Articles

Abstracts from the second issue of Voluntary Action
Spring 1999 (Volume 1 Issue 2)

One size does not fit all: four models of involving volunteers in small voluntary organisations

Colin Rochester, Centre for Voluntary Organisation, London School of Economics

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This article is an attempt to address a perceived gap in the large and growing body of literature about volunteering. It argues that this literature has tended to neglect the variety of organisational contexts in which volunteering take place, and draws on two pieces of ongoing research to identify four distinct models of how volunteers are involved in small voluntary organisations. It concludes by discussing some of the implications of these findings for the practice and theory of volunteering.

Changing times: Volunteering in the heritage sector 1984–1998

Kirsten Holmes, Leeds University Business School

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This is the report of a survey of volunteering in UK museums and art galleries conducted in April 1998. It replicated a survey commissioned in 1984 by The Volunteer Centre UK (now the National Centre for Volunteering); the aim was to see how far the recommendations of the earlier survey have been followed and whether they are still relevant today. The survey was conducted as part of a research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. This report is adapted from a session at the 1998 Museums Association Conference.

Improving the value of voluntary boards

Chris Cornforth, Public Interest and Non-profit Management Research Unit (PIN), Open University Business School

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In recent years there has been growing concern about the ability of voluntary boards to govern public and voluntary organisations effectively. This has led to a burgeoning prescriptive literature that attempts to set out the responsibilities, roles and tasks of governing bodies. Yet there is often a large gap between these prescriptions and the reality of governance as revealed by empirical studies. This study aimed to help reduce that gap by examining in detail the working of boards and the constraints and dilemmas they face. The research examined how boards select and develop board members, the relationship between boards and senior management or staff, and what boards contribute to their organisations. Based on these findings, the paper sets out some recommendations for improving the value of voluntary boards.

Are members volunteers? An exploration of the concept of membership drawing upon studies of the local church

Helen Cameron, External Tutor, Westminster College, Oxford

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This article aims to provoke further thought about the nature of volunteering by comparing volunteers with members. Drawing upon two studies of local churches, it identifies six distinctions between members and volunteers. Theoretical ideas from the work of David Billis are used to explain those distinctions. Finally, the article argues that these theoretical distinctions have implications for practice. Unpaid work can be organised more effectively if the different relationships between worker and organisation are acknowledged.

Volunteering for Blair: The Third Way

Michael Locke, Centre for Institutional Studies, University of East London
Stephen Howlett, Institute for Volunteering Research

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This paper looks at the emergence of the Third Way as the guiding principle of the New Labour government of Tony Blair, and at what implications it has for volunteering in the UK. It is argued that because the Third Way emphasises the development of civil society, this implies a central role for voluntary action. But the government’s current policies – apart, of course, from volunteer-specific initiatives – need examining to assess their impact on the development of volunteering, as some are clearly hindering it.