New Data Shows the State of Volunteering in the U.S.

Following is a transcript of this episode of the Two Minute Treasurer’s Tip Podcast from MoneyMinder, with audio/video below.

Welcome to the Two-Minute Treasurer’s Tip Podcast. I’m Cyndi Meuchel, and today we’re talking about the state of volunteerism in the U.S.

So, every two years the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps conduct studies around formal volunteering, informal helping, and some other civic behaviors, and they do this on a national basis, at the state level, and also within the 12 largest metro areas.

Today, just for fun, we’ve curated some facts from the most recent research available. Here we go. So, did you know at the height of the pandemic, more than half of people age 16 and over helped neighbors, and 23% formally volunteered.

Those who formally volunteered gave more than 4.1 billion hours of service with an estimated economic value of $122.9 billion dollars. Holy smokes that’s a lot of service hours and volunteer power! And you were probably part of that. So way to go!

In 2021, the average value of a volunteer hour was $29.95, and in 2022, the value of a volunteer hour increased to $31.80. And, while formal volunteering rates dropped between 2019 and 2021 in every demographic group, informal helping rates remained steady.

Informal helping, that means, helping others outside of an organizational context. So things like doing neighbors favors, running errands, or lending a hand somewhere.

And here’s something interesting. Gen Xers had the highest rate of formal volunteering between 2019 2021. While baby boomers had the highest rate of informally helping during that time.

Utah, Wyoming, Minnesota, Maine and Washington DC topped the list of states with the highest formal volunteering rates in 2021. While Montana and Nebraska had the highest rates of informal helping in that same year.

To learn more fun facts, check them out at census.gov. Thanks for listening today! And if you have a question I can answer, just email me: [email protected]

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Cyndi Meuchel is a lifelong volunteer and co-founder of MoneyMinder Treasurer Software. MoneyMinder has been supporting volunteer-run nonprofit treasurers for two decades. On the Two Minute Treasurer’s Tip Podcast, Cyndi helps treasurers navigate this territory with tips to help make your volunteer experience easier. In late 2023, she sat down with Alexander Lapa of the Agents of Nonprofit podcast to discuss volunteerism in depth. Give it a listen.