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20+ Volunteer Statistics Every Nonprofit Should Know
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Updated - 07/18/2024
As a volunteer manager or coordinator, you use your nonprofit’s supporter data to continually improve your program and recruit new volunteers. However, it can also be helpful to zoom out and look at the bigger picture of the current state of volunteering in the United States and across the world.
Reviewing sector-wide statistics can reveal how your organization stacks up compared to the rest of the nonprofit sector. These trends can highlight where your nonprofit is beating the curve and finding success and what might need improvement to get your volunteer program up to par.
In this post, we’ll review the most important volunteering statistics from a variety of angles, including:
Whether you’re looking for hard data to encourage supporters to join your volunteer program, building a case to justify an increase in funding, or just interested in learning more about volunteering, this article is for you. Let’s get started!
General volunteer statistics
Volunteerism is ingrained in many cultures worldwide, and there are always people in every community who need a helping hand. People face a variety of challenges, from climate change to food insecurity, poverty, disease, and other threats. Volunteerism seeks to mitigate these challenges by providing support for nonprofit programs and projects.
Here are some volunteer statistics that provide a broad overview of the current state of volunteering in the United States and around the world:
- Approximately 23.2% of Americans (more than 60.7 million people) formally volunteered with organizations between September 2020 and 2021 (AmeriCorps). This breaks down to about 11 million people volunteering every day (Bureau of Labor Statistics)!
- About 1/3 of the nonprofit workforce is volunteers (Double the Donation).
- Most volunteer work is informal. 14.3 percent of the global population participated in informal volunteering in 2022, while 6.5 percent of working-age people worldwide engage in formal volunteering via an organization or association (State of the World’s Volunteerism Report).
- Utah is the U.S. state with the highest percentage of volunteers (United States Census Bureau).
- Overall, formal volunteering is declining in most states. However, the percentage of informal volunteering (i.e. individuals providing free help in their communities) is either increasing or remaining steady (AmeriCorps).
- 85% of volunteers donate to the nonprofits they volunteer for (Global Trends in Giving Report).
- The current value of an hour of volunteer time is $31.80 (Points of Light).
- Women volunteer at a higher rate than men (AmeriCorps).
- 35% of respondents to a 7,000-person volunteer survey said one of the reasons they volunteer is to socialize (Sterling Volunteers).
- The greatest challenge in the eyes of volunteer managers is recruitment. 32% of volunteer coordinators surveyed said recruitment was their organization’s greatest roadblock (VolunteerPro).
Corporate volunteer statistics
Corporate volunteering programs are employer-supported volunteering activities that encourage staff members to donate their time to a good cause in their community. These types of programs include:
- Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
- Volunteer Grants (also known as Dollars for Doers)
- Team Volunteer Days
This type of volunteering enhances employee teamwork, collaboration, and even skill development. At the same time, corporate volunteerism provides many advantages to nonprofit organizations. These organizations receive not only support for their volunteer programs but also monetary support in the form of volunteer grants. Volunteer grants are donations that businesses make to nonprofits after their employees have volunteered a certain number of hours with those organizations.
Here are a few statistics that reveal the positive impact of corporate volunteerism:
- 80% of companies offer volunteer grants valued at between $8-$15 an hour (Double the Donation).
- 77% of nonprofits say they believe that skilled volunteers can significantly improve their organization’s business practices (Deloitte Impact Survey).
- 89% of working Americans believe that companies that sponsor volunteer activities offer a better overall environment than those that don’t (Deloitte Impact Survey).
- 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs (Double the Donation).
- Almost 60% of companies provide paid time off for employees to volunteer (America’s Charities).
- On average, companies with VTO policies offer an average of 20 VTO hours per team member per year (Double the Donation).
- 49% of individuals state that work commitments are their biggest obstacle to volunteering (Gov.UK).
- The average corporate volunteer participation rate is 33% (2019 CECP Giving in Numbers Report).
- The average participation rate for volunteer grant programs is just 3%. This is likely due to a lack of awareness about these programs (Double the Donation).
- Around 25% of companies tie skills-based volunteering to employees’ professional development plans, and 21% say they plan to make this connection in the future (America’s Charities).
To help your volunteers take advantage of these programs, work with them to discover if their employer offers VTO or volunteer grants. Encourage them to research their eligibility and be ready to provide any answers they might need to complete their volunteer grant applications.
Benefits of volunteering statistics
You may have heard about the health benefits of volunteering, such as improvements in mental health. Studies show that volunteering helps individuals feel more socially connected and reduces feelings of loneliness and depression. Many people who choose to volunteer are also rewarded with improvements in their physical health, including having lower blood pressure and longer lifespans!
These volunteering statistics clearly highlight the valuable health advantages of volunteering:
- A study by Yeung, Zhang, and Kim, researchers from the Department of Applied Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, found that volunteering led to an 8.54% increase in mental health, 9.08% increase in physical health, 7.35% increase in life satisfaction, 11.11% increase in social well-being, and 4.30% decrease in depression (BMC Public Health)
- One study found that older adults who volunteered with two or more organizations experienced 44% lower mortality rates over a five-year period than those elderly persons who did not volunteer (Corporation for National and Community Service).
- Research published in 2020 determined that volunteering can actually increase happiness and improve well-being over time (Journal of Happiness Studies).
- A study in the journal Social Science and Medicine found that individuals who volunteered experienced 38% fewer nights in the hospital. The study found that volunteers are more likely to practice preventive care, such as getting flu shots and routine health screenings, than non-volunteers (Science Direct).
Wrapping up
With increasing demand for nonprofit services, your volunteers are one of the most valuable resources available. Use these statistics to compare how your volunteer program compares to the rest of your industry and make targeted improvements based on recent trends.
Make Volunteer Management Easier for You and Your Volunteers!
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