30 August 2006
by Youth Adult Konnections (YAK!)

Washington D.C., USA: A new study released Thursday by the Corporation for National and Community Service shows that America’s 65.4 million volunteers donate the economic equivalent of almost US $150 billion in services each year.

According to the “Volunteering in America: State Trends and Rankings,” volunteer activity can be assigned an economic value and yields significant benefits to non-profit groups that use volunteers. Using Independent Sector’s estimate of US$18.04 an hour, a standard measurement for the value of a volunteer’s time, the value of the 8.2 billion hours annually donated by Americans equates to $147.6 billion, a powerful economic impact of volunteering to the entire nation.

The study is based upon the most statistically significant study of volunteering ever conducted in America – an annual survey of 60,000 households begun in 2002 by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is the first study to give a detailed breakdown of America’s volunteering habits and patterns by state and region. The full report, including highlights, state-by-state rankings, profiles of volunteering in each region and state, statistical tables, and technical notes.

On a national level, 65.4 million or 28.8 percent of American adults volunteered in 2005, an increase of nearly six million volunteers since 2002. American volunteers spent a median of 50 hours per year volunteering.

Women volunteer at significantly higher rates than males nationwide, but demonstrating that the face of volunteering has changed over the last few decades, women who work now have higher volunteer rates than women who do not work (36.1 percent of working women volunteer; 27.2 percent of non-working women volunteer.) Additionally, women with young children volunteer at a significantly higher rate (39.9%) than do women without young children (29%).

The report sheds new light on volunteering by working Americans. Employees in private sector firms are volunteering at slightly less than the national average. According to the report, in 2005 there were approximately 106.4 million adults working in the private sector at for-profit firms. 26.5 percent of these private sector employees volunteer. The national volunteer rate is 28.8 percent.

"This Administration, together with the nation’s leading volunteer-based organizations and service commissions in every state, wants to see millions more Americans bringing hope and solutions to our communities through volunteering – 10 million more, in fact, by 2010,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency.

“The study we’re releasing today will help every state create stronger volunteer networks by showing what’s working, what’s not, and highlight the best opportunities to engage citizens in the future.”

The Corporation is the nation’s largest grant maker for volunteering and service, and it administers the Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs.