A study of volunteer management on the basis of Russian museum-reserves

The article analyzes the specifics of organizing the management of the activities of volunteers at various stages (attraction, selection, training, assistance during volunteer shifts, support, and motivation) by museum-reserves in the assessments of employees of cultural institutions. The analysis was based on the data of a sociological survey conducted by the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments of History and Culture in 2020. The respondents were employees of 35 museum-reserves from more than 20 regions of Russia. The methodological basis of the study was the methods of questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. The questionnaire was aimed at assessing the work of the museum institution with volunteers when implementing various projects. The authors give the results of the survey in a number of areas of work of Russian museums-reserves with volunteers; raise questions about the regularity of museums for volunteer help, their readiness to work with volunteers, and the presence of permanent volunteer associations at museums. The authors identify the key socio-demographic characteristics of the representatives of the volunteer community; trace and specify all the main stages of volunteer management when managing volunteer resources; characterize the channels for attracting volunteers to museums, the prevalence of various methods of their selection (questionnaires, interviews), preparation for work in the museum, and the range of skills and abilities (including professional ones) that a volunteer involved in activities in the museum should have; list the mechanisms for stimulating volunteers’ interest in cooperation with the museum; determine the forms of museums’ work aimed at motivating volunteers; analyze the main reasons for volunteers’ leaving the organization; learn the terms of volunteers’ cooperation with museums and determine the characteristics of the rotation of the volunteer contingent. The authors state that the share of Russian museums in which volunteer associations have been created is small and that working with volunteers cannot currently be characterized as an established and sustainable activity for Russian museums. The authors conclude that the largest proportion of museum-reserve assistants are women aged 16 to 25. They also note the conservatism and isolationism of some of the survey participants, who avoid attracting voluntary assistants.