Volunteer Engagement Defined and Measured
Volunteer Engagement Defined and Measured Volunteerism is flourishing globally, even while volunteers sit untapped and underutilized. Volunteer engagement defined and measured opens the door to standard benchmarks across the profession, at least locally. Apples and oranges make a nice visual for comparative data, but how about volunteers and headcounts? If there is a common language and shared understanding of metrics, then comparative metrics are not out of the possibility. Defining Volunteerism The prevailing definition of "volunteer" in the United States, comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at the U.S. Department of Labor. Volunteer: An individual who performs hours of service for a public agency for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered, is considered to be a volunteer during such hours. "To understand how the economy is functioning and changing over time requires measuring and valuing all productive unpriced labor [...]