AARP Volunteer Survey Finds Engagement and Enthusiasm

By Phil Zarlengo, AARP Volunteer Transitions alumni coordinator and former AARP Board chair*

AARP has the good fortune of working with over 16,000 individuals who choose to volunteer with their state office.  I have had many roles within AARP, including serving as the Chair of AARP’s all-volunteer Board of Directors, and I know the value of our amazing volunteer corps.  I am particularly pleased that AARP initiates an annual study to gather volunteer opinions about the nature of their work with the Association and their satisfaction with the roles that they so capably carry out.

Data is now available from AARP’s most recent Volunteer Opinion Survey and 63% of state volunteers report that they are “highly engaged” in their roles; further, 81% of the respondents said they were “very enthusiastic” about their volunteer duties.  I was particularly pleased to see that across all of AARP’s major volunteer programs (Tax Aide, Driver Safety and States), 89% of the respondents view their work as having “very much” of an impact on those served.  And finally, 78% of state volunteers view AARP as either “one of the best” or “above average” as a volunteer organization.

As a fellow AARP volunteer and member of AARP’s Alumni group, I hope you take pride in the work that has been – and continues to be – done by AARP’s volunteer teams.  We have helped shape and carried out advocacy efforts at the state and national levels, and helped improved the lives of millions of people.  We have worked to help people whose names we will never know have access to health care, financial security, and as AARP’s founder Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus said “A life with dignity and purpose.”

* Phil also served previously as the AARP Rhode Island State President and continues today as a member of  AARP RI's Executive Council and State Legislative Committee.