Individuals will continue to be involved in an organization if they feel they are

participating in something important and exciting. Individuals are attracted to

organizations because of the prospects of being victorious on an issue they have a stake

in. An organization has the responsibility to provide leadership development

opportunities to individuals to further develop their leadership skills.

 Social Capital

 Social capital is a collective concept that has its basis in individual behavior,

attitudes, and predispositions. Multiple institutions nurture the habits and values that give

rise to social capital, including community and other voluntary associations, families,

church organizations, and cultural patterns. Scholarly interest in the development of

social capital is motivated primarily by the linkage between levels of social capital and

collective outcomes (Brehm & Rahn, 1997, p. 999).

 The more citizens participate in organizations and their communities, the more

they learn to trust others; the greater the trust of others, and the more likely they are to

participate. Social capital is the reciprocal relationship between civic participation and

interpersonal trust. Brehm and Rahn (1997) believe that, "civic engagement and

generalized trust, and the dynamic that sustains them, have important consequences for

the polity, specifically, citizens' confidence in political institutions" (p. 1003).

According to Garkovich (1984), associations and organizations, "provide the locus in

which individual interests are articulated and translated into action goals, and humans and

other resources are mobilized for goal accomplishment" (p. 199).

 Scheufele and Shah (2000) propose that the process through which social capital

is maintained is a three-way relationship among civic engagement (group memberships