Introduction

In this chapter, we focus on those people in the VCS who work for wages managing volunteers. This has become an increasingly important management issue, tied in with the professionalisation of the volunteering experience and of the sector in general (Gay, 2000a; Howlett, 2010). The sector has expanded in size and scope and while it is doing more, the number of volunteers has been static, but the number of paid staff has increased.

Growing numbers of paid staff are dealing with the management of volunteers (see Figure 4.1). In one study, Gay (2000b) explored where there was a distinct body of knowledge that marked VMs from other personnel and she identified a diverse range of skills (such as coordinating volunteers, acting in a leadership role, representing the organisation, delivering services, developing volunteers, representing the organisation and campaigning). Rochester et al (2010, p 151; see also Zimmeck, 2001) identify two models of the way VCSOs manage their volunteers. In the workplace model, volunteering in such organisations resembles paid work, as the organisation adopts more formal styles of volunteering. Organisations with a public service delivery role may find that eligibility for funding requires some demonstrable way of indicating how volunteers will contribute to the work of the organisation or that services are delivered effectively and efficiently (Rochester and Thomas, 2006; see Chapter Five). In contrast to this bureaucratic organisational form is the collectivistdemocratic organisation (Rochester et al, 2010, p 153), which is more egalitarian and there is minimal application of rules and procedures with regard to volunteering (see also Zimmeck, 2001, p 19). It is in the more bureaucratic organisations that the management of volunteers is undertaken by paid staff. In an empirical study of VMs in Australia, Onyx and Maclean (1996) found that few organisations, except very large ones, employed clearly designated managers, with volunteering very structured.