Models of volunteerism in non profits

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"Andy Ford"
Junior Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

Models of volunteerism in non profits

Post by "Andy Ford" »

Folks,

This is Andy Ford replying to Steven Rodericks inquiry about modeling
of volunteer groups. Steve is specifically interested in a church that is
suffering from a high degree of volunteer burnout. He says there are
several population cohorts moving through the system, with burnout occurring
primarily in the older of these, and recruitment issues in the younger one.

Alan Gaynor, Jean Morrow and Stelios Georgiou have published an article
on this topic in the Winter 1991 issue of the SYSTEM DYNAMICS REVIEW. The
article describes a system dynamics analysis of the problems of contraction
and cohesion in the Order of the Servants of Mary. The authors assert that
the problems of this religious order are typical of a large number of
regligious orders in the US. They present a model (including equations)
that simulates trends in novitiate and sister populations along with trends
in cohesion and compliance over an 80 year time period.

Andy Ford
Program in Environmental Science & Regional Planning
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-4430

Phone: 509 335 7846
Email: FordA@mail.wsu.edu
Web: http://www.wsu.edu/~forda
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