Analyzing Volunteer Engagement and Retention Strategies in Events

This report examines the critical role of volunteers in event success, focusing on volunteer engagement, commitment, and retention. It highlights the multifaceted contributions of volunteers, from sponsorship acquisition to event-day assistance, and emphasizes the importance of volunteer management in fostering motivation and dedication. The report delves into factors influencing volunteer engagement, such as meaningful work, satisfaction, leadership, and experience, while also addressing challenges like recruitment costs, lack of training, and maintaining interest. Effective volunteer management practices, including data mapping and targeted outreach programs, are discussed as strategies to enhance engagement and reduce turnover. Ultimately, the report underscores the significance of creating a positive and collaborative environment to ensure volunteer commitment and event success. Desklib provides more resources for students, including solved assignments and past papers.

Running head: VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT
Volunteer management
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Introduction
According to Elstad (2003), the success or failure of an event would depend to a great
extent on volunteer labor. In large scale and mega events, volunteers play a crucial role in
ensuring the smooth functioning of events. However, the concept of volunteer engagement is
quite challenging and must be analyzed. In the report below, the issues pertaining to volunteer
engagement and retention, factors that lead them to quit or persist and volunteer
management practices will be discussed.
Discussion
The effective management of volunteers at any event would ensure its success. At
any event, like the jazz festival mentioned in the case study or in similar events, the role of
volunteers is multifaceted. They can help find sponsors, capture feedback, welcome guests and
manage social media presence. Moreover, they can provide hands on assistance on the day of the
event itself. Studer and Von Schnurbein (2013) argue that in profit and non profit organizations
and in events, the concept of volunteer management is grossly underestimated. The purpose of
volunteer management is not simply to oversee and monitor the performance and efficiency of
the volunteers. It is also to ensure that the interests of the volunteers are taken into consideration.
As Elstad (2003) claims, it is failure to motivate and commit volunteers which could compel
volunteers to quit.
With respect to volunteer management, it is equally important to understand the
concept of volunteer commitment, as explained by Elstad (2003). This refers to the
commitment and dedication on the part of an employee which would assure “intention to return”.
Attitudinal commitment is a concept where the volunteer is able to identify with the organization

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or the event and thus acts out of his own interest. Lee et al., (2014) argues that there are various
factors which determine the level of engagement and commitment on a volunteer’s part at a
mega event. These factors include the meaningfulness of work, the satisfaction received from
work, the leadership and guidance they received and finally the experience they garnered from
the event.
Volunteer engagement is another concept which must be reviewed in this aspect.
Haivas, Hofmans and Pepermans (2013) claim that volunteer engagement is imperative if
organizations and event managers would want their volunteers on a long term basis and also
reduce the number of volunteers who quit work on an average basis. For example, there are a
number of methods that event managers may employ to increase volunteer engagement. Dittus,
Quattrone and Capra (2016) argue that mapping volunteer data could be an effective way of
managing volunteers and enhancing engagement. Similarly, development of specific volunteer
centric outreach programs would be another way of reaching out to potential candidates.
Volunteer engagement can be explained as a strategy that would promote a healthy relationship
between event managers and volunteers, based on coordination and collaboration. It would pave
the way for volunteer opportunities that are meaningful and appealing to prospective volunteers
and simultaneously counter the challenges posed by volunteer management.
Harp, Scherer and Allen (2017) are of the opinion that there are a number of
challenges to effective volunteer management. It is these challenges which could force
volunteers to quit in the long run, as said by Elstad (2003). For instance, the recruitment of
volunteers is a time consuming and expensive process. This is all the more poignant because
most volunteers work on a temporary basis. While some volunteers are fickle minded and prefer
to not to stick to one job for a prolonged period of time, some leave because they lose interest. In

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order to pique the interests of the volunteers, the event managers would have to devise functional
volunteer engagement practices. Moreover, in event management, managers rarely get time to
train the volunteers. While the employees of the event management company would be adept in
the art of managing a large scale event, a volunteer may turn out to be a liability because of lack
of experience. Hager and Brudney (2015) are of the opinion that keeping volunteers engaged and
interested can prove to be a major challenge in volunteer management. Analysis of positions and
perceived strengths and weaknesses of the volunteers could be one way of increasing volunteer
retention.
Conclusion:
To conclude, it can be said that the success and smooth functioning of an event would
depend on the participation of the volunteers and their willingness to commit to the cause of the
event. Volunteer engagement and volunteer commitment are two concepts, which have been
explained in the paper, and refer to the various factors that prevent volunteers from quitting and
also pave the way for volunteer retention. The concepts of volunteer management and the
various obstacles in its path have also been studied and examined.

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References:
Dittus, M., Quattrone, G., & Capra, L. (2016, February). Analysing volunteer engagement in
humanitarian mapping: building contributor communities at large scale. In Proceedings
of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social
Computing (pp. 108-118). ACM.
This research article focuses on the challenges of volunteer engagement and management
and the prospective solutions to these problems.
Elstad. (2003) Continuance Commitment and Reasons to Quit: A Study of Volunteers at a Jazz
Festival. Event Management, 8(2), 99-108.
This research article studies the various aspects of volunteer management, the role of
volunteers and the reasons for quitting from the volunteers’ perspective.
Hager, M. A., & Brudney, J. L. (2015). In search of strategy: Universalistic, contingent, and
configurational adoption of volunteer management practices. Nonprofit Management and
Leadership, 25(3), 235-254.
This article mainly focuses on the various issues pertaining to volunteer management and
the obstacles that could get in the way of effective volunteer management.
Haivas, S., Hofmans, J., & Pepermans, R. (2013). Volunteer engagement and intention to quit
from a self‐determination theory perspective. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, 43(9), 1869-1880.
This research article emphasizes on the issues which could cause a volunteer to quit and
uses the self determination theory to analyze that.

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Harp, E. R., Scherer, L. L., & Allen, J. A. (2017). Volunteer engagement and retention: Their
relationship to community service self-efficacy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector
Quarterly, 46(2), 442-458.
This research article focuses on the concepts of volunteer engagement and retention and
the factors that affect volunteer commitment.
Lee, C. K., Reisinger, Y., Kim, M. J., & Yoon, S. M. (2014). The influence of volunteer
motivation on satisfaction, attitudes, and support for a mega-event. International Journal
of Hospitality Management, 40, 37-48.
This research article claims that at any mega event, the level of satisfaction of a volunteer
would play a crucial role in determining his or her performance, motivation and attitude towards
his work.
Studer, S., & Von Schnurbein, G. (2013). Organizational factors affecting volunteers: A
literature review on volunteer coordination. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of
Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24(2), 403-440.
This research article focuses on the various factors that affect the performance levels of
volunteers. These factors would affect the intention of volunteers to continue or quit.