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Suppose you become a leader in an organizationuff0eItu2019s very likely that youu2019ll want to have volunteers to help with the organizationu2019s activitiesuff0eTo do souff0cit should help to understand why people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the workuff0e

Letu2019s begin with the question of why people volunteeruff0eResearchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involveduff0eFor exampleuff0cpeople volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishnessuff0cto expand their range of experiencesuff0cand to strengthen social relationshipsuff0eIf volunteer positions do not meet these needsuff0cpeople may not wish to participateuff0eTo select volunteersuff0cyou may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attractuff0e

People also volunteer because they are required to do souff0eTo increase levels of community serviceuff0csome schools have launched compulsory volunteer programsuff0eUnfortunatelyuff0cthese programs can shift peopleu2019s wish of participation from an internal factor uff08euff0eguff0euff0cu201cI volunteer because itu2019s important to meu201duff09 to an external factor uff08euff0eguff0euff0cu201cI volunteer because Iu2019m required to do sou201duff09uff0eWhen that happensuff0cpeople become less likely to volunteer in the futureuff0ePeople must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a mustuff0e

Once people begin to volunteeruff0cwhat leads them to remain in their positions over timeuff1fTo answer this questionuff0cresearchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over timeuff0eFor instanceuff0cone study followed 238volunteers in Florida over a yearuff0eOne of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positionsuff0eAlthough this result may not surprise youuff0cit leads to im