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The defining change of the next decade in volunteer involvement may likely be the predominant growth of what might be called the "Mandated Volunteer," the individualss whose entrance into volunteering is at no choice of their own, but is instead dictated by some outside agency. The Canadian Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participation found that over 7% of Canadians who volunteered in 2000 said that they were required to do so by their school, their employer or the government.

Some examples of mandated volunteers include:

• high school community service students
  
• welfare recipients seeking to maintain benefits
  
• alternative sentencing program participants

If present trends continue, it is not unlikely that almost every governmental benefit program could be accompanied by some compulsory requirement for community service. The imminent result of this will be the mass infusion into volunteering of populations who have little or no experience with volunteering as we have become accustomed to thinking about it. In the United States mandated volunteering has become the darling of politicians; in Europe it is a part of a major effort toward using volunteering as a means for encouraging social inclusion.

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