Across the nation, volunteering is on the rise, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The CNCS reports that in 2011, Americans volunteered more than 7.9 billion hours of time through formal organizations, and the value of that time equates to more than $171 billion.
In total, there were more than 64.5 million US citizens that volunteered their time in 2011, which is roughly 26.5% of the total US population. In addition, 51% of US residents donated money to charity in 2011, showing that there is a pervasive culture of volunteering and donating across the US.
For charitable organizations, it is important to leverage the current growth in volunteering and donating by rallying your constituents to both participate in fundraisers and increase their donations. Further, the data shows that the age of volunteers is pretty evenly spread across all age groups. As such, finding ways to reach a more diverse audience demographic can be a great way to increase participation in fundraising activities in your charitable organization.