Abstract:
Communities across the United States are becoming more culturally and ethnically diverse. Indeed, demographers predict that by 2030 most of America’s school-age children will be from a minority group and by 2050, so will most Americans. This increasing diversity changes the nature of the population served by volunteer-based organizations, and likewise, also should change the makeup of the volunteer base. Capturing the volunteer potential of diverse community members will enrich organizations by expanding the number of volunteers, by helping to make services more culturally appropriate due to the similarities between volunteers and clients, and by
bringing diverse viewpoints to inform practice. However, many volunteer-based organizations, accustomed to operating in more homogeneous environments, are finding it difficult to attract volunteers from diverse backgrounds. Their usual approaches to volunteer recruitment and support have not proven effective.
