The national value of volunteer time increased by 2.5 percent;
Nearly 63 million Americans volunteer about 8 billion hours of time, talent, and effort
Press Release – (WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017) – Today, Independent Sector announces that the latest value of a volunteer hour is $24.14 – up 2.5 percent from the previous year. That figure, estimated from data collected in 2016, shows the incredible contributions volunteers make to our communities and our country.
Currently, 63 million Americans volunteer about 8 billion hours of their time, talent, and effort to improve people’s lives and the natural world. With the new value of volunteer time, these Americans are contributing approximately $193 billion to our nation. According to data from the Corporation for National and Community Service, religious organizations were cited as the type of organization that volunteers worked in the most (34%), followed by educational or youth service (26%), and social or community service organizations (15%).
The release of this important figure comes ahead of National Volunteer Week held April 23-29, 2017, a program of Points of Light.
“All Americans should take immense pride in our collective spirit and commitment to volunteerism,” said Dan Cardinali, president and CEO of Independent Sector. “Giving of our time, talent, and effort is hugely consequential and we hope this value of volunteer time is just one way we can help measure the enormous contributions we all make toward improving our communities, our country, and our planet.”
“Volunteerism empowers people to support causes they care about. When changemakers work together to tackle tough problems, our world becomes a better place,” said Tracy Hoover, CEO of Points of Light. “By sharing concrete data that highlights the impact of volunteers, we can inspire and mobilize more individuals and organizations to realize their potential and power to become active participants in sparking change.”
Independent Sector also updated the state-level breakdown for the new value of volunteer time. Most states saw increases over the previous year’s numbers. The highest value of volunteer time is in Washington, DC at $39.17, and Delaware saw the biggest increase over the last year. An interactive map is available on the Independent Sector website, as well as a table showing data for each state, where the value of a volunteer hour is highest and lowest, and how much the figure has risen or fallen since the previous year. Also included in the map is the complete dataset for the value of volunteer time for all 50 states and DC from 2001-2016.
To access state-by-state values of volunteer time and learn more about the national figure, visit independentsector.org/volunteer-time.
