Dann Francisco - The Decline of Volunteers within United States of America

Dann Francisco

More Volunteers are in Need

Research

        The Bureau of Labor of Statistics creates a report on the Volunteer rates in the United States of America.

        This Report indicates that within the past decade there has been a decline of the amount of Volunteers that participate in Non-Profit Organization within the United Sates of America. It reveals that within the past decade there have been a slow decrease in the percentage of volunteers volunteering within the states. The report tells us the total percentage of the country's population that volunteered within the past years, as well as, informs us of the percentages of age ranges and races that have volunteered from September 2014 to September 2015.
          The percentages of volunteers within the country have declined from 25.3 percent to 24.9 percent. About 62.6 million people had volunteered at least once between the year of September 2014 to September 2015 through or for an organization. This table below indicates and reveals that there has been a continuous decrease of the amount of volunteers throughout the documented list. The table separates percentage of population that volunteered into various variables such as different age groups to ethnicity to their current status in education and employment. 

Table A. Volunteers by selected characteristics, September 2013 through September 2015
(Numbers in thousands)

 1 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
 2 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
 3 Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
 4 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
 5 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
 NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum 
 to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or
 Latino may be of any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January
 data. Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at
 any point in the year ending in September. See the Technical Note for further information.

Why are they decreasing?
       For what reason are the amount of Volunteers decreasing and why? According to Amy Yotopoulos 
there are three likely common reasons that caused the decrease of Volunteers. One of which is that people 
believe that there isn't enough time or that volunteer schedules are not that flexible. She believes that there
could be two possible solutions to these which are to find the "sweet spot" of when people volunteer before
or/and after they have retired from working. Another solution was to make the opportunities of volunteering
more accessible and automatic for people to have access to them such as offering volunteer opportunities for 
non-working parents who bring their children to school. 
     The second reason or excuse is that people themselves either don't have enough information and that most
volunteer roles are not interesting. She explains that most people are likely to volunteer by personal gratification
and having a meaningful experience. The solution for this matter was that organizations who utilize volunteers 
must appropriately request and apply people who have the appropriate skills to the type of work they need their 
volunteers to do. 
     The third reason she discovered was that some people believe that they need to be asked of to volunteer, that 
others must ask them to volunteer. Yotopoulos found research that organizations with more successful at acquiring 
and keeping volunteers have a full-time paid volunteer coordinator. This person invites people to be a volunteer 
and watches over them throughout the whole process and checks on them at a later date. 

       Interviews:
Anthony Sanchez


         Retention rate for volunteers has been dwindling for many reasons. Poor management and organization of 
volunteers causing them to have a poor or negative experience. Lack of proper training or job details can also lead 
volunteers feeling confused and unable to help attendees properly and feel counterproductive.



Ken Shockley




I think volunteering has decreased over time for a few reasons. The first reason is that people have a bad 
experience and bad word of mouth spreads more than positive word of mouth. The second reason is that more and 
more people don't have the time to volunteer and feel they have "more important" things to do instead of 
volunteering for free.



Oanh Shockley




I use to volunteer for so many organizations, but through time I have other priorities such as work and family. 

Also, I am so exhausted to go out and volunteer. I still love the organizations but I don't have the energy to help out.

My Thoughts

         I personally believe that part of the cause that decreases the percentage of volunteers is unfortunately the fault of our advanced technology. We have begun to take advantage of our use of technology and often abuse that ability, such as being distracted by various devices, and/or using that technology to research or learn about volunteer opportunities and take the opinions or experiences of previous volunteers instead of experiencing it for themselves. The issue with this is ones experience with a situation can be a completely different experience for yourself, as well as, their situation maybe have been at an effect of other social matters that might not have been a direct cause or effect of anything related to the volunteer organization that one participated at, such as the passing of a family while in the middle of volunteering for an organization that hosts an event over a span of a few days. Their experience would be less ideal compared to a person who currently having a normal life situation. In a sense people now essentially just look instantly at bad reviews about volunteering experience reviews and tend to overlook the good reviews that sometimes tend to have more or less than the other, but still will deter ones interest in one way or the other from volunteering for said organization. Part of the solution is that people need to start looking outside the box and look at both sides of the story. As well as organizations adjusting to the social norms of this new technologically advanced era, to where volunteers would become more satisfied or feel rewarded for participating in their events. With out these volunteers certain events would not have been possible and be where they are currently. 

Bowles, Annette, et al. “The U.S. Volunteer Rate Is Still Dropping. Why?” Engaging Volunteers, https://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s-volunteer-rate-is-still-dropping-why/.

“Volunteering in the United States News Release.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm.

Yotopoulos, Amy. “THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE DON’T VOLUNTEER, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.” Longevity.stanford.edu, http://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont-volunteer-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.

Bowles, Annette, et al. “The U.S. Volunteer Rate Is Still Dropping. Why?” Engaging Volunteers, https://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s-volunteer-rate-is-still-dropping-why/.

“Volunteering in the United States News Release.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm.

Yotopoulos, Amy. “THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE DON’T VOLUNTEER, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.” Longevity.stanford.edu, http://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont-volunteer-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.

Works Cited

Bowles, Annette, et al. “The U.S. Volunteer Rate Is Still Dropping. Why?” Engaging Volunteers,                     https://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s- volunteer-rate-is- still-dropping-why/.

“Volunteering in the United States News Release.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm.

Yotopoulos, Amy. “Three Reasons Why People Don't Volunteer, and What Can be Done About It.” Longevity.stanford.edu, http://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont-volunteer-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.