Volunteer Engagement in a Restrictive Context: The experience of Russian NPOs Dr Sergej Ljubownikow from Nottingham Business School and Prof Jo Crotty from Salford Business School who carried out the work summarise the research findings and say that “Russian NPOs in the health sector require the development of several organisational capabilities in order to effectively deliver sustainable services alongside the Russian State”. This research investigated non-profit organisations (NPOs), engaged in the area of health and health care in the Russian Federation. The aim of the research was to explore whether and how such organisations provide services to their clients and the extent to which these groups are a substitute for services normally provided by the State. The research found that Russian non-profit organisations in the health sector require the development of several organisational capabilities in order to effectively deliver sustainable services alongside the Russian State. Specifically the research project highlighted that health NPOs in Russia need to: i.) develop their skills and capabilities to engage with volunteers; ii.) be more proactive in planning for organisational leadership transitions; iii.) develop their advocacy skills in order to be more active in influencing the State’s service provision activities; and, iv.) be more active in exploring the diversification of both income streams and activity focus. However the research also found that NPOs with clients with HIV/AIDS engage in commendable and innovative ways to deliver their services drawing on both global best practices and on the most up-to-date research in their respective field. The HIV/AIDS area was also the best organised in terms of intra-organisational collaborations. The research also found that all of the participating NPOs where very proficient at navigating a very difficult official environment.

1. Jo Crotty
Salford Business School, UK
&
Sergej Ljubowikow
Nottingham Business School
Volunteer Engagement in a
Restrictive Context: The experience
of Russian NPOs

2. Volunteering
• ‘Freely chosen deliberate helping activity that
extends over time, is engaged in without
expectation of reward or other compensation and
through formal organisations’ (Snyder and
Omoto, 2008, p. 3)
• ‘The more democratic the governance systems,
the higher the volunteering rate’ (Hodgkinson,
2003; Salamon & Sokolowski, 2003; Wilson,
2012)

3. Who Volunteers?
• Volunteering can be determined by
• Social class
• Gender
• Level of education
• Income
• Life course considerations
• Associated experience
• The total number of NPOs in a specific social context
• Wilson, 2012; Gage & Thapa, 2012; Rotolo & Wilson,
2012

4. Types of Volunteers
•Spot
•Formal
•Forced
• Grant, 2012; Shin & Kleiner, 2003

5. Volunteer Management
• Two strands
• Recruitment (Brudney & Meijs, 2009)
• Branch Network, (Hustinx and Handy, 2009)
• Engagement
• Volunteers satisfaction (Musick & Wilson, 2008;
Wilson, 2012).
• Training
• Induction, supervision, and recognition of the volunteer
contribution (Bebbington & Gatter, 1994; Cnaan &
Cascio, 1998; Tang, Morrow-Howell, & Hong, 2009)

6. A Restrictive Context
• Soviet Antecedents
• The right ‘not to volunteer’
• The NGO Law
• Public Chamber
• Foreign Agents
• Volunteering Law

7. Research Questions
• In a restrictive context
1. Who volunteers?
2. What types of volunteers can NPOs
recruit?
3. How are volunteers managed?

8. Method
• 12 matched pairs of Health and Education NGOs
• Two Russian Provisional Industrial Regions
• Samara Oblast and Perm Krai
• Combination of
• Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews which were translated and
transcribed in situ.
• Observation and informal discussion with volunteers
• Data was analysed through coding, looking for patterns,
similarities and themes (Berg, 2007)
• Presented through ‘illuminating examples’ (de Vaus,
2001)

9. Who Volunteers?
• Students
• to gain experience for ‘their future profession’ (2.3a)
• ‘college application’ (2.4a)
• Former Service Users
• ‘sons of former patients’ (1.3b),
• ‘relatives of drug users’ (2.5a)
• ‘former drug users’ (2.5b)
• to show ‘gratitude’ for what the organisation has done (1.3;
1.5; 2.1; 2.4; 2.5)

10. Who Volunteers?
•Gender
• ‘most of them are girls’ (2.2a)
• ‘the volunteers are mostly girls’ (2.3a)
•Networks
• ‘book of good people’ (2.2a)

11. Types of Volunteers
• Spot
• ‘one off’ (1.4a), occurred ‘just once’ (1.1a), ‘one time’
(1.4b), ‘temporary’ (2.5a), or at most ‘2-3 times’ (2.4a).
• Forced
• ‘internships’ (2.4d)
• the ‘young guard’ (molodaya gvardiya, 1.1a)
• so those young people who end up helping us, do so
not because of their decision to help, but because they
were asked to, or even ordered to’ (1.1a).

12. Types of Volunteers
• Formal – Short Term
• ‘burn out’ (1.3b) or ‘return to using again’ (2.5a)
• Formal – Longer Term
• a ‘volunteer contract’ (1.1a) or ‘volunteer agreement’ (2.3a)
• ‘self-realisation’ (2.4d), pursing ‘personal interests’ (2.5a);
‘assign …a specific role’ (1.4a; 2.4a)
• Delineation
• ‘All our volunteers are divided into two groups: volunteers-
specialists and “normal” volunteers. The former do some
particular tasks similar to regular employees. But, certainly, not
from their first working day. They should work for some time and
learn the basics of our activity. The latter do professional tasks’
(1.5a)

13. Managing Volunteers - Recruitment
• Recruitment
• We do not find volunteers, they come to us with the desire to help
(1.5a)
• They come here…if someone has an interest in working with us, we
support them (2.1a)
• ‘social networks’ (2.2a)
• ‘youth leaders’ (1.2a), ‘psychology department at the University’ (1.4b),
‘teachers’ (2.2a)
• Impediments
• people did not see the ‘benefits’ (2.7a)
• busy lives’ (2.2a)
• Most people work and they still need to find time with their families. It
makes it hard for them to find extra time for us, which makes it difficult
to find volunteers (1.3b)
• Lost opportunities

14. Managing Volunteers - Retention
• Ad hoc approach
• ‘[we do] not have the resources for the constant training
of volunteers’ (1.3a).
• ‘sent them for training somewhere…to various women’s
movements…and conferences across Russia’ (2.1a), ‘to
Moscow to get special training’ (1.3b)
• ‘brochure’ (2.2a)
• ‘exchange experiences and share problems we
encounter and ways to solve them’ (2.4d)
• 50% in the first 12 months (1.1a)

15. Conclusion
• Context impacts
• Who volunteers
• Volunteer management
• Context does not impact
• Volunteer Type