The NonProfit Times
August 27, 2009
Some 72 percent of Americans said they have cut back on the time they spent volunteering, participating in groups and doing other civic activities when compared to last year. “You can look at that as withdrawing from civic engagement or you can look at it as refocusing their civic engagement, and I look at it as refocusing based on priorities,” said Michael Weiser, board chair of National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) in Washington, D.C., which released the America’s Civic Health Index. According to the survey index, half of the respondents said they gave food or money to someone who was not a relative who needed it, while 43 percent said gave food or money to relatives, 17 percent allowed a relative to live in their home or property and another 11 percent allowed a non-relative to move in. “What we found is that we (Americans) were hurting so bad earlier this year that people had to shift from focusing outward to focusing inward,” said David Smith, executive director of NCoC. “They had to shift from being engaged in their communities to really looking out for themselves and their families.” NCoC surveyed more than 3,800 people this past May about their perceptions of the recession’s effect on civic engagement. The surveyed people were called and asked to participate in an online survey. To ensure balance of the sample, some of the respondents were provided compensation so they could purchase online access. Of those respondents making more than $50,000 50 percent said they volunteered, compared to 29 percent of respondents making less than $50,000. Those making less than $50,000 were more likely to provide shelter (24 percent) than those respondents making more than $50,000 (21 percent) and also help in other ways than volunteering (39 percent versus 27 percent). Millennials, ages 15 to 29, had the highest percentage of volunteering (13 percent), compared to Generation X ages 30 to 44 (10 percent), Baby Boomers ages 45 to 64 (4 percent) and those 65 or over (5 percent). The survey compared Millennials who use online social networks to their peers who do not use social networks and found that those using social networks for civic purposes were more likely engage in all community activities asked, including volunteering, giving food or money and attending public meetings. The survey did not conclude that social networks alone promote more civic engagement. “What it shows is that the youngest amongst us are truly is the next greatest civic generation. They are coming to age in a very difficult time economically and globally,” said Smith. “But we are using the ingenuity of our generation to sustain our engagement during tough times and build the appropriate networks to further our engagement as times get better.” The survey also found that the economic collapse is changing public perception of institutions. Small businesses were ranked highest (31 percent) when respondents were asked what institutions they have a “great deal of confidence” in, followed by the scientific community (25 percent) and organized religion (22 percent). The institutions with the lowest confidence rankings were major companies (5 percent), the government’s Executive branch and Congress (both 6 percent) and banks and financial institutions (9 percent). “Washington D.C. can be a long way away, but the people who we buy our groceries from, the people whom we carpool the kids to school, the people who we see suffering the effects of this economic collapse up close, they become our priorities because they are our neighbors and they are our support structure so we turned to them first,” said Weiser. When asked which job would allow respondents to do the most good in the community or country, socially responsible corporations and a nonprofit without religious or faith-based affiliation tied for the top spot at 19 percent. Fortune 500 companies ranked lowest with 7 percent. Smith said there is a disconnection because many Fortune 500 companies have socially responsible programs, but perhaps haven’t marketed themselves in that way. People are responding to the economy by looking out for themselves, according to 66 percent of those surveyed, while only 19 percent said people are helping each other more.