Volunteering among adults has increased significantly over the past decade.

The 109 million adult volunteers gave a total of 19.9 billion hours during 1998, an average of 3.5 hours a week.

Volunteer efforts are a valuable commodity.
The volunteer workforce represented the equivalent of over nine million full-time employees; their combined efforts were worth $225 billion, and the assigned hourly value (for 1998) was $14.30.

Who volunteers?
Women volunteer more than men (62% vs. 49%), however men who volunteered gave more time than women (3.6 hours vs. 3.4 hours). Seniors are volunteering in greater numbers. Forty-three percent of seniors aged 75 and over said they volunteered.

Why do people volunteer?
More than eight out of 10 people (86%) said they volunteered because they felt compassion for those in need. Nearly three-fourths of the respondents (72%) volunteered because they had an interest in the activity or work, and 70 percent volunteered to gain a new perspective on things.

America's youth have the volunteer spirit.
Thirteen million teens, more than half of Americašs teen population (59%) volunteered. They gave an estimated 3.5 hours per week. (Information provided by The Points of Light Foundation).

Canadian volunteers contribute an average of 191 hours per year. This time is equivalent to 578,000 full-time jobs. (Source: Canadian Center for Philanthropy, 1997)

Nineteen per cent of adults surveyed in France said they volunteer their time. Of these, 60% said they volunteer 20 or more hours a month. Some 46% of the respondents said they volunteered because they liked to help others, while 27% felt obligated to help. (Source: Lions Club International, 1998)

About one of every three adults in Germany - 34% -- currently volunteer an average of 15 hours a month within associations, initiatives, projects and self-help groups. Three-quarters of people surveyed volunteered to increase their "knowledge and experience". Forty per cent of non-volunteers said they were interested in taking up voluntary activity. (Source: Projectverbund Ehrenamt/Infratest Burke, 1999)

About 15% of non-profit organizations in Ghana work in the area of education and research followed by environment, 13 per cent and community and rural development, 13%. (Source: Johns Hopkins Non-profit Sector Survey, 1998)

About 33% of the adults in Ireland are currently volunteers. The total amount of time given to voluntary work per year is equivalent to some 96,454 full-time workers. Seventy-two per cent of people feel that volunteers offer something that could never be provided by paid professionals. (Source: Charitable Giving and Volunteering, Ruddle, H. and Mulvihill, R., 1999)

More than 26% of adults surveyed in Japan said they currently volunteer or had volunteered in the past. Some 48% said the reason for volunteering was because they thought it was useful in some way and 33% of respondents volunteered for a learning experience. (Source: Japan Broadcasting Corporation, 1998)

In South Korea, 3,898,564 persons volunteered over 451 million hours in 1999. The economic value of yearly volunteering exceeds $2 billion. (Source: Ministry of Home Affairs and Government Administration, 1999)