What volunteer-occupation donors give in federal races

A status word with a high-repeat stack

$12,821,205 is the occupation-level dollar total. 46,977 is the itemization count. 1,361 is the donor-record count. Mean contribution size is about $273. Mean dollars per donor record are about $9,421. Repeat giving is about 35 itemizations per donor record.

46,977 lines from 1,361 records is a high-repeat pattern: a modest pool generating many Form 3 and Form 3X schedules. The per-donor mean of about $9,421 is arithmetic on that compact set, not a typical volunteer stipend redirected to politics.

The packet has no median gift, no party split, and no hours-served field. A few large itemizations can lift the average while most lines remain smaller.

VOLUNTEER is not a census of unpaid work

The FEC record does not verify that the donor was unpaid, retired, or working a volunteer role at the time of the gift. Campaign volunteers, community volunteers, and people using the word as a status label can all appear. Best-efforts rules do not force a controlled vocabulary.

This page cites only $12,821,205, 46,977 contributions, and 1,361 donors. Neighboring strings such as COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER, if they exist as separate keys, are not rolled into this total unless the bulk extract normalized them to VOLUNTEER.

Donor records split on address and spelling

1,361 donor records used VOLUNTEER on at least one matching itemization. Address variants split records. A person who listed VOLUNTEER on some gifts and RETIRED or HOMEMAKER on others will appear in both occupation totals for those lines.

Occupation is stored per transaction. LobbyVault does not infer party or motive from the occupation column.

Industry tables are a different cut

Industry pages group employers. A volunteer at a hospital and a volunteer at a campaign share this occupation string if they typed VOLUNTEER. Adding $12,821,205 to an industry total double-counts.

Open the VOLUNTEER occupation page for rows. Use the occupations index to place the string next to other status labels.

Citation language for this key

A usable sentence is: occupation equals VOLUNTEER, dollars equal $12,821,205, contributions equal 46,977, donors equal 1,361, sourced from FEC Form 3/3X itemizations indexed on LobbyVault.

Unitemized receipts never carry an occupation code. Quote the three facts together so the high-repeat mean is visible next to the headline dollars.

Reading VOLUNTEER next to other status strings

VOLUNTEER in this extract is $12,821,205 on 46,977 itemizations from 1,361 donor records, or $12.8 million in compact millions. Those dollars are itemized activity on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov bulk data. Unitemized receipts never carry an occupation code, so they never enter the total. Refunds and memo entries follow FEC presentation in the underlying schedules; this guide does not invent a fourth occupation-level fact. People who type community volunteer, retired, or not employed may sit on other occupation pages. Only the exact VOLUNTEER key is in $12,821,205.

Arithmetic means on this key are about $273 per contribution and about $9,421 per donor record, with roughly 35 itemizations per donor record. Means are not medians. The packet has no gift-size distribution and no party split. Combining VOLUNTEER with neighboring status strings without naming each source total changes the unit from one FEC string to a homemade cluster. 1,361 donor records on 46,977 lines is a compact, high-repeat status pool, not a volunteer-hours census.

Industry pages group employer-side categories and should not be added to $12,821,205. A person who listed VOLUNTEER on some gifts and a neighboring title on others will appear in both occupation totals for the respective lines. A public-record citation that stays inside the packet is: occupation equals VOLUNTEER, dollars equal $12,821,205, contributions equal 46,977, donors equal 1,361. Candidate and committee pages hold the recipient side.

Researchers who need cycle cuts, employer text, or recipient lists should leave this guide and open the live VOLUNTEER occupation hub. This file restates harvested packet facts only. Compact millions ($12.8 million) are the same headline amount as $12,821,205, rounded to one decimal place. Keep 46,977 contributions and 1,361 donor records in any sentence that quotes the dollars, so readers can see the high-repeat status pattern rather than a volunteer-hours census. Exact-string matching is the method. Anything else is a different query. The occupation field is donor-supplied free text, not a NAICS industry code and not an unpaid-work roster. A citation that stays inside the packet names VOLUNTEER, $12,821,205, 46,977, and 1,361 together.

Questions

How much have volunteer-occupation donors given in FEC data?

The VOLUNTEER occupation string is attached to $12,821,205 across 46,977 contributions and 1,361 donor records in LobbyVault’s FEC bulk index. The figure is itemized occupation money, not a census of unpaid workers. Occupation is self-reported free text on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules. Unitemized receipts never enter this occupation total.

Does VOLUNTEER include community volunteer filings?

Only if the bulk extract normalized that phrase to VOLUNTEER. Otherwise COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER is a separate key. This page covers VOLUNTEER: $12,821,205, 46,977 contributions, and 1,361 donors. Check the occupations index for neighboring status strings. Occupation is self-reported free text on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules.

What is the average volunteer-occupation contribution?

Dividing $12,821,205 by 46,977 itemizations yields about $273 per contribution. Dividing by 1,361 donors yields about $9,421 per donor record. Both are means, not medians. Repeat giving is about 35 itemizations per donor record. Unitemized receipts never enter this occupation total.

Does listing volunteer prove the donor was unpaid?

No. Occupation is self-reported free text. The FEC record does not verify hours, employer, or pay status. Quote 46,977 contributions and 1,361 donor records with the $12,821,205 total. Occupation is self-reported free text on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules. Unitemized receipts never enter this occupation total.