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Engaging Global Service: Organizational Perspectives on the Value of International Volunteers

Good afternoon!

My name is Erin Barnhart, and I am a Ph.D. student at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, USA. I am beginning a study on international volunteers and would like to invite you to participate.

You are being asked to take part because your organization is a nonprofit/nongovernmental organization or government agency located outside of the United States. I am interested in your opinions on and experiences with international volunteers. I’m collecting this information to help those in the field of international service have a better understanding of how and why organizations around the world engage international volunteers.

If your organization works with international volunteers, you are invited to participate! (Please note that this study is of organizations that host international volunteers rather than volunteer-sending organizations; if your organization is involved in international service but does not physically host them, please consider forwarding this survey on to any partner host organizations.)

To be eligible for participation in this research, your organization should:

1) Be a nonprofit/nongovernmental organization or government agency that is not located in the United States

2) Focus on, do work in, or seek to address one or more of the following cause, issue, or problem areas: Agriculture, Arts, Community Development, Disability Issues, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Family, Health and Medicine, Human Rights and Civil Liberties, International Cooperation, International Relations, Philanthropy, Poverty and Hunger, Rural Issues, Technology, Volunteering, Women, or Youth.

Any staff person or volunteer at your organization over the age of 18 is welcome to respond to this survey although please note that only one person per organization should participate. Ideally, this person should be the person most responsible for managing your international volunteers.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to answer 22 questions about your organization, your international volunteers, and your opinions on working with international volunteers. This survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. The survey does not require your name or your organization’s name and all responses are confidential. All information will be transferred from this online survey to my personal computer; should you accidentally include information that identifies you or your organization, this will be deleted.

Please note that this research is for my graduate studies and not on behalf of any nonprofit/nongovernmental organization (for example, Action Without Borders/Idealist.org) or government agency. Your decision to participate or not, as well as your responses to my survey, will not in any way affect your relationship with Idealist.org or any other entity. Should you begin the survey but change your mind and decide that you don’t want to finish, you are welcome to stop at any time; your responses will not be sent to me until you choose to submit them at the end of the survey.

There is very little to no risk in participation. You may not receive any direct benefit from taking part in this study, but this study may help to increase knowledge about hosting international volunteers, which could potentially help organizations like yours better plan for future hosting of foreign volunteers.

If you have any questions, please email me directly at [email protected]. If you have concerns or problems with your participation in this study or your rights as a research subject, please contact the Human Subjects Research Review Committee, Office of Research and Sponsored Projects, 600 Unitus Bldg., Portland State University (Phone number is 1-877-480-4400.) Please save or print a copy of this page for your records. This information can also be found at www.volunteerstudy.wordpress.com.
 
 
 
* Ready to get started? Because this is a university study, I am required to first request your informed consent to participate. To do so, please read the following three statements:

1. I am 18 years old or older. (If you are not 18 years old or older, please pass this survey along to someone at your organization who is. Thank you!)

2. I am the person responsible or most responsible for managing international volunteers. (If you are not the person responsible or most responsible for this, please pass this survey along to the person who is. Thank you!)

3. I understand that my responses to this survey will be kept confidential and I agree to participate.

If the three statements above are true for you, please click yes:
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
If the three statements on the preceding page were not true for you, then unfortunately you are not eligible to participate in this study.

If this is because you are not 18 years old or older, or the person most responsible for managing international volunteers, please consider sending this survey to someone else at your organization who is eligible to respond. Here is the survey link again: http://volunteerstudy.questionpro.com/.

Thank you for your time! To exit the survey, please click Continue below.
 
 
 
* Does your organization currently host international volunteers? By "host", we mean that your organization recruits or accepts volunteers from other countries to work on local projects with your organization.
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
Unfortunately if your organization does not currently host international volunteers, then it does not qualify to participate in this study. Before you go though, we'd love to hear why you do not host international volunteers. Thank you!
   
 
 
 
Thank you! I am looking forward to learning more about your motivations, experiences, and opinions of hosting international volunteers.

First I have 6 questions about your experiences hosting international volunteers...
 
 
 
1. Why did your organization decide to host international volunteers? If you're not sure, please explain why you think the organization decided to host international volunteers.
   
 
 
2. What do you think are the potential benefits of hosting international volunteers? Please mark how much you agree or disagree with the following statements:

International volunteers. . .
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Sure
...contribute needed skills
...provide more people to get our work done
...provide a new viewpoint or perspective
...provide an opportunity for local people to learn more about other nations and cultures
...help us attract local volunteers
...bring international attention to our work
...bring credibility to our work
...are effective
...help our economy by spending money locally
...generate revenue for our organization
...become financial donors
...become advocates upon return home
...are inexpensive
 
 
What do you think are the most important benefits of hosting international volunteers? If possible, please share a specific example of how international volunteers have benefitted your organization.
   
 
 
3. What do you think are the potential challenges of hosting international volunteers? Please mark how much you agree or disagree with the following statements:

International volunteers. . .
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Sure
...require a lot of training
...require a lot of supervision
...distract staff and local volunteers from the work
...are accustomed to different ways of doing things
...are not always welcome in our community
...may not have the skills needed
...may not have the language abilities needed
...don't stay long enough
...can be difficult to find
...take the place of local volunteers
...take the place of local jobs
...are not effective
...are expensive
 
 
What do you think are the most important challenges of hosting international volunteers? If possible, please share a specific example of how international volunteers have been challenging for your organization.
   
 
 
 
4. In your opinion, based on your answers above, do the benefits of hosting international volunteers outweigh the challenges?
 
Yes, I think international volunteers generally provide more benefits than challenges for our organization.
 
No, I think international volunteers generally create more challenges than benefits for our organization.
 
 
Please explain your answer.
   
 
 
 
5. Overall, do you think that it is worthwhile for your organization to host international volunteers? Please explain why or why not.
   
 
 
 
6. In your opinion, how might organizations like yours benefit more from working with international volunteers?
   
 
 
 
Thanks! Next, I would like to ask you 8 questions about your organization...
 
 
 
7. Which country, sovereign state, or territory is your organization located in?
   
 
 
 
8. What is your organization's primary mission, issue, or area of focus? Please choose only one.
 
Agriculture
 
Arts
 
Community Development
 
Disability Issues
 
Economic Development
 
Education
 
Environment
 
Family
 
Health and Medicine
 
Human Rights and Civil Liberties
 
International Cooperation
 
International Relations
 
Philanthropy
 
Poverty and Hunger
 
Rural Issues
 
Technology
 
Volunteering
 
Women
 
Youth
 
 
 
9. Is your organization affiliated with a faith group or institution like a church, temple, or mosque?
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
If yes, what is your organization's affiliation?
   
 
 
 
10. In what year did your organization begin hosting international volunteers? If you are not sure, please estimate the year.
   
 
 
 
11. How are international volunteers managed at your organization? For example, you might have one staff person responsible for this, several staff people who do this, one or more volunteers who manage international volunteers, or they may manage themselves.
   
 
 
 
12. How does your organization get most of your international volunteers?

Most of our international volunteers. . .
 
...find us through our recruitment efforts (for example, posting volunteer opportunities on websites like Idealist.org)
 
...find us on their own (for example, they hear about us from former volunteers)
 
...are placed with us by a partner volunteer-sending organization
 
...are placed with us by other kinds of partner organizations (for example, universities, faith groups, etc.)
 
Other
 
 
 
 
13. If your organization does actively seek out international volunteers, which recruitment methods have been the most successful? For example, it might be your website, partner organizations, Facebook, etc.
   
 
 
 
14. Do you have any requirements for accepting an international volunteer? If so, please mark all that apply.

Yes, in most cases, international volunteers must. . .
 
…have specific skills (for example, they must be qualified to provide medical care)
 
… have a certain level of education
 
… be a certain age
 
…be able to speak one or more local languages
 
…submit an application to volunteer with us
 
…complete an interview to volunteer with us
 
…be qualified in some other way (please specify below).
 
No, we do not have any requirements for our international volunteers

 
 
Please explain or share examples.
   
 
 
 
Thank you! Finally, I have 8 questions about your international volunteers...
 
 
 
15. Approximately how many international volunteers did you host in 2010?
   
 
 
 
16. How old are most of your international volunteers? For example, do you usually have international volunteers who are in their 20s or older volunteers in their 50s or 60s?
   
 
 
17. How long do international volunteers serve with your organization?
Rarely or Never Occasionally Almost Always
2 weeks or less
Between 2 weeks and 1 month
1 to 3 months
3 to 6 months
6 to 12 months
Over 1 year
 
 
 
18. What are the most common types of projects done by your international volunteers? For example, do they work directly in the community doing things like teaching or construction? Do they help your organization with things like building your website?
   
 
 
 
19. How does your organization generally determine projects for international volunteers? Please choose all that apply.

Projects for international volunteers. . .
 
...are created by our staff based on what our organization needs.
 
...are created by our staff based on community feedback and what our community needs.
 
...are suggested or proposed by our partner organizations.
 
...are suggested or proposed by international volunteers themselves.
 
Other
 

 
 
 
20. Does your organization offer training to international volunteers? If so, please share what your training is like. For example, you might offer in-person training for new international volunteers or written instructions for how to complete various types of projects.
   
 
 
 
21. Does your organization receive or earn any money from hosting international volunteers? Please choose all that apply.
 
Yes, international volunteers pay us a fee to volunteer with our organization.
 
Yes, we receive funding from a partner organization for hosting international volunteers.
 
No, we do not receive any money from hosting international volunteers.
 
Other
 

 
 
If your organization does receive funding from hosting international volunteers - either through fees paid by volunteers or from a partner organization - please share an example of how this works.
   
 
 
 
22. Thank you again for your participation! Is there anything else we should know to better understand how and why your organization hosts international volunteers?
   
 
 
 
Finally, one last question: would you be willing to participate in a follow-up phone call? I would like to talk to a few organizations to learn more about how they work with international volunteers. Please note that your responses would remain anonymous. If you would be willing to participate in this follow-up research, please provide your name and email address below. Thank you!
   
 
 
 
To submit your responses to this survey, please click "Submit" below.
 
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