Surviving the Recession - Should Nonprofits Save Money by Replacing Staff with Volunteers?

July 21, 2009, About.com — It is very tempting in a recession to change formerly staff-held jobs into volunteer ones. But is it right? Does it work? What are the pitfalls or the benefits?

Using volunteers to perform tasks or jobs that might otherwise be done by paid staff (often called job substitution) should only be part of an overall strategy for reducing costs during hard times.