You Shall (Not) Pass

<p>Volunteering appears to be a mechanism that can contribute to societal inclusion. As nonprofit organizations continuously seek more volunteers, opportunities for volunteer inclusion seem limitless. We argue that, in reality, it is not that simple. Volunteer exclusion derives from the failure to seek, recruit, and place potential volunteers with antecedents predicting non-volunteering. This article focuses on the “sending-organization” in dual volunteer management. We look at sending-organizations, such as a corporation or school, that organizes volunteer opportunities for its participants in a “receiving-organization,” i.e., the organization where the volunteer service is performed. Based on qualitative data generated from semi-structured and vignette interviews, we explore the crucial role that gatekeepers at the sending-organization play in the inclusion and exclusion of volunteers in receiving-organizations. We identify three strategies for these sending-gatekeepers to enhance volunteer inclusion: encouraging, enabling, and enforcing.</p>

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