According to the September 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS), 40.6% of volunteers aged 55-64 directly approached the organization to volunteer, 42.4% of volunteers were asked by someone else, 14.5% became involved in other ways, and 2.6% did not report on how they became involved in their organization. (Table 6)

*Note: Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at any point from September 1, 2004, through the survey period in September 2005.

United States Department of Labor & Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2005, September). Volunteering in the United States, 2005. Washington, DC: United States Department of Labor & Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the September 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS). Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organization. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over." (p.1)