Features of the volunteer organizations management in the direction of assisting the military in conditions of war

Abstract

Background: The volunteer movement in Ukraine, which has always intensified in times of greatest threat, has since February 24, 2022, accumulated the efforts of volunteers, directing all their efforts to help the army. This has led to an increase in the number of volunteer organizations helping the military. The social demand and the needs they respond to set high expectations for volunteers. In such circumstances, volunteer organizations must pay special attention to the organization of volunteer activities. The question arises: how do volunteer organizations working to help the military cope with the risks and challenges that have arisen in connection with a full-scale war? The lack of qualitative knowledge about how they organize activities, engage volunteers, and keep them motivated, what are the peculiarities of communication and evaluation of their work, etc. determines the applied significance of the study, the results of which are reflected in the abstracts. Objective: To find out the peculiarities of management of volunteer organizations in the field of assistance to the military in war and to identify ways to strengthen their organizational capacity. Methods: The research was qualitative in nature. The theoretical method of the study was to analyze documents on the topic of volunteer management. The main method of empirical research was a structured interview with representatives of volunteer organizations working to help the military, aimed at studying: the content of volunteers' work, the risks of working in war, the difficulties of conducting activities, the peculiarities of volunteer management, assessment of the organization's capacity and ways to strengthen it. To process the results, we analyzed and compared the content of the respondents' answers. Results: Volunteer organizations working to help the military are different from others and have their own special internal organization. During the war, they faced a number of challenges, the answer to which is determined by the specifics of volunteer management of different types of organizations. The article reveals differences in the work of old (those that functioned before the full- scale invasion) and newly created volunteer organizations. The key factors that weaken the capacity of a volunteer organization include internal (misconceptions about management, in particular, about engaging volunteers in work, organizing their activities and motivation, ignoring the risks of burnout, insufficient communication with former volunteers, etc.) and external (decline in active involvement of volunteers, people's distrust of the organization and the organization – of the state authorities, legal insecurity of volunteers, funding risks, chronic stress). Conclusion: Since the outbreak of full-scale war, the activities of organizations that help the military have changed dramatically, and these changes can be recorded in a certain sequence: 1) a new stage of development; 2) a decline in activity (a decrease in the number of contributions and people); 3) transformation of approaches to volunteer management, including resource mobilization. Volunteer organizations, regardless of their type, need to strengthen their capacity in such areas as developing internal policies, facilitating strategic planning, developing an organizational structure, and maintaining staff motivation and development. Older and younger organizations have different needs for strengthening their advocacy and communication capacities. One of the ways to strengthen the organizational capacity of volunteer organizations can be training aimed at overcoming false stereotypes about volunteer management. Keywords: volunteer activity, volunteer management, war, volunteering to help the military.