WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 9, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — A new federal study shows 46 percent of residents in Utah volunteer, ranking them first among the 50 states and Washington.
The annual Volunteering and Civic Life in America research, released by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), shows that service to others continues to be a priority for millions of Americans.
The study shows that in total, one in four Americans volunteered through an organization and three in five helped their neighbors last year.
Utah, Idaho, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kansas claim the top five state spots, while Salt Lake City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Rochester come in as the top large metropolitan areas.
Overall, in Utah in 2014:
- 46.0% of residents volunteer, ranking them 1st among the 50 states and Washington, DC.
- 953,990 volunteers
- 91.7 volunteer hours per capita
- 193.7 million hours of service
- $4.5 billion of service contributed
- 68.0% of residents donate $25 or more to charity
Overall, in Salt Lake City, UT, in 2014:
- 37.5% of residents volunteer, ranking them 1st among the 51 largest MSAs
- 295,700 volunteers
- 78.0 volunteer hours per capita
- 38.0 million hours of service
- $1.3 billion of service contributed
- 66.1% of residents donate $25 or more to charity
Provo and Ogden, respectively, ranked first and second among midsize cities across the U.S. in their volunteer efforts.
“We are calling on Americans to volunteer in their communities, and to invite their friends and families to join them,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Volunteers enrich our communities and keep our nation strong. Service also connects us with our neighbors and provides a chance to use our skills for the common good. There are so many ways we can make a difference for those in need, during the holiday season and throughout the entire year.”
This year’s report found that 62.8 million adults (25.3 percent) volunteered through an organization last year. Altogether, Americans volunteered nearly 7.96 billion hours last year, worth an estimated $184 billion, based on the Independent Sector’s estimate of the average value of a volunteer hour. Over the past 13 years, Americans volunteered 104.9 billion hours, worth an estimated $2.1 trillion.
In addition, more than 138 million Americans (62.5 percent) also engaged in informal volunteering in their communities, helping neighbors with such tasks as watching each other’s children, helping with shopping, or house sitting.
Key highlights of the report include:
- Generation X leads volunteering among generations. Americans aged 35-44 had the highest volunteer rate (29.8 percent) followed by those aged 45-54 (28.5 percent). Generation X also reports the highest rates of participation in organizations among all generational groups at 40.5 percent.
- One in five (21.7 percent) of Millennials (aged 16-32) volunteered. Young adults aged 18-24 attending college volunteer at twice the rate (26.6 percent) of their non-college attending peers (13.2 percent).
- Older Americans, including Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation, tend to volunteer more hours. In 2014, the age groups with the highest median hours among volunteers were ages 65-74 (81 hours) and those 75 and older (100+ hours).
- The volunteer rate of parents with children under age 18 is higher than the national average at 31.6 percent. Working mothers continue to maintain the highest rate of volunteering among all populations at 36 percent.
- More than one-third of Americans (36.3 percent) are involved in a school, civic, recreational, religious, or other organization. Americans most frequently volunteer with religious groups (34 percent), followed closely by education or youth service groups, and social or community groups.
As the federal agency for service and volunteering, CNCS funds the annual Volunteering Supplement to provide government and nonprofit leaders with in-depth information on volunteering and civic trends to help them develop strategies to mobilize more Americans to address local needs through service.
The full analysis and customizable data sets can be found at volunteeringinamerica.gov.
Americans interested in finding local volunteer opportunities can visit www.serve.gov.
