Many Americans have found themselves short on spending money these days, but they are not short on time or compassion, a recent survey found.
To make up for what they perhaps could not write in a check, Americans donated an estimated $162 billion in volunteer activity in 2008, said a report by the Corporation for National Community Service.
The report found that 61.8 million Americans volunteered through an organization in 2008 – one million more than last year’s number – totaling more than 8 billion hours of community service.
The volunteering boom seems to be led by young adults, with volunteers aged 16 to 24 increasing from 7.8 million in 2007 to 8.2 million in 2008.
In line with recent research that found "voluntourism" to be increasingly popular among the younger generation of philanthropists, the report found that applications to AmeriCorps saw a 217 percent increase in the past eight months.
The trend was also led by "do-it-yourself" volunteers, as a large amount of the volunteer activity stemmed from people working with neighbors to solve a community problem.
"Driven by young adults and neighbors with a do-it yourself spirit, Americans are responding to tough times by reaching out to help others in need," said Nicola Goren, Acting CEO of the Corporation for National Community Service. "The need is great, the momentum is strong, and potential is unlimited for ushering in a new era of service in America."
Especially in the current economic climate, this high level of volunteering activity is needed more than ever.
The report found that 37 percent of nonprofit organizations needed to increase their volunteer base between September 2008 and March 2009, while 48 percent anticipate a continued need for more volunteers in the coming year.
Also challenging the common perception that charitable activity decreases in a recession is a recent report by Ledbury Research and Barclays Wealth, which found that 77 percent of wealthy philanthropists reported no plans to decrease their level of giving as a result of the recession.