This document summarizes the state of available evidence regarding what factors impact nonprofit organizations’ ability to recruit and retain volunteers. It aims to answer the following questions:
Studies included in the database focused on high-income or upper middle-income countries, including but not limited to the United States. Studies included must have been published since 2000. To identify evidence, we searched the following websites and databases using the following population, methodology, and target intervention terms:
| Websites and Databases | Methodology Terms | Target Intervention Terms |
| Campbell Collaboration Cochrane Collaboration Evidence Aid Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees Medline CINAHL PsycInfo ASSIA Social Services Abstracts Social Work Abstracts PILOTS |
program OR intervention OR train* OR therapy OR treatment OR workshop OR review OR meta-analysis OR synthesis |
“compassion fatigue” OR “secondary trauma” OR “vicarious trauma” OR burnout |
For databases or websites that permitted only basic searches, free-text terms and limited term combinations were selected out of the lists above, and all resultant studies were reviewed for relevance. Conversely, for databases or websites with advanced search capability, we made use of relevant filters available. All search terms were searched in the title and abstract fields only in order to exclude studies that made only passing mention of the topic under consideration.
After initial screening, Switchboard evidence mapping is prioritized as follows: First priority is given to meta-analyses and systematic reviews, followed by individual impact evaluations when no meta-analyses or systematic reviews are available. Evaluations that are rated as impact evidence are considered before those rated as suggestive, with the latter only being included for outcomes where no evidence is available from the former.
