We close our book with some practical implications. On the one hand, we look specifically at the conditions for sustained volunteering, and on the other hand, we derive some general practical implications from an organizational psychology perspective.

6.1 Which Design Features Influence Sustained Engagement?

What characteristics ensure that volunteers identify with the NPO (non-profit organization), are satisfied and willing to work, or are committed to the NPO’s concerns? (cf. van Schie et al., 2015).

6.1.1 General Satisfaction

Interestingly, volunteer satisfaction is best predicted by good information flow within an organization. It is also important to present volunteers with a variety of tasks and to have in place a volunteer coordinator who can support volunteers’ autonomy. Therefore, if an organization wants its volunteers to feel satisfied with their work, it is important, first and foremost, to ensure that relevant information is freely available to all and that it is disseminated. Furthermore, volunteer tasks should be as varied as possible, while coordinators should be interested in their volunteers’ ideas, express confidence in their skills, and encourage them to be independent.

6.1.2 Joy of Work

Compared to general satisfaction, which is primarily influenced by organizational factors such as the flow of information or coordination, the tasks themselves become more important in terms of job satisfaction. In order to experience liveliness, devotion, and absorption during volunteer work, it is necessary above all to have varied tasks whose importance is clearly evident. A third influencing factor, which is rather out of reach of an NPO, is recognition by the private environment. Therefore, if volunteers feel that friends, family, and acquaintances value their voluntary work, they also show more enthusiasm for that work. Although the NPO can hardly influence the level of recognition experienced in the private sphere, the findings could still be taken into account in symbolic forms of recognition (e.g., in “thank-you” events). Overall, it is clear that an NPO promotes committed volunteers if it pays particular attention to diverse and significant tasks.

6.1.3 Identification with the Organization

Identification with an organization is largely influenced by a match of values between volunteers and the respective NPO. Volunteers will better identify with an organization if they believe that both parties aspire to the same values. The second and third most important factors are the diversity of tasks and recognition from the private sector. Overall, identification with the NPO can be particularly encouraged if its values are clearly recognizable (e.g., in its strategy, recruitment processes, or communication) and if they correspond to the values of its volunteers, if the tasks are varied, and the private environment is taken into account in the recognition process.

6.1.4 Organizational Commitment

As with identification, for organizational commitment the congruence of values is once again the strongest design feature. In addition, recognition by the organization’s employees also has a strong influence. This finding shows that an appreciative working atmosphere with employed (i.e., non-voluntary) colleagues is able to promote volunteers’ concrete willingness to act for organizational concerns. Decision-making autonomy in tasks can also promote this willingness. If the NPO wants volunteers to work not only for the beneficiaries of their programs but also for the organization itself, it should ensure that their values are consistent. In addition, recognition by the salaried workforce, and decision-making autonomy in tasks, can help to strengthen volunteers’ willingness to perform organizational tasks.

6.2 Summary from the Perspective of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, with Recommendations for Action

In this book, we presented concepts of work and organizational psychology in order to enrich volunteer research, which to date has largely focused on individual motivations and the personal development of volunteers with an activity perspective. The concepts presented herein illuminate the tasks and point out relevant aspects of the organizational context. Our survey findings clearly showed that successful task design and the organizational context are important not only for gainful employment but also for volunteer work.

Sustained engagement can be promoted by motivating tasks, support for autonomy, congruence of values, transparent communication within the organization, and by recognition.

Good organizational conditions (such as a good flow of information or coordination that supports autonomy) tend to promote the general satisfaction of volunteers, while motivating work tasks particularly promote job satisfaction. In contrast, identification with the organization and organizational commitment is strongly determined by the perceived matching of values. The importance of individual design features therefore differs significantly depending on the goal being pursued. The findings of our studies (see Chap. 3) illustrate that the indicators of sustained engagement in volunteer work are also predicted differently from the characteristics of the tasks and the organization.

Individual indicators of sustained volunteerism can be supported in a targeted manner: General satisfaction is particularly supported by organizational framework conditions, and joy of work comes through diverse and significant tasks. Identification with and commitment to the NPO are particularly promoted through congruence of values and recognition by employees.

What can NPOs actually do to meet the challenges of coordinating volunteers? Although a content-related analysis of local conditions is always advisable to determine at which points the optimization of design features seems sensible and necessary, we derive some general practical recommendations for action:

  • The tasks assigned to volunteers should be as varied and meaningful (to others) as possible, in order to promote the joy of work. The assignment of highly varied tasks/workload has particularly high potential because this characteristic is currently the least common but yet is extremely important, both for satisfaction and joy of work as well as for identification with the organization. Thus, a variety of tasks can be supported by means of systematic task and job changes.

  • Coordinators should support the autonomy of volunteers by encouraging volunteers to ask questions about the organization and its activities, giving them confidence in their abilities and showing interest in their values. In addition, coordinators should communicate the organizational issues in an understandable and insightful way so that volunteers can take seriously and fulfill their role as representatives of the organization.

  • In order to enable congruence of values between an NPO and its volunteers, the NPO’s values should be clearly communicated in its organizational strategy, made visible and responsive in mutual exchange, and, if possible, already taken into account when recruiting volunteers.

  • Employee recognition could be improved in many projects, for example, by conducting feedback discussions or establishing exchange forums. However, it is essential that employee recognition is communicated without a binding character. In addition, an attempt can be made to acknowledge the positive effects of recognition from the private sphere by incorporating this source within the NPO’s communications.

As our book has shown, methods of work and organizational psychology not only have an impact in gainful employment, but should also be considered in the context of volunteer work. Anyone who wants to promote sustained engagement among volunteers must not rely on appeals to “good citizens and fellow human beings,” but must instead invest in good task design and competent support.

The past few years have brought several crises, including the refugee crisis that started in 2015 and then the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020. Each time, we saw how crisis also necessitated and motivated the use of volunteers. From the experiences and research of past years, two points became clear, to which we should pay more attention in the future:

  1. 1.

    Volunteering is more dependent on the social context than was previously observed. Some citizens, especially those who were not previously involved, experienced internal conflict and tensions with other actors: What do I, my family, and others think about refugee policy or the pandemic? People act upon what they think their social context expects them to do or think.

  2. 2.

    Concepts of justice play a decisive role. This must include not only the recipients of aid and those who perform voluntary work, but also those who are not committed. Concepts of justice differ significantly between committed and non-committed individuals (cf. Strubel & Kals, 2018): Is it fair to help refugees or support government action to fight the COVID-19 pandemic? Some agree whereas others would take the opposite perspective.

Practice needs research; research needs practice: This is the conclusion of our scientific work.