A STUDY OF THE MOTIVATING FACTORS INFLUENCING VOLUNTEERS TO CONTINUE WITH THE UNITED WAY OF FREDERICK COUNTY

Abstract

The tendency of Americans to form voluntary associations has been observed as far back as 1835 when Alexis deTocqueville wrote in his observations of America: Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations ... I have often admired the extreme skill with which the inhabitants of the United States succeed in proposing a common object to the exertions of a great many men, and in inducing them voluntarily to pursue it.(1) Over a century later Margaret Mead wrote: We live in a society that has always depended upon volunteers of different kinds - some who give money, others who give time and a great many who freely give their special skills. If you look closely, you will see that almost anything that really matters to us ... depends on some form of volunteerism.(2) What is the propensity of Americans to form these associations and to volunteer their time, money and effort to maintain them? Do they work for the individual in need, themselves or the betterment of all mankind? And are these special people as important as Margaret Mead states? It is often the case, when considering charitable organizations, that men form these voluntary associations to gain group strength in order to accomplish something that they could not do on their own and that their initial reasons for doing so are humanitarian.