“No one has a right to consume happiness without producing it.” – Helen Keller

Although most people view mentoring as a worthwhile pursuit, far fewer actually step forward and volunteer. Consequently, despite strenuous efforts, many programs struggle to recruit enough volunteers for all of the children who need them. It is not uncommon for a child to spend a year or more on a waiting list to get a mentor.

A major barrier is the fact that, unlike other forms of volunteering, mentoring requires a sustained and relatively intensive commitment. In community-based mentoring programs, for example, volunteers are often required to meet with their mentees several hours a week for a year. Newer forms of mentoring (i.e., school-based) have reduced such requirements. In addition, many agencies have taken steps to further minimize demands on volunteer time. Such steps include requiring minimal training, providing e-mail options and allowing mentoring pairs to meet every other week rather than weekly. Of course, such steps must be balanced against the need to maintain sufficient levels of quality, intensity and duration in relationships.

In this Research Corner, I will discuss promising strategies for recruiting adults into programs and keeping them engaged. The themes are the subject of a newly edited volume, Mobilizing Adults for Positive Youth Development: Strategies for Closing the Gap between Beliefs and Behaviors (Clary & Rhodes, Editors). I draw on several chapters, with particular focus on the very interesting work of Arthur Stukas, Maree Daly and Gil Clary.