board chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "By providing a better understanding of how Americans volunteer, this report can help city leaders increase service and civic engagement."

Findings on Volunteering’s Leaky Bucket, How Volunteers Spend Time, and Voluntourism

In a repeat of last year’s findings, the report underscored the continuing challenge of volunteering’s leaky bucket with an estimated 22 million or more than one in three American volunteers dropping out between 2006 and 2007. This finding points out how important it is for organizations that use volunteers to treat them as valuable assets, give them meaningful assignments and use best practices in volunteer management. Tools and resources, including webinars, for strengthening volunteer management are available at the Corporation’s Resource Center website at www.NationalService.gov/resources/via2008.

The report includes a first-ever analysis of the differences between volunteers and non-volunteers in how they spend their time, using data from the Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey. The largest difference is how much television they watch. In a typical week, volunteers spend approximately 15 hours watching television, compared to 23 hours for non-volunteers. That eight-hour difference adds up to more than 400 hours over the course of a year.

"The research shows that volunteering isn’t as much about having the time to volunteer but creating volunteering opportunities that people want to make the time for," said Dr. Robert Grimm, the Corporation’s Director of Research and Policy. "If millions of Americans traded in one hour of TV a week to volunteer, they could make a profound difference in some of the big problems facing our nation and potentially accrue personal health benefits."

The report also includes an analysis of the emerging phenomenon of voluntourism. In 2007, more than 3.7 million Americans volunteered more than 120 miles from their home. Voluntourism is especially strong in areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina – at least one-quarter of Mississippi’s volunteers and one-fifth of Louisiana’s volunteers last year were out-of-state residents. Additionally, 1,056,000 volunteers served with organizations located overseas in 2007.

Other Key Findings

Intensive volunteering is on the rise: The percentage of volunteers giving over 100 hours of service per year reached its highest level since 2002, with 35.6 percent of all volunteers contributing at this "intensive" level.

College towns are hot spots for volunteering: College towns are home to students with strong volunteer habits and many highly educated adults. For example, the high rankings of college towns like Provo, Utah, Iowa City, Iowa, and Madison, Wis., reflect the known positive correlation between higher levels of education and volunteering.

Women volunteer more than men, and working mothers have the highest volunteer rate. About 29.3 percent of women volunteered in 2007, compared to 22.9 percent of men. Women with children and women who work have higher volunteer rates than other women.

"At home and abroad, in our big cities and small towns, every day millions of Americans are making a difference through volunteering. This report shows the American spirit of compassion is strong and vibrant across our nation,"