Capturing the Multidimensional Value of Volunteerism to Nonprofit Organizations
Volunteers represent an important part of the nonprofit labor pool, and their contributions are diverse and significant. Yet, their value is traditionally reported only as volunteer numbers, hours, and an hourly financial value assigned to volunteer time. These data are important tools for articulating volunteer contributions. However, the emphasis on numbers and economic value sometimes obscures important dimensions of service.
This research — a series of three papers — demonstrates the dimensions of volunteer service that are important but overlooked. Identifying and studying these dimensions can contribute to a holistic understanding of volunteerism that supports more strategic volunteer practices and more robust explanations of volunteer value.
