Although "contribution" is usually associated with the social sector, I'd suggest that the built-in contributory spirit extends far beyond that traditional realm of good works.
Two colleagues, one from Hong Kong and the other from Germany, first brought this idea to my awareness. (It's significant to me that this thinking came from outside the United States.)
They persuaded me to develop the idea that the contributory spirit offers a way to organize our thinking about what happens in corporations, small businesses, government, families, communities. (Might we even think of paying taxes as an expression of our shared desire to act for collective benefit?)
In all of these settings, people want to be a part of something beyond themselves. Contribution is an important way, subtle or silent as it may be, that people say "I'm here, I matter." Wherever they are, people want to make a difference.
It seems to me that the social sector has a lot to teach about activating that built-in contributory spirit throughout all of society. We'll return to this idea in the next chapter.