The Decision to Volunteer: Why People Give Their Time and How You Can Engage Them

Volunteers are the lifeblood of associations and membership organizations. They allow these organizations to achieve far more than they could if they relied on paid staff alone, bringing new energy and expertise, providing credibility to educational and certification programs as field experts, actively recruiting new members, and filling essential governance roles. Yet little has been known about these volunteers until now. The Decision to Volunteer presents the most extensive survey data to date to explain who volunteers are and why they do what they do. This book examines the volunteering behaviors of association members, answering questions such as

In addition to several key findings about volunteers based on data from more than 26,000 respondents, this book presents recommended approaches to getting to know your own volunteers and practical suggestions for applying the information to create mutually satisfying volunteer relationships.