Bittersweet and Paradoxical: Disaster Response Volunteering with the American Red Cross. Issue 3 (4th November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smith, Stephanie L.; Grove, Celatha J.
• Is Part Of: Nonprofit management & leadership. Volume 27:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 353
• Page End: 369
• Publication Date: 2016-11-04
• Subjects: volunteer management -- volunteer experience -- volunteer satisfaction -- disaster response -- emergency management; Nonprofit organizations -- Management -- Periodicals; Nonprofit organizations -- Periodicals; 658.048
• DOI: 10.1002/nml.21250
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1048-6682

Abstract

Abstract : The American Red Cross is the most active nonprofit organization involved in disaster planning and response in the United States. The organization deployed nearly 50, 000 volunteers to provide essential support to victims of some 125, 000 domestic disasters, including home fires, hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, in a recent two‐year period. This study asks how American Red Cross disaster response volunteer experiences function to cultivate satisfaction and, at the other end of the spectrum, the kind of dissatisfaction that leads people to quit; it pays particular attention to ways in which volunteer management shapes dissatisfaction and fatigue because of implications for volunteer retention. Paradoxically, the Red Cross facilitates the highly satisfying act of helping victims, but volunteers feel dissatisfied when management practices get in the way of helping. The study suggests voluntary organizations that rely on skilled, long‐term volunteers to deliver services should evaluate and strengthen their communication strategies, recognition practices, and support systems for volunteers in distress.