Greater Seattle Civic Health Index 2010
November 11, 2010
Greater Seattle ranks 4th among America’s 51 largest cities for volunteering; 35.7% of residents 16 years and older—nearly one million people—volunteered at least once in the past year. This rate increased by two percentage points since 2008 (Figure 2). Volunteer retention in greater Seattle is also high—73.9% compared to a national rate of 65%. 1
Not only do we volunteer more in our region, we also volunteer differently. While in the rest of the country, religious organizations are first–choice volunteer sites, in greater Seattle, children’s or educational organizations are first, with religious organizations a close second. In our region, volunteers are more likely to contribute time episodically or occasionally—volunteering for short durations of time on projects—while nationally, more people volunteer regularly, i.e. 12+ weeks annually.
What contributes to this success? We have strong cross–sector support for volunteerism. Our Hands On Network, a collaboration between government, business, and the nonprofit sector, promotes volunteerism and recruits and places volunteers statewide. 2
Regional business leaders promote volunteerism both for its community benet and as a strategic workforce advantage. Elizabeth Warman, The Boeing Company’s Director of Global Corporate Citizenship for the Northwest Region, acknowledges that, “Three of four young people want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts and contributes to society. In order to hire the best and brightest, The Boeing Company offers robust opportunities for our employees to engage and give back to their communities.” 3
Another regional corporate leader, Microsoft, not only matches employee gifts to nonprofit organizations, it also matches employee volunteer labor with corporate dollars.
nonprofit organizations are working systemically to improve the efcacy of volunteerism. The United Way of King County recently found that 50% of local nonprofit organizations need more volunteers but don’t have the capacity to manage them. In response, it launched collaborations with 20 local hunger–relief organizations to audit their existing volunteer systems and tailor approaches to advance them. United Way of Snohomish County recently reformed the way it measures and recognizes community service. Philanthropy, volunteerism, and advocacy are now integrated to demonstrate how these key community–building activities leverage and complement one another.
Why do people volunteer? The #1 answer is because they are asked, but not everyone is invited to serve. In Seattle, 46.6% of volunteers with college degrees say they were invited to volunteer, yet only 18.3% of volunteers with less than a high school diploma are asked (and 71.8% approached the organization themselves). Not surprisingly, 36% of people with a four–year college degree donate 100 or more volunteer hours annually; only 13.4% of people with less than a high school diploma do so.
Nationally, men are asked to volunteer more than women (51.8% v 41.7%), though women volunteer more than men (29.6% v 23.1%).
Variations in income don’t determine whether or not people are asked to volunteer, but they do determine who issues the call to service. Wealthier Americans are asked by staff from nonprots and schools and more frequently encouraged by their employers, while Americans with incomes under $75,000 annually are more frequently asked to volunteer by relatives, friends, and co–workers.
With regard to race and ethnicity, more than half the requests to volunteer come from nonprofit organizations and schools to white Americans, while Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans are more frequently asked to volunteer by relatives and co–workers.
We need to be strategic about how we encourage volunteers in diverse communities, making sure we reach out broadly. We must also ensure that those who are selected as role models for volunteering represent our diversity so that young people of all ethnicities can see themselves in those who are honored publicly.
Our region’s continuing leadership in volunteerism requires that we make our calls to service inclusive, equitable, personal, and ubiquitous. Simultaneous to strong volunteer recruitment and recognition, we must also build sufcient and sustainable organizational capacity to ensure that volunteering is effective and fullling for individuals, organizations, and the causes and community we serve.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Ask everyone to volunteer and renew their volunteer commitments.
2. Adequately support organizational infrastructure for volunteer management and training in nonprots, government agencies, and businesses.
3. Continue to forge strong partnerships to address systemic needs in the advancement of volunteerism.
4. Support improvements to regional mobility as long average–commute times depress the ability of volunteers to serve.
5. Support and connect to our statewide Hands On Network and local community volunteer centers. www.handsonnetwork.org/actioncenters/map/WA
6. Nominate your everyday heroes to receive one of ve annual Washington State Jefferson Awards for outstanding community service. Work to ensure diversity of those nominated and selected so that young people can have models that speak to them. www.seattlecityclub.org
7. Promote the strategic business advantages of robust employee community service programs.