National Report: How Generous are Rhode Islanders With Their Time?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
How generous are Rhode Islanders with their time?
The latest report from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, Volunteering in America, has all the answers.
The hard truths: Rhode Island ranked 38th overall in the US in terms of numbers of people volunteering, and an even more sobering 42nd overall in terms of hours spent volunteering per individual.
The good news? That's better than our performance in 2009.
How many of us volunteered last year?
According to the report, 210,687 Rhode Islanders volunteered in 2010, an upward tick from 2009's 196,000 (although 2005 posted a higher number: 226,100). That's 25.1% of the population.
That adds up to 25.5 million hours of service through or for a non-profit or community organization, and comes out to a rate of 30.3 volunteer hours per resident, a slight decline from 2009.
Low nationally, improving locally
"We're encouraged to see these improvements," said Bernard Beaudreau, Executive Director of Serve Rhode Island, which oversees a variety of local volunteer intiatives, including AmeriCorps and Senior Serve Corps. "We know that changing the culture in our state is going to take time. We're starting to see the needle move."
Beaudreau credited a streamlined and more aggressive local effort among grassroots projects, citing April's Serve Rhode Island Week as a galvanizing and inspiring event for Rhode Islanders. The post-Pawtuxet River flood service projects were extremely successful, he says, at bringing people together to donate time and efforts.
United Way of RI: double-digit improvements
Chris Medici, Director of Strategic Marketing for United Way of Rhode Island, echoed Beaudreau's sentiments, and saw the local scene improving when it came to volunteerism. "Things are definitely turning in a more positive direction," he said. "This is particularly exciting for us, as we actually seeing double-digit increases in the number of people who are contacting us, looking for opportunities for themselves, or employees, or family members."
Medici also saw a new trend among United Way's high-net-worth donors. "They're saying to us, 'We want to support you philanthropically, but we also want to sink our teeth into volunteer opportunities. We want a direct connection to the work we're supporting.' From our point of view, that's a best-case scenario," he said. "That's the action behind the financial."
Medici mentioned an inquiry from Bank of America arriving on his desk Monday. "They said they wanted to make an organizational commitment to financial literacy," he said. "They want to mobilize their employees to get involved in hands-on work to help youth and adults learn how to better manage their money. That's the power of these partnerships," he said.
Local volunteer strongholds: on the upswing
Local non-profits known for their strong and broad volunteer bases felt that 2010, despite the challenges of a recession, had been a banner year for local involvement. "I think it's been stronger than ever," said Jonathan Stone, Executive Director for Save the Bay, which counted more than 2,100 volunteers in its 2011 fiscal year that ended June 30. "We've had more and more companies and organizations approach us for getting employees more involved in a community undertaking," he said. "Our big challenge is finding opportunities for them."
The longtime environmental non-profit takes it volunteerism so seriously, Stone said, that a full-time staff member coordinates the corps, from shorelines clean-ups to more sophisticated environmental management tasks and office work at its three centers.
According to Save The Bay, those volunteers contributed 11,395 hours in FY2011, valued at a financial contribution of $238,800.
More hands for hands-on work
At the Rhode Island Food Bank, a squad of 150 regular volunteers form the backbone of a volunteer work force that totaled 21,626 hours of contributions in fiscal year 2011, said Lisa Roth Blackman, Chief Philanthropy Officer. "We have really strong, loyal volunteers who've been with us 10, 15, 20 years," she said. "And if anything, we probably saw an increase in people looking to volunteer."
The recession continues to drive unemployed, highly qualified individuals to organizations like the Food Bank, Roth Blackman said. "People out of work are looking to do something productive and meaningful," she said.
So while Rhode Island's national standing may not feel like something to brag about, local voices see it differently. "We always correlate it to our specific, real-time experience here," said United Way's Medici. "I can tell you we've definitely seen things trending for the better."
Coming tomorrow: Rhode island, New England, and the US - a look at the numbers
