Volunteers rule?

I've been in organizations where discipline or standards are not enforced because the leadership states, "We can't do that to volunteers." The question then becomes,what does it mean to be a volunteer? Infoplease.com defines a volunteer as, "A person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking." The key words here are offer himself or herself.

The person willingly makes an offer to join an organization. The important part here is that the person's offer includes an offer to abide by its rules and regulations and perform the work to the organization's standards. In fact, part of the reason that the person makes the offer is because they enjoy the work and image of the organization. This work and image is made possible by the rules and regulations of the organization. If the organization fails to enforce these uniformly and fairly, then they are doing a disservice to its volunteers and runs the risk of losing membership.

Thus, the idea that a rule cannot be enforced because the member is a volunteer and the organization runs the risk of losing them if they are too strict, is a bad idea. While the parameters of the volunteer's time and commitment should be taken into consideration when rules are developed, once established, they must be enforced.

To be fair to the volunteer, the organization's expectations must be shared with the volunteer BEFORE they join. They can only offer themself willingly if they have full disclosure.