Research on Volunteerism Revisited: What (Still) Needs to Be Done

In 1985, Volunteer Engagement expert and Engage co-founder Susan J. Ellis published an article in the Journal of Voluntary Action Research (later republished in Energize in 2015) about the state of research on volunteerism and Volunteer Management. Entitled “Research on Volunteerism…What Needs to Be Done,” Ellis wrote about the many gaps that she saw in research at that time.

Since the inception of Volunteer Management as a profession and a subject of academic study, the work of people like Ellis – those voices at the intersection of research and practice – have helped to drive knowledge forward. While many gaps and questions remain, the conversations between researchers and practitioners continue to be of central importance for the field. In this Research to Practice, reviewer Allison Russell shares reflections from leaders of Volunteer Engagement (who are also embedded in the research world) on what they see as the current state of volunteerism research. Forty years after Ellis first wrote her article, Russell also asks each of these leaders to reflect on Ellis’ descriptions of “what needs to be done”  in research on volunteerism. 

Available August 29