The Recruitment and Retention of Professional Volunteers to Mentor Dental Students

The recruitment and retention of volunteers in society is a critical endeavor for many nonprofit organizations that look to serve our communities. For many organizations, it is a way to keep costs down and to supplement the physical resources necessary to keep the organization afloat. This study centered on recruiting and retaining professional dental volunteers to mentor dental students at the Social Wellness Services (SWS: pseudonym) organization in Upstate, NY. The general problem addressed in this study was that many nonprofits need help acquiring highly specialized volunteers, which requires a unique amalgamation of education, skill/experience, selfless attitude, resolve, and available time. Like other nonprofits, SWS depends on volunteers to augment their professional staff and finds obtaining and retaining volunteers difficult. As a result, it remains challenging to maintain these volunteers due to the rarity of finding skilled people who encapsulate these qualities over the long term. Previous studies have entertained the plight of obtaining and retaining volunteers with the critical skills needed to help those in need. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to understand how the SWS nonprofit organization that supports the education of dental students pursuing completion of their degree requirements can better recruit and retain experienced dental volunteers to mentor dental students within their dental clinic in Upstate NY while providing needed dental care to the marginalized community. This qualitative narrative study examined the nature of SWS volunteers and ascertained why they stay or leave the organization. Participants were identified via purposive sampling for this qualitative narrative study. The sample included 12 participants, comprising professional dental volunteers, dental students, and SWS leaders at the SWS organization in Upstate NY. The conceptual models (i.e., person-organization fit, servant leadership, and motivation) from the literature review provided the context for the data collection. The qualitative data collection method consisted of recorded semistructured interviews with individual participants, comprising five research questions and 26 interview statements. Each interview was transcribed and coded to determine recurring subthemes. The transcript summaries identified seven subthemes: association, strong leadership, empathy, building community, flexibility and structure, self-efficacy, and rewards, which are crucial to enabling positive volunteer recruitment and retention efforts. This study supplements the current literature and provides new insight for future research.