It Ain't Natural: Toward a New (Natural) Recourse Conceptualization for Volunteer Management

Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Volume 38, Number 4, pp. 564-581, 2009

Posted: 15 Apr 2013

See all articles by Jeffrey L. Brudney

Jeffrey L. Brudney

Cleveland State University - Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Lucas C.P.M. Meijs

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)

Date Written: April 1, 2009

Abstract

This article presents a new conceptualization of volunteerism as a natural resource. The authors propose that volunteer energy can be understood as a human-made, renewable resource that can be grown and recycled, and whose continuation and volume of flow can be influenced by human beings positively as well as negatively. Based on this conceptualization, we describe the major features of volunteer energy and suggest that a new regenerative approach is necessary for the field to fully embrace it. We develop the new approach and contrast it with the traditional instrumental approach to volunteer management.

Suggested Citation

Brudney, Jeffrey L. and Meijs, Lucas C.P.M., It Ain't Natural: Toward a New (Natural) Recourse Conceptualization for Volunteer Management (April 1, 2009). Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Volume 38, Number 4, pp. 564-581, 2009 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2250404

Jeffrey L. Brudney

Cleveland State University - Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs ( email )

1717 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
United States

Lucas C.P.M. Meijs (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
Room T08-21
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands

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