Leadership in Grassroots Organizations

 To be successful, grassroots groups need to encourage the development of

effective communication skills among their members. When working toward a goal,

good communication among members is necessary to accomplish the planned action

steps to get to the goal. The extent to which grassroots members and leaders utilize open

communication will be reflected in the group's ability to resolve disagreements as well as

reduce conflict, resentment, and member dropout (Bettencourt, Dillman & Wollman,

1996).

 Leaders of grassroots organizations need to be aware that volunteers differ in the

rewards they value and that these values change over time. Grassroots organizations

need to offer volunteers a variety of rewarding and challenging tasks to sustain their

efforts (Bettencourt et al., 1996). Brant (1995) states that, "one's personal values play an

important role in propelling one toward grassroots action" (p. 185).

 A lack of leadership in grassroots organizations may have dire consequences on

the success of the group and the attempt to achieve change. To reduce chances of failure,

grassroots organizations need to foster the leadership skills of their members

(Bettencourt, 1996).

 Negative factors that affect volunteer motivations are stress, burnout, and

expenditures of time. "Although a certain amount of time investment from volunteers is

necessary, grassroots organizations should be ever mindful to encourage volunteers to

give only as much as they can afford and to avoid spreading themselves too thin with

commitments" (Bettencourt et al., 1996, p. 173).