Abstract
Volunteers are a valuable asset for non-profit organizations and represent a valuable cost savings to operational expenses. Because of the cost savings volunteers add to NPO’s overhead, it is important for non-profit management teams to understand the relationship between embeddedness and volunteers so that they can increase retention, loyalty, and social return on investment. Sources of Data: Several journal articles on NPO’s, Volunteers, and Embeddedness were used in the creation of this project. In addition, an empirical study with one of the West Coast chapters of the Make-a-Wish organization was conducted. Conclusions Reached: Volunteers donate their time and are embedded to an organization for a variety of reasons. For the Make-a-Wish organization, it would appear that their volunteers are strongly linked through “client contact”. However, more research in the area of embeddedness is necessary to fully understand the links between organization, community, and sacrifice for volunteers.