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Abstract

Considering the need of engaging elder people from Romania in formal volunteering activities, we tried to understand what volunteering means for the senior citizens of Brasov and to gather valuable information for further strategies to recruit and to retain elders in volunteering activities. We found out what is volunteering for our participants, what are the type of volunteering in their view, who volunteers and why, for whom do people volunteer, what volunteering activity would they like to do, why don't they volunteer and how could elders be convinced to volunteer in their opinion. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and a thematic analysis was performed. By gathering qualitative data, the study managed to capture in depth elements concerning the significances that elders associate to volunteering and to complete the existing statistical data about this topic.