Volunteerism Kentucky

June 8, 2011

ssmith@kab.org

Engaging Individuals to Take Greater

Responsibility for Improving Their

Community Environments

Guiding Principle: Individual Responsibility

Guiding Principle: Education

Guiding Principle:

Partnership

Public Private

Civic

Guiding Principle:

Volunteer Action

Volunteering in America Research Highlights

www.volunteeringinamerica.gov

Definition

Volunteers are persons age 16 and older who serve through or with an organization without pay at any point during a 12 month-period between September of one year through September of the following year.

Goal

Building a roadmap to engage more adults in volunteering and to keep them serving from year to year.

Assistance

A number of tools, effective practices and tips to help nonprofits strengthen their volunteer recruitment and retention strategies. These resources can also be found at the new Web site.

National TrendsNational Volunteering TrendsNumber of Volunteers 63.4 millionVolunteer Rate (2009) 26.8%Total Hours Volunteered 8.1 billionTop Places for People to ServeReligious Organizations 35.7%Educational/Youth Service Organizations 26.7%Top Volunteer ActivitiesFundraise 27.9%Collect, prepare, distribute, serve food 24.5%Engage in general labor 21.4%Tutor or teach 20.5%

Trends8.1 billion hours of volunteer service worth $158 billion, using Independent Sector’s estimate of the dollar value of a volunteer hour. The number of adults who volunteered is the highest since 2005.

TrendsVolunteer intensity is increasing. Today, over a third of volunteers (34%) serve intensively, volunteering 100 or more hours in a year. The number of volunteers donating more than 100 hours annually increased last year.

Trends

As the economy slows and nonprofit organizations struggle to provide services on smaller budgets, volunteers become even more vital to the health of our nation’s communities.

Trends

In addition to the 63.4 million volunteers serving in organizations nationwide, about 5.2 million people also volunteer informally to help their communities.

Trends

Data since 1989 show that religious organizations have consistently remained the most popular organizations for volunteers to serve through, followed closely in recent years by educational or youth service organizations.

Regional Trends

Volunteer Rates by US RegionMidwest 31.1%West 26.1%South 24.7%Northeast 23.4%

State TrendsRanking Top 10 States1 Utah 2 Iowa 3 Minnesota 4 Alaska Top 5 Large Cities for Volunteer rate1 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 2 Portland, OR 3 Salt Lake City, UT 4 Seattle, WA 5 Oklahoma City, OK

Volunteering in Kentucky Highlights: 857,500 volunteers 26% of residents volunteer 101 million hours of service 30.6 hours per resident; ranks KY as 42nd

out of the 50 states and DC $2.1 billion of service

Other Research FindingsThe majority of volunteers choose to continue serving. However, roughly one third of volunteers serve one year and do not continue to do so the next-- this rate is just too high.

– Many people (approximately 19.1 million adults in 2007) signed up to volunteer again or for the first time with an organization.

– Research shows that the more time a person spends volunteering, the more likely he/she is to continue serving in the future.

Other Research Findings

Volunteers are willing to go long distances to help others, especially in disaster recovery. New research shows that more than 3.7 million Americans (about 6% of the total volunteer force and many of whom are college age) traveled long distances to volunteer, more than 120 miles away from their homes, last year.

Other New Research FindingsTime Use of Volunteers

– A new analysis of data from the American Time Use Survey shows that the largest difference in how time is spent between recent volunteers, former volunteers, and non-volunteers is in how much television they watch.

– On average, non-volunteers watch 436 more hours (the equivalent of over 10 weeks of full-time work) of television than recent volunteers each year.

College Students

Tutoring and mentoring are the most popular volunteer activities for college students, and expectedly educational and youth services organizations are the most popular organizations to serve through.

Additional Resources

Corporation’s Resource Center, found at http://nationalserviceresources.org will help nonprofits, cities and others who manage volunteers strengthen their recruitment and retention strategies.

Simple Truth about Volunteering How and if people volunteeris connected to everythingelse going on in their lives. Volunteering doesn’t takeplace in a vacuum.

Volunteer Management

Impacts on People’s Lives

Time Economic Care-giving responsibilities Reluctance to take on commitments Lack of connection or trust in

institutions

Management Practices Impacting Volunteering

Not well managed: 26% Volunteer’s time not used well: 23% Volunteer’s talents not used well:

18% Tasks not clearly defined: 16% Volunteers not thanked: 9%

The UPS Foundation

Considerations

Time of day Age of volunteers Short term assignments Work place requirements Opt out options

The #1 reason people volunteer:

THEY WERE ASKED!

Present a Complete Picture

Need Is there a problem to be addressed?

Solution Can this be solved?

Fears Will I be capable of helping?

Benefits What is in it for me?

Contacts How do I get involved?

Securing Long-term Volunteers

Step One: Organize Attractive Events and Positions

Involve large numbers of volunteers Little or no training required Fun and option to work with others Photogenic

Securing Long-term Volunteers

Step Two: Scout for the More Engaged Establish personal contact Give newcomers a sense of “welcome” Get names and contact information Have information about your program

available

Securing Long-term VolunteersStep Three: Nurturing Process Offer a new or expanded role at the same

event Offer recognition Give more information about the organization Offer roles unrelated to the event Encourage friendships

"Recruitment is a constant, year-round process of keeping your organization's name and its available volunteer opportunities in front of people."

The Volunteer Recruitment Book, Susan Ellis

Volunteer Recruiting

"When the public knows the name and service provided by your organization, people are more likely to remember your organization when they think about serving."

Susan Ellis

Trends in Volunteering

Workplace, especially if family volunteering is promoted

Episodic or short-term volunteering Teens and college students Mandated Community Service

Trends in Volunteering

Computerized volunteering and Virtual volunteering

Recreational volunteering Affinity group volunteering: Church

members and beyond Family volunteering

Teens were four times more likely to volunteer if they were asked.

Independent Sector

Teens Volunteering

Senior Volunteerism 80% of seniors asked to

volunteer actually did, while only 20% of those not asked actually volunteered.

Less than one-third of all seniors over age 65 were asked to volunteer.

Independent Sector

Stop Burnout Don't expect a volunteer to serve in the same

capacity for an extended period of time. (This includes cleanup volunteers.)

Ask repeat volunteers to assist with different projects.

Work with volunteers to determine how much time they can give at a particular time.

Rotate volunteers on committees that demand extra time and energy.

Stop Burnout If a volunteer declines to participate, find out

why. If a volunteer steps away from the

organization, keep them on your mailing list. Keep your volunteers—active and inactive—

apprised of progress toward your organization's goals.

Check in with your volunteers and make sure they are still happy.

Volunteer Recognition Smile Plan ceremonial occasions Recognize personal needs and problems Be pleasant Keep challenging them Send a thank-you card to the volunteer’s family Give additional responsibility Take time to talk Write them thank you notes Nominate for volunteer awards

Volunteer Recognition Offer incentives Promote a “Volunteer-of-the-Month” program Send letter of appreciation to employer Send commendatory letters to prominent public figures Say “we missed you” Promote smiles Award special citations for extraordinary achievements Say “Thank you” Smile

Genuine influence goes deeper than getting people to do what you want them to do.

It means people pick up where you left off because they believe.

“The most powerful narcotic in the world is the promise of belonging.”

Sue Smithssmith@kab.org