Count Me In: Leveraging Generational Differences to Sustain Volunteer Engagement

Abstract

Professional nonprofit theaters in the United States risk losing important support if they neglect to change existing approaches to volunteer recruitment, development, and recognition in light of evolving generational attitudes toward labor, time-use, and volunteerism. An analysis of data from US federal agencies; arts service organizations; professional associations; the academic and popular literature; and interviews with nonprofit theater shows that generational attitudes toward volunteerism may significantly impact future volunteer engagement, affecting the ability of theaters to continue to offer programming at current levels of quality. New and generationally appropriate ways of seeking, recording, and recognizing volunteer engagement are illustrated.