Additional Volunteering Research

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: Volunteering in America: 2007 City Trends and Rankings Report

Volunteering in America: 2007 City Trends and Rankings Report uses volunteer data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2004-2006. It includes rankings and profiles for 50 of America's largest cities. National statistics are also included. The report also analyzes social and demographic trends affect city volunteer rates and finds that there are four key drivers of volunteering: community attachment; commuting times, socio-economic factors; and the prevalence of nonprofits and their capacity to retain volunteers from year to year.
: Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life Report

The Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life Report presents data on volunteering in an easily accessible format useful to a diverse audience—whether experienced researchers, policy makers, or just concerned citizens—interested in learning more about volunteering in the states. The report ranks and includes profiles for states. National and regional data is also included.
: The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research

Over the past two decades, a growing body of research has shown that volunteering provides individual health benefits in addition to social benefits. This research has established a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer. The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research documents some of the major findings from studies that look at the relationship between health and volunteering, with particular emphasis on those studies that seek to determine the causal relationship between these two factors.
: Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974

Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974, provides an in-depth look at volunteering over the past 30 years, with particular attention paid to changing historical volunteer patterns by select age groups. Like other studies in the Corporation's “Volunteering in America” series, the findings in this report are based on data collected annually since 2002 by the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics in a volunteer supplement to the Current Population Survey, a comprehensive and scientifically rigorous survey of 60,000 American households. Unlike past studies, however, the report also analyzes data on volunteering collected by the Census Bureau in 1974 and 1989.
: College Students Helping America

College Students Helping America is the most comprehensive national report ever conducted on college student volunteering in the United States. The report concludes that college student volunteering increased by approximately 20 percent between 2002 and 2005, as students have become involved in helping their communities. The report presents data on student volunteering and volunteers in an easily accessible format that will be useful to people—whether experienced researchers, policy makers, or just concerned citizens interested in learning more about volunteering among college students in the U.S.
: Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering: A Research Brief on Volunteer Retention and Turnover

Baby Boomers today have the highest volunteer rate of any age group. They also, as this report notes, volunteer at higher rates than past generations did when they were the same age. While much attention has focused on how to recruit Baby Boomers into the ranks of volunteers, relatively little attention has been paid to ensuring that those who choose to volunteer one year continue to do so the next. Because three out of every ten Boomer volunteers choose not to volunteer in the following year, a key aspect of keeping Boomer volunteer rates high is to learn how to retain existing Boomer volunteers. Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering: A Research Brief on Volunteer Retention and Turnover explores key aspects of retaining boomers in order to better utilize this important resource.
: Volunteers Mentoring Youth: Implications for Closing the Mentoring Gap

To develop a greater understanding of the characteristics and traits that distinguish individuals whose volunteering includes mentoring youth from volunteers who do not mentor, the Corporation for National and Community Service produced Volunteers Mentoring Youth: Implications for Closing the Mentoring Gap. Corporation researchers examined whether demographic, socioeconomic, or other observable factors could be used to distinguish between volunteers who mentor and the general population of volunteers who do not mentor, as well as to determine which of the above factors are most influential in predicting who is most likely to be engaged in mentoring activities.
: Other Reports

See more reports, including the Youth Helping America Series, Performance Reports, and Volunteer Management Studies.