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THE DATA: HOW WILL AMERICANS ANSWER THE CALL? ACCORDING to the results from Porter Novelli Styles 2008, fielded in June 2008, a significant “Service Gap” exists between the causes that are most personally important to Americans and those to which they are most likely to give their time. For example, while over seven-in-ten Americans indicate that issues such as supporting health research for leading diseases, protecting the environment, and improving schools and education are personally important to them, less than one-in-five say they have given their time to these (or other) important causes in the past 12 months. In fact, for most of the causes presented, only one-in-ten or fewer report to have donated their time in the past 12 months.

As we witnessed with the active level of participation in the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service, Americans are eager to do their part in service to their local and national communities in ways we have rarely seen in our nation’s history. This energy will hopefully translate into greater proportions of Americans regularly donating their time to important causes, as we will continue to measure in Styles, to help close the “Service Gap.” The challenge and opportunity will be in providing specific volunteer opportunities that best leverage the passions and desires of Americans.

Table 1. Importance of and Reported Time Donated to Specific Causes Percent who report specific causes are personally important to them, compared to the percent who indicate they have donated time to each cause in the past 12 months

PERSONALLY

IMPORTANT TO ME

HAVE DONATED TIME TO IN PAST 12

MONTHS

“SERVICE

GAP”

Health research (e.g., cancer, AIDS) 70% 6% -64

The environment 73% 10% -63

Literacy 64% 6% -58

Improving schools and education 73% 17% -56

Helping people with disabilities 65% 12% -53

Feeding the hungry 59% 9% -50

Helping the poor 58% 8% -50

Mentoring youth 63% 17% -46

Helping the homeless 52% 7% -45

Volunteer care giving 46% 12% -34 Porter Novelli Styles is a suite of annual surveys conducted among a variety of audiences. The base survey, ConsumerStyles, was conducted May through June 2008 among a total of 10,108 consumers. The data are weighted to ensure a nationally representative sample. The margin of error is +/- 1% for the total sample, and larger for subgroups. For additional Styles information, contact Styles@porternovelli.com.

The “Service Gap”JANUARY 2009

Issuing a call to service was a central theme surrounding President Obama’s historic inauguration, and the record number of Americans who participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service the day before illustrates the number of Americans standing ready to answer that call. But, Porter Novelli Styles data reveal a “Service Gap” that must be closed in order to sustain and grow the number of Americans who will continue to answer the call.