csgvp presentation april 4 2009

A Portrait of Canadian Volunteerism: Highlights and Implications of the 2004 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating


You are here to listen to…

St. Vincent De Paul

Annual General Assembly

Building Your Volunteer Base or

Where Are The Volunteers?


2 Corinthians 9:7

"Let each man do according as he has purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver."

Session Overview

Where are the volunteers? How do ‘we’ connect with them? And after ‘we’ connect, then what do ‘we’ do?


CSGVP History and Evolution

• 1987 – Survey of Volunteer Activity• 1997 – NSGVP• 2000 – NSGVP • 2004 – CSGVP


A Good News Survey for Canada


Volunteering in Canada

• Almost 12 million Canadians volunteer (45% of the population aged 15 and older)

• Close to two billion hours volunteered• Average contribution of 168 hours annually

• Alberta: 48% of the population or 1,227,000 people (in 2004)

• 214 million hours volunteered (6 million weeks of 35 hour weeks)

• Average contribution of 175 hours each Q?


Provincial and Territorial Variations


Types of Organizations Supported by Canadian Volunteers


• 48% of the population (1,227,000 people) volunteered

• 79% of Albertans (2,045,000 people) made financial donations

• 69% (1,800,000 people) participated by belonging to a group or organization.

Alberta-based statistics from the CSGVP


Much Comes From the Few

• Nearly one-half (49%) of all volunteer hours in Alberta were contributed by 10% of volunteers who gave 448 hours or more of their time.

• An additional 26% of volunteer hours were contributed by the 15% of volunteers who gave between 195 and 447 hours during the year.

• Combined, these two groups accounted for 25% of volunteers, but 75% of all volunteer hours.


Who is More Likely to Volunteer in Alberta?

• Youth aged 15-19 volunteer but those 20-24 volunteered more hours and in Alberta 51% of youth volunteered (3% higher than the Alberta average)

• Why do they volunteer?

• Improve job opportunities (65%)

• Explore their own strengths (65%)

• Because their peer group (friends) volunteer (54%)



• Albertans more likely to volunteer are

• those with higher levels of household income and education,

• women,

• married people or people in common-law relationships,

• people with young kids, and

• those who regularly attend weekly religious services.


• Although 51% of youth volunteered, the greatest number of average annual volunteer hours (254 hours) was contributed by senior citizens.

• 51% of Albertan women volunteered an average of 189 hours annually.

• 51% of married Albertans or those in common-law relationships volunteered 187 hours a year, on average.

• Greatest annual hourly average (213 hours) contributed by those in the “widow or widower” category.




• 62% of university graduates volunteered, followed by 58% of people with some postsecondary education and 51% of people holding postsecondary diplomas.

• 60% of people with household incomes over $100,000 volunteered, followed by 52% of those with incomes between $60,000 and $79,999.

• Between 59% and 60% of Albertans with either school-aged children only and both pre-school and school-aged children volunteered from 136 hours to 160 hours a year.



• Religious attendance (identified as weekly services) is a significant determinant.

• 66% of those who attend weekly services volunteer even though they only make up 21% of the population.

• Average hourly volunteer contribution of a weekly attendee is 211 hours versus 156 hours for a non-weekly attendee.


Religious Attendance

• High volunteer rate and average annual hourly contribution of weekly religious attendees– Volunteer activities may be a significant social and

spiritual component of weekly religious attendance.

• While the factor of weekly religious attendance in relation to volunteer rates cannot be ignored, neither can the fact that 79% of all volunteers do not attend weekly services. Indeed, non-weekly attendees also contributed the largest percentage of total volunteer hours.


Interpreting the Statistics

• Why are some Albertans more likely to volunteer and/or to volunteer more hours?

– Combination of various socioeconomic factors such as age, sex, marital status, education, labour force status, household income, presence of children in the household and religious attendance


Rural Volunteering

• Volunteer rates in Calgary and Edmonton were slightly lower than the overall provincial rate of 48%.

• Edmonton’s volunteer rate was 47% and Calgary’s was 45%.

• Compared to provincial average of 175 hours, volunteers in Edmonton contributed an average of 202 hours in 2004, while average for Calgary volunteers was 143 hours.


Age• High volunteer rate of youth – opportunity to socialize,

earn high school credits, develop new interests, learn new skills

• Senior citizens are ‘super volunteers’ but aging. May have more time due to reduced family and career commitments.

• High volunteer rate and hourly contribution of those from 35 to 54

Involvement of middle-aged people in their children’s activities - e.g., school, sports, fine arts, etc. Re-engagement of those in middle-age with volunteerism after devoting earlier years to career and family ambitions


Gender Inequality

• Women in Alberta were more likely to volunteer than men (51% of women volunteer compared to 44% of men).

• Women also contributed more time to volunteering (the average annual number of volunteer hours for women was 189 as opposed to 159 for men) and accounted for a higher percentage of total volunteer hours (57% versus 43%).


Living as a Couple

• High average annual hourly contribution of widows and widowers (despite a low volunteer rate and small population)

• Two possible explanations for the high volunteer rate of married Albertans / Albertans in common-law relationships


Education Matters

• Post-secondary education is a major determinant of volunteer rates.

• Albertans with post-secondary backgrounds have high volunteer rates and high average annual contribution of volunteer hours.

• Especially true of university graduates who account for a disproportionately high percentage of all volunteers and total volunteer hours


Education Matters• People who live in rural areas of Canada were more likely to devote time to

volunteer work than their urban counterparts in 2003, regardless of their level of education.

• The study found that the association between education and volunteering was stronger in Canada's rural areas.

• In rural areas nationwide, 63% of people with a university degree reported that they had done some volunteering. This was 2.2 times higher than the proportion of 29% among those without a high school diploma.

• In contrast, in urban areas, 42% of university degree holders did some volunteering. This was only 1.8 times higher than the proportion of 24% among those who did not complete high school.


Employment Makes a Difference

• The results in this category support the adage that it is always wiser to give busy people a task as they get it done!

• Employed Albertans are substantially more likely to volunteer, contribute a greater percentage of total volunteer hours and account for a greater percentage of all volunteers than their counterparts who are not in the labour force.

• Volunteers not in the labour force contributed a greater average number of volunteer hours than those employed.


Household Income Factors

• High volunteer rate and total hourly contribution of Albertans (particularly those in the “$100,000 or more” category)

• Albertans with household incomes of over $100,000 only contributed the third highest average number of annual volunteer hours. Those in the $40,000 to $59,999 and $20,000 to $39,999 categories contributed the first and second largest number of annual volunteer hours

• While more financially secure Albertans may wish or choose to volunteer, those in lower income brackets may have more time to volunteer.

• Albertans with mid-level incomes contribute a high average annual hourly contribution and a high composition of the percentage of total volunteers.


Children Keep Parents Busy!

• Great number of children-related volunteer opportunities available to parents/guardians might explain the high volunteer rate of people with school-aged children.

• While people with no children in the household had the lowest volunteer rate, they contributed the highest number of annual volunteer hours, made up the largest percentage of total volunteers in the “Presence of children in household” category and accounted for the largest percentage of total volunteer hours.


Painting a Picture of Alberta’s ‘Super Volunteers’ – I

Based on statistics taken from the 2004 CSGVP, a portrait of an Albertan most likely to volunteer would look something like

•a woman.

•a high school or university student.

•a recent graduate of a post-secondary program, particularly university.

•a person with stable employment.

•someone who attends religious services on a weekly basis.

•a person with a high household income.

•a married person / person in a common-law relationship.

•a female Albertan between the ages of 35 and 54 who is either married or involved in a common-law relationship. She would likely have a university degree, attend religious services on a weekly basis, have school-aged children and live in a household with a high yearly income (either between $60,000 and $79,999 or over $100,000).


Painting a Picture of Alberta’s ‘Super Volunteers’ – II

Based on statistics taken from the 2004 CSGVP, a portrait of an Albertan most likely to contribute the largest amount of time to volunteer activities would look something like

•a woman.•a baby boomer.•an elder.•a person with a high school diploma – perhaps an older adult who entered the workforce right after high school as opposed to pursuing a post-secondary education.•someone not in the labour force.•a widow / widower.•a young university graduate with a mid-level income.•a regular attendee of weekly religious services.•somebody without children in the household.•a female senior citizen with a high school education who has lost a spouse. This person would no longer be a part of the labour force and would have a household income in the $20 000 to $59 999 range. She would not have any children in the household and would likely attend religious services on a weekly basis.


What Alberta’s volunteers do and how much time they spend doing it

• Most common volunteer efforts – fundraising (50% of volunteers) – organizing or supervising events (49%) – sitting on a committee or board (37%) – teaching, educating and mentoring (36%)

• Greatest amount of time in terms of percentage of annual volunteer hours– dedicated to organizing or supervising events (17% of all volunteer

hours), teaching, educating or mentoring (13%) – sitting on a committee or board (12%) – fundraising (10%)


Where Albertans Volunteer

• Albertans contribute to many types of organizations

• Greatest number of volunteers and percentage of total volunteer hours were dedicated to – sports and recreation (14% of total volunteers and 20% of total

volunteer hours) – education and research (12% of total volunteers and 13% of total

volunteer hours)– social services (12% of total volunteers and 14% of total volunteer

hours)– religion (11% of total volunteers and 15% of total volunteer hours)

Q?


How Volunteers get Involved

• Half (50%) of Alberta’s volunteers began to contribute their efforts because they were asked. – Of this group, 73% were approached by someone from a

nonprofit/voluntary organization and only 17% were asked to volunteer by a friend or relative.

• 43% of Alberta’s volunteers became involved with volunteerism by approaching a voluntary organization on their own initiative.


Motivations for Volunteering

• 93% of Albertans decided to volunteer because they wanted to contribute positively to their community.

• Other reasons were the chance to put to use one’s skills and expertise (the reason given by 78% of respondents) and a personal link to a cause supported by an organization (75%).


Helping Others


Rural Participation

• 67% of Canada's most rural residents with a college certificate or diploma reported that they were a member of an organization, compared to 55% of those living in urban areas


Linked Behaviours

• Giving, volunteering and participating behaviours are linked.

• Those who volunteer are more likely to donate, help others directly and participate in organizations.

• 69% of volunteers engaged in all four activities– 25% in three forms– 92% of volunteers made financial donations– 91% helped others directly– 83% participated


Giving in AlbertaGive, and good measure will be given to you, pressed down and shaken together, and

running over, they will give into your bosom. For the same measure which you measure, it will be measured back to you.- Luke 6:38

• 79% of Albertans (approximately 2,045,000 people) donated an average of $500 (nationally, the highest average amount).

• Albertans donated over $1 billion.

• 93% of Albertans either made a financial or in-kind donation (such as clothing, toys, other household items, and food – the former three were the types of gifts Albertans most preferred to contribute).

• 86% made in-kind donations as opposed to 79% for financial gifts.


Increase Donations

New Community Spirit Tax Credits!• Does your community know that donating $500

will only cost them $299?

500$ 299$ 1,000$ 549$ 5,000$ 2,549$

10,000$ 5,049$ 15,000$ 7,549$

Your CharityDonation

YourActual Cost Federal

(15.5%)Provincial

(10%)Federal

(29%)Provincial

(21%)31$ 20$ 87$ 63$ 31$ 20$ 232$ 168$ 31$ 20$ 1,392$ 1,008$ 31$ 20$ 2,842$ 2,058$ 31$ 20$ 4,292$ 3,108$

Tax CreditFirst $200 Over $200


Charitable Giving

• People aged 35-44 have a donation rate of 89% and those from 45-54 donated an annual average sum of $727.

• 83% of Albertan women donated an annual average sum of $530.

• People with university degrees donated, on average, $849 annually and have a donation rate of 93%.


Charitable Giving

• 83% of employed Albertans made an average annual donation of $541 and accounted for 69% of donors as well as 76% of total donation value.

• 90% of people who regularly attended weekly religious services made an average annual donation of $1,209 as opposed to the average annual donation of non-weekly attendees, $298.


Immigrants and Charitable Giving • Nearly same rate of giving between immigrant and Canadian-born donors (85% to 86%)

• Immigrants made a larger average annual contribution ($462 versus $394) but accounted for only 20% of the total value of all donations.

• Immigrants and non-immigrants tend to donate to the same types of organizations but immigrants are more likely to give to religious organizations than Canadian-born donors (44% v 38%) and less likely to give to health organizations (48% to 60%).

• Immigrants also gave more money to religious organizations and less to hospitals and sports and recreation than native-born Canadians.


Much Comes From the Few

• 61% of all money donated in Alberta comes from just

10% of Albertans who donated sums of $1,138 or more (61% of total donation value)

• Another 15% of donors gave between $420 and $1,137 (21% of total donation value).

• This means that 25% of Alberta’s donors contributed

82% of all money that was charitably given.


Motivations for Donating• Albertans cited largely altruistic reasons for their desire to

donate.

• Two most common factors mentioned were feelings of compassion towards people in need and supporting a cause in which one personally believes (88% of respondents gave both of these as primary reasons for donating).

• Contributing to the community and a personal connection to a cause championed by a particular organization were the next most common motivations cited (76% and 65%, respectively).

• Religious convictions (36%) and the desire to obtain government tax credits (24%) were the least popular reasons for making a charitable gift.


Barriers to Donating

• The most common reason given for not donating or not donating more was that people felt they could not afford to (as stated by 70% of donors and 57% of non-donors).

• The second-most common factor non-donors provided as the reason they did not give money was that they were never asked.

• People who felt they had already given an adequate amount accounted for 66% of donors and 44% said they did not give more because they did not like the way in which they were asked to make a donation.


Where the Money Goes

• Religious organizations received nearly half of the total value of all donations made in Alberta – 49% or just over $500 million, but represented only 33% of the total number of donations.

• Health organizations were definitely the greatest recipients of the largest number of donations (59%) but accounted for only 18% of the total value of all donations.

• Another disproportionate situation exists with giving to the social services as this sector represented 37% of all donations but only 11% of the total value of donations.

• Arts and culture received the lowest total value of all donations and the total number of donations in Alberta (1% and 3%, respectively).


How the Money is Donated

• Albertans were most likely to make a donation when asked to sponsor someone for an event to raise money for a charitable cause (35% of donors gave because of this reason).

• Next two most popular ways (both at 32%) were in response to door canvassing or through church collections.

• Although the collection of donations at religious centres is not the most popular way to make a donation, it certainly is the most successful way of securing donations as it generated 46% of the total value of all donations.


Key Findings

1. A few contribute the most.

2. Youth involvement is significant.

3. Having school-aged and pre-school-aged children in the household definitely boosts volunteer rates (this is certainly the case in Alberta).

4. Employer-supported volunteerism increases volunteer opportunities.

5. Rates of volunteering among immigrants are only marginally lower than among non-immigrants.


A Few Contribute the Most

• 11% of Canadians (25% of all volunteers) provided 77% of all volunteer hours.

• ‘Top Volunteers’ are: – More likely to be religiously active– More likely to have university degrees– Less likely to have only pre-school-aged children

in their household • 13% of those aged 55 and over are ‘top volunteers’

(and the average number of hours volunteered increases with age).


A Few Contribute the Most (cont’d)

What does this mean to those who work to develop and strengthen volunteerism?

• Where do we go beyond boomers?• How does this affect our current service delivery

models?


Trends in 2009

Know your target audience and adapt your practices

• Highly skilled volunteers• Baby boomer retirees• Urban shift to rural communities• Screening volunteers in a mobile society• Labour force migration demographics• Episodic volunteering • Employer supported volunteering


Rates of Volunteering Among Immigrants


Volunteering among Immigrants

Immigrant and non-immigrant populations generally volunteer for the same types of organizations, with a few

notable exceptions.– 6% of immigrants volunteered for sports & recreation

groups versus 13% for native-born Canadians– Immigrants also dedicated less time to sports &

recreation than their Canadian-born counterparts (10% of total hours vs. 20% of total hours, respectively)

– Immigrants also contributed a larger percentage of hours to religious organizations than Canadian-born volunteers (22% of total hours vs. 15%, respectively).


Rates of Volunteering Among Immigrants

What does this mean to volunteers who work to develop and strengthen volunteerism?– Homogenous versus heterogeneous volunteer pool– Importance of sustaining efforts to involve immigrants

as volunteers– Volunteer Alberta’s

Intersections


Next Steps

• What does this mean for St. Vincent De Paul? • What does this mean for your volunteer program?• What barriers to volunteering prevent growth?• How will you translate theory into action?

A Portrait of Canadian Volunteerism: Highlights and Implications of the 2004 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participatingvolunteer alberta

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csgvp presentation april 4 2009

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