Disaster Volunteers: Recruiting and Managing People Who Want to Help

Volunteer work can make a difference to those harmed by natural, technological, and human-induced disasters if it is done well. Disaster Volunteers provides readers with information on why people volunteer, the benefits gained by volunteers and recipients, and how to leverage such good will. Learning from a variety of past disasters, readers will gain realistic insights into the challenges of disaster contexts. Equipped with evidence-based best practices, Dr. Phillips organizes and illustrates necessary steps to recruit, train, manage, reward, and retain volunteers throughout the life cycle of disasters.

This important resource walks both organizations and individuals through the entire process of volunteer engagement from recruiting and training to managing as well as rewarding and retaining volunteers and provides an engaging and informative set of useful and evidence-based chapters. Disaster Volunteers fills an existing gap in books on volunteer disaster management by incorporating research, generating sound recommendations, grounding ideas in a disaster context, and offering an inviting set of examples from which readers can learn.

Includes sample materials for use by emergency managers, emergency managers, civic and faith-based organizationsProvides case studies offering first-hand experiences that help bring the content to lifeIncludes stepwise advice to recruit, train, and retain a diverse set of disaster volunteers

1. Why do people volunteer? 2. Who manages disaster volunteers? Why manage volunteers? 3. What to expect with volunteers 4. Recruiting and training disaster volunteers 6. Managing spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers 7. Affiliated disaster volunteers 8. Managing international volunteers 9. The benefits of volunteering 10. The future of disaster volunteerism