The way both the volunteer and the manager of volunteers understand the volunteer relationship makes up the psychological contract between the two (Rousseau and McLean Parks, 1993). These psychological contracts are important to understand since they ultimately govern the behavior of the volunteers (Morrison and Robinson, 1997). Because nonprofits are relying on volunteers in many ways, understanding what each of the parties had in mind with respect to the terms of the relationship is of value to nonprofits. Through a series of focus groups and survey testing, this paper identifies the elements that were found to make up the psychological contracts that govern the relationship between volunteer and nonprofit organization. (Publishers abstract)

Through a series of focus groups and survey testing, this paper identifies the elements that were found to make up the psychological contracts that govern the relationship between volunteer and nonprofit organization.