Volunteer Management in Micro Non-Profit Organizations Case Question: What to do when corporate mission and volunteer agendas diverge? Jason, the founder and Director of Coaching (DOC) of East Coast Soccer Club (ECSC) had a difficult decision to make. His non-profit organization was growing and in order for him to get the desired impact in his community, he needed competent volunteers who shared in his mission. One coach who he thought had great potential was Chris. He had recruited Chris to join his volunteer staff three years ago and since then, Chris' team rose through the divisions to become a premier team which competed at the highest levels of the local soccer league. Chris was living up to all expectations and more until the current issue began. Jason heard that Chris was finalizing his divorce. After that, Chris' ambitions began to stray from the mission of ECSC. The club's corporate strategies catered to multi-sport families and those who needed flexibility, but who still wanted to have their children play competitively. Chris, over time, began to ask families for larger time commitments and to prioritize soccer activities over other activities. It all came to a head when Jason learned from an upset parent that Chris had asked the families to pay his Assistant Coach a monthly "optional" coaching fee. Jason knew then that something had to be done, but what exactly? Chris had never taken any additional money from the families. He had simply asked the families to pitch in voluntarily to help support his Assistant Coach. What made things even more complicated was that many of the families had previously asked Chris to fill out extracurricular recommendation forms for competitive secondary school applications. These were due soon and the parents had concerns of being held hostage because they feared retaliation might result from any lack of support from their end. Background Information: ECSC was founded back in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) (non-profit or charitable organization). Jason, who was the founder and DOC envisioned an organization which would not only be self-sufficient, but also one which would "give back" to the community. As it turned out, the organization became a stable community fixture with a solid reputation for being flexible while still achieving overall player development. After several years, ECSC had grown to about 10 teams. Annual revenue never exceeded $100K, but this was never Jason's primary source of income so he was extremely satisfied with the result. ECSC had not only grown in size, but also in reputation. Through his effort, Jason carved out a niche market of multi-sport athletes and busy families. This micro non- profit organization clearly had a double bottom line (profitable with a social benefit) and Jason was proud to provide such a service for players who may not have had the same opportunities in premier clubs where soccer had to come first. The mission of ECSC was "To develop the whole person for success in soccer and beyond." The Issue: The soccer community was growing overall and through the years, clubs came and went while ECSC remained. Jason's club did not charge as much as premier clubs did because the expectations of parents in those markets did not align with ECSC's focused low-cost corporate strategy. ECSC catered to a very specific niche of busy parents who needed flexible scheduling and could not make soccer activities the priority. ECSC encouraged flexible scheduling, larger roster sizes, and yet could still compete at higher levels with multiple tournament championships to show for it.Moreover, the club heavily depended on volunteers to keep the labor costs down. Quality coaches who were willing to volunteer were extremely scarce and most competitors either paid their staff and charged higher fees or would take anyone willing and did not have the quality coaching needed to stay competitive. ECSC was only as successful as the quality of its volunteer staff. Coaches who were a good fit were few and far between. Jason had recruited Chris as a volunteer Head Coach for a newly formed young boys team. Jason had made it clear that as long as Chris aligned his actions with the mission of ECSC that he would generally be free to run the team as he best saw fit. Chris took to his role in a good way and for a few years, the parents were happy with the services he provided. The team had started as a recreational team and was beginning to find success at the premier division in the league. They practiced three times-a-week and had a game on weekends. At the same time however, Jason heard that Chris was going through an unexpected divorce. They never talked explicitly about it as Jason didn't think it was any of his business, but he began to notice Chris' behavior and agenda changing. Parents began to approach Jason with complaints that Chris was implementing an additional practice every weekend along with weekly team meetings at Chris' house every Friday night after practice was done. They had concerns that they were now doing ECSC-related activities five days per week when their sons had other activities. Jason heard that Chris and his Assistant Coach also scheduled quarterly meetings with every family on player progress. Parents also complained that their kids would get benched for not attending team activities in favor of those who made it a priority. When Jason approached Chris about concerns of overworking the boys and overburdening the parents with too many activities, Jason stated "We already had a couple parent meetings and we explained that this is what we think is required for success at the premier level. The parents never once brought up these issues." The situation became critical when a parent approached Jason and questioned why ECSC was asking families to pay additional fees for coaching. When Jason further inquired, he learned that Chris had asked the families to pay a voluntary coaching fee to his Assistant Coach who was between jobs and right out of college. While the fee was optional, the parent was upset because they did not feel they could say "no" to the request. If they did not pay the fee, the coaching staff would know and it would send a negative message to the rest of the families that they did not support the coaching staff. This parent also noted that they felt like they were being held hostage because they along with several other families had requested extracurricular recommendations from Chris several months back for their boys who were applying to competitive private schools. In their minds, not paying this fee could only hurt their sons' opportunity for a better education. What should Jason do? In the past, ECSC had lost several teams to a former coach who then started their own club and became a major competitor in community. He could risk this again and fire Chris, but what would the consequences be for the families applying to schools? Would it be morally right to let Chris go when he was going through such a difficult personal problem? It was clear that Chris took his volunteer role seriously, and that coaches with his kind of experience were not easy to find, but did he go too far? Were there any other possible options? Decide what is the best course of action for Jason. Under the circumstances, how would you advise him when corporate strategy and volunteer agendas diverge in such a way