Government volunteering: how it started, how it’s going

Abstract

Governments have long turned to volunteers to help provide public services. From volunteers on citizen advisory boards to park clean-ups to restocking books in libraries, government agencies rely on volunteers to provide insights and service. At a time when the government workforce is being shrunk in the United States and there is increased pressure on governments to do more with less across the world, the study of how volunteers are used in government is more important than ever. As such, we review the research on government volunteering across levels of government at the federal, state, and local levels, with an emphasis on what we know about the composition of government volunteers and how they are managed. The public sector is distinct from other volunteering contexts and faces different trends, challenges, and accountabilities that should be considered in tailoring volunteer management practices. We identify avenues for future research and highlight implications for practice. We call for governments to use strategic volunteer management tailored to the government context and centering government volunteers to provide them with meaningful experiences that foster retention.