Thesis (M. Th.)--Catholic Theological Union, 1985. / Bibliography: leaves 55-56.

This thesis investigates the voluntary provision of public goods in three distinct contexts. Specifically, it studies gifts of blood, money and time. While the first essay undertakes to investigate the behaviour of blood donors from a theoretical perspective, the second and third chapter use the tools of empirical applied microeconomics to investigate strategic philanthropy (Chapter 2) and the impact of mandatory volunteering on income (Chapter 3). In Chapter One I use the tools of non-cooperative game theory to study blood donor behaviour. I construct a model in which the decision to donate blood is driven by the need for consumers to obtain insurance against needing a blood transfusion, and in which access to the resources of the blood bank are allocated as under a first-come, first-served policy. I also study the effect of screening policies on the available blood supply, and identify policy instruments which may be effective in increasing the supply of blood. Strikingly, although blood banks typically direct greater effort to persuading universal donors (type O negative) to donate blood, I show that the efficient allocation is for individuals of each blood type to donate the same amount of blood. However, at the Nash equilibrium, the individuals who are the most likely to donate blood are universal recipients, and those who are the least likely are universal donors -- a prediction that is consistent with observed donation frequency by blood type. The model also predicts that if there is an increase in the probability of needing blood, this will have no impact on donations of those individuals who are faced with a positive probability of not getting blood. I also show that in an economy with "good" blood and "bad" blood donors, if the total amount of bad blood is more than the total amount of good blood, bad blood crowds out good blood. The second chapter is concerned with giving practices that practitioners refer to as strategic philanthropy. Anecdotal evidence that suggests that charitable givers -- particularly those with the financial means and inclination to make substantial donations - are increasingly strategic in their philanthropic behaviour. However, there is no existing literature which has investigated whether or not so-called strategic givers are in fact determining donations differently from other donors, or whether in fact it is true that strategic behaviour is increasingly prevalent. A first challenge is to discern what specifically might constitute strategic giving, and I propose that strategic philanthropists are individuals who (i) plan their giving; (ii) give most of their philanthropic gifts to a small number of charities, and (iii) get involved in the organisations to which they make gifts. Different estimation methods are applied, and the results show that some charitable givers are strategic in their philanthropic giving, and that the propensity to be strategic is highly and positively correlated with the level of education. My results also show that giving is strategic only when donations are made to secular organisations but not to religious organisations. My results also indicate that strategic behaviour has a substantial positive impact on donations to secular organisations. The last chapter examines the link between volunteering and income, focussing particularly on the impact of mandatory volunteering in high school. I use data from the 2013 Giving, Volunteering and Participation component of the General Social Survy (GSS GVP) to update previous research on the labour market returns to volunteering and find evidence, consistent with previous findings that indivuals who choose to volunteer earn higher incomes. In contrast, when volunteering is mandated for high school students, the impact on income depends on the type of policy and on the time horizon. When the policy requires students to perform free community service, it has no impact on income in the short run but generates a positive return in the long run. In contrast, when the policy requires students to acquire either paid or unpaid work experience, it leads to lower incomes in the short run but has a positive impact in the long run. There are three channels by which it has been suggested that volunteering leads to high labor market returns: human capital accumulation, strengthening of social networks, and signalling high productivity. The results suggest that when volunteering activities are mandated, this breaks the signal to potential employers. However, mandatory volunteering still leads to human capital accumulation and strengthens social networks, and consequently ultimately generates a positive return. Overall, requiring high school students to undertake free community service yields a better labour market outcome in the short run than the mandated work experience policy.

Volunteer service accounts for a substantial percentage of America’s workforce and GDP. Numerous organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross have come to rely heavily on volunteer service. Due to the recent economic downturn and resulting budgetary cuts in the government sector, non-profit organizations have had to assume greater responsibility for providing services such as health care and education. Considering the importance of volunteer service to society, this literature review seeks to identify the key functional motives for volunteers. With a particular focus on the functional motivation theory and the six most prominent motives – values, enhancement, understanding, career, social, and protective – this paper explores the general trends, gender difference, and age differences in volunteer motivation. In addition, it discusses the practical implications of knowledge about volunteer motivation on recruiting and retaining volunteers.

This study sought to develop a list of best management competencies, benefits and limitations for Texas Cooperative Extension Agents who are Master Gardener Coordinators using a Delphi technique. The study utilized fifteen expert County Extension Agent Master Gardener Coordinators throughout the State of Texas as the expert Delphi panel. Three research questions were asked of the expert panel members. Those questions included: 1. What competencies do you need to be an efficient and effective Master Gardener Coordinator?, 2. What are the perceived benefits of being a Master Gardener Coordinator? and 3. What are the limiting factors (problems) of being a Master Gardener Coordinator? One hundred-twenty consolidated statements were generated by the panel in response to these questions. These statements were subsequently rated by the panel for their strength of agreement with each statement on a six-point Likert-type scale (6 = "Strongly Agree," 5 = "Agree," 4 = "Somewhat Agree," 3 = "Somewhat Disagree," 2 = "Disagree," and 1 = "Strongly Disagree"). Consensus was reached on 64 competencies needed by Master Gardener Coordinators, answering research question one. There were a total of 19 benefit statements regarding coordinating a Master Gardener program, in response to research question two. Two statements of limiting factors or problems associated with coordinating a Master Gardener Group achieved consensus associated with research question three. Categories of competencies needed included organizational leadership, systems leadership, organizational culture, personal skills and management skills. The panel placed an emphasis on "people" skills, positive attitude and management skills to be an effective Master Gardener Coordinator. Benefits of coordinating Master Gardeners included such items as expanding the reach of the County Extension Agent and increasing Extension's impact. Problems associated with coordinating Master Gardeners included increasing the County Extension Agent's workload as well time commitments. The results of this study will provide Texas Master Gardener Coordinators a list of essential competencies for effectively managing a Master Gardener program. This list will help Extension Master Gardener Coordinators most effectively utilize their time, energy and resources for maximum impact and program success.

Denna uppsats uppmärksammar fenomenet volontärturism som anses vara mer utav en välgörande form av resa, där volontärer anmäler sig frivilligt att arbeta ideellt med olika projekt runt om i världen, en turismform som är ömsesidigt fördelaktig för båda parter. Volontärer reser själva eller med en organisation till olika länder för att erbjuda sin tid och hjälp i olika projekt, bland annat för att få erfarenhet och en upplevelse i retur. Syftet med denna studie är att begreppsliggöra vad volontärturism är och dess innebörd, samt undersöka hur en volontärturists vardag ser ut, innefattande deras arbetsuppgifter, förpliktelser och upplevelser i Kenya. Sedermera undersöker vi även volontärturisternas förväntningar kontra den faktiska upplevelsen på deras resa till värdnationen.  För att få svar på vårt syfte och frågeställningar har vi genomfört intervjuer med åtta volontärer, varav två skedde på plats i Nairobi, Kenya, samt sex intervjuer per mail. Vidare genomfördes intervjuer med två olika volontärorganisationer, nationella samt internationella. Organisationerna som intervjuades var ICYE och PeaceWorks. Det finns både ideella- och kommersiella organisationer som förmedlar volontärer till olika projekt runt om i världen. Vi har valt att rikta in oss på ideella organisationer, dessa två nämnda ovan.   De resultat som framkom av intervjuerna var bland annat huruvida volontärturism anses vara en turismform eller ej går att diskuteras. Vissa likheter i definitionerna av turist samt volontärturist framkom, dock såg inte volontärerna sig själva som turister. Vidare framkom det att det kulturella utbytet som sker vid volontärresor var något som lockade samt något volontärerna saknade vid hemkomsten.   På plats i värdnationen arbetade informanterna inom mikrofinans samt på barnhem där lek med barnen och vardagssysslor präglade dagarna. Projekten som erbjuds varierar men de mest vanliga är att arbeta på barnhem, utbildning, miljö- och naturfrågor och medicinsk hjälp. På fritiden valde majoriteten att upptäcka landet samt kringliggande länder, så som Zanzibar och Uganda. Genom intervjuerna fick vi även veta vem den typiska volontären var, innefattande målgrupp, kön samt ålder. Utifrån informationen vi mottog, analyserade vi resultatet för att senare dra slutsatser. / This paper draws attention to the phenomenon of volunteer tourism that is considered to be more of a beneficial form of travel, where volunteers sign up voluntarily to volunteer with various projects around the world, a form of tourism that is mutually beneficial to both parties. The projects vary but the most common is to work in orphanages, education, environmental and natural issues and medical assistance. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize what volunteer tourism is and its implications, and examine how a volunteer tourist everyday looks, including their duties, responsibilities and experiences in Kenya. Later on, we also investigate the volunteer tourists' expectations versus the actual experience on their journey to the host nation. To get answers to our purpose and research questions, we conducted interviews with eight volunteers, two of which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, and six interviews by email. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with two different volunteer organizations, national and international. The organizations interviewed were ICYE and PeaceWorks. There are both non-profit- and commercial organizations that supply volunteers for various projects around the world. We have chosen to target the non-profit organizations, those two mentioned above. The results that emerged from the interviews were that whether volunteer tourism is considered a form of tourism or not can be discussed. Some similarities in the definitions of tourism and volunteer tourism emerged, however, did not the volunteers see themselves as tourists. It was also found that the cultural exchange that takes place at the volunteer travel was something that attracted and some volunteers were missing when they returned back home. On location in the host nation informants worked in microfinance and in orphanages where playing with the kids and everyday tasks characterized the days. The projects that offered vary, but the most common is to work in orphanages, education, environmental and natural issues and medical assistance. During leisure, the majority chose to discover the country and the surrounding countries, such as Zanzibar and Uganda. Through the interviews we also found out who the typical volunteer was, including target group, gender and age. Based on the information we received, we analyzed the results and later draw conclusions.

While the study of volunteer tourism has been growing over the past decade, there is limited literature that takes a global approach, whereby one explores the perspective of a number of stakeholder groups in such experiences. The aim of this project was to fill this gap by looking at the volunteer tourism experience from four perspectives, namely the volunteer, the organization, the host family, and the community at large. The focus in this case was on the experiences and expectations of these groups. The research was qualitative; based primarily upon interviews. The research for this project took place in Ghana. It was found that the three local stakeholders (the organization members, the host family members and people from the broader community) generally viewed the experience similarly. Volunteers often expressed views that set them apart from the other groups. Main themes for the groups generally revolved around cultural differences, communication and progression through stages of the experience. The stages of the experience showed three main stages, those referring to the time before the volunteer, during the volunteer???s stay and the time after the volunteer???s departure. Cultural differences included discussions of culture shock, stereotypes, and mis-communications in cross-cultural dialogue. Communication was a major issue, and was to be found lacking between all groups. In regards to communication there was also a suggestion for continuing contact and relationships between the locals and volunteers beyond the volunteer???s time in the community.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Sport Management in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Volunteer tourism, as a form of leisure and/or recreation, is one of the fastest growing forms of tourism globally. It has also become a critical human resource for many organisations in the Western Cape, South Africa who rely on the support of volunteer tourists. A review of the current literature showed that most volunteer tourism research studies is volunteer-tourist-centred and focus on the motivations for participation and the benefits of participation to the volunteer tourist. Very few studies consider the effect of volunteer tourism on the host organisation and within the South African context only two volunteer tourist profile studies exist. Both studies excluded host organisation factors that indicated how host organisations benefited from hosting volunteer tourists. This research study focussed on creating a comprehensive profile of volunteer tourists at SANCCOB (a non-profit seabird rehabilitation centre) in Table View, Western Cape, South Africa. The profile included demographic factors, motivational factors and SANCCOB specific information. Data were collected through an anonymous, self-administered, online questionnaire and from the data, five conclusions were made. Firstly, the demographic factors of volunteer tourists that participated in SANCCOB’s international volunteer programme was similar to other South African based volunteer tourism studies. Secondly, to experience something different and new was the most important motivational factor for volunteer tourists. Thirdly, volunteer tourists derived considerable benefit from volunteering at SANCCOB. Fourthly, volunteer tourists continued to support SANCCOB through social and financial activities after completing the programme, indicating that SANCCOB (as a host organisation) benefited from hosting volunteer tourists and that as a result, a mutually beneficial relationship exists between this host organisation and the volunteer tourist. Lastly, this study provided SANCCOB with valuable information for volunteer management, as well as future marketing and fundraising campaigns.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work