1

“The Demise of The Last Volunteer

Crusader”*
Nancy Macduff
821 Lincoln St.
Walla Walla, WA 99362

509-529-0244
mba@bmi.net

November 2003
for
Association for Research on Nonprofits and Volunteer
Action

Denver, CO

*The title of this paper is a quote from a paper by Hustinx and Lammertyn, listed in the references.
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Beginning in the late 1980s, this author started writing about the changes

in the way people were volunteering in the US and Canada. This interest

stemmed from the reports of an increasing number of managers of volunteer

programs that individuals were requesting shorter assignments. Hard numbers

soon augmented the unscientific report of change in the way people volunteered.

In a 1989 there was a high interest in volunteer work of shorter duration. Fully

79% of those not volunteering said they would volunteer if it were a short

duration task. (JCPenney and Volunteer: The National Volunteer Center, 1989)

Then in 1999 Independent Sector asked volunteers about thei type of

volunteering they were doing in relation to time given. Episodic volunteering was

reported by 49% of respondents. These volunteers chose shorter durations to

provide service. (Independent Sector, 1999) Current Independent Sector

research indicates that volunteers continue to reduce the amount of time spent

per year volunteering (Independent Sector, 2003) increasingly asking for short-

term assignments. The 1989 study was an early warning for what is reality in the

21st century.

The respondents to the 1989 survey who asked for short assignment

volunteer tasks got their wish. What is reality for almost half of the millions of

volunteers in the United States is the short duration volunteer position.

When did the idea of volunteering episodically, or short term begin? Not

in 1989! Short-duration or single event volunteering is as old as volunteering.

The 19th century had the wealthy elite sponsoring masked balls for charities like

Hull House, the 1950’s had mothers serving as activity leaders for weeklong Cub
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Scout day camps, and farmers have been building barns for their neighbor in a

few days for centuries. No doubt, indigenous populations in the “New World” had

their episodic volunteers as well!

Episodic volunteering comes in three forms. The basic types are

temporary, interim, and occasional.

A temporary episodic volunteer gives service which is short in duration,

usually for a few hours a day at most. These are people who help handing water

to runners in a marathon, flip burgers at a party for homeless children, or arrive at

a beach to clean it of refuse. They do not return and are not otherwise engaged

in the organization.

The second form of episodic volunteering is the interim volunteer. This is

someone who gives service on a regular basis for less then six months. A

student who interns at a social service agency for a semester, to gain experience

in their chosen profession is an interim episodic volunteer. A task force working

on a special project for four months is also interim. Someone serving on a

committee that meets once per month all yearlong is NOT an episodic volunteer.

Their service is continuous.

The occasional episodic volunteer is one providing service at regular

intervals for short periods of time. This is someone who works every year on the

annual wine tasting event to raise money for an animal shelter or symphony

orchestra, but only on the one event. Their service might be a month or two in

duration or just the evening of the event. But, the manager of volunteers can

count on them returning year after year.

This new type of volunteering is little researched, with scant actual

numbers from volunteer programs, and hence less attention in the research
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literature. Despite the growing numbers of episodic volunteers, professional

managers of volunteer programs continue to organize the infrastructure of their

programs around those who provide long-term continuous service, often over

decades. Episodic volunteer opportunities are available, but recruitment and

management efforts are focused primarily on the volunteer who provides long-

term continuous service. Toward the end of the 20th century fewer and fewer

people were interested in volunteering for the rest of their lives with one

organization or for regular assignments, like a job. The pressure to change the

systemic nature of volunteering came from volunteers saying, “Make it short, and

I will come.”

The purpose of this paper is to review some of the available research

literature to shed light on the phenomena of episodic volunteering and to develop

a series of questions for practitioners, non-profit organizations, and researchers

to address the systemic changes in the nature of volunteering that are underway

in the volunteering movement in first world countries.

“Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering: A Sociological

Modernization Perspective” provided the fodder to begin this study. (Hustinx and

Lammertyn, (2003). The authors of that paper lay out a credible literature review

that describes how the move from modernism to post modernism is impacting the

nonprofit and NGO world and the paid staff and volunteers who work in it.
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Modernism

Collectivistic Volunteering

The modern era began with the industrial revolution, but likely had its

doors blown off by the French Revolution, which ended the rule of feudal power.

(Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive

Modernization,” 1994). The growth of the middle class as owners of capital, and

therefore with the capacity to innovate, made “change” the watchword of the

modern era.

With the move to a modernist society came the collectivistic organization.

There was a clear “chain of command” or hierarchy, with divisions of labor

depending on the position in the organization. Democracy prevailed, with elected

leaders representing the members. There was “social or ideological continuity” in

these organizations. (Huntinx and Lammertyn, 2003) From a purely social

standpoint the rules were known and adhered to. There was a collective way of

living with clear delineation of what constituted “family” (nuclear), sex roles, and

rules governing marriage. (Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory

of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994).

In this environment the volunteer operates in an organization with

activities sunk deeply in community, tradition, having a sense of duty, or

obligation. Sometimes religious belief or ideology dictated altruistic behavior.

The highest goal of the group was a “dedication to the common good.” (Hustinx

and Lammertyn, 2003). Organizations like the Elks or Knight of Columbus are

examples of this.
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In such organizations the leadership consisted of two primary types; the

officials who told people what needed to be done; and the guardians or

interpreters of the work. In collectivistic organizations it is critical to obey the

leader.

Volunteers in the collectivistic organization carry out tasks or services that

have been decided by others, and are usually supervised by others in the group.

It is not important what the individual wants, but rather what is good for the

community. Often these groups are characterized by community and class

homogeneity. (Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003, Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics:

Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994)

To be fair, this collectivistic organizational infrastructure provided a “home”

or place to belong. “There are rules for belonging—kinships, class, ethnicity,

gender.” ((Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003) Codes of conduct, written and

unwritten are the norm, with a focus on “community.”

The collectivistic nonprofit organization operates under “unambiguous

instrumental rationality.” (Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory

of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994). This means that administrators or experts

know best or at least have the right answers. Decisions are usually “sold” to

members or volunteers. A norm is closed door decision making, and that

process is agreed to by the volunteers or members. (Beck, “The Reinvention of

Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994)

An example of the apex of this type of collectivistic volunteer behavior

within an organization is provided by Hustinx and Lammertyn (2003) in

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describing men’s clubs of the 1950’s. These community-based organizations

were a source of professional pride. Membership, and certainly leadership, were

to be aspired to as they displayed publicly a man’s reliability, community

commitment, and power. This type of volunteering often became a stepping

stone for those on a particular career path or wishing status enhancement.

(Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive

Modernization,” 1994, Giddens, Lash, 1994)

While men were joining Rotary, Elks, and Lions, women were playing out

their roles in high-powered organizations devoted to community good. From

garden clubs to hospital volunteer associations, women defined themselves as

something more than a housewife, achieving the same benefits as their club-

joining mates. ((Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003)

Post-Modernism

Reflexivism

Social historians suggest that westernized countries are in the midst of a

move to a more advanced state of social evolution, in a manner similar to that in

which we moved from feudalism to modernism. Social institutions moved from

pre-modern (feudal society) largely as a result of the industrial revolution.

Today’s social institutions are moving again from modernism (created by the

industrial age) to a new design, post-modernism. One aspect of this is often

referred to as reflexivism. (Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003) Beck, “The

Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994)

Several authors suggests that the move from modernism to post-modernism has
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been going on since the 1960’s. (Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a

Theory of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994)

Unlike its predecessor, social change characterized by revolutionary

outbursts, the post-modern era has crept in on “cats-paws.” (Beck, “The

Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994,).

This “sliding” revolution has not been born in upheaval and agony, but rather by

such things as the growth in wealth, employment security, loss of rivals, change

in the nature of the problems faced, and the speed of technification. (Giddens, ,

“Living in a Post-Traditional Society,”1994; Hustinix and Lammertyn, 2003) The

change in gender roles for women is likely the most dramatic illustration of a

quiet revolution.

While volunteering of the collectivistic mode was characterized as

member-based with strong institutional ties, the post-modern era reflexivistic

mode is program based and self-organized. (Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003).

Beck states unequivocally that the postmodern era is not about some “socialist

utopia,” but rather about how capitalism has produced a new world order. He

maintains that it is about the “dissolving of the contours of the industrial society.”

(Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive

Modernization,” 1994). It seems to be bypassing the democratic elective

decision making institutions (parliaments, congresses, legislatures, senates,) and

in fact, the entire process of political debate, as it used to be conducted. (Beck,

“The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization,”

1994).
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An example of this in the nonprofit world is the loss of power of some

nonprofits over their volunteers and/or members. The nonprofit organization is no

longer the place to meet friends or create an identity. The individual person is

left to cobble together their own biography, often providing the staging, including

multi level, multi-form, and multi-dimensional types of volunteer activities.

(Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003)

Reflexive volunteering comes about because the individual in the

postmodern era is a “reflection” of the change in institutional conditions.

Individualized action is required due to the disintegration of the collectivistic

institutions of the modern era. There is great ambiguity and precariousness in

life. People who thought they would work for the same company for life are laid

off and in some cases lose pension benefits. Children do not join the same

groups to which their parents and grandparents belonged, and often move

thousands of miles from the home of their birth to create a new life biography.

The 21st century has the individual as the solo artist, creating his/her own

experiences, and this includes the selection of the modes of volunteering. The

reflexivist volunteer decides on the volunteer tasks, constructs it as they wish,

and self-monitors, a systemic shift from the volunteer of yore. (Hustinx and

Lammertyn, 2003) The two authors even goes so far as to suggest that

volunteering is a coping mechanism for self-realization and the setting of a

personal agenda for life. Self-directed volunteering may be driven by self-interest,

but is no less “compassion” motivated. It appears there is a contradictory

motivational foundation for the new form of volunteering.

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“Fish or Cut Bait?”

While most of the authors writing on this systemic shift in the institutions of

society agree that reflexivism is here to stay, they by no means indicate that

collective or member based volunteering is dead. It is not a “fish or cut bait”

question, but more one of degrees. There is not a rigid division between the two

modes of volunteering, but rather a continuum that reflects the stable

collectivistic categories at one end and the more flexible forms at the opposite.

Stable Dynamic
Collectivistism Reflexivism

Currently there is a mixture of the two types with organizations having

features of both. For example, most hospitals have a dynamic volunteer program

allowing for episodic or short-term volunteer positions, as well as long-term

positions. This program exists along side the traditional hospital “auxiliary” with

life long members and a more stable hierarchy. There is a blending of types of

volunteers by the institution. Albeit, the episodic form of volunteering seems to

be gaining ground in terms of numbers, if the concerns of managers of volunteer

programs are an accurate barometer of the change.

It is not only institutions that are making choices about volunteering.

Individuals are concocting “volunteer cocktails” which include a blend of

collectivistic and reflexivistic forms of volunteering. There is an oscillating

between types of volunteering. (Hustinix and Lammertyn, 2003) The cause of

this unwillingness to “fish or cut bait” on the part of some volunteers is due to the

tension in their lives between the heteronymous and autonomous life biography.

(Hustinix and Lammertyn, 2003) They may feel secure in work, but know that all
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work in the post-modern era comes with inherent precariousness. Hence, their

choices about volunteering have distinct social roots. They might posit, “If I am

unsure about my career and work choice, I might choose a volunteer opportunity

that is collectivistic to provide a place of purported stability.” Or on the other

hand, choose a reflexivistic volunteer position, because life is uncertain. It is like

the motto of the Pacific Dessert Co., a dessert restaurant in Seattle, WA. “Eat

Dessert First, Life Is Uncertain.”

The Impact of Reflexive Volunteering:

Nonprofit, Volunteers, and Civil Society

The changes in volunteering to the more reflexivistic types of positions

require a new type of thinking by managers of volunteer programs. Episodic

volunteer positions, described earlier, provide the opportunity to bring on board

the reflexivistic volunteer. Projects can be short in duration or on an ad hoc

basis. They are limited in time and commitment. The intensity of the

involvement is significantly reduced. ((Hustinix and Lammertyn, 2003, Macduff,

2003). Personal motivations dictate the types of activities in which the individual

might want to volunteer.

The growth of “virtual volunteering,” providing volunteer service through

the Internet is an example of the global nature that reflexivistic volunteering can

take. Just as students are earning college degrees via the Internet, so people in

India can volunteer for organizations in Denver. There is a growing connection in

the reflexive world of local action and global concerns. ((Hustinix and Lammertyn,

2003)
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Even the nonprofit organization is undergoing changes. The new

organization is more democratically structured. It is informal, loosely organized,

and has few institutional ties. It is often limited in scope or project driven. Self-

help groups or neighborhood associations are examples of the impact of

reflexivism on the process of solving problems.

In fact, the collectivistic organizations are finding that the commitment of

individuals to something that is centralized and market driven is often reduced to

a vicarious commitment. People pay their dues, but limit participation to short-

term projects. Some nonprofits are dependent on staff involvement, with roles

for volunteers very narrow. This is because previously, in collective volunteering,

the involvement of the person was seen as work done by an amateur, albeit one

with good intentions. The do-gooder has been marginalized by the growth of

trained professional staff. Paid workers do the heavy lifting, while volunteers are

relegated to positions on the fringe. This also means fewer volunteers have

contact with each other, and more contact with staff. (Hustinix and Lammertyn,

2003)

It is important to remember that despite the blending of types of

volunteering there are negative impacts, as well. One is the potential demise of

the local community. It is not the disappearance of “place,” but rather the

disappearance of tradition. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is held, but with

transgender groups or gay and lesbian groups marching. This can appear to

some as the flouting of tradition. Tradition does not go away, but can be

replaced by fundamentalism. These are the formulaic truths, without regard to

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the consequences. (Giddens,, “Living in a Post-Traditional Society,” 1994) In

volunteer programs someone says, “We have been training volunteers for 40

hours before letting them see a client since 1973. It works, why would we

change now?”

The good news is that reflexive forms of organizing nonprofits and

volunteer programs have some benefits. By challenging the “old order” and

concepts of what makes a good citizen, there are actually more choices for

people to engage with their community. (Ellison, 1997) The door is open to a

vast array of people getting involved at the grassroots level: opposing

construction of freeways through wetlands, questioning the safety of chemical

plants or mining operations, or suing to halt logging in a fragile ecosystem.

(Hustinix and Lammertyn, 2003, Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a

Theory of Reflexive Modernization,” 1994,). The future is not as grim as some

would have us believe.

The Future

Just as people were released from feudal and religious verities with the

advent of the industrial age and the modern era, so too the individual of the 21st

century is being released from the constraints of the collectivistic era. They live

in a world of contradictory risks, both global and personal, but in possession of

expanded education, mobility, and the ability to operate independently. (Beck,

“The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization,”

1994,) The new social order means a daily meeting with changes in political and

economic environments, which require questioning and revisions in thinking,

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identity, and loyalty. (Ellison, 1997, ) There will be totally new forms of inclusion

and exclusion. (Ellison, 1997).

Lash suggests that community in the postmodern era of reflexivism is

likely to create “life style enclaves.” There might be shared property, but not as

in communes of the modern era. The new “enclaves” will be where people

operate as individuals, and are grouped and regrouped around lifestyle niche

issues. Daydreaming will be encouraged so groups can stay ahead of others.

He refers to these people as “calculating hedonists.”( Lash, “Reflexivity and its

Doubles: Structure, Aesthetics, Community,” 1994)

This systemic change in the entire culture means that there are likely to be

shifts in the relationship between volunteers and their organizations. Perhaps

the best indicator of this change is the growing appeal of “brokering”

organizations. Brokering organizations are characterized by being structured to

stand between the volunteer and the organization for which the volunteer service

is being rendered. Hence, the reflexive volunteer need have little or no contact

with the “parent” organization. Service can be given without the risk of joining a

collectivistic organization with dues, membership expectations, or leadership

from on high. Corporate volunteer programs are likely the largest brokering

organizations for episodic volunteer opportunities. Corporations like, AT&T,

UPS, Washington Mutual, and hosts of others provide volunteers to build houses,

construct playgrounds, work at athletic fund raising events, or donate foodstuffs

to homeless shelters. The employee volunteer signs up through work, never

seeing the manager of volunteers from the organization for whom the service is
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being rendered. They avoid the screening process or membership requirements.

This is seen by some researchers as a blurring of the boundaries of paid and

unpaid work. (Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003)

To survive, nonprofit organizations need to adapt structurally, and in the

way in which volunteers are managed. There is a need for flexibility and more

acceptance of the detached forms of volunteer, as described earlier in this paper.

Today, they are tolerated at best in most nonprofit organizations. The “real”

volunteers are those who serve in the collectivistic manner, of long –term

continuous service. (Macduff, 2003) New systems of management of volunteers

must be tune in to the vulnerability of the people in the reflexive social

environment. “Reflexive volunteers demand a considerable amount of flexibility

and mobility to allow them to shift between activities and organizations according

to biographical whims.” (Hustinix and Lammertyn, 2003)

Some researchers expect the line between volunteers and staff to blur.

The demands on today’s nonprofit is so great for services it will require the use of

volunteers to do things currently done exclusively by the staff. Volunteers will be

required to gain skills at a performance levels of competence. They will then be

involved in helping solve the service demand issues faced by their organization.

(Beck, “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive

Modernization,” 1994; Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003; Macduff, 2003)

This “silent” shift in the systemic nature of volunteering raises questions

for nonprofit organizations, managers of volunteer programs, and for the

researchers of the academy. Answers to any or all of these questions have the
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potential to “smooth” the transition to acceptance of new forms of volunteering.

Without the effort to facilitate a smooth transition Giddens (1994) suggests the

path to solving the clash of values a is not a pretty one. First, there is likely to be

an embedding of traditions; second a disengagement from the two sides; third an

attempt at discourse; and lastly, coercion.

The Challenge

Questions for nonprofits

• What could be the potential impact of volunteering in a nonprofit

organization if senior managers (including boards) conceptualized

volunteers as solvers of organizational problems rather than fillers of low-

level, fuzzy, and indefinite long-term jobs?

• If a manager of volunteers could recruit ANYONE in your community to do

a chunk of work for you, what would that work be?

• Does the current nonprofit governance structure provide a comfortable "fit"

for managing the reflexivistic social institution, where the workers (paid

and unpaid) will ebb and flow.

• What about the hierarchical structure that flows from executive director to

staff to volunteer? What if staff stuffed envelopes and volunteers wrestled

with policy decisions?

• Are boards engaging their own members in short-term strategic

discussions and work rather than the traditional roles of governance?

Questions for managers of volunteer programs:

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• Count the episodic volunteers and then the continuous service volunteers.

Count the hours donated by both. Where are you spending your volunteer

program budget?

• What if a consortium of organizations allowed volunteers to sign up once,

with one application form for all of them? Then, once a month the

volunteers would receive information on volunteer tasks or positions at all

the organizations.

• There has been a dramatic increase in brokering organizations. Could

this mean that reflexivistic volunteers want a barrier between the volunteer

services they give and a direct connection to the organization for whom

they are giving the service? What does that mean and what do we do

about it?

• What if we let volunteers write their own position descriptions?

• What if we created a reward system with certain awards that could ONLY

be earned by those giving episodic service?

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Questions for researchers in the academy:

• Where is the research about organizations that want to rebuild collective

forms of volunteerism? What do organizations need to do to build

community and foster collective goals? If the pendulum has swung from

collective to reflexive, what would need to happen to have it swing back to

a middle ground? Are we in a period of extreme swing to the reflexive

side because organizations have "accommodated" the episodic volunteer

or because that is where society is determined to go?

• Where do advocacy volunteers fall as volunteers? Will they also fade

away or morph into something different? Will there still be a collective

awareness and action around social/societal/environmental issues? Do

nonprofits have lessons to be learned from these advocacy groups?

• “Research on volunteers usually takes on a monolithic approach, using

“catch” all phrases or reducing it to one it to one of its multiple dimensions.

As a result the volunteer picture remains fragmented.” (Hustinx and

Lammertyn, 2003) What if researchers zeroed in on the way people are

volunteering and studied the episodic, as well as the long term?

• What type of research can be done to help organizations who wish to

change from a collectivistic model to a reflexivistic? For example, Who is

helping the fraternal organizations from dying? Fraternal organizations,

and in particular, long term volunteers in fraternal organizations, have

demonstrated stubborn resistance to change. They are heavily invested

in traditional roles and the organizational structures that sustain them.

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They are aging and, in many cases, literally dying off. Research and

reason frequently fail to move them and their organizations into the 21st

century. Is there any way to keep fraternal organizations from dying?

Should they be allowed to fade, clearing the way for contemporary and

vibrant organizations to emerge?

• In a world of ambiguity, risk, and dissonance, should the researcher stand

to the side and watch or engage?

It can be said no more eloquently, “ It certainly appears that, if we continue

to look to the present state of volunteering with the familiar formal categories, we

will soon be confronted with the demise of the last volunteer crusader.” (Hustinx

and Lammertyn, 2003)

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References

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Modernization,” in Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and
Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order, Stanford University Press,
Stanford, CA 1994.
Beck, Ulrich, Giddens, Anthony, Lash, Scott, 1994. Politics, Tradition and
Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford University Press,
Stanford, CA
Eckstein, Susan. 2001. “Community as Gift-Giving: Collectivistic Roots of
Volunteerism.” American Sociological Review, Vol 66. December.
Ellison, Nick, 1997. “Towards a New Social Politics: Citizenship and Reflexivity
in Late Modernity.” Sociology Vol. 31, No. 4, November.
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Volunteering?” Voluntary Action. Vol. 1, No. 1. Winter 1999
Giddens, Anthony, “Living in a Post-Traditional Society,” in Reflexive
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Volunteering: A Sociological Modernization Perspective,” Voluntas:
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Lash, Scott, “Reflexivity and its Doubles: Structure, Aesthetics, Community,” in
Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern
Social Order, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA 1994.
Macduff, Nancy 2003. Episodic Volunteering: A Management Strategy., MBA
Publishing, Walla Walla, WA (Expected publication date November 30,
2003)
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