Skip to main content

What are you looking for?

Enter keywords to search across resources, guides, training, tools, and more.

Create an account for suggestions personalised to you and your organisation

Research and Reports
1 minute read

Volunteering and psychological contract

Meeting National Standards and Strategy Seal Meeting National Standards and Strategy What's this?

Introduction

This document delves into the crucial role of managing volunteers within organisations. It introduces the concept of the psychological contract, which represents the unspoken expectations between volunteers and organisations. This concept is key to fostering a positive relationship where both parties' needs are met.

The Importance of Alignment

The text underscores the necessity of aligning volunteers' expectations with the support organisations provide. Recognising and understanding what motivates volunteers, alongside strategic recruitment and the importance of demographic factors, are highlighted as essential for a productive volunteer experience.

Enhancing Volunteer Retention

The document discusses how breaches in the psychological contract can affect volunteers' willingness to continue their efforts and the significance of organisational support in retaining them. It suggests that investing in volunteer management, through careful planning, recruitment, orientation, and tailored recognition, can bolster volunteer retention.

Benefits for Organisations

For volunteer organisations and management practitioners, this document offers valuable insights into improving volunteer engagement and retention. By focusing on the psychological contract and ensuring volunteers' needs and expectations are met, organisations can create a more supportive and effective volunteering environment. This approach not only benefits the volunteers but also enhances the organisation's ability to fulfil its vision and work more efficiently.

Hager, Mark & Renfro, Kathy. (2020). Volunteer Management and the Psychological Contract. 10.4324/9781315181011-22.


Downloads and sources

More about the authors



Contribute to the Gateway


More like this

e-learning

BeConnected Program

Be Connected is a Australian government initiative designed to bridge the digital gap and equip older volunteers with the skills they need to thrive in today's online world.
1 minute read
Be Connected
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD), Older Volunteers +2 more
Resources

Planning and Maintaining a Volunteer Program

This article, guides and e-learning provide an overview of the things you need to set up and maintain a successful volunteer program for your organisation.
1 minute read
The Knowledge Base, Volunteering ACT, The Centre for Volunteering, Volunteering Queensland, Volunteering SA&NT, Volunteering Tasmania, Volunteering Victoria, Volunteering WA
Resources

Volunteer Recognition

This article and guide highlights the importance of recognising volunteers and provides suggestions of various methods to show your appreciation.
1 minute read
The Knowledge Base, Volunteering ACT, The Centre for Volunteering, Volunteering Queensland, Volunteering SA&NT, Volunteering Tasmania, Volunteering Victoria, Volunteering WA
MyPass
Tech

MyPass

MyPass is volunteer onboarding and compliance management software centred around a digital Skills Passport, designed to help volunteer involving organisations (VIOs) reduce their risk and cost of operations.
Volunteer database Recruitment Rostering / scheduling Onboarding / training Communication / engagement Compliance Reporting Resource management Event management
Volaby
Tech

Volaby

Volaby is an end-to-end volunteer and people management platform, enabling organisations to do more with less! Built from the collective voice of our volunteer managers using the platform, Volaby helps you automate and simplify the volunteer and manager experience to save time and scale impact.
Volunteer database Recruitment Rostering / scheduling Onboarding / training Volunteer performance/recognition Communication / engagement Task management Compliance Reporting Resource management Event management
Be Collective
Tech

Be Collective

A volunteer management & community engagement platform. Be Collective is all about empowering volunteering and the organisations supporting volunteering to build stronger, more sustainable networks for doing good.
Volunteer database Recruitment Rostering / scheduling Onboarding / training Volunteer performance/recognition Communication / engagement Task management Compliance Reporting Resource management Social media Event management Donations
scheduled

National Standards Deep Dive: Standard 7

Take a deep dive into Standard 7 of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement
The Centre for Volunteering
Free
scheduled

National Standards Deep Dive: Standard 8

Take a deep dive into Standard 8 of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement
The Centre for Volunteering
Free
scheduled

Introduction to the Volunteer Involvement Cycle

Join us for an in-depth training session introducing the Volunteer Involvement Cycle, a new resource aligned with the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement.
Volunteering Victoria
FREE