To effectively provide services to citizens, local governments have had to be creative. One approach has been the creation of volunteer programs to meet demands and expanding needs. Volunteer programs hold promise for creating meaningful engagement opportunities for citizens. However, limited organizational capacity, inadequate volunteer management practices, and difficulties in maintaining volunteer retention are concerns plaguing local government volunteer programs. Volunteer programs are often structured around a set of best practices thought to be necessary for ensuring the retention of volunteers. To apply best practices across the board would suggest that local government volunteer programs are similar in organizational structure, budget size, amount of citizen engagement, accountability concerns, and that they adopt similar bureaucratic procedures. Using human relations and bureaucratic theories as theoretical frameworks, four research questions are asked and answered: 1) What are the managerial and political challenges in volunteer management and retention for local government volunteer coordinators?, 2) What challenges are local governments' volunteer coordinators facing in using volunteer management practices?, 3) What strategies are helpful in retaining volunteers in local government volunteerism?, and 4) What challenges do local government volunteer coordinators face in engaging citizens? Data collection for this qualitative study was conducted using online surveys and telephone semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that creating meaningful work for volunteers and coordinating this work with local government managers was an important "best practices" challenge. Although local government volunteer programs also have a mission of engaging citizens, the practices actually used may directly conflict with their mission. Many volunteer management practices are supporting organizational goals rather than supporting the needs of volunteers. The study findings suggest that the best practices used by local governments are not given equal weight and "one size does not fit all." Instead, local governments must prioritize their practices carefully.

Third sector organisations (TSOs) have been operating in a turbulent environment of social, political and economic changes, presenting challenges to their continued activities. The volunteer workforce, as a key component of TSOs’ human resource, has long been considered crucial for the sector. Despite this acknowledgement, existing research suggests that TSOs have not effectively managed and supported their volunteer workforce in order to sustain development. There are claims for TSOs to place volunteer management (VM) onto a strategic level, and it is considered crucial for TSO managers, CEOs and volunteer coordinators (VCs) to achieve sustainable organisational development through the strategic planning and implementation of VM practices. However, existing research has focussed more on articulating volunteer motives; and little attention has been paid to considering the ways in which individual perspectives influence effective VM. This study addressed the gap by exploring key players’ (CEO, VC and volunteer) perceptions of the policies, practices and processes used to attract, engage and retain volunteers in small to medium Scottish TSOs. It aimed to provide insights into the importance of strategic VM in sustaining TSO performance and in understanding the crucial role of VCs, through unfolding the processes of making and fulfilling individual volunteer psychological contracts (VPCs). Three case studies were carried out within three Scottish TSOs; in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with participants occupying different roles, CEO (n=3), VC (n=5) and volunteers (n=16). Supplementary data were obtained through documentary study of VM policies and practices. Data collection was guided by a conceptual framework developed by embedding the Resource Based View (RBV) of HRM and HR devolution to the Line into the process of making and fulfilling the psychological contract. Results support the claim that TSOs would benefit from more strategic management of their volunteer workforce as a competitive resource. Examining VM through the lens of the VPC provided empirical evidence to confirm that it is crucial to engage and retain volunteers by shaping their expectations and motives within the TSO, and thus ensure more sustainable TSO performance. The results further support the salient role of VC as volunteer line manager, in attracting, engaging and retaining volunteers through effective VM implementation. In arriving at these results, this research has extended the theoretical debate on the importance of strategic HR management and the key role that line managers can play in achieving this beyond the more dominant private sector focus.

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Text in German, summaries in English and German / Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit befasst sich mit den Erfahrungen, die Senioren im Alter von 60plus in einem evangelischen Kindergarten im niedersächsischen Apen in der Zusammenarbeit mit Kindern machen, wenn sie ihre Ressourcen an Wissen und Zeit ehrenamtlich einbringen. Das Engagement der Senioren in der Generationenarbeit erfolgt in Form von Workshops und weiteren verschiedenen Projekten und versteht sich als gemeinwesendiakonisches Projekt in Kooperation zwischen Kirche und Kindergarten. Die Studie untersucht die subjektiven Erfahrungen der ehrenamtlich tätigen Senioren mit Kindern, die aus den intergenerationellen Begegnungen hervorgehen und deutet diese auf ihre missionstheologische Relevanz. Unter Rückgriff auf praktisch-theologische Erkenntnisse aus der Lebenswelt der Senioren gehen wichtige Ergebnisse in die in der kontextuellen Theologie und Missiologie verorteten Arbeit ein. Diese münden wiederum in praktische Empfehlungen zur generationenübergreifenden Arbeit für Kirche und Kommune. / The current study aims at investigating the experiences of elderly at the age of 60plus, when contributing with their knowledge and time during their work with children. As a research setting, an evangelic kindergarden has been selected in Apen, the northern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. The engagement of seniors in this so-called generation work is understood as a diaconal practical project which is defined as social welfare work. It is implemented in form of different projects and performed in cooperation with the church and the kindergarden. The research explores firstly, the subjective experiences of the volunteering seniors during their intergenerational encounters. Secondly, the inter generational encounters are furthermore analyzed regarding its missiological-theological relevance. Practical theological insights, gained by analyzing the seniors’ lifeworld, result as relevant for the research in the domain of contextual theology and missiology. Finally, the results lead to practical recommendations for intergenerational work for both the church and community. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)