The gift of time? Go to the youth…

37% of non-profits saw a leap in volunteerism this past year, according to The Corporation for National and Community Service’s (CNCS) Volunteering in America report. Perhaps most interesting is which group most ambitiously upped the ante. Nearly a million more people contributed their time, and teens and young adults 16 to 24 years of age account for nearly half of that increase. In contrast to lagging financial contributions, volunteerism is growing. Utilize the energy and potential of youth within your organization!

So who else is volunteering?
Stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Volunteering in the United States, 2008” report:

• Volunteers of both sexes spent a median of 52 hours on volunteer activities during the period from September 2007 to September 2008.
• Persons age 35 to 44 continue to be the most likely to volunteer (31.3%).
• Married persons volunteered at a higher rate (31.6%) than those who had never married (20.4%) and those with other marital statuses (20.9%).
• Individuals with higher levels of educational attainment volunteered at higher rates than did those with less education. Among persons age 25 and over, 42.2% of college graduates volunteered.
• About 43.7% of volunteers became involved with their main organization after being asked to volunteer, most often by someone in the organization.

This data on volunteering was collected through a supplement to the September 2008 Current Population Survey (CPS). The supplement was sponsored by the CNCS.