Optimization of volunteer labor assignments

Abstract Labor is a crucial resource in most organizations. In not‐for‐profit, public, and government services, it is common for labor to include unpaid volunteers. This article demonstrates how the volunteer labor assignment (VLA) problem is markedly different from traditional labor assignment (TLA) problems such as labor scheduling. One core difference pertains to the cost structure of labor, where TLA problems seek to minimize labor costs, yet labor costs for volunteers are usually trivial. Another difference is the assumed size of the labor pool: TLA typically assumes sufficient labor to cover task requirements, whereas the VLA labor pool is limited by the number of volunteers that can be recruited. These and other distinctions coming from the volunteerism literature are described and confirmed with empirical data. One important finding is that volunteers who were not utilized had a reduced propensity to volunteer in the future. These VLA distinctions are incorporated into an integer goal program. Empirical data are used to demonstrate how VLA assumptions produce solutions that are significantly different from solutions coming from TLA assumptions. Sensitivity analysis is described, as are applications in other VLA contexts.