Volunteering
Date posted: 10/01/2008
Quick Data Links
Volunteering in the United States has increased by more than one million volunteers from 2002 to 2007. The recent research report, Volunteering in America by the Corporation for National and Community Service, is the first detailed analysis of volunteering to measure the effects of the President's 2002 State of the Union Call to Service. The report highlights volunteering at the national, state, and city level. Included here is information on Fort Collins MSA with comparison to Boulder MSA, Denver MSA, Colorado, and the US. The data were collected with the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Current Population Survey by the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Thus the data were organized by MSA or metropolitan statistical areas. The Fort Collins MSA includes the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland.
Nearly 61 million volunteers throughout the US provided 8.1 billion hours of service to make an economic contribution of $158 billion in 2007. The current report provides detailed volunteer information by state, large cities, and mid-sized cities. These regions are ranked on different measures of volunteering including volunteer rate and volunteer hours per capita. Volunteer rate represents the percentage of the population that volunteers. Volunteer hours per capita divides the total hours volunteered by the population of the selected region. Utah had the highest volunteer rate for states, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN led large cities, and Provo, UT led mid-sized cities. See the rankings for Colorado and Northern Colorado cities with the corresponding data graph below.
Some community factors have been found to influence volunteer rates. Five key elements have been identified: community attachment, commuting times, socioeconomic characteristics, volunteer retention, and the capacity of nonprofit organizations.
- Community attachment increases volunteer rates. Specifically, percentage of the population that owns their homes increases volunteers, higher percentages of apartment-style housing decreases volunteer rates, and high population density decreases volunteer rates due to the anonymity of residents.
- Longer commuting times reduces time available for volunteering.
- Volunteering rates increase as education levels increase, so communities with more college educated population have higher rates of volunteering. Also, communities with high levels of poverty have lower volunteer rates.
- Communities that show higher levels of volunteer retention (volunteers staying committed to organization over one year) have higher rates of volunteering.
- Communities with more nonprofit organizations, specifically numerous small nonprofits, have higher rates of volunteering. Obviously volunteer opportunities must be available for volunteers to provide service.
Beyond the benefits to organizations volunteering also provides individual health benefits. Volunteers have greater longevity, high functional ability, lower rates of depression, and less incidence of heart disease than non-volunteers.
What this chart shows: Volunteer Rates and Volunteer Hours per Capita - Fort Collins MSA, Boulder, Denver, Colorado, and the US
Data Source: Corporation for National and Community Service
What these data tell us:
This chart shows that the Fort Collins MSA had the highest proportion of the population volunteering, but the number of hours volunteered per resident is lower for the Fort Collins MSA than those for Boulder, Denver, and Colorado. Fort Collins ranked 7th out of midsized cities in volunteer rate above that of Boulder at 26th. Denver ranked 13th in volunteer rates among large cities, and Colorado was 17th out of the states. For volunteer hours per capita, Fort Collins was 30th behind Boulder at 15th for mid-sized cities; Denver was 11th out of large cities; and Colorado was 12th among the states.What this chart shows: Where Residents of Fort Collins MSA Volunteer, 2004 - 2007
Data Source: Corporation for National and Community Service
What these data tell us:
This chart shows the proportion of Fort Collins MSA volunteers working in different types of organizations. Over a third of volunteers worked with educational organizations and a third volunteered for religious organizations. The remaining third of volunteers worked with social services, sports or arts, health, or civic organizations.What this chart shows: The Main Activities of Volunteers - Fort Collins MSA, 2005 - 2007
*Numbers will not add to 100 because volunteers often perform multiple activities.
Data Source: Corporation for National and Community Service
What these data tell us:
This chart shows the proportion of Fort Collins MSA volunteers performing each of the four most common activities. Over a third of volunteers perform general labor. Nearly a third of volunteers perform fundraising activities. Finally, equal amounts of volunteers perform management or professional duties and tutor or teach.What this chart shows: Percentage of Volunteers Contributing 100+ Hours Annually - 2007
Data Source: Corporation for National and Community Service
What these data tell us:
This chart shows that the Fort Collins MSA fell behind Boulder, Denver, Colorado, and the US in percentage of volunteers contributing 100 or more hours in 2007. Retired individuals are the main contributors of 100 or more hours a year.What this chart shows: Nonprofit Organizations per Capita - 2007
Data Source: Corporation for National and Community Service
What these data tell us:
This chart shows the number of large and small nonprofit organizations per capita for the five areas. Fort Collins MSA has the highest value with over three more nonprofits per resident than the US average.Metropolitan Statistical Areas have at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties.
Volunteer is a person 16 years and older who serves through or with an organization without pay at any point during the 12 month period during September of one year to September of the following year.
On Compass-
- Donations to United Way of Larimer County
- Quality of Life
- Civic Life
- Demographics
- Arts and Culture
- Recreation
- Mental Health
Outside Compass-
- Corporation for National and Community Service
- Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (DOVIA of Larimer County)
- Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 2001 - Independent Sector
- Student Leadership Involvement and Community Engagement (SLiCE) - Colorado State University
- United Way of Larimer County
- The Volunteer Center - A program of United Way of Larimer County
Data Tables:
Volunteer Rate and Volunteer Hours per Capita
|
Volunteer Rate |
Ranking |
Total Number of Volunteers |
Total Hours Volunteered |
Estimated Contribution |
Volunteer Hours/ Resident |
Ranking |
|
|
Fort Collins |
40.2 |
7 |
81,000 |
8.1 |
158 million |
40.2 |
30 |
|
Boulder |
33.2 |
26 |
95,000 |
13.2 |
257 million |
46.0 |
15 |
|
Denver |
31.3 |
13 |
567,000 |
81 |
1.6 billion |
44.6 |
11 |
|
Colorado |
31.9 |
17 |
1.2 million |
160.7 |
3.1 billion |
44.4 |
12 |
|
US |
27.6 |
N/A |
61 million |
8.1 billion |
158 billion |
36.1 |
N/A |
Where Fort Collins Residents Volunteer
|
Educational |
Religious |
Social Services |
Sports/Arts |
Health |
Civic |
Other |
|
35.9 |
32.9 |
14.1 |
6.3 |
4.8 |
2.2 |
3.8 |
The Main Activities of Fort Collins Volunteers
|
General Labor |
Fundraise |
Professional/ Management |
Tutor/ Teach |
|
33.8 |
31.2 |
28.6 |
28.5 |
Nonprofit Organizations and 100+ Hours Volunteered
|
Nonprofit Organizations/Resident |
Intensive Hours (100+ annually) |
|
|
Fort Collins |
7.7 |
30.5 |
|
Boulder |
6.4 |
37.2 |
|
Denver |
4.4 |
36.2 |
|
Colorado |
4.9 |
34.5 |
|
US |
4.3 |
34.0 |