ABSTRACT
Voluntarism can be channeled either through the private sector or the public sector. This chapter considers the die government in Bangladesh is largely responsible for rural development projects. Local voluntarism has several advantages as a source of local government finance for public works projects in Bangladesh. The three factors—culture, surplus labor, and central government policies—contain both potentials and problems for greater reliance upon voluntarism in Bangladesh. The socio-cultural factors are divided into those related to the ideology of giving, social institutions, and political institutions. The central government can play a role in mobilizing voluntarism through appropriate policy. A review of past programs that incorporated such policy allows to assess their relative success. Effectiveness of voluntarism as a source of local government finance is often a direct result of the quality of voluntary organizations which act as an auxiliary to local governments in the provision and maintenance of public goods.
