Resource Potential of Volunteers With Professional Knowledge for the Development of Regional Socially Oriented Non-Profit Organizations in Russia

Changing Societies and Personalities. 2023. Vol. 7. No. 3. P. 29–44.

Obukhov K.

This article discusses the work models that have arisen in the non-profit sector of Russian regions, including those that involve volunteers with specialized professional knowledge and skills. The socio-economic situation is currently leading to a general lack of resources, especially in the socially oriented non-profit organizations of the regions. One of the channels for additional capacity attraction for SO NPOs is the appeal for free assistance to professional volunteers in certain areas. In this regard, it is important to find ways to attract and work with such professionals, since simple financial motivation is excluded from the process of functioning. Accordingly, this article focuses on the issue of finding effective models to organize the activities of volunteers with professional skills in regional SO NPOs. Materials obtained in a series of 29 semi-structured interviews with the managers of regional SO NPOs show that the main models of work with volunteers have been developed in Russia. As a result of attracting volunteers on a gratuitous basis, organizations manage to cover the demand for rare specialists, quickly solve the arising problems that go beyond the specialization of SO NPOs, and gain access to innovative technologies for their activities.

Keywords: non-profit organizations, social support, volunteers, NPOs, NPOs in Russia, Professional and personal skills

Publication based on the results of: Social integration in temporal and spatial dimensions: values, strategies and practices (2023)