1

Spontaneous Unaffiliated Volunteering: A Breed Unto Itself

Association for Research on Nonprofits and Voluntary Action

Pracademic Section
Paper and Panel
November 2009
Cleveland, OH

Nancy Macduff
821 Lincoln. St. Walla Walla, WA 99362
509-529-0244
mba@bmi.net

Gigi Rolfes
VolunteerMacon
195 Holt Ave.
Macon, GA 31201
478.742.6677
volmacon@bellsouth.net

June McLaren
Salvation Army

Abstract
Disaster events draw volunteers; those trained and organized by
disaster response organizations and those who are unaffiliated, untrained,
often arriving before officials, to search for the missing or dig for the
dead. (Burton 1969 p. 17 as cited in Sharon (2004) Fourteen thousand
volunteers searched for Elizabeth Smart in Utah, 25,000 people helped
search for shuttle parts in the Challenger explosion over the south central
part of the United States. (Fernandez 2005, p. 3) and there are multitudes
of other examples.-f
The role of the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer is often
ephemeral, created on the spot with a single purpose and is over almost as
quickly as it came into being. People band together in “ad hoc” groups that
 2

range from highly organized to amorphous, lasting days or months

depending on the task (Sharon 2004, p. 14)
Approaches to planning for the spontaneous volunteer proliferated
following the tsunamis of Asia, terrorist attacks in the US, London, and
Spain, and hurricanes in the southern US. As early as 2001 The Points of
Light Foundation coordinated an effort to exhort organizations to better
plan for spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers in a report titled, “Managing
Spontaneous Volunteers in Times of Disaster: The Synergy of Structure
and Good Intentions.” (Points of Light Foundation, 2002).
Who are these spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers? What
motivates them? What are they getting out of volunteering?
There appears to be little information to answer the questions of
who is volunteering and what motivates them. There is no apparent
evidence that gender, ethnicity, wealth, or previous community
involvement is a predictor of spontaneous volunteering. (Fernandez,
Barbera, & van Dorp 2006 p. 4) However, the greatest percentage (60-
90%) of spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers lives at or near the site of
the disaster or identify with the victims. (Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp
(2006), p. 4.)
Two small studies of 9/11 volunteers provide some insight into the
demographics and motivations of those volunteering. (Sharon 2004; Lowe
2002). The Lowe research of 23 individuals was almost evenly divided
between men (12) and women (13), none of whom had volunteered
previously. They ranged from low to high income, all were college
graduates, and from various religions backgrounds or none at all. There
was an artist, teacher, financial analyst, producer, writer, salesperson,
publisher, retiree, and unemployed person. (Lowe 2002, p. 2)
The information on what motivates the spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteer is somewhat richer than the demographics. Burton maintains
that motivation during a disaster is “fundamentally” different from
volunteering during the normal course of events. (Burton 1969 in Sharon
2004) p. 412)
Sharon says that the result of her research seemed to indicate the
usual motivators related to human, social, or cultural capital are not at
work with the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer. Rather it is the loss of
control and a desire to do something to attack the disaster and regain
control that is a prime mover to action. Volunteers are in a situation of
moral absolutes—disaster- bad; volunteering-good. It helps them make
 3

sense of the tragedy and gives purpose to survival. The urge for action
can often let nothing stand in its path, job, family, social commitments,
etc. (Sharon 2004, pg 15)
The purpose of this paper and panel is to identify the areas where
collaborative efforts by practitioners and academics would produce
information helpful in the management of the spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteer. It appears that the most basic information is meager and
centered around one type of disaster event. Who are they and what
motivates them requires more intentional gathering of information at the
time of the disaster. Something practitioners are not likely to have time
for, but with pre-planning and partnerships with academics could add
invaluable information to our knowledge of spontaneous volunteerism.

References:

Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive Modernization: Politics ,Tradition and
Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Ellis, Susan, (2002) “War and Volunteers: History Repeats Itself, ” Energize,
http://www.energizeinc.com/hot/2003/03apr.html April
Fernandez, Lauren S. (2005), “Systems Approach to Spontaneous Volunteer Management and
Application to Wilderness Search and Rescue,” Presentation for the Virginia Public Safety
Outreach Conference and Training, George Washington University, Nov. 16.
Fernandez, Lauren S., Barbera, Joseph A., van Dorp, Johan R., “Strategies for Managing Volunteers
During Incident Response: A Systems Approach” (1) (2006) Journal of the Naval
Postgraduate Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Vol. 2, Issue 3, October
Hustinix, L. & Lammertyn, F. (2003). Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering: A Sociological
Modernization Perspective. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit
Organizations, 14 (2), 167-187.
Lowe, Seana (2002), “Community Response in a Terrorist Disaster,” Quick Response Report #144,
Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center,
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/qr/qr144/qr144.html University of Colorado, Boulder
Macduff, N (2006) Episodic Volunteering, MBA Publishing, Walla Walla, WA
Macduff, N. (1996). Recruiting and Retention: A Marketing Approach. Walla Walla, WA: MBA
Publishing.
Macduff, N., Merrill, M (2005). “Choices in Volunteerism: “Social Glue or Individual Toy.”* Paper
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research on Nonprofit
Organizations and Voluntary Action, Washington, DC November.
Macduff, Nancy, Netting, Ellen, O’Conner, Mary Catherine, Merrill, Mary, (2006) “Rethinking The
Nature Of Volunteerism: A Multi-Paradigmatic Approach To Volunteer Management,”
paper presentation, Association For Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary
Action, November
Managing Spontaneous Volunteers in Times of Disaster: The Synergy of Structure and Good
Intentions (2004) Points of Light Foundation, Washington, DC
McCurley, S, & Lynch, Rick (2006) Volunteer Management: Mobilizing All the Resources of the
Community 2nd Edition, JTC Publishing, ON, Canada
Mintzberg, H., Ahlastrand, B., & Lampel, J. (1998) Strategy Safari: A guided tour through the wilds
of strategic management. New York Free Press
 4

Munch, Richard, (2001) The Ethics of Modernity, Rowman and Littlefield, Maryland.
Sauls-Marks, Celeste, (2006) “Keeping Your Volunteers Safe During Disaster Response,” World
Volunteer Web, http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/browse/sectors/emergency-
relief/disaster/html September 25
Sharon, Liath, 2004, “Averting a disaster within a disaster: the management of spontaneous
volunteers following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New
York,“ Voluntary Action, Vol. 6 No. 2 Spring
Spontaneous Volunteer Management, (2006) Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management,
Wellington, New Zealand, June
Spontaneous Volunteers: Well-Intentioned, Sometimes Misguided, (2005), Close Up: A publication
of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Office Standards and Education, Vol. 11 No.
1, March
Sullum, Jacob, Bailey, Ronald, Taylor, Jeff, Walker, Jesse, Howley, Kerry, Kopel, David B, (2005)
“After the Storm”, Reasononline, http://www.reason.com/news/printer/36334.html
December
Tickner, Robert (2006) “Volunteers: the lifeblood of the Australian Red Cross” speech at
Volunteering Australia Conference, 2006, Melbourne, March 8
Walker, Jesse (2005), “Nightmare in New Orleans,” Reasononline,
http://www.reason.com/news/printer/34090.html September 7
 5

The winds clocked 85 mph. Stately pines

and elegant oaks pulled up at the roots and
crashed across porches and streets, landing on
cars, houses, businesses, barns, fences, and other
trees. Sidewalk concrete paving blocks were
dragged upright from the ground like
perpendicular sentinels to the power of the wind.
The “hurricane” of 2008 came roaring into a small
Western town leaving wreckage in its path. The
Red Cross had two shelters open by nightfall, the
emergency broadcast system never worked,
electric companies sent crews from Montana and
Arizona, regional TV stations barely covered the
story, and the local newspaper relied on citizen
photos to fill its pages.

Background
Disasters of enormous magnitude are known by their names—
9/11; Katrina, and the Nisqually earthquake, Sri Lanka tsunami. But,
daily around the world communities large and small cope with
disasters of fire, flood, chemical spills, tornadoes, lost children,
cyclones, typhoons, earthquakes, and explosions, derailing the
normal life of communities that never make the evening news. The
Salvation Army and The Red Cross report 64,000 disasters annually
in the United States. (Sharon 2004, p. 14). These two organizations
rely on volunteers to form the bulk of the work force to address
the needs created by the disaster.
Disaster events draw volunteers; those trained and organized by
disaster response organizations and those who are unaffiliated, untrained,
often arriving before officials, to search for the missing or dig for the dead.
(Burton 1969 p. 17 as cited in Sharon 2004) Fourteen thousand volunteers
searched for Elizabeth Smart in Utah and 25,000 people helped search for
shuttle parts in the Challenger explosion over the south central part of the
United States. (Fernandez 2005 p. 3). Numbers vary on how many people
came to New York City to aid official groups, with numbers ranging from
30,000-40,000. Some were trained-- a Korean Search and Rescue team, but
more were unaffiliated—an Argentinean Merchant Marine on vacation in the
 6

city, a couple on a cross-country trip who detoured to New York City to help
out. (Sharon, 2004 p. 8) The arrival of these spontaneous volunteers is
credited with saving thousands of lives. (Lowe 2002, p. 2) In 1995 in the
wake of the Kobe, Japan earthquake only 25% of the rescuers came from the
civil-defense infrastructure of the government. Spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteers are credited with 75% of the rescues. (Walker 2005, p. 1) In the
1989 San Francisco earthquake spontaneous volunteers outnumbered
professionals 3 to 1. While representatives of government and disaster
organizations are referred to as “first responders,” it appears that the real
first responders are spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers. (Walker2005, p. 2)

Definitions
The spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer is a person who is at the
scene of the disaster as it happens or arrives unsolicited at the scene of a
disaster within minutes or hours. (Sharon 2004, p. 14). The New Zealand
department of Civil Defence and Emergency Management offers a brief
guide to the differences between affiliated disaster volunteer and the
unaffiliated.

Volunteer Spontaneous Volunteer

♦ Affiliated member of recognized group♦ Unaffiliated
♦ Trained in civil defence ♦ Untrained in civil defence
♦ Accountable through the organization ♦ Not accountable or responsible to an
♦ A Known Quantity organization’
♦ Unknown quantity
♦ Possibly a previous volunteer
(New Zealand, p. 5)
Spontaneous Volunteers; Volunteers In the Times of Disaster, a
publication to aid local communities in working with the unaffiliated
volunteer defines this person as not being part of a recognized voluntary
agency, with no formal training, motivated by sudden desire to help others,
coming with a variety of skills, from the area of the disaster or outside
the area. Words used to describe the person are convergent, emergent,
walk-in , or rogue volunteers. (Points of Light Foundation, 2004 p. 7;
Fernandez 2005, p. 9)
The US has had an increase in spontaneous volunteering, while
organized volunteering has declined. In 1977 55% of women report
spontaneous volunteering; men 46%. By 1996 it was 61% for women and
55% for men. This in the face of a 40% decline in organization based
 7

volunteering. (Munch 2001, p. 90)

The role of the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer is often
ephemeral, created on the spot with a single purpose and is over almost as
quickly as it came into being. People band together in “ad hoc” groups that
range from highly organized to amorphous, lasting days or months
depending on the task (Sharon 2004, p. 14; Ellis, 2002, p.1-2)
What is clear is that no amount of telling people to “stay away” will
work. The New Zealand guide for managing spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteers says, “. . . although you may not wish to use spontaneous
volunteers, they are likely to emerge and you should be prepared to manage
this situation.” (New Zealand 2006, p. 5) It is noteworthy that the New
York City Office of Emergency Management has been practicing for a
major disaster since 1996. There was little discussion about unaffiliated
spontaneous volunteers. (Sharon 2004, p. 23)

Three maple trees, the smallest with a circumference of 30”

crashed onto the roof of JM’s two-story house, destroying much of
the second floor. Shattered glass from a sky light over the central
stair way rained down like knives, cutting through a Navaho rug
draped over the stair rail, branches crushed the bedroom walls on
the south and east. Electrical and telephone wires blew around like a
cowboy with a whip. And by 8:00 a.m. the next morning the property
teemed with dozens of spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers.

Positives/Negatives of Spontaneous Volunteers

Like it or not spontaneous volunteers will arrive. The first

volunteers are usually those living near or having relatives living near the
site of the disaster. (Sharon 2004, p. 17) There is congestion, disruption
of essential services, and stress on normal support systems. (Fernandez
2005, p. 9)
The spontaneous volunteer’s arrival provides instant resources, an
array of skills and abilities, and community insight. Early arrival by
volunteers can also save lives by speed of action. The work done can
augment that of professional emergency responders and trained
volunteers. One researcher says that the economic savings alone is enough
to justify actually planning for the arrival of the spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteer.( Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp 2006, p. 1)
 8

Early arrival by volunteers can also have a negative effect. The

unaffiliated volunteer is frequently overwhelmed by the devastation and
casualties, experiencing “combat or vicarious” fatigue. Some experience
post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and there is rarely an existing
system to provide support services to the unaffiliated volunteer. (Sharon
2004 p. 17; Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp, 2006 pg 1; Ellis, 2002 p.1)
The unaffiliated volunteer might actually hinder disaster response
by creating safety, health, and security concerns. Frequently they present
a distraction to paid staff and trained volunteers. (Fernandez, Barbera, &
van Dorp 2006 p. 1-2)

The driveway at JM’s house became command central for

volunteers and paid professionals. The spontaneous volunteers
walked down the gravel drive and offered to help. JM and her
daughter KM deployed people depending on their interest, skills,
tools, or access to a truck to haul debris. All the activity was
coordinated around the work of the paid professionals orchestrating
the careful removal of the huge trees from the house without doing
more damage. Food appeared and on Sunday a lay Eucharistic
minister from an Episcopal congregation showed up to provide
communion to anyone who wanted to take a few minutes from
collecting debris, “chipping” limbs into sawdust, operating a chain
saw, or packing boxes with personal property in the no longer secure
house.

Approaches to Engaging Spontaneous Unaffiliated Volunteers

Recommended approaches to planning for the spontaneous volunteer

proliferated following the tsunamis of Asia, terrorist attacks in the US,
London, and Spain, and hurricanes in the southern US. This despite the
fact that work in a disaster is often chaotic and requires response to
emerging issues. By 2002 The Points of Light Foundation coordinated an
effort to exhort organizations to better plan for spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteers in a report titled, “Managing Spontaneous Volunteers in Times
of Disaster: The Synergy of Structure and Good Intentions.” (Points of
Light Foundation, 2002). The head of the Australian Red Cross urged
staff and volunteers to develop ways to deal more effectively with the
considerable upsurge in support that comes at the time of a disaster. He
 9

said, “. . .we have not responded well to these offers, and have incurred
many obstacles including training and screening.” (Tickner 2006, p. 6) By
June of 2006 The New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency
Management produced a detailed road map, “Spontaneous Volunteer
Management Planning: Civil Defence Emergency Management Best
Practices Guide [BPG3/06]. (New Zealand, 2006). The Homeland Security
Affairs Journal provided a systems engineering model to plan for the
spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer. (Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp, 2006
p. 1).
Despite the ample guidance in how to plan for spontaneous
volunteers, beginning in 2002, major disaster relief organizations continue
to be unprepared for the volume of people who show up and rarely are
there defined tasks suitable for the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer.
(Fernandez (2) p. 2)
This lack of planning creates havoc for organizations, as described
above and a vacuum in the information about why people volunteer in this
manner or who they are. Information is needed that could help in planning
for future disasters. This vacuum of information has led to speculation
about motivators and demographics by several authors. Following 9/11 a
director of a disaster psychiatric outreach program said, “I don’t think
people are fully aware of what drives volunteers, especially in a mass
casualty event.” (Sharon, p. 22)

JM was astonished at who volunteered. Neighbors wanting a

return of electrical power were told by the power company that if
trees and debris could be removed from an area near a pole they
would have power by the end of the first 24 hours of the disaster.
The neighbors self-organized and went to work. One couple leaving
a Saturday church service drove by for a “look-see” having been told
of the ailing house. They went home, changed clothes, returned with
a truck, tools, and 8 hours of labor to offer. JM never got their
name. The “green truck” man showed up over and over again loading
collected debris and hauling it to city designated locations. Again,
no name. Some people donated money to JM’s bank account and
forbid the revealing of their names. KM’s friends from a distant
city came for one weekend, camping in cars and on floors and worked
from sun-up to sundown. JM at least knew some of their names.
 10

Motivations and Demographics

Who are these spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers? What

motivates them? What are they getting out of volunteering? A few small
studies provide some insight.
Fernandez (1) p. 11 provides a typology of this type of volunteer: the
curious, helpers, returnees, the anxious, fans of the emergency workers,
and exploiters. The motivation for most volunteers appears to be an
overwhelming urge to “act.” (Fernandez 2005 p. 11; Lowe 2002, p. 2; Ellis
2002 p.1) It is important to note that most literature on this topic also
describes volunteers with motives to exploit those most affected by the
disaster. A Texas publication for law enforcement personnel lists six
motivators: (1) to return for information; (2) to gather information about
family or friends; (3) to help victims or responders; (4) satisfy personal
curiosity; (5) greed; (6) fans of emergency workers. (Spontaneous
Volunteers 2005)
While opinions about the motivation of spontaneous unaffiliated are
wide spread, there appears to be little hard data to answer the questions
of who is volunteering and what motivates them. There is no apparent
evidence that gender, ethnicity, wealth, or previous community involvement
is a predictor of spontaneous volunteering. Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp
2006 p. 4) However, the greatest percentage (60- 90%) of spontaneous
unaffiliated volunteers lives at or near the site of the disaster or
identifies with the victims. (Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp 2006 p. 4.)
Two small studies of 9/11 volunteers provide some insight into the
demographics and motivations of those volunteering. (Sharon 2004; Lowe
2002). The Lowe research on 23 individuals was almost evenly divided
between men (12) and women (13), none of whom had previously
volunteered. They ranged from low to high income, all were college
graduates, and from various religious backgrounds or none at all. There
was an artist, teacher, financial analyst, producer, writer, salesperson,
publisher, retiree, and unemployed person. (Lowe 2002, p. 2)
Sharon’s research was a case study using multiple data collection
methods from personal observation and a survey of 345 individuals who are
subscribers to New York City Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster’s
electronic discussion group. There are no demographic details in her
report. (Sharon 2004 p. 13)
The information on what motivates the spontaneous unaffiliated
 11

volunteer is somewhat richer. Burton maintains that motivation during a

disaster is “fundamentally” different from volunteering during the normal
course of events. (Burton 1969 cited in Sharon 2004 p. 412)
Sharon’s ( 2004 p. 16) interviews and survey reported the following
motivators:
* An increase in activity for the individual
* A spirit of community cohesion, with lives changed forever
* Volunteers have the capacity to instill hope where none exists
* The world has not ended because volunteers are present
* Helps victims “get moving”
* Helps people believe the nightmare will end
Lowe’s volunteers added to this list of motivators
* The solidarity of working together as a group
* Opportunity to work with new people in new ways
* Sense of empowerment
* Sense of healing
* Helping to transform physical and emotional spaces for
themselves and others (Lowe, pg 3)
Ellis (2002 p. 1-2) maintains that one motivator for volunteering is to
be in the “know” about what is really happening.
Sharon says that the result of her research seemed to indicate the
usual motivators related to human, social, or cultural capital are not at
work with the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer. Rather it is the loss of
control and a desire to do something to attack the disaster and regain
control that is a prime mover to action. (Sharon 2004, p 14; Ellis 2002 p 1)
Volunteers are in a situation of moral absolutes—disaster- bad;
volunteering-good. It helps them make sense of the tragedy and gives
purpose to survival. The urge for action can often let nothing stand in its
path, job, family, social commitments, etc. (Sharon, pg 15)
The disaster leaves people frightened, with a sense of helplessness.
(Ellis, p. 1) Some volunteers are unable to drag themselves from the
carnage of loss to do the mundane tasks of doing an inventory of donated
goods. In fact, some volunteers will engage in deviant or opportunistic
behaviors to overcome any roadblocks an individual or organization puts in
their path to volunteering. (Lowe 2002, p. 2)
Volunteering has multiple styles. Recent changes in volunteering
patterns shows up as reduced time commitments to a single organization, a
desire to make radical changes to the organization, the ability to “drop in”
 12

to volunteers, and volunteering without the sanction of any organization.

Individuals are increasingly taking their community service instincts into
their own hands, frequently bypassing traditional nonprofit and
governmental organizations with established volunteer programs They are
no longer willing to follow the rules of a top-down model of volunteering.
They rarely want to wait to be trained to provide a needed service. Things
have changed regarding why volunteers volunteer and what they desire
from the volunteer experience. There seems to be ample theoretical and
empirical evidence to suggest that the changes in volunteerism are but a
reflection of the changes in the broader society (Beck, 1994; Hustinix
2003, Macduff & Merrill 2005, Macduff, Merrill, Netting, O’Conner 2006).
The definition of “volunteer” created in the last half of the 20th
century is being altered by new types of volunteer endeavors making the
old words associated with volunteer service -- selflessness, altruism,
service to others, compassion, purpose, and virtue – almost obsolete. These
terms have been replaced by a different descriptive vocabulary reflective
of new ways of volunteering. The spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer is but
one more example of the changes in volunteering styles.
Ignorance about this type of volunteer engagement can have a
negative impact on human, economic and social capital over the long term.
A healthy recovery includes an effort to empower and re-engage
individuals, in rebuilding and grieving. (Lowe 2002, p. 5; Sharon 2004, p.
12) On a large scale the engagement of the spontaneous volunteer leads to
stronger social bonds and an explosion of volunteerism (Walker 2005, p. 1).
Lowe’s 25 volunteers, who started as non-volunteers are now all volunteers.
On an individual level the positive experience of the spontaneous
volunteers can help transform feelings of helplessness to feelings of
efficacy. This healing role is an important consideration. (Lowe 2002, p. 5)

One of the volunteers who provided JM with food during the

disaster emailed the story of the hurricane to friends telling the
story of the house in a long narrative, including damage to artifacts.
A woman in Michigan responded to the email with the name and
phone number of a Navaho rug restorer in Albuquerque, a priceless
Native American pottery artifact is getting similar treatment in
Phoenix thanks to a name from another volunteer. KM’s buddy from
high school runs her own construction company and showed up one
weekend to make a tiny house on the property habitable for JM for
 13

the six months it will take to rebuild the house. Spontaneous

unaffiliated volunteering and social capital had an enormous impact
on restoring JM’s life and engendering a sense of control in a world
of capriousness.

Considerations

Research for this paper surfaced many exhortations to accept the

fact that if there is a disaster there will be spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteers. There is ample resource material available to government and
nonprofit organizations to establish “managed” systems for the onslaught
of the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer. It is planning for the unplanned.
(Fernandez, Barbera, & van Dorp 2006 p. 12) Planning for the unplanned is
what Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, and Lampel might refer to as the
Entrepreneurial School of planning in which an organization must be
somewhat “malleable, a simple structure responsive to the leader’s
directives. . . [but in which] the procedures and power relationships are
suspended to allow the visionary leader considerable latitude for maneuver.
. .The process of strategy formation is semiconscious at best, rooted in
experience and intuition of the leader (1998, p. 143)
The purpose of this paper is to identify the areas where
collaborative efforts by practitioners and academics would produce
information helpful in the management of the spontaneous unaffiliated
volunteer. It is clear that methods to organize such efforts are in
abundance, However, it appears that the most basic information is meager
and centered around one type of disaster event. Who are the volunteers
and what motivates them to volunteer requires more intentional gathering
of information at the time of the disaster. Something practitioners are
not likely to have time for in the white heat of a crisis, but with
collaborative efforts with academic colleagues could add invaluable
information to our knowledge of spontaneous volunteerism.
Modern literature on managing volunteers says gathering information
about who is volunteering and their motivators is effective the engagement
of people in a voluntary task. (McCurley and Lynch, 2006; Macduff 2005).
Targeting a known audience, providing management and supervision
strategies (Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, & Lampel, 1998) suited to different
motivators is strongly recommended. Applying those practices in a
spontaneous volunteering situation is difficult, if not impossible, given the
 14

lack of substantive information about these people.

It appears that “wanting to help” is not really the primary motivator,
based on the two studies reported in this paper. Control, ameliorating a
sense of helplessness, community cohesion, seems to be the prevailing
reasons for volunteers. For some it is an appeal to make a difference, to
feel human and alive, to find meaning in the face of overwhelming odds,
that motivates responding to human needs. But, the evidence is slim at
best.
What is needed is a partnership between practitioners and
academics; disaster management services and organization and scholars
who can design mechanisms to capture information about who is
volunteering and why in the white-hot chaos of a disaster. Sharon (p. 26)
interviewed one emergency worker who said that volunteer management in
daily life is an art, but in a disaster it is a necessity and needs to be
included in all relief planning. It is hard to do that when there is little
factual information to tell about the typology of volunteers; demographics,
or motivations. The one thing that is certain and can be planned for: there
will be people who show up, who will not be turned away, and who will
sabotage efforts to turn them away. Knowing that, if there is a disaster,
they will come, then thinking of how to plan to mobilize these efforts in a
productive way requires practitioners with the capacity to plan for what
they can and to trust the inevitability of emergent changes when the plans
have to be altered for unexpected or unpredictable events.
The author of the larger study on the spontaneous volunteers
(Sharon) at the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center says that there
will be lots of studies on the event, but relatively few will provide
information on the spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer. (Sharon, p. 27).
Those comments in a 2004 journal article are true today. The bulk of
reporting on recent disasters has been on systems, management, and
models to cope with disasters, but the characteristics of the outpouring of
human capital in the face of disaster continues to be little studied. If the
focus is on finding rational “models” or “best practices,” the skills to
respond will be prescriptive and rational. But the face of a disaster is non-
rational and emergent. Reconceptualizing “management” to how one
“coordinates” or “facilitates” in these situations requires incredible
flexibility in the face of tremendous stress.
This paper and dialogue between academics and practitioners has
the potential to forge collaborative relationships that can tackle the
 15

problem for the benefit of future spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers and

the organizations that must cope with their presence.
 16

References:

Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive Modernization:

Politics ,Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Ellis, Susan, (2002) “War and Volunteers: History Repeats Itself, ” Energize,
http://www.energizeinc.com/hot/2003/03apr.html April
Fernandez, Lauren S. (2005), “Systems Approach to Spontaneous
Volunteer Management and Application to Wilderness Search and
Rescue,” Presentation for the Virginia Public Safety Outreach
Conference and Training, George Washington University, Nov. 16.
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