Volunteers in state government: Involvement, management, and benefits

Much of what is known about volunteering to public agencies emanates from s urveys of city and county governments, Little research has addressed the ma gnitude and other characteristics of volunteering to state government organ izations. This study presents and analyzes the results of the first systema tic national survey of volunteering to state government agencies. The study investigates two models, the first to explain volunteer use by state agenc ies, and the second to explain the realization of benefits from volunteer i nvolvement. Empirical analysis shows that the rate of volunteer involvement in state government is substantial, reaching 36% of the agencies sampled. However, according to the personnel managers surveyed, simply having volunt eers is not sufficient. The authors demonstrate that to achieve the full be nefits of the approach as perceived by personnel managers, agencies must en gage in effective management of their volunteer programs.