New study on Volunteerism

The Drury University Center for Nonprofit Leadership is pleased to present "Volunteerism," a study of volunteers and the significant impact they make on organizations and communities.

The study examined volunteerism in Greene and Christian counties in Missouri, the types of services performed, and how volunteers help organizations accomplish their missions. The 30-page report highlights trends in volunteerism, motives for giving time, and how organizations manage volunteers. One major finding: formal volunteerism (service documented by area nonprofits and institutions) has an economic impact of almost $45 million per year in the two counties.

The study was conducted over a period of two years and tracks a wide spectrum of formal volunteerism, from small organizations that exist almost solely as volunteer endeavors to large organizations such as hospitals that rely on platoons of volunteers for small but crucial tasks. It breaks down volunteerism data by ZIP codes, age, race, gender, education level, and income as well as the number of hours given and types of causes each group is most likely to gravitate toward. This information could help local nonprofits identify ways to better engage different constituencies such as minority groups, millennials or low-income families.

This study answers:
How many volunteers are in the Springfield area?
What is the annual economic value of formal volunteerism in this region?
Do men volunteer as often as women? Which group serves longer?
How are minority groups represented in the Springfield volunteer sector?
Which zip codes or regions have the highest level of volunteerism?
What percentage of volunteers donate money?

The study is a follow-up to the Center’s 2014 Nonprofit Impact Report, the first such report ever conducted in Springfield. The Impact Report revealed the sweeping scope of nonprofits in the area, including the fact that about half of all private employees in Springfield work for a nonprofit of some kind.

“Notably absent from our 2014 Impact Report was any significant data on volunteers and how their work supports nonprofits,” says Dan Prater, Director of Center for Nonprofit Leadership. “The new study gives us valuable insight into what is essentially the lifeblood of the nonprofit sector – and it provides clues as to how volunteerism can be strengthened and amplified in our community.”

Results from the study will be unveiled Tuesday, June 21, 9:00 a.m. at Drury University, in the Trustee Science Center. Copies of the publication will be given to those in attendance.

The report will be available as a PDF download this summer at www.Drury.edu/Nonprofit.

For more information, contact Dan Prater, executive director at the Center for Nonprofit Leadership 417-873-7443, [email protected]