Volume 8, No.4

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Wine: A Booming Business in Illinois

Volunteering in the United States

Brenda Russell Named New Director of IDES

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Volunteering in the United States: Where We Stand
by: Rachael Halloran

Media outlets frequently report on the state of employment, unemployment and the workforce. However, there is a quiet and often overlooked force in the American labor market. Although rarely mentioned in the daily statistics, this force was estimated to have contributed $239.2 billion to the U.S. economy in 20001. Volunteering, or donating one’s time and service to an organization, is an integral part of our American economy.

There have been many studies of volunteerism in the United States in the past, but most were conducted on an irregular basis and only surveyed a relatively small sample of the population. Now, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has just released a study on the volunteering habits of United States citizens2. This study is intended to be a benchmark for the further, comprehensive study of volunteerism in the United States. The conclusions were gathered through a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) – a survey that reaches almost 60,000 households throughout the United States. It is the first survey on volunteerism conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in over a decade. View some of the results: Table 1.

Who Volunteers?

According to the survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a little more than one in four U.S. citizens over the age or 16 volunteered between September 2001 and September 2002. In other words, around 59 million people donated their time and services to organizations without pay.

Across the board, women volunteered more than men, regardless of ethnicity, education and marital status. Specifically, 31.1% of women in the United States volunteered during the study’s time frame compared to 23.8% of men.

Those with more education were, as a whole, more likely to volunteer according to the survey. Forty-eight percent of college graduates admitted to volunteering – which is double the frequency of high school graduates with no college experience and four times the frequency of those who did not finish high school.

Why is it Important to Volunteer?

Volunteering is important for many reasons. From an organizational standpoint, the old adage ‘time equals money’ is true. By volunteering time, one saves an organization money that would otherwise be spent on labor costs. For example, a study conducted by IBM in 1995 concluded that every federal dollar invested in the volunteer-based AmeriCorps* program results in $1.60 to $2.60 or more in direct, measurable benefits to AmeriCorps members and the communities they serve.

However there are other, less quantifiable, reasons to volunteer. It can act as sort of an apprenticeship; one can donate one’s time to learn new skills that may enhance one’s career or private life. Volunteering can also serve as a community building exercise. It can expose one to diversities in one’s surroundings that otherwise would not be uncovered and connect groups that otherwise would not have the opportunity to interact.

How to Get Involved

If you’re interested in becoming one of the millions of Americans who volunteer, there are several resources at your disposal. The Corporation for National and Community Service’s website (http://www.cns.gov/) is a portal to some of the large federal volunteering initiatives, such as AmeriCorps, Senior-Corps, and Learn and Serve America. In addition they have a link (http://www.cns.gov/serve.asp) that allows one to search for volunteer openings by zip code – giving users the ability to find service opportunities in their local area.

Volunteer Illinois (http://www.volunteerillinois.org/) is another organization dedicated to connecting potential volunteers with organizations in need. At the time of this writing there are over 150 volunteer opportunities hosted through Volunteer Illinois. A potential volunteer can find an organization by searching according to factors such as issue, location, and commitment length. One can also register with Volunteer Illinois and request to be matched with an organization according to one’s skill set.

The State of Illinois also hosts information on Volunteerism and Community Service in Illinois. They have resources on community service opportunities, events, resources, and more. This information is available at: http://www.illinois.gov/volunteer/opportunities.cfm

*According to their mission statement “AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.” For more information on this program, call 1-800-942-2677 / (TTY 1-800-833-3722) or visit http://www.americorps.org.