April 23, 1998 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Three new surveys have provided fresh insights into Americans’ views on volunteering:
* A United Parcel Service survey released this month found that more than half of Americans believe that volunteering is more important today than it was five years ago. And 40 per cent said they would like to volunteer more. The telephone poll of 1,000 people was conducted in February.
* An index released last month by the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, a project of the Hudson Institute, rated 1,000 Americans on their attitudes about giving and volunteering. It showed that while most Americans think volunteerism plays an important role in society, they also feel that people should be giving and volunteering a lot more than they are now.
* More than half of all Americans say that volunteering is more important than giving money to charity, according to a survey of 1,000 adults by the Lutheran Brotherhood, a Minneapolis group.
However, a Chronicle spot check reveals that many charities are failing to take advantage of Americans’ interest in volunteering, and have trouble leading prospective volunteers who call them.
A month before the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, where President Clinton and four former Presidents encouraged people to volunteer to help kids, The Chronicle conducted a spot check to inquire about volunteer opportunities at 23 local affiliates of five national charities. All of the charities had publicly announced plans to carry out the summit’s goals.
The spot check revealed that many groups were ill-prepared to handle calls from prospective volunteers. Only seven offered a caller volunteer opportunities related to their summit pledges.
Over the past month, The Chronicle again called the same 23 charities to gauge their ability to handle a prospective volunteer’s calls. Only nine specified volunteer activities the caller could pursue to help them meet their summit-related pledge. An additional 10 charities offered volunteer opportunities unrelated to the summit. Four of the groups had no idea what the caller was referring to and were quick to end the call.
Following are charities that offered volunteer opportunities related to the summit in response to The Chronicle check:
YMCA of San Diego County Clay-Platte YMCA, Kansas City, Mo. YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas
Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Philadelphia
Columbia Park Boys and Girls Club, San Francisco
Lonestar Council of Camp Fire, Dallas
Camp Fire Boys and Girls-Ozarks Council (Springfield, Mo.)
Big Brothers of King County (Kirkland, Wash.)
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City, Mo.
Following are charities that offered volunteer opportunities unrelated to the summit:
Boys & Girls Clubs of San Diego
YWCA of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, Cal.
YMCA of Greater Miami
YMCA of San Francisco
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, Mo.
Big Brothers and Sisters of Metropolitan Dallas
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater St. Louis
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area (Silver Spring, Md.)
Camp Fire Los Angeles Area Council
YWCA of Metropolitan St. Louis
Following are charities that did not offer any volunteer opportunities:
YMCA of Pittsburgh
YMCA of Greater Seattle
Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami
Heartland Council of Camp Fire (Prairie Village, Kan.)
* * *
For more information on the United Parcel Service study, call the UPS Foundation at (404) 828-6374.
For more information, or a free copy of the Nation’s Index of Civic Engagement, contact the Hudson Institute, 1015 18th Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington 20036; (202) 974-2402.
For a free copy of the Lutheran Brotherhood study, contact Dan Ness, Shandwick, 8400 Normandale Boulevard, Minneapolis 55437; (612) 832-5000; e-mail: dness@shandwick.com.
Dan Morris and Nicole Wallace contributed to this article.
