Table 6.  Volunteers by how they became involved with main organization for which volunteer activities were performed and
selected characteristics, September 2010
                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                          
                                                       Percent distribution of how volunteers became involved with main   
                                                                               organization (1)                           
                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                          
                                           Total                                 Was asked by:                             
                                           volun-                                                                     Not  
   Characteristics in September 2010       teers         Approached                                                 report-
                                           (thou-           the                     Rela-   Someone                 ing how
                                           sands)  Total   organi-         Boss or  tive,    in the          Other  became
                                                           zation  Total   employ-  friend, organiza- Someone         in- 
                                                                    (2)     er       or      tion/     else         volved
                                                                                     co-    school                        
                                                                                    worker                                    
                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                          
                  Sex                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                          
Total, both sexes.......................   62,790  100.0    41.6    42.7    1.4     14.9     24.9       1.2   12.4    3.3 
   Men..................................   26,787  100.0    40.5    43.9    1.3     16.6     24.6       1.2   12.3    3.3 
   Women................................   36,004  100.0    42.4    41.7    1.5     13.7     25.1       1.2   12.5    3.3 
                                                                                                                          
                  Age                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                          
Total, 16 years and over................   62,790  100.0    41.6    42.7    1.4     14.9     24.9       1.2   12.4    3.3 
  16 to 24 years........................    8,297  100.0    43.1    39.4    1.0     16.8     20.4       1.0   13.3    4.3 
     16 to 19 years.....................    4,403  100.0    41.9    40.1     .3     16.8     22.0        .9   13.9    4.1 
     20 to 24 years.....................    3,894  100.0    44.4    38.5    1.9     16.8     18.5       1.1   12.5    4.6 
  25 years and over.....................   54,493  100.0    41.3    43.2    1.5     14.7     25.6       1.2   12.3    3.2 
     25 to 34 years.....................    9,140  100.0    39.3    44.2    2.8     16.9     22.9       1.4   13.0    3.6 
     35 to 44 years.....................   12,904  100.0    40.4    45.0    1.5     13.8     28.3       1.1   12.0    2.7 
     45 to 54 years.....................   13,435  100.0    41.1    43.7    1.4     14.6     26.2       1.2   12.4    2.8 
     55 to 64 years.....................    9,830  100.0    42.6    41.5    1.2     14.9     24.0       1.3   12.4    3.6 
     65 years and over..................    9,184  100.0    43.8    40.7     .5     13.4     25.4       1.2   11.9    3.6 
                                                                                                                          
 Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity                                                                                    
                                                                                                                          
White...................................   53,556  100.0    41.6    43.0    1.5     15.0     25.2       1.2   12.3    3.2 
Black or African American...............    5,580  100.0    43.1    40.1    1.0     13.6     23.7       1.7   13.4    3.4 
Asian...................................    2,207  100.0    40.0    42.6    1.4     14.5     25.7       1.1   11.0    6.4 
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity............    4,982  100.0    43.5    40.8    1.7     13.4     24.3       1.3   13.1    2.5 
                                                                                                                          
       Educational attainment (3)                                                                                         
                                                                                                                          
Less than a high school diploma.........    2,231  100.0    41.2    43.9    1.0     15.6     25.6       1.7   12.6    2.3 
High school graduates, no college (4)...   10,887  100.0    41.6    44.0    1.6     16.1     24.8       1.3   12.0    2.4 
Some college or associate degree .......   15,505  100.0    41.1    42.8    1.3     14.4     25.5       1.5   13.1    3.0 
Bachelor's degree and higher (5)........   25,870  100.0    41.4    43.0    1.6     14.1     26.0       1.0   11.9    3.7 
                                                                                                                          
             Marital status                                                                                               
                                                                                                                          
Single, never married...................   14,145  100.0    42.1    39.9    1.5     17.4     19.5       1.3   13.7    4.4 
Married, spouse present.................   38,765  100.0    40.8    44.2    1.2     14.1     27.5       1.1   12.0    3.0 
Other marital status (6)................    9,880  100.0    44.0    40.5    1.9     14.6     22.3       1.6   12.2    3.3 
                                                                                                                          
     Presence of own children under 
             18 years (7)                                                                                   
                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                          
Men:                                                                                                                      
  No own children under 18 years old....   17,662  100.0    40.7    42.8    1.3     17.1     22.9       1.3   12.7    3.8 
  With own children under 18 years old..    9,124  100.0    40.0    46.1    1.3     15.4     28.0       1.0   11.5    2.4 
Women:                                                                                                                    
  No own children under 18 years old....   22,467  100.0    43.7    39.5    1.6     14.8     21.5       1.3   12.8    4.0 
  With own children under 18 years old..   13,536  100.0    40.2    45.4    1.3     11.9     31.0       1.2   12.1    2.3 
                                                                                                                          
           Employment status                                                                                              
                                                                                                                          
Civilian labor force....................   44,522  100.0    40.6    44.0    1.9     15.6     25.1       1.2   12.3    3.1 
  Employed..............................   40,980  100.0    40.5    44.0    2.0     15.3     25.3       1.2   12.3    3.2 
    Full time (8).......................   31,625  100.0    39.8    44.4    2.3     15.6     25.0       1.2   12.5    3.4 
    Part time (9).......................    9,355  100.0    43.0    42.7     .8     14.4     26.2       1.2   11.6    2.7 
  Unemployed............................    3,542  100.0    41.6    43.8     .5     18.8     23.2       1.2   13.1    1.5 
Not in the labor force..................   18,268  100.0    44.0    39.5     .3     13.3     24.4       1.2   12.7    3.8 

   1 Main organization is defined as the organization for which the volunteer worked the most hours during the year. See
the Technical Note for more details.
   2 Includes persons who did not specify who asked them to volunteer, not shown separately.
   3 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
   4 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
   5 Includes persons with bachelor's, professional, and doctoral degrees.  
   6 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
   7 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
   8 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
   9 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
   NOTE: Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at any point
from September 1, 2009, through the survey period in September 2010. Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or
African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity
is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.