Volunteers In Leisure

Volunteerism is a topic of increasing importance in this age of budget cuts, declining employment and amid the threat posed by other competing leisure pursuits. There are both social and economic benefits of volunteering. As we are becoming more reliant on volunteers, there is a need for a better understanding of why people take up volunteering, and how to recruit, manage, motivate, and support volunteers most effectively. In order for organisations that host volunteers to achieve the most from their volunteers, they must understand how to give them the best "leisure" experience. This book examines critical aspects of contemporary volunteerism, from the perspective of a variety of volunteering contexts. It will appeal to academic researchers and students in disciplines such as leisure, recreation, tourism, management and sociology as well as practitioners in the voluntary sector (including volunteers), National and Local Government and those organising special events that depend on voluntary support.

Volunteering and its nonprofit organizations have commonly been analyzed in economic terms, with volunteering being referred to as "unpaid (productive) work". This economic definition has been around far longer than that of volunteering conceived of as leisure, which is discussed as the volitional definition. By means of a lengthy literature review, this book sets out the theoretical and empirical contributions of the serious leisure perspective to understanding volunteer motivation. This second approach began more than 40 years ago. It answers the key motivational question of why people engage in unpaid productive work, laborious or not. Since in this conception payment in cash or in kind is not an incentive to perform such work, what encourages people to volunteer? The serious leisure perspective, unlike mainstream economics, can shed considerable light on this question.

The first chapter of this monograph presents some major themes and fundamental issues surrounding leisure activities volunteers and their management from a system perspective. Chapter 2 discusses the results of a survey conducted to obtain a status report of selected volunteer system characteristics. The third chapter focuses on dealing with volunteers with regard to planning, marketing, training and placement, supervision, and recordkeeping, evaluation and recognition. The fourst chapter covers other concerns related to volunteer management, e.g., liability, the agency/volunteer relationship, current and future roles for volunteers, and characteristics of special groups of volunteers. The appendices offer detailed examples of effective volunteer management techniques. (JD)

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of leisure time management on motivation. Questionnaire method was used as data collection tool in the research. The survey, the people to be informed.These questionnaires were suitable for youth and sports volunteers on a voluntary basis. 390 sports volunteers participated in the research with convenience sampling method. The research group consisted of sports volunteers who took part in sports organizations within the youth and sports volunteers association.The data obtained from the research were analyzed with statistical methods in SPSS and AMOS programs.In this study, the effect of leisure time management on motivation was examined. For this purpose, the fit indexes, regression coefficients and effect values of the model created with the AMOS program were statistically evaluated. As a result of the research, it has been found that leisure time management has a positive effect on motivation in sports volunteers, which is the research group.

Volunteering and its nonprofit organizations have commonly been analyzed in economic terms, with volunteering being referred to as "unpaid (productive) work". This economic definition has been around far longer than that of volunteering conceived of as leisure, which is discussed as the volitional definition. By means of a lengthy literature review, this book sets out the theoretical and empirical contributions of the serious leisure perspective to understanding volunteer motivation. This second approach began more than 40 years ago. It answers the key motivational question of why people engage in unpaid productive work, laborious or not. Since in this conception payment in cash or in kind is not an incentive to perform such work, what encourages people to volunteer? The serious leisure perspective, unlike mainstream economics, can shed considerable light on this question.

'Leisure and Recreation Management' is essential reading for anyone interested in exploring both the theory and the practicalities of managing leisure and recreational facilities.