When we see a book or even a person, we automatically evaluate many things from what data we have, mostly visual. This is natural and fine. But the cover can be a poor representation of the person or the book, depending on many factors.

The empowered volunteer must always approach someone who could be a candidate for their group with an open mind.

The person before you could be very wealthy and just not displaying their high status at the time you meet them, if they ever display such status. In your SWOT analysis you should have addressed this subject so you already know what to do.

If favors are what you need, ask for it directly but politely. If you are looking for positive actions, make sure you are specific. Remember, wealthy people are very passionate people already. They made their wealth through that passion if they are self-made, so show yours for your cause and they will more than likely respect that part of your presentation. Stay optimistic even if they are multitasking as you are making your presentation. Keep the faith in knowing that what you offer can help them every bit as much as a lower status person. Rich or poor, everyone sees health benefits from volunteering.

Treat every person as important and worthy no matter how they speak, look, or act. Obviously don’t solicit memberships from locked up criminals or other parts of society where the person may have challenges that prevent them from participating fully in your group. But otherwise, be open minded to everyone.

Consider in the caption above the leather bound book of poems from 1721. For a book in the hands of one who doesn’t own fancy books in glass cases and special atmospheres, this may look out of place in a normal home. Most people who are not wealthy don’t own such old books.

However, the cover is the best part of this old book. Once you open it, a page is torn, writing from when it was transferred between owners is reflected in the inside cover, in short it is not worthy of a collector’s attention even if it is old. It has no collector value at all. It is neat to hold a book that was printed before Ben Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence but neat is pretty much the value of this book, beyond family memories or other intrinsic values it could have.

Bill Walton, of Wal-Mart fame was well known for driving an old pickup long after he became very wealthy.  If you did not know it, his dress and car did not give away his status or wealth on many occasions if you met him on a weekend somewhere.

Never prejudge a person by any outward appearances. They may be rich or they may be drowning in debt while looking and driving really fancy cars and owning a great home in a high status neighborhood. You don’t know and if they are willing and capable of volunteering, you really don’t care. Either way your offer helps them in many ways, so be proud and offer them the opportunity to volunteer.

You should also understand that to a high degree, those that are wealthy are also involved in raising funds for charity.

In his fascinating book in 2000 The Millionaire Mind, Thomas J. Stanley, PH. D. noted, “that nearly 2/3 of the millionaires (64%) engaged in this activity in the past twelve months, and there was a very positive correlation between their activity and net worth”. The take away is, as an empowered volunteer you may be setting yourself up with many who have had or are on their way towards real monetary success. Successful people are drawn to noble pursuits in many cases.

Dr. Stanley further writes, “Financially successful people and the next generation of economically productive people volunteer”.

He expounds on the notion that most of those who attain high wealth were volunteering long before they attained their status or wealth. Bill Clinton, former President of the United States wrote a book written in 2007, Giving, How Each of US Can Change the World, which told of his life long history of volunteering. I doubt you will run into Bill Clinton in your empowered volunteer prospecting, but a young up and coming person could be sitting at the next place you stop!

To drive this point home just a bit further we will dip into Thomas J. Stanley’s 2004 next book, The Millionaire Women Next Door which details the difference between men and women of high wealth and status. He writes, “Women are more likely, however, to be involved in community or civic volunteer work (77 percent versus 67 percent). Overall, within the same age groups and income cohorts, businesswomen are less likely than their male counterparts to demonstrate patronage habits that advertise their status”.

The Rifleman’s Rifle 1982

Now consider the above caption, a book leather bound, pulled from next to a series of Time Life books on The Old West, with covers that resemble this book when casually handled. This book might fool you in its worth, it is fairly rare and is valued, depending on who is publishing the review at over two thousand dollars! Yet it doesn’t look to be much more than the Time Life books of the same size! The topic is narrow and for many people not particularly interesting.

Never judge a book by its cover, just as you should not judge a person!

Why does this matter? Everyone is the same when it comes to volunteering from the empowered volunteer point of view, right? Wrong on all fronts is that line of thinking. Wealthy people can be of huge help to your cause if you are open minded, with their high social capital and robust networks. Remember in earlier posts the rule to always ask for referrals? Wealthy people usually have networks as worthy as their status. Now think about that. If their status is high, they often can provide insight for you to people who are open to your message even if they are not.

People who can also engage their networks effectively are a unique brand and they are also unique for your offering! Taylor your offer accordingly. Ask for their help if their time can’t be given.

I am not saying target wealthy people. I am saying that they operate on different wavelengths and as an empowered volunteer you need to adjust your message for them. If they can’t help by directly being involved perhaps they can make some calls to suggest referrals who are up and coming as they once were?

These referrals are often as valuable as gold because the wealthy often know who can and will do things. They tend not to waste time on wild goose chases so they provide solid referrals. Treasure these if you manage to get some from a high status person.

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People living in higher socioeconomic areas are likely to see a wider diversity of bird species in their parks, according to Paige S. Warren, who holds a joint appointment as a research scientist in the Department of Biology at Virginia Tech and the Center for Environmental Studies at Arizona State University. Their work is part of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Project.

While this is interesting, it is not in itself a reason to volunteer or seek volunteer opportunities just to potentially raise your status, but a result of higher status individuals preferences in the way they maintain their surrounding environment outside their dwelling.

Another example of health related social economic status inequality is found in a study by The National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, May 27, 2004. Meg Gallogly reports that tobacco is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 Americans every year.  Another 8 million Americans suffer from a smoking-caused disease, disability, and other serious health problems.

From this same study Gallogly continues, “thanks to the tobacco industry’s targeted marketing efforts, lower-income and less educated populations are particularly burdened by tobacco use – low-income people smoke more, suffer more, spend more, and die more from tobacco use. Smoking is directly correlated with income level and years of education. Since the release of the first Surgeon General’s Report on smoking in 1964, smoking has become ever more concentrated among populations with lower incomes and fewer years of education. Whereas the highest income Americans once smoked at levels even greater than the poorest, they now smoke at barely half the rate of those of lowest income.”

These studies suggests that for the highly motivated lower SES persons (often thought of as poor) who want to climb the social status ladder through education, the potential for liberation is possible. Higher education is one method to increasing one’s status, and therefore increasing one’s potential health.

In another study we find the Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health  reporting “a growing body of evidence indicates that socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong predictor of health.  Better health is associated with having more income, more years of education, and a more prestigious job, as well as living in neighborhoods where a higher percentage of residents have higher incomes and more education.”

The mission of the Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health is to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms by which socioeconomic factors affect the health of individuals and their communities. Furthermore, the Network reported “With a few exceptions, disease is more prevalent and life expectancy shorter the lower one is in the SES hierarchy.”

In another example of social capital in action, the State of Utah has enacted The Social Capital Formation Act of 1996 as part of welfare reform. The purpose of the Social Capital Formation Act is to promote the availability of social capital in Utah. The act defines social capital as “the value provided to the state by civic organizations.” This means volunteers of America or at least in Utah are targeted for support! This program is promoting volunteering in civic groups as a solution, which is something that the empowered volunteer will hopefully take country wide.

According to the Utah statute, “using social capital, clients of and applicants for services . . . may receive a wide array of services and supports that cannot be provided by state government alone.” The act encourages government efforts to strengthen civic agencies and establishes a process whereby DWS will assess individual applicant’s needs and may refer them to civic agencies. In the act, however, the Legislature also “recognizes the constitutional limits of state government to sustain civic institutions that provide social capital.”

Furthermore, the Utah report stated that, “President George W. Bush’s recent initiative on faith based and community organizations appears to have many similarities to Utah’s social capital law. The federal government may become more involved in this area, but the federal program is not yet well developed.”

A significant source of vital information on social capital can be found on the  Saguaro Web site at http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/saguaro. The Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America is an ongoing initiative of Professor Robert D. Putnam at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. “The project focuses on expanding what we know about our levels of trust, social connectedness, and community engagement and focuses on strategies to increase this engagement.”

Furthermore, this study has quantified many aspects of social capital. It is a study of fraternal and civic groups in Indiana, along with other social capital achieving groups. This study would be beneficial to all empowered volunteers who wish to understand more about this field and the implications involved. I highly recommend this information be included in any SWOT analysis for groups, which can find correlations with which to work with.

Lastly, one of the many ways someone can on an individual basis attempt to improve their status and their social capital is through joining groups which help to improve their members as well as creating platforms for their mutual benefit. An example, one of many that could be listed is the group Toastmasters International. This group promotes the individual experience of public speaking, something which is usually not taught in America’s high schools to any extent. This group not only promotes public speaking, they have a highly structured system that teaches the subject, with many opportunities for practicing the art!

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Ben Franklin with Will Rogers book in background, both were Masons

Groups, where only the dues fees are paid and no interactions are required have very little benefit as far as social capital goes for the individual. Freemasons just to attain membership must do much more than pay their dues fees. They must memorize passages from the Old Testament relating to the group. This level of commitment is rare for most groups.

The photo above shows a statue of Ben Franklin, a man from a very large family who had to make his own way in the world. He used fraternal groups for introductions to prominent members of Philadelphia and through connections he managed to expand his printing business.

The book on the far right is of Will Rogers, an interesting character who used rope tricks from the cowboy rodeo shows to engage and entertain crowds. He was also known for humor, with many quotes still attributed to him.

The last thing this photo shows is Langhorne’s Plutarch series of books,1826. This set of books could often be found in the few books that traveled west in America’s expansion during the early 1800′s with the explorers and settlers. The reason may be found in the in depth contrast and comparison Plutarch conducted between high status people in the ancient world.

The study of such people’s lives was still considered important centuries later and for the settlers this book set for many, along with Bibles owned by nearly every family would find its way on the frontier. Books were considered important and worth the weight to bring along. Status and accomplishments go hand in hand. History records high status individuals more often than those less known. You may not be recorded into the history books, but you can make an important contribution towards your favorite group if you take the empowered volunteer route.

One premise of this site is that an individual in a group can make an impact on the growth of that group. A few sales techniques and some old fashion pressing the flesh as well as just plain spreading the word will help most groups over a period of time bring in new members. The use of the approach and techniques in this set of posts will take the empowered volunteer far beyond mere chance, allowing for some aspect of control over the time spent prospecting verses the results expected.

Keeping members engaged and happy once they do join will take more than just asking them to join and then forgetting about them. Some groups today exhibit serious issues concerning membership retention, which place them out of touch with today’s potential members. These issues will require leadership and remedies if retaining members recently brought in is desirable. Perhaps any issues impacting retention should be addressed before sending out an empowered volunteer?

This site will address several issues facing a recruiter and some facing individual groups. A business methodology will be presented to provide a format for analysis of the issues involved in an organization at the local level. Techniques from sales will be evaluated for use by the recruiters. Examples from researched success stories will be presented to demonstrate how effective membership building can be conducted in even the least agreeable situations.

Concrete ideas for building memberships and overcoming tough issues will be dealt with using real life examples. Finally, a listing of organizations will be presented along with their respective issues. Many of these groups will reflect a drastic population drop over the last few years.

This site is not intended to be the universal instant answer book on membership building. It is intended to provide the empowered volunteer with the tools and methods to start the ball rolling. If a group of individuals should decide to take on the task of building membership, so much the better as long as cooperation among members is maintained.

The individual or group will have to complete their own analysis of the issues at their level and then focus on the potential solutions within their scope of authority. This will truly be a situation where what you put into the effort is what potentially you will get out of it. Put another way, garbage in from a half hearted or lazy analysis will almost always yield garbage out in the form of diminished or inadequate results.

This site will review many fraternal, civic, and Veterans groups. It is suggested that the group use the SWOT analysis, an example of which is provided as a guide only and not as a definitive work which is ready to implement for every case. Very few outsiders not currently located within the local group can assess the group’s issues as well as one of their own should be able to do.

Michael Marmot is a professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London, where he is also the director of International Center for health and Society. He also serves as an advisor to the World Health Organization. His premise concerning our topic from his book, The Social Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity  is that someone who has higher status will be statistically more likely to live longer, feel less stress, find themselves more in control of their life than another individual with less social status. This information is the result of nearly 30 years of research he has conducted.

The key to improving the status of an individual is the amount of control one has over one’s life and the ability for an individual to fully participate in society.

Furthermore Marmot writes “Americans are divided in their sports affiliations along class lines—the smaller the ball, the higher the social rank: golf, baseball, football, and basketball”.

An individual who has a lack of control over their life or job function, like those of low rank in the US Military reflect low social status. Playing golf, simply because it is associated with high social status is not enough by itself to automatically pull an individual out of the low status social position if, for example they still live on board the ship rather than off base in a house, possess only a bicycle for transportation rather than a decent vehicle, all while living from pay check to pay check. In short, status is determined by the total package of the individual’s life, not simply one aspect of an individual in isolation.

Another example of social status lies within the military. A person might be of low social status seemingly due to low rank, perhaps enlisted rank 3 (E-3). This is the third step in rank for enlisted members and it is often granted to individuals who sign up for a long training school, without any further criteria. On the other hand, a person who is from the fleet and has “earned” this rank of E-3 before attending school will carry much more status over the instant E-3 if both individuals compete for a position head to head.

In order to further to convey the aspect of status imagine another fleet E-3 has the coveted “SEAL” insignia on his breast, his status is now beyond the reach of the instant E-3 or the fleet E-3, all other circumstances being equal. I can imagine only irregular circumstances where this status comparison would not be true. If the fleet E-3 without the SEAL insignia was perhaps a former E-6 who is near retirement and was for some reason reduced in rank, perhaps his cumulative knowledge and social capital might balance the status of the SEAL.

This is a very rare situation, one I have heard of occurring in the Army once in a while when an officer is allowed to stay in the service but due to manning levels has been reduced in rank (riffed, it is called). I personally have only seen this happen once in my Navy career, to an officer with the rank of Lieutenant who was reduced to an E-6. She was a high status women recruiter division officer who was passed over for promotion and then opted to finish her career of 20 years rather than throw away the last two or three years needed to obtain a pension.

Methods for raising one’s social status vary, but a few include education, relative position of rank or placement in employment hierarchy, monetary compensation for employment, status perception of employment (professor verses teacher, electrician verses electrical engineer), and to some extent perceived esteem between neighbors and friends.

In an analogy on status and inequality one military member of the Navy, an enlisted person with the rank of Petty Officer First Class (E-6) bought a house in a subdivision where his surrounding neighbors were all junior officers or senior enlisted or retired military. He was treated by his neighbors in a “hands off” manor due to his low rank and corresponding lower status as perceived by the neighboring officers and their wives. The neighboring wives ostracized his wife due to her husbands enlisted rank. He had neither the social capital nor the status to contend or balance out the neighbor’s perceptions of inequality.

Status is relative though, from this persons piers he was viewed as high status due to where he lived since they didn’t know of the social stigma associated with being and enlisted man in an officer dominated housing area. In this case, bringing in his high status network companions from volunteer activities to functions at his house eventually neutralized the negative status as viewed by his neighbors, though this happened over considerable time. This is a true story.

To continue our military analogy, perhaps the E-3 obtains a college degree in a soft major, such as psychology. His or her status is certainly raised when compared to other E-3’s without a college diploma. However, when compared to an E-6 of 7 years who is contending for an officer position and has a high GPA in a hard major, say in electrical engineering the comparison reflects the E-3 as lacking comparable social status due to both time in rank and perceived prestige of each one’s respective education.

Even if the two were of equal rank and time in service, the prestige of a hard major usually supercedes the perception and prestige of a soft major. If furthermore the person with the hard major was adapt at social capital and networking, this person would be more statistically likely to live longer and face the other positive health benefits associated with higher status relative to the lower status individual.

Two military officers meet, it is normal for the senior one to receive a salute if they are in uniform. Then it is customary to notice if one or both have one of the military academy rings. If both have one, this ring “knocking” is said to cement a bond between the two that is worth while, more so than if one or both were not members. This action can occur between members of other colleges as well when they meet.

The individual implications here for the status disparity that is noted are far more than simply to take up golf to get ahead. If someone wishes to position themselves in a potentially higher status  position, they would be well served to broaden their social capital by increasing the opportunity of their networking accomplishments, with an emphasis of quality network members. The time spent increasing the quality of a members network has been shown to yield tremendous results. Many famous individuals have experienced this networking perspective, quality beats quantity in nearly every instance.

The prolific business book author, syndicated newspaper columnist, and multimillion dollar business owner Harvey Mackay in his book Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need says in chapter 19 on volunteering, “Lesson? You don’t need a Harvard MBA—sometimes referred to as a yuppie union card—to find a network that gives you access to important people in your community. The nominating committee of almost any civic organization is an open season to your community’s leadership.” If you have access to important community leaders in your network (high quality contacts), your climb in status (high quality yield) is sure to follow.

The empowered volunteer must understand that the people he or she helps will increase their social capital and thus increases the likelihood of the many health benefits the studies show are usually associated with joining  and participating in groups. Status and social capital are closely intertwined and often very difficult to separate. They are however, something the empowered volunteer must keep in mind when they are positioning themselves to help their group. This is a great selling point if the empowered volunteer can convey the concept sincerely to their potential new members.

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Civic groups are great places to build social capital

Components of social capital are called by many other names by the public. In business the term “hook-up” is used interchangeably with “favor”, as they are also in the military. This concept refers to someone who is socially connected with others, often called “networked” in modern terminology. This person is often able to circumvent conventional channels in a bureaucracy of red tape and procure the desired meeting or document or whatever the recipient is looking for, often faster than the proper process would allow. The recipient is then thought to “owe” the benefactor a favor, a favor that can be held for a future need.

However social capital is much more than just an individual who can make things happen in return for favors saved for a future need. Someone who is high in social capital is not just a social concierge. Social capital refers to the total value obtained by individuals and their social networks and the resulting levels of potentially available hook-ups that might be traded between groups or individuals.

The potential benefits of high social capital reported by Robert Putnam in his book, Bowling Alone include increased income and longer life expectancy.

Conversely the loss of social capital to a community is directly related to lower educational performance and child suicide. Putnam also makes a case for lower social capital in a neighborhood being directly tied to crime rates as well as reflecting additional risks to an individuals health. Clearly the need for raising the communities social capital, through volunteering as well as where to volunteer are factors that those who want to help communities should factor into any future developments.

This means that people who are socially connected and therefore are able to reciprocate favors with others, through volunteer work or another means when they need or want something done or solved receive as a benefit from the effort to maintain this kind of network higher life expectancy, better health overall, an increased likelihood of maintaining a sharper mind as they age, and benefits to their families and associated intertwined groups.

This is  one reason for people to say, why volunteer? Because you can benefit in so many ways, that’s why. Health, longer life, benefits to the mind, and stress release from helping others are just some of the benefits the studies show are realistic.

What is social capital? According to the Saguaro Seminar started by Robert Putnam, the central premise of social capital is that social networks have value. Furthermore, social capital refers to the collective value of all “social networks” [who people know] and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other ["norms of reciprocity"].

Reciprocity is a word closely associated with hook-ups and favors within a context of mutual needs between individuals or groups. This is what was once thought of as necessary if one needed to deal with a union or city hall, having someone who could guide the unknowing individual through the pitfalls of bureaucracy during a period where time may be of the essence was worth their weight in gold. After all, if the individual did not have a reason to hurry the process involved then they could afford to wait and it would not be necessary to call in a favor.

Social capital can be used for good or for ill. Criminals can have social capital between themselves as exemplified by gang loyalty, which clearly benefits the criminal members at the expense of society as a whole. This fits the definition of social capitol but the resulting loss to society is still reprehensible. A politician using his or her high social capital and networking skills to call in favors to influence a business contract awarded illegally also fits social capital as defined, but the impact on society is still negative.

To look at social capital another way, people are connected together by groups and subgroups. There is a theory that we are only a few connections away from anyone on earth. This has been demonstrated by several studies using an unknown individual who must network to hookup with a famous individual, usually a person who is hard to meet or contact, often in another country or some other difficulty involved in reaching the target individual. People with high social capital are much more likely to be able to provide a person who knows a person who can reach the target individual. People with low social capital, or are not as networked find locating such a difficult to reach person much harder to accomplish with out a large network.

The findings by the studies, the Saguaro Seminar in particular, and Harvard Professors Putnam and Skocpol along with others in this field reflect that it is desirable from many perspectives to have high social capital. You will be more likely to make more money than a person with lower social capital, as well live a healthier life, live a longer life, and have a more loving relationship with a partner and family members, better chances of retaining a sharper memory, and also reduce the potential for decreased aging related mental acuity.

If a person needs a favor, possessing high social capital gives them a much better chance of locating a person who is willing to help them with finding a person who is able to help them. The act of helping someone who needs it is also associated with benefits similar to those already listed.

Social capital is in action between individuals and groups involved in community projects, church related activities, ice cream socials, group meetings for political candidates, marches for protesting a position of a group, clubs observing and counting birds, or even a conservation group saving pheasants located on a local farmers unused land.

All groups, which have members meet face to face as a group, promote a cause that allows individuals to generate social ties and interconnectedness with others, and who demonstrate social responsibility by providing a positive impact outside their own members can be said to have a potential for high social capital.

Volunteering in a fraternal, civic, or veterans groups and actively participating in the goals of the group has the capacity to increase an individuals social capital. Using groups to increase your networking capacity and further your civic engagement certainly helps your social capital. You can’t know too many good people when you find you need to get things done which only your social connections can help you with. Connections are the way things get done in the volunteer world in many cases. How up to date and engaged are your connections?

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