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[whetherwoman]

This map of volunteering rates by state and city is very interesting to me. Why do so few people volunteer [edit: errrr, a smaller percentage of the population, rather] in Florida and New York? Why do people in Sacramento put in an average of 13 more volunteering hours yearly than people in San Francisco, but the volunteer retention rate (how many

Comments

[dhaunea]

Considering NY has 2.9 million volunteers to Utah's less than a million, I think their percentages are based solely on population (which I think is deceptive, as it's not immediately obvious on the site). And as most of NY's population is down in NYC, I'm betting so are most of their volunteers, the largest number jammed into a very small area - hence the skewing.

I'd prefer to see something based on an algorithm of numbers of volunteers versus the needs in a specific area to be filled, which is probably impossible.

[whetherwoman]

I'm not sure that I would find number of volunteers as useful as percentage of population that volunteers. Places with larger populations will always have more volunteers, but when you've got 3 out of every 5 people in one place volunteering, then you've got a culture of volunteerism.

I would also love to see a volunteers:need statistic, or a ratio of current volunteers to open volunteer positions. Something similar that I saw referenced on the website but haven't figured out how to get the actual number yet is number of nonprofits per capita...

[dhaunea]

I'd also bet that the average age of FLs population might have something to do with volunteerism there.

[whetherwoman]

I'm not sure if this statistic is on that particular website, but nationwide older adults and baby boomers have the highest volunteering rates.

[dhaunea]

My own grandmother was a volunteer until she died - in her mid 80s. Florida's older, retired population is a bit (and this is my own, highly prejudiced experience here) a bit less... giving.

I always wonder if it's because most of them moved there to 'get away from it all' and if that's a bit of what they're getting away from.

[whetherwoman]

Yeah, I think that's very true. I've been spending quite a bit of time doing volunteer recruitment in senior living facilities here, and I'm finding the same thing--people are like, I retired for a reason, I deserve to sit in the sun all day.

I just wish I knew where the older adults who are into volunteering hang out. Churches, I suppose... I wonder what the place-of-worship-going rate in Florida is...