Some researchers claim 90% of decisions are made on the subconscious level. Understanding what makes your volunteers tick will give you an incredible guerrilla edge by using psychology. You can learn to maintain volunteer interest–almost reading their minds.

Nonguerrillas only understand about 10% of the reasons that make volunteering attractive to people. Guerrillas know about the rest of the motivational iceberg that is beneath the surface and they use that understanding to deepen the interest of the people they want to recruit.

Here’s a list of 75 reasons people will never tell you they are volunteering. Heck, they may not even be able to tell themselves.

1. To find a personal mission in life
2. To give back
3. To make a difference
4. To change the world
5. To mobilize support
6. To be relevant
7. To belong to a greater cause
8. To legitimize financial support given to a charity
9. To experience spiritual renewal or new power
10. To express love toward mankind
11. To overcome fears
12. To seek the approval of others
13. To appreciate the blessings one has
14. To be patriotic
15. To be loyal to a cause
16. To sacrifice, go beyond one’s self
17. To make right for wrongs committed in the past
18. To have made an impact before death
19. To turn away from worries and responsibilities at home to find inner peace
20. To be compassionate
21. To be able to boast to others
22. To express one’s religious beliefs
23. To overcome guilt for wasting time, energy, or resources in the past
24. To go back to a battlefield with a purpose that is life-giving
25. To try to make use of a language learned in school
26. To learn some new things and grow intellectually
27. To be an expert on the subject matter related to the cause
28. To find one’s self
29. To pretend to be somebody else
30. To be true to what one stands for
31. To see how one’s core values hold up
32. To appreciate one’s daily life back home more
33. To break with routines
34. To experience the thrill of being outside one’s culture
35. To feel what it is like to be a philanthropist
36. To find solutions to problems back home
37. To have an experience to tell others about
38. To take a break from everyday activities of home and work–a temporary escape
39. To confirm one has made the right investments with one’s time
40. To see first hand something that might be historic
41. To see what the circumstances are in other places
42. To gauge resources needed to complete the cause
43. To asses the status of the cause
44. To spy on the “other side” of another cause
45. To get “outside the box”
46. To join the crowd
47. To impress other people at work
48. To have a more interesting life
49. To imitate others who have been models of behavior
50. To respond to the many calls and invitations to volunteer
51. To check the feasibility of being more deeply involved in a cause
52. To see if sustainable change really is possible
53. To believe in a cause more deeply
54. To experience hope by seeing people helped
55. To make one’s own unique contribution
56. To see the rest of the country or world
57. To legitimize one’s political views
58. To have a vacation with a purpose
59. To relieve tensions
60. To experience a “different world”
61. To have a controlled diversion of events, tastes, touch, etc
62. To use one’s imagination
63. To compare other ways of living with one’s own background
64. To compete with other causes
65. To be passionate about something and feel good
66. To be amused by strange people, places, and customs
67. To spend quality time with friends, family, church members, etc
68. To take good pictures and videos
69. To have great stories to tell back home
70. To have souvenirs of other places
71. To go to as many places as one can
72. To go more places than others do
73. To shop in places, ways and for things that are not possible back home
74. To see beautiful things, places, people etc.
75. To explore new ways of communicating