Date of Conferral

9-24-2024

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Denise Land

Abstract

Volunteers play a critical role in supporting nonprofit organizations, and when engaged, volunteers drive organizational growth and positive social impact. Small nonprofit volunteer workforce leaders are concerned with volunteer engagement to mitigate attrition and increase knowledge assets, ensuring quality organization performance. Grounded in stakeholder theory and supported by Vroom’s expectancy theory and knowledge transfer theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore volunteer engagement strategies that leaders of a small nonprofit organization used to increase knowledge assets and organization performance. The participants were three leaders of a single western U.S. nonprofit organization: one executive director and two leadership volunteers. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviewing organizational and public documents. A thematic analysis resulted in three emergent themes: (a) personal connections, (b) training and skill development, and (c) recognition. A key recommendation is for business leaders to implement a new volunteer survey to identify the personal connection that prompts an individual to volunteer, whether to the organization, the work, or the people, and build a stronger connection to the other areas to strengthen the connection for the volunteer. The implications for positive social change include the potential to retain engaged volunteers to support people, organizations, and communities.

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