings of a study through four case studies and draws conclusions on the impact of measurement systems in the voluntary sector.

The research identifies a low utilisation of performance measurement frameworks and discusses what systems are currently used, how such systems are administered and the impact of measurement on performance.

The evidence is based on four micro‐voluntary organisations that receive public sector funding. The findings are based on the perceptions of the organisations delivering the services and illustrate the relationship between the public and voluntary sectors. Further, cases utilising a range of stakeholders should be studied to examine the validity, reliability and generalisability of the presented results. However, given that there is practically no empirical evidence at all on this issue at present, the study provides useful evidence that can be further developed.

The research findings present contextual and processual barriers to measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of voluntary organisations. For performance measurement frameworks to support current practice, these barriers need to be recognised and addressed.

The paper highlights performance measurement implications for a sector that is unaccustomed to scrutiny. As little research has been conducted within this sector, these findings contribute to the body of knowledge.

This study aims to understand the contributions and challenges of voluntary organizations towards the integration of refugees into the job market.

Descriptive research with a qualitative approach based on interpretivism was used, applied to mediators of social entities in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

The findings of this study support the importance of voluntary organizations in the employment of refugees, based on background that will contribute directly to the training of displaced persons in the Brazilian labor market. Meanwhile, difficulties such as post-employment refugee monitoring, legislative obstacles to the verification of skills, structural and human capital limitations of mediators, the national economic crisis and the lack of government support are identified as the main challenges for long-term assistance to refugees.

The results of the study can foster greater participation of public policymakers and society in supporting the third sector, aiming at a greater reach in the provision of services of mediators for the effective integration of refugees in Brazil.

This study contributes to the literature on the integration of refugees into the labor market by demonstrating the importance of voluntary organizations in this process. It also demonstrates how the main challenges of the third sector in the Brazilian context impact its support in facilitating and maintaining the employment of displaced persons.

Purpose – To analyze the emergence of new organizational forms in the Danish welfare sector.

Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Niklas Luhmann and Gunther Teubner, the research analyzes governmental documents, policy programs, action plans, and strategic documents.

Findings – A partnering structure has emerged with a new politics of voluntarism, complex forms of integration and new imaginary distinctions between voluntariness and public care. This can usefully be conceptualized as aspects of the stabilization of a “third-order system.” The research identified a number of different managerial strategies for involvement in the system.

Practical and social implications – Social welfare has become a mix of public and civil society values and norms, and extensive resources have been invested from both governmental and nongovernmental sides to build up shared competences for the new forms of partnering-based organization. However, to act according to the new principles of partnering, at the strategic and managerial level, the voluntary organizations have to behave in a schizophrenic manner – as both individual organizations and cooperational partners within the system.

Research implications – The concept of “third-order system” is especially useful in analyzing mixed forms of management in the welfare sector.

Originality – Different forms of radical organizational analysis are combined to develop a notion of “third-order system” in the welfare sector.

Volunteer organizations, where there is no employment relationship between the member and the organization, represent an interesting context in which to explore the effects of leadership and organizational commitment. We present the results from a study of 212 Canadian volunteer leaders from an international social/charitable organization. Volunteer leaders were more psychologically involved and committed to their organization than comparable leaders from a trade union. The volunteer leaders rated higher than their union counterparts in transformational leadership and socialization. Union leaders were more transactional and held stronger Marxist work beliefs. Both volunteer and union leaders reported similar humanistic views on work. There were no differences with respect to inter‐role conflict that both types of leaders experienced. Discussion of the results focuses on application of these findings to changing organizational environments and their interaction of work and non‐work issues.

To identify the factors influencing the success or failure of voluntary organizations to utilize social enterprise models to achieve financial and/or social objectives.

A review of the literature of success/failure factors in trading ventures is presented. Describes the study to understand why social enterprise models either do or do not work in the voluntary sector. Evaluates findings from five separate consultancy projects with UK voluntary sector organizations, where the consultancy work comprised feasibility assessments of new business ideas for each organization and projects carried out by Beehive Promotions Ltd, a subsidiary of Social Enterprise London (SEL). Presents the critical success and failure factors involved in an action research framework for the organizations.

The five critical success factors identified were: organizations wishing to trade must have a product or service that can be sold; the need to identify a market with resources and inclination to pay for the service or product offered; ability and desire to change organizational culture; significant commitment from internal and external stakeholders; and the need for organizations to have requisite management skills to deal with the additional complexity involved in pursuing social enterprise models. Concludes that the three critical failure factors were: underestimating the development time required; the bureaucratic burden carried by third sector organizations; and the fact that organizations driven toward social enterprise for reactive reasons and fear declining grant income are less likely to succeed. Suggests that commercialization is not always a good thing for voluntary organizations struggling to build businesses while maintaining a focus on their core social mission.

Fills a gap in the literature where the issues brought up in this exercise have tended not to be studied.

Presents results from an exploratory study of 143 voluntary organisations. Aims to evaluate management employee relations policies in the voluntary sector in the era of contracting. Reveals evidence of employee relations policies being influenced by the funding priorities of the state. Provides evidence to suggest that these policies may be leading to discontent among the workforce. Concludes with a discussion regarding the implications such policies may have on employee commitment in the sector, and suggests several possible avenues for continued research.