|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
Program Management: Volunteer Management |
||||||||||||||
1995 POLF Survey on Volunteering |
||||||||||||||
| Document Author: Points of Light
Foundation Contact: A written summary of the study, "A Measure of Commitment" prepared by Kenn Allen is available for $1 from the Points of Light Foundation, P.O.Box 79246, Baltimore, MD 21279-0246. Date Posted: 5/96 |
||||||||||||||
| The Points of Light Foundation has
released a study of volunteer involvement, one which promises to be extremely useful to
social service agencies. The study concentrates on exploring volunteer involvement in
"serious social problems," rather than looking at all types of volunteer
activity. Past studies, including those by the Independent Sector, have utilized a very
broad definition of volunteer involvement, counting virtually all types of unpaid
activity. If you've examined the IS survey, for example, you will notice that the most
prevalent cited volunteer job is "usher in a church." While this is a quite
worthwhile activity, it probably doesn't do a lot to help community agencies working to
address our nation's problems.
Major Findings The POLF study, conducted by the Gallup International Institute, found the following: • eighty-five percent of those now doing any type of volunteer work are doing so on one of more serious social problems. This amounts to over 35 million households with at least one adult volunteering in serious social problem areas. • half of the adults who are not now volunteering say that they are very or somewhat likely to do so in the future. This means that approximately 27% of the uninvolved adult population is readily available for possible recruitment. Major desirable jobs cited by potential volunteers included: • Working directly with people in need, such as serving meals or teaching (73%) • Helping volunteers or staff who work directly with people i n need by doing activities such as driving, collecting food, or providing child care (71%) • Helping put on fundraisers (49%) • Doing non-financial work in the organization's office (44%) • Serving on an organization's board (33%) • Making speeches or meeting with people who might contribute funds (20%) • fifty-five percent of volunteers for serious social problems report doing something to help elderly people. Overall, the study found the following pattern among areas of involvement:
About 74% of those who volunteer report often or sometimes working directly with people in need and 70% report working with staff who work directly with people in need. About 64% help with fundraising and half help by serving on an organization's board. Other Findings Other interesting findings of the study include: • African-Americans were significantly more likely to be involved in many serious social problems areas than were whites. Tutoring, for example, is done by 52% of African-American volunteers versus 26% of whites. Whites were more likely to be involved in helping those with disabilities (20% to 3%). • Women are more likely to be involved in working with children with learning disabilities and with pregnant teenagers or teen mothers. Men are more likely to volunteer in programs of alcohol abuse. • Women are more likely to perform volunteer jobs such as serving on boards or committees, providing companionship, tutoring childcare or substitute parenting, making and delivering meals, and office work. Men are more likely to do counseling, recreation work, neighborhood clean-up, and planning, administration or leadership. • Volunteers working on serious social problems report spending an average of 4.8 hours per week. • Over half of those volunteering for serious social problems did so through an organization rather than informally. |
||||||||||||||
|
