Competency 4: Public Service Perspective

Competency 4: "I have the ability to articulate and apply a public service perspective emphasizing the role of civil society in democratic governance."

Public Service Perspective

There are many theories regarding the nonprofit sector, and many defining traits that distinguish the nonprofit sector from businesses and the public sector. One defining trait is the concept of public service and public service motivation, which explains that many people who work in public service roles and organizations want to serve the greater good in their community and hold values that are vastly different from those who work in the private sector and may have values that are more similar to those who work in the government (Worth, 2020) (Pearce & Sowa, 2019). Many people believe that nonprofit organizations are created to meet community needs in areas where the people feel the government has failed to do so, and are more so gap fillers, which would require that people have a heart to work in their communities (Worth, 2020). Understanding why people serve their communities is important; keeping the reasons why a person would serve their community within a particular organization helps leaders and managers ensure that the ability and opportunities that initially drew people to help with the organization are still available in the future. There are many motivating factors for people to work in the public sector, and each motivational factor should be taken into account and considered when it comes to working with people and keeping them involved with the organization. Another defining factor is the honest work that people in the nonprofit sector are involved in. Over the past few years, the call for accountability measures to be increased and implemented within nonprofit organizations has increased. This is not anything new, but as stories of nonprofit organizations misusing resources for personal use and gain has been reported, many people now find themselves questioning nonprofits and how ethical the people inside of them truly are; do they really want to see the greater good for the community, or do they want to see the greater good for themselves (Worth, 2020)? Having accountability to a code of ethics guides many people in the right direction, both in thought and action, and ensures that the least amount of people are hurt in the process.

PAD 5145 Volunteer Motivation Literature Review Paper

While this assignment was a literature review, exploring the topic of volunteers and volunteerism, it provided an opportunity to explore a major topic when it comes to volunteers; what motivates a person to volunteer? This assignment, through the research conducted, laid the foundation on the importance of motivational factors that can influence, not only if a person wants to volunteer, but where, how, and how often. One important piece of research that was key in further assignments in this course, and throughout this degree program, was recognizing that many volunteer operate from from “we-oriented” versus a “me-oriented” reasoning, which looks at volunteer performing services to help others versus doing activities that focus on self-fulfillment (although many volunteers will also admit having personal enrichment reasons for volunteering as well) (Briggs, Peterson and Gregory, 2010). This assignment, although simple on the surface, really enlightened me on why people volunteer and even made me wonder about my own volunteer experiences and what kept me volunteering with certain organizations for extended periods of time. This introspective reflecting during this assignment sparked an interest and passion within me to ensure that, wherever I work in the field, I will keep these research findings in the forefront of my mind while working and interacting with volunteers and do all that I personally can to keep volunteer motivation high and keep volunteers connected and engaged.

PAD 6237 Governance Case Study

This assignment focused on ethical policies for the U.S. Dream Academy. Researching and exploring current and available policies regarding the organization’s code of ethics, it came to our attention that this organization, while aware of such policies, the organization did not have any firm policies by which to conduct itself, which would leave them vulnerable should any situations arise that would throw the ethics of the organization into question. Worth (2020) points out that organizations should be accountable in three directions: upwards to donors, funders and the government; downward to clients and the community they serve; and internally to staff and to their own missions (pg. 146). The U.S. Dream Academy, at the time of the completion of this assignment, did not have a code of ethics available for the community to read, which means that one of the three levels of accountability recommended by Worth was not available. This could draw concern as community residents can be left unaware of how the organization conducts itself and was a main recommendation made to the organization upon completion of this assignment.

References

Briggs, E., Peterson, M. & Gregory, G. (2010). Toward a better understanding of volunteering for nonprofit organizations: Explaining volunteers’ pro-social attitudes. Journal of Macromarketing, 30(1), 61-76.

Pearce, J. & Soaw, J. (2019) Organizational Behavior: Real Research for Public and Nonprofit Managers. Melvin & Leigh, Publishers.

Rowe, W. G. & Dato-On, M. C. (2013). Introduction to Nonprofit Management. SAGE Publishing.

Worth, M. J. (2020) Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice. 6th edition. SAGE Publishing.