Bridging the Gap: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Misalignments Between Volunteer Management Practices and Volunteer Expectations

ABSTRACT Volunteers are vital to nonprofit organizations, yet persistent misalignments between managerial practices and volunteer expectations pose challenges to sustainable engagement. While prior research has examined volunteer motivation and organizational efficiency separately, few studies have compared how nonprofit managers and long‐term volunteers interpret the volunteer experience across multiple domains. This study addresses this gap through an exploratory qualitative design, drawing on in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with 12 managers and 26 long‐term volunteers across three nonprofit organizations in Türkiye. Using reflexive thematic analysis, 10 critical domains of misalignment were identified—onboarding, communication, task clarity, feedback, recognition, emotional support, learning opportunities, scheduling flexibility, voice in decision‐making, and peer relationships. Findings reveal systemic disjunctions: while managers prioritize structure, standardization, and efficiency, volunteers seek meaningful participation, emotional reciprocity, and autonomy. These discrepancies are not merely operational but reflect deeper symbolic tensions between institutional rationality and civic relationism. Secondary data—including organizational policies, volunteer manuals, and public communications—further substantiate these misalignments. The study advances theoretical discussions by conceptualizing volunteer engagement as a co‐constructed, relational process shaped by both formal systems and affective labor. It challenges dominant managerialist approaches and calls for a paradigm shift toward dialogical, flexible, and trust‐centered engagement strategies. Practically, the study offers actionable insights for nonprofit leaders to improve volunteer satisfaction, retention, and relational infrastructure. It also provides a framework for future research to examine volunteer–organization dynamics as sites of negotiation, identity formation, and public value creation in an increasingly complex civic landscape.