One of a kind? Comparing episodic and regular volunteers at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House

Studies find evidence of a growing trend in episodic volunteering and suggest that it attracts individuals with a different volunteering ethos than long-term and regular volunteers. The authors examine volunteers at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House (PRMH), an organization that successfully recruits and manages episodic volunteers and regular volunteers who are engaged in different tasks. Responding to the changing trends of volunteer labor supply, PRMH created different roles for episodic and regular volunteers. This study explored if PRMH episodic volunteers were different from regular volunteers in their motivation, satisfaction, and rewards. Certain interesting differences revealed (albeit not always in support of the authors’ original hypotheses) are important both at the theoretical level and at the practical level for recruitment and management of volunteers.