Is bad volunteer management the only refuge for altruistic volunteering?
I am not a believer in the existence of altruistic volunteering, of giving with no regard for yourself. I am of the generation immersed in the motivations and benefits of volunteering. For us, the volunteering relationship is not a one-way altruistic pathway but a two-way reciprocal relationship, where even those who volunteer just to help or to give something back, receive a personal reward such as a sense of satisfaction or fulfilment. Of course, this is not to belittle the gift of time volunteers give to society. In fact, it’s completely the opposite. By understanding what motivates people to volunteer and the rewards they receive, it means we can not only better meet the needs of existing volunteers but also understand why people don’t volunteer. A couple of weeks ago, though, I was chatting with a volunteer, who had a story that is familiar to many of us. He had been volunteering for a local organisation for about four years. For the first three years, he thoroughly enjoyed it and
