This paper presents a typology of occupation-related volunteering where an individual’s occupational competencies and resources underpin their volunteering. Their occupation is the key to employability’s occupational competencies and resources intersecting volunteerability’s availability, willingness, and ability to volunteer (see Meijs et al. in Voluntary Action 8:36–54, 2006). It theorizes the intersection as occupation-related volunteering (Biermann et al. in SAGE Open, 14:1–24, 2024). The typology’s two dimensions capture employment and volunteering practices across all work-life stages and create five explanatory types of occupation-related volunteering: self-facilitated Occupational Volunteering and Occupational Development Volunteering and the employer-facilitated Occupational Bestowing, Senpage Service, and Occupational HR Development. The conceptualization captures employability intersecting volunteerability due to the underlying, often prerequisite, occupation and caters to cultural and organizational diversity in praxis and theory. It synthesizes and reorganizes cross-disciplinary knowledge, creating concepts and language to encourage a volunteering-specific research approach. The typology and the research lenses of “becoming, doing, and relating” to one’s occupation (Anteby et al. in Academy of Management Annals 10:183–244, 2016) combine to prompt empirical volunteering research with suggested questions about the praxis, practices, and practitioners of occupation-related volunteering.

This study proposes a more nuanced understanding of the government-nonprofit relationship by examining how government regulations moderate the sector size relationships between government and nonprofits. I argue that when government regulations change, different models—supplementary or complementary—prevail in a respective policy subsector. In the context of Chinese environmental nonprofits, I focus on two government regulations that are determinant for nonprofit development: regulation of registration and regulation of overseas funding generation. Analyses of a longitudinal dataset (2009–2020) show that environmental nonprofit organizations are in a supplementary relationship with government when the latter encourages overseas funding generation, while the relationship becomes a complementary one when government strengthens its control on overseas funding yet loosens the control over nonprofit registration. This study contributes to the literature by testing moderating effect of the classic government-nonprofit models and by illustrating the dynamics of government-nonprofit relationships in China.

This study examines the signaling effect of support from nonprofit experts on celebrity credibility regarding advocacy efforts. Furthermore, we provide detailed insights into celebrity–nonprofit partnerships by exploring the congruence between the celebrity and advocacy content, and examining whether the impact of support from nonprofit experts differs based on the celebrities’ source characteristics. A survey experiment manipulating the support of nonprofit organizations for celebrity advocacy was conducted, and data from 776 Japanese respondents collected through an online panel were analyzed. The results indicated that signals of nonprofits’ support significantly enhanced perceptions of celebrity expertise but only when strong congruence existed between the celebrity and advocacy content. However, these signals did not enhance the perception of celebrity trustworthiness. We present a causal explanation of how nonprofit experts’ support affects perceived celebrity expertise, which ultimately leads to increased cognitive involvement in social issues. The findings integrate signaling theory and the source credibility model to explain the mechanisms underlying celebrity–nonprofit partnerships in advocacy efforts.

Is the environment a political issue or is it above politics? Do those who fight for environmental protection, the environmental civil society organizations (ENGOs), see the environment as an issue of politics or prefer to conceptualize it as a post-political phenomenon? In most societies, politics is viewed hesitantly. It is equated to activities undertaken legitimately only by the political parties and happening only in a parliamentary space. Political activities are perceived to be a call for destroying the social order and sometimes even an invitation for violence. However, whether the society views the issue of the environment as a political or an apolitical issue impacts the policy decisions. Hence, whether those pursuing environmental protection in environmental civil society organizations (ENGOs) see the environment as political or apolitical is highly significant. Through a survey of 119 ENGOs in the Aegean region of Turkey, this article explores the perspectives of ENGOs and examines how they perceive the nexus between the environment and politics.

We contribute to the research stream on volunteer retention and commitment that examines the influence of satisfaction on retention by (1) examining potential antecedents to satisfaction, (2) framing satisfaction as volunteers’ satisfaction with their volunteering experience, and (3) evaluating a variety of potential outcome variables. We examined the influence of volunteer’s satisfaction with their overall volunteering experience on six behavioral intentions (1-year retention intentions, 5-year retention intentions, donation intentions, bequest intentions, volunteer recruitment intentions, and word-of-mouth intentions). Data were collected from participating Canadian nonprofit organizations, resulting in 599 completed questionnaires from active volunteers. Satisfaction had a significant influence on the four nonmonetary support intentions. Feeling valued influenced our outcomes indirectly through satisfaction and had a direct effect on four outcome variables. Perceived usefulness was a significant antecedent of feeling valued. Moderation effects, directions for future research, and managerial implications are also discussed.

Women and girls’ organisations (WGOs) are a fundamental part of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and wider society. They have a unique history and development as a sub-set of the wider VCS and have been pivotal in meeting important needs for women and girls, yet existing analysis of the VCS using data from the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW) has not previously focused on WGOs. The purpose of this paper is to present a feminist approach to identifying and classifying WGOs utilising data from the CCEW register. The paper provides a detailed exploration of the methodological approach and argues that such an approach to compiling and analysing datasets is both necessary and advantageous in exposing areas of power and contestation. The paper provides an original overview of the scope of WGOs in England and Wales between 2008 and 2018 and also demonstrates benefits that can be applied in other classification work within the field.

The middle class is considered the most relevant group for formal volunteering. However, the middle class is shrinking, raising the question of the consequences for volunteering in general. Based on four samples of the Swiss Volunteering Survey from 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2019 containing over 5′000 individual responses, we test whether the intensity of middle-class volunteering changes over time. Our results show that the middle class is an essential source for formal volunteering compared to other parts of society, especially those with lower income. The relationship between the middle class and volunteering is positive, though non-significant in our samples. We found no significant changes over time in the volunteering development of the middle class.

Non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs’) significant role in the development sector has augmented scholarly debate on their legitimacy and accountability over the last two decades. While this literature is often framed from a Northern theoretical perspective and focused on one or a few case studies, this article follows a different approach. Through an innovative social media analysis of the #UgandaNGOsExhibition X (formerly Twitter) campaign, this article inductively investigates the perception of Uganda’s urban public (Twitter/X users), a new emerging advocacy actor in Uganda’s civic space, concerning NGOs’ legitimacy and accountability. Our findings reveal that holding NGOs accountable in closed civic spaces can take various collective forms aside from direct control and co-optation by the government or increased donor scrutiny. Prioritizing naming, shaming, and peer accountability, the urban public appealed to NGO leaders to be more altruistic and practice the same ethos of social justice and accountability they demand from the government. However, NGOs should be receptive of valid criticism to maintain their legitimacy amid different accountability loci.

This article examines the sustainability strategy for local NGOs in Indonesia through empowering the urban middle class. Based on qualitative research in Makassar, the largest city in Eastern Indonesia, our study reveals that the decision to empower the urban middle class was made by leveraging collective consciousness and contextual mobilization. We argue that by targeting the urban middle class, local NGOs increase their sustainability by mobilizing internal funds from communities and gaining human resources that can continue their membership. This article reinforces the claim that NGOs that can choose issues aligned with their target groups’ interests tend to be more sustainable.

The recent crises in Europe impacted the volunteering patterns within formal organizations that provide support in regular and crisis times. In our paper, we investigated how volunteer coordinators from formal entities (public/governmental and non-governmental) perceive (1) the patterns of volunteering engagement (long-term versus episodic) in regular and crisis times, (2) the processes of retaining volunteers during crises; (3) the trust of the community toward various types of organizations during social crises; (4) the role of informal support groups in relation to the tasks of their organization. Between June and October 2023, we performed an online-based study (total N = 55)—in Poland (N = 28) and Italy (N = 27). The survey had multiple-choice and open-ended questions, and the results were analyzed qualitatively using the thematic analysis framework. The findings indicated that volunteer coordinators reckon that long-term and episodic volunteers play crucial and complementary roles in helping organizations achieve their objectives. This implies that organizations should recognize the value of both types of volunteers and consider them essential resources for pursuing organizational goals. The results also suggest that the volunteer retention strategies are worth outlining or revisiting within organizations, and attention should be paid to psychological support. According to coordinators, trust in non-governmental organizations is perceived as crucial in the beneficiaries' decisions about where to seek help. Collaboration with informal groups is advised, given that the goals can be achieved together, mutually using the resources provided by both types of helping entities.

Charitable assistance from nonprofits and charities plays an important role in helping vulnerable population relieve burdens, but current research provides limited evidence on the factors explaining the receipt of charitable assistance. This study constructs a conceptual framework and empirically tests three groups of factors—from the need, capital, and contextual perspectives—as the antecedents of charitable assistance using data from China. Multilevel logistic regression results show that having needs lays a foundation for charitable assistance, but capital and contextual factors are also important. Higher financial and social capital are associated with higher charitable assistance. Political and social capital strengthen the positive relationship between needs and charitable assistance. Economic development has a positive relationship with charitable assistance, while the relationship between government spending and charitable assistance is negative. This study suggests the inequality of receiving charitable assistance among the disadvantaged groups.

Since its emergence in the 1970s, the Italian social and solidarity economy (SSE) has been characterized by an emphasis on volunteers’ contribution, overshadowing the presence of paid workers and the role they play in sustaining such a vital social and solidarity infrastructure. The tension between paid and unpaid work generates concrete consequences for workers. Misrepresented as volunteers, social economy employees are imagined as subjects primarily driven by devotion and non-economic motives. Their work is, in turn, feminized and invisibilized. Drawing on theories of gendered labour and feminist critiques of unpaid work, this article reviews the development of the SSE in Italy by focusing on the history of social cooperatives, its main organizations. My goal is to trace the origins of the tension between paid work and volunteering, and query its consequences on the development of the SSE as an employment field. I identify three subsequent phases that shaped SSE work, invisibilizing it in ways that normalize its casualization and limited professional recognition: origins (1970s–1980s), institutionalization (1990s–2000s), and austerity (2010s–2020s). Despite its progressive origins and unique success, the Italian SSE is underpinned by important tensions that require further attention.

For public organizations to harvest the benefits of co-producing emergency response, incident commanders must trust citizens to carry out hazardous tasks under immense pressure. This article examines how non-profit organizations (NPOs) serve as trust-supporting infrastructures that facilitate the co-production of emergency response operations. Reporting on a qualitative study of emergency management co-production in Denmark and Norway, it shows how NPOs provide temporary structures, procedures, and practices for registering, leading and commanding engaged citizens that enhance trust and thus sustain co-production of emergency response. Comparing intermediated co-production to organized volunteerism, however, the study also shows how intermediated co-production suffers from inherent trust limitations. Eliciting the role of NPOs as trust-building intermediaries, the study contributes with new knowledge for scholars, practitioners and policymakers involved in issues of co-production within and beyond the field of emergency management.

Although the outcomes of nonprofit revenue diversification have been widely studied, its antecedents remain underexplored. This study applies resource dependence theory to examine the factors shaping nonprofits’ revenue diversification strategies, drawing from a nationwide survey of Chinese social service nonprofits. The findings indicate that, on average, Chinese nonprofits tend to have less diversified revenue portfolios, though significant variation exists across organizations. The analysis reveals that nonprofits with a well-established professional workforce and those operating in resource-rich environments are more likely to concentrate their revenue sources. In contrast, nonprofits with stronger government ties are more likely to have diversified revenue structures. These findings offer new insights into the literature and carry practical implications for nonprofit management.

For nonprofit organizations (NPOs) struggling to attract adequate numbers of volunteers, examining what makes nonprofit engagement meaningful is essential because disenchanted volunteers can simply quit. Yet, the assumption that freedom is a core aspect of the volunteer experience and of meaningful work may not hold true in high-stakes environments where volunteers must demonstrate high levels of commitment and expertise. This study aims to analyze how freedom plays out in high-stakes volunteering and its impact on meaningful work. Drawing on interviews with volunteer and paid ambulance crew working in nine stations in Aotearoa New Zealand, the study explores how “super-volunteers” talk about freedom in the context of their on-road work and how coworkers communicatively attempt to influence volunteers’ freedom. Three volunteer profiles emerged from the analysis: ideal workers, supporting actors, and thrill seekers. Most paid staff encouraged ideal workers to strive for self-realization, a form of positive freedom in work, which led to optimal clinical performance. Supporting actors privileged self-determination or positive freedom at work, although coworkers successfully pushed them to contribute to basic emergency work. Because thrill seekers demanded freedom from boring or dirty jobs, appeals to teamwork failed to sway them. The study makes two key contributions. First, the diversity of freedoms volunteers evoked and resisted underscores the importance of nuancing the assertion that volunteering is a “free” act. Second, although the meaningful work literature is drifting in the pro-freedom direction, it shows that the freedoms enacted by volunteers or promoted by coworkers were arguably “mistaken”—for volunteers, patients, and the NPO itself.

This article uses Liberia’s national mental health program to explore how stakeholders make meaning of their work and how those meanings intertwine with various powers to shape program outcomes. We use interview data to analyze how the Carter Center (an INGO), Liberian government, and local mental health practitioners understood the program to address this stigmatized, often-ignored health issue. INGO officials emphasized personal connections, virtuous actions, and expertise in meaning-making, ideas intertwined with network, moral, and epistemic powers. Liberian government officials understood the program to be government directed but financially unaffordable, illustrating the government’s institutional authority but low economic power. Mental health clinicians perceived the program as a virtuous opportunity to gain expertise and economic advancement, although they used the power to exit when these aspirations were unrealized. This article illustrates that meaning-making cannot be divorced from actors’ various powers and that stakeholders’ failure to align meanings can undermine program outcomes.

In response to the arrival of Ukrainians in March 2022, private homestay emerged as a key tool providing a flexible alternative to traditional reception systems. This paper explores the potential of homestays as a scalable model to address the accommodation needs of diverse refugee groups. We draw on a survey of 7,200 households in Germany and find that the majority of current and potential hosts express positive experiences of living together and willingness to continue offering accommodation. Despite relative preferences in favor of hosting female and Ukrainian refugees, there is still an absolute willingness to provide homestays to several nationalities in addition to Ukranians. However, reluctance to host male refugees shows not only the perseverance of threat perceptions but will likely prevent homestay from serving all refugee demographics at scale. Nevertheless, our study suggests that homestays could meaningfully complement existing reception systems beyond the initial focus on Ukrainians.

During humanitarian crises, diasporas often contribute vital support to the survival and reconstruction of their communities of origin. This ‘diaspora humanitarianism’ reshapes the international humanitarian system, but its scope, modality and impact remain understudied, partly due to the ‘invisible’ nature of diaspora interventions. This paper expands the understanding on the how and why diasporas engage in humanitarian responses, by examining survey data on the responses of six Australia-based diasporas to a range of crises (i.e. sociopolitical crises, military conflicts and disasters). Our findings demonstrate that diasporas’ contributions focus on the household level, present gender-differentiated patterns and vary according to the nature of the crises. While our data reveal a ‘coordination gap’ between diaspora communities and the humanitarian sector, these communities are keen to cooperate with other actors. These results unveil not only the strengths and challenges of diaspora humanitarianism, but potential avenues to integrate it to the humanitarian system.

This study investigated a multilevel, multisector governance model regarding the incorporation of Eritrean asylum seekers in Tel Aviv, from perspectives of both Israeli civil society organization (CSO) professionals and asylum seekers, through semi-structured interviews, using a qualitative phenomenological design. The research revealed a complex interplay among governmental agencies, local authorities, and CSOs in negotiating legal actions and resource allocation. This interaction ranges from integration initiatives by the municipality and CSOs to separation and exclusion policies at the government level, and results in only partial integration, or “incorporation,” into Israeli society. While the government maintains significant influence over migrants’ lives, the municipality must balance governmental decrees, native-born residents’ opposition, and human rights commitments. Likewise, CSOs navigate a dual role of municipal cooperation and opposition. Over time, all stakeholders have recognized CSOs as an essential component of the interdependent governance structure. The findings illuminate how this multilevel and multisector framework shapes asylum seekers incorporation by community strengthening, education, and social and legal services. Despite maintaining dominant authority, the central government frequently engages in deliberative governance with municipalities and CSOs.