Sustaining volunteer organizations: Investigating the internal and external predictors of turnover

Volunteering represents an important and beneficial civic activity. United Nations estimates that the global volunteering workforce is equivalent to 109 million full-time workers. Although volunteers represent a sizable global ‘workforce’, management research on volunteering is fairly limited. The aim of the current symposium is to showcase how management theories and concepts traditionally developed to study paid workforce can be applied and adapted to study volunteers with the goal of improving volunteering sustainability. Collectively, the five presentations investigate the external (e.g., intergroup relations, leadership) and internal (i.e., cognitions, motivations, identification) factors that predict volunteer turnover. Enhancing and extending our understanding of volunteering ‘work’ will assist organizations in better attracting and retaining volunteers. This is an important managerial challenge, considering the enormous contribution made by volunteers to the society.