A guest blog post by Diana Aviv, President and CEO of Independent Sector
April 2, 2013
Diana’s blog post was originally featured at ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl630]@ The impulse to help takes many forms. A ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl622]@ welcomes refugees into her home in Queens, sets up a medical clinic, organizes the distribution of food and supplies, and now spends seven days a week doing voluntary case management for families still coping with Hurricane Sandy. A ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl623]@ fights illiteracy, calling it “our state’s most insidious and invisible problem.” An estimated 1 million Alabamans, many immigrants, are functionally illiterate. His 2012 book, In Our Dreams We Read, challenges readers “to work with an adult or child … to unlock the mysteries and opportunities of words.” In Salt Lake City, ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl624]@ are signing up to staff the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Raptor Inventory Nest Survey. By training their binoculars on the nests of eagles, falcons, hawks, ospreys, and owls, these volunteers will help protect birds of prey resident in the northern reaches of the state. The self-described ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl625]@ has cruised area roads since 1966, looking for broken down cars and other motorists in need. He spends $100 on gas in just one weekend — urging those he helps to pass it on, or, in his words, “Don’t let the chain of love end with you.” In Chicago, a ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl627]@ and CEO and 30 staff members regularly leave their desks behind to volunteer at the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, part of a long-term corporate partnership with IS member, United Way. These thumbnail sketches are not stories that often grace the front pages of our newspapers, and yet the generous act of volunteering in America is as vast and varied as the country itself. Some 64 million Americans – roughly one-fifth of our population – engaged in a formal volunteer activity during the past year. The UK-based Charities Aid Foundation’s 2011 World Giving Index ranked the U.S. first in “giving”, as measured by three behaviors: helping a stranger, volunteering time, and giving money. Its study, based on a Gallup poll of over 150,000 people in 153 countries, came to several overall conclusions, including that: • Despite global economic turmoil, the world is giving more. • Giving money and volunteering time are both growing fastest among the oldest age groups. Each year in April, Independent Sector reports the estimated economic value of an hour of volunteer time. In 2012, it came to $22.14 per hour, up from $21.79 in 2011. Aggregate those hours and you find that volunteering contributes 5% to our GDP each year. While those who volunteer are, by definition, not in it for the money, attaching a monetary worth to the effort helps us put in perspective the immense value of the contributions people make every day of the year to the lives of others. Yet most volunteers, like those described above, will tell you that the real story is not what they gave but what they got from the experience. With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day for the next 17 years, meaningful volunteer opportunities for older Americans are very much in demand. Experience Corps, which engages older adult tutors in disadvantaged schools, grew from a concept paper written by IS founding chairman and volunteer-without-equal John W. Gardner. It is a testament to the two-way benefits that accrue from volunteering. ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl628]@ shows that Experience Corps not only boosts academic performance in struggling public schools and strengthens ties with surrounding neighborhoods – it enhances the health and well-being of the volunteers in the process. President Obama showed that he understands the diplomatic power of America’s volunteer spirit when he authorized the State Department to create a special international exchange program to bring leaders from foreign countries to the United States to participate in volunteer efforts. Scholars who study our sector have referred to volunteerism as nothing less than “the real wealth of nations”, noting that a significant portion of the value created by nonprofit organizations stems from the contributions of volunteers. Sector leaders know this to be true simply by looking around us: in good times and bad, in large organizations and small, we depend on volunteers for service delivery, office support, and fundraising, not to mention the invaluable guidance provided by volunteer boards of trustees. Many factors make America a great place to live; volunteers are surely one.