Volunteers as customers: a service quality perspective.
Not-for-profit service firms depend upon volunteer employees for the success of their programs. This article offers a change in perspective--volunteer as customer instead of employee--to stimulate insights and provide recommendations about attracting and retaining volunteers. The volunteer is viewed as a customer, the service purchased is the volunteer experience, paid for in the currency of donated time and energy, and the not-for-profit service firm is seen as being in the business of designing, managing, communicating, and delivering a quality volunteer experience.
Keaveney
S M
SM
Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Colorado, Denver.
Saltzman
M
M
Sullivan
N
N
D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009939:Organizations, Nonprofit / Q000458:organization & administration; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011786:Quality Control; D014481:United States; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*