Marisa R. Ferreira

Do Occasional Volunteers Repeat their Experience

Understanding the experiences of volunteers is critical to the effective management of non-profit organizations. Many organizations benefit greatly from the work of volunteers; however, little is known about the interest of occasional volunteers in repeating their experience. Our research aims to understand occasional volunteers and their intention to repeat the experience. To achieve this objective, it is essential to understand volunteers’ motivations and the influence of volunteers’ previous experiences in motivations. At the same time, it is necessary to know how these factors may impact satisfaction and therefore, the intention to repeat the experience in the future. For this research, we analyzed the campaigns organized by the Food Bank Against Hunger (FBAH) in Portugal. Through online questionnaires, data were collected at two different moments: one month before and one month after the campaign. Results show five motivations categories: purposive, understanding, protection and enhancement, group identification and career. The research shows that motivations vary depending on volunteers’ previous experience, and this fact may also influence the level of satisfaction with the experience. All volunteers presented a high level of satisfaction and this variable influences volunteers intention of repeating, that is, volunteers wanting to be engaged in future campaigns.

Reconfiguring the public and the private: Noc-Noc arts festival, Guimarães, Portugal

In the past decades many cities have experienced growing pressure to produce and stage cultural events of different sorts to promote themselves and improve economic development. Culture-led development often relies on significant public investment and major private-sector sponsoring. In the context of strained public finances and profound economic crisis in European peripheral countries, local community low-budget events that manage to create significant fluxes of visitors and visibility assume a particular relevance. This paper looks at the four editions (2011–2014) of Noc-Noc, an arts festival organized by a local association in the city of Guimarães, Portugal, which is based on creating transient spaces of culture by transforming numerous homes, commercial outlets and other buildings into ephemeral convivial and playful ‘public’ environments. By interviewing a sample of people who have hosted (sometimes doubling as artists) these transitory art performances and exhibitions, artists and the events’ organizers and by experiencing the four editions of the event and engaging in multiple informal conversations with the public, this paper attempts to discuss how urban citizens may disrupt the cleavages between public and private space permitting various transgressions, and unsettling the hegemonic condition of the city council as the patron of the large majority of events.

Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDO) Performance and Funds—A Case Study

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are facing growing pressure to become more performance oriented. The existence of a rising number of NPOs and the scarcity of fund sources is an increasingly worrying scenario. Our case study examines the experiences of three non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) and discusses the possible existence of a relationship among fund sources and organizational performance. Non-profits are gradually required to respond to performance measurement directives and their fund sources may be scarce, in terms of quantity and diversity. Two central findings emerged from interviews and document analysis. First, there is a relationship between funds and performance, additional/greater funds positively influence organizational performance. Second, funds diversity play a critical role on performance, diversification of funds sources reduces the dependence of organizations and consecutively improves their performance.

Motivations for participating in clinical trials and health-related product testing:

The purpose of this research involves understanding individual motivations for volunteering in clinical trials and/or health-related product tests. Identifying the reasons leading to participation ...

A gestão dos recursos humanos nas organizações de economia social

Introducao: O peso das organizacoes de Economia Social enquanto agentes economicos, com importância ao nivel do emprego e da riqueza criada na prestacao de servicos, e bastante significativo e cada vez mais reconhecido no contexto da Uniao Europeia. No presente contexto de crise mundial o terceiro sector parece ganhar novo espaco e novas atencoes, a imagem do que foi sucedendo desde as primeiras ideias avancadas para uma economia social, surgidas justamente com a crise vivida pelos operarios do seculo XIX. Neste contexto, e dado os valores e principios que idealmente regem a economia social, importa estudar a Gestao de Recursos Humanos que podera ocupar um importante papel, uma vez que se considera que, devido a natureza do trabalho desenvolvido por estas organizacoes, as pessoas sao o seu ativo mais importante e, como tal, a forma como cada organizacao gere os seus Recursos Humanos podera influenciar o seu desempenho organizacional. A eficacia e eficiencia sao cada vez mais uma prioridade nestas organizacoes, face a conjuntura economica desfavoravel e a diminuicao do seu financiamento pelo Estado. Objetivos: Caraterizar a Gestao de Recursos Humanos nas Organizacoes de Economia Social. Metodo : Realizar uma revisao sistematica da literatura sobre esta tematica com recurso a base de dados cientificos. Resultados: O trabalho poe em relevo a importância da Gestao de Recursos Humanos nas Organizacoes de Economia Social em Portugal. A analise deste contexto especifico pode trazer resultados proeminentes para um setor cuja importância e fulcral e crescente. Conclusoes: Nesta crescente fase de profissionalizacao, as Organizacoes de Economia Social poderao usufruir de importantes melhorias se apostarem em politicas, processos e boas praticas de GRH. Alem disso, uma forte aposta na GRH podera ser um importante elemento diferenciado, num setor que se apresenta cada vez mais competitivo e preocupado com a melhoria da sua performance.