摘要: |
This thesis studies the historic activity and present operational return on investment of the U.S. Coast Guard's all-volunteer, citizen-supported Auxiliary organization. The thesis recommends harvesting approximately $2.7M by eliminating the Auxiliary aviation program. The existing funds could be efficiently reprogrammed to replace that volunteer support niche through an agreement with the U.S. Air Force and to better support other more cost- effective volunteer sub-programs. This effort departs from previous similar studies because it identifies long-term trends in volunteer activity and measures the return on investment in terms of organizational outcomes, not volunteer effort or opinion questionnaires. The literature review presents examples of similar affiliated or formal volunteer organizations found in the United States and abroad, several of which were originally modeled after the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Volunteer demographics and participation for the six major operational Auxiliary activities are then represented to identify trends. The Coast Guard's resourcing in the form of full-time employee support and direct funding also are presented. The focus of the thesis is how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the volunteer organization to the Nation; the premise is that properly tasked and managed volunteers, with a healthy organizational culture, will multiply. |