Experiment of Volunteer Management and Measurement for Italian voluntary organizations

There are different type of nonprofit organizations characterized by the extent of their volunteer management practices and their use of volunteer work measurement tools. The volunteer programs and activities are effective if a nonprofit organization is well structured with good practices of volunteer management, and the measurement of volunteer work can increase this effectiveness. But, what would happen if a nonprofit organization introduces the measurement of volunteer work in a context where the volunteer management is not very well structured? To study this topic we use the method of quasi- experiment on five Italian voluntary organizations. The treatment consists in the gradual introduction of the tools of volunteer work measurement to the organization members (managers and volunteers), and in the monitoring of the impact of this treatment on the effectiveness of volunteer programs and activities. This paper will discuss the issue of the implementation of measurement tools for effectively managing volunteer services.