Volunteering

A lot of time volunteered last year, as this report from Nonprofit About.com notes.

An excerpt.

“The Corporation for National and Community Service this week released figures from its research into volunteering for 2010. The big number is the 8.1 billion hours that Americans gave to volunteer activities last year. Those hours are valued at nearly $173 billion of services throughout US communities.

“Here are some other stats from the research:

• 8.1 billion hours clocked...about the same as in 2009.

• the rate dropped slightly, but hours remained the same due to many volunteers increasing their volunteer hours.

• number of volunteers serving 100 hours or more per year increased to 33.8%

• the median number of hours volunteers served increased to 52 per year

• Generation X (born 1965-1981) volunteers gave more time to volunteer work in 2010 than they ever had, doubling their rate between 1989 to 2010, from 12.3% to 29.2%.

• teen volunteer rates have been consistently higher between 2002 and 2010 than they were in 1989, reflecting the rising interest and the increasing opportunities for these young volunteers

• the volunteer life cycle shows that volunteering peaks during a volunteer's mid 30s to early 40s

• volunteering diminishes as volunteers become older, but that decline has become less severe, reflecting the improving health and appreciation for the age-defying effects of volunteering by older people.”