One in every five people does some volunteer work for church, school, other organizations, according to the Current Population Survey. Older men and women, married persons, college graduates, and persons with higher incomes are among the most likely to volunteer. (Author)

Attendance at conferences provides opportunities for developing listening, notetaking, and questioning skills as well as confidence and self-esteem. Planning conferences provides other experiential learning through such roles as entrepreneur, administrator, troubleshooter, and organizer. (SK)

Surveys the history of the International Council for Adult Education from 1984 to the tensions of the present situation. Raises questions about the organization's role and vision in the 21st century, especially regarding adult education as human rights education. (SK)

A survey of 22 agency directors and 219 volunteer board members showed that 40% of members received 1-5 hours of training in the last 6 months, 47% none. Training needs included board roles and responsibilities, strategic planning, understanding the agency, and fundraising. Preferred methods were facilitated workshop/retreat or board-led training…

Explores the rapid growth and internationalization of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and discusses the forms the process is taking, and what future structures may emerge. Analyzes issues that arise as NGOs globalize and makes recommendations for policymakers. (JOW)

Data from the 1994 Los Angeles Survey of Urban Inequality (n=4,025) showed that, although neighborhood poverty influences volunteer participation, blacks participated in more voluntary associations than other groups, Asians the least. Evidence supports the ethnic community theory in that blacks in black communities participate in more…

The confluence of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with the development of China's education is not a mere chance encounter. On August 27, 2004, the author took part in the designing of a meeting held in Beijing by the Twenty First Century Education Salon that received support from the Ford Foundation. Jointly organized by the Twenty-first…

In this paper I describe how self-advocacy has grown in the Czech Republic. First, I talk about how services for people with learning disabilities have begun to change in the last few years. This is because voluntary groups have lobbied and campaigned for change. I learned about self-advocacy during a visit to the UK in the 1990s. I went back to…

A study evaluated the beginnings of the Minnesota Press Council in 1971, particularly the thinking of those involved in the earliest stages of the formation of the council. Oral history interviews with two people involved in the establishment of the council were supplemented with minutes of meetings and compared to an earlier study of the council…

In its February 1969 meeting, the National Advisory Council for Regional Medical Programs reaffirmed its position on recruitment and basic education--that Regional Medical Program funding is not to be used to replace existing sources of support and that other sources should be explored first. Therefore the Continuing Education and Training Branch…

This study examined overlapping membership of voluntary associations as the basis of a statistical technique for analyzing community structure. An underlying assumption was that organizations select certain membership linkages in preference to others within a community. Thus one would expect to find points of integration and cleavage among…

This project provided for the assignment of a volunteer services consultant and assistant to the State public welfare agency staff to develop, direct, and coordinate volunteer services and special projects for volunteers in the public welfare setting. These individuals interpreted the need for and potential of volunteer services, and assisted…

The Boston Network for Better Education, with the primary aim of bringing together researchers and community groups seeking to improve schools, is described as to its approach in recruiting and utilizing volunteers. Volunteers were solicited from lists of educational researchers in the Boston metropolitan area, and an attempt was made to identify…

This report presents findings from the first six Gilbert Youth surveys, conducted biannually since May of 1971. The concept of a continuing, national survey of civilian male youth was developed in 1971 as part of a systematic effort by the Department of Defense to study the enlistment motivation and attitudes toward military service held by…

Surveyed 519 Southern Baptists to test the prepotency of social linkages for predicting commitment in voluntary organizations. Results indicated that instrumentality theory (association with church gives prestige) was a weak predictor of organizational commitment. Cohesion theory (feeling wanted and needed by the church) produced more consistent…