Volunteering and Civic Life in America
For the past 20 years, AmeriCorps has collaborated with the US Census Bureau to collect data on volunteering and civic engagement to take the pulse of our nation’s civic health. The Current Population Survey Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement is the most robust longitudinal survey about volunteerism and other forms of civic engagement in the United States.
The 2021 survey covers volunteering and other civic behaviors from September 2020-2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data informs AmeriCorps’
Volunteering and Civic Life in America report, which examines national rates of organizational volunteering, helping others informally, charitable giving, and other civic behaviors. This research supports evidence-based decision making and efforts to understand how people make a difference in communities across the country.
Formal Volunteering and Informal Helping
The rate of formal volunteering through organizations dropped by seven percentage points, from 30% in 2019 to 23.2% in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Formal Volunteering
- Formal volunteering involves helping others through organizations and includes activities like supporting COVID-19 testing, immunization, and other public health efforts, conducting wellness checks on isolated seniors, supporting food banks, and providing virtual tutoring and mentoring to help students stay on track in school.
- An estimated 23.2% of Americans or more than 60.7 million people formally volunteered with organizations between September 2020 and 2021. In total, these volunteers served an estimated 4.1 billion hours with an economic value of $122.9 billion.
Informal Helping
- Informal helping involves helping others outside of an organizational context, including doing favors for neighbors like house-sitting, watching each other’s children, lending tools, running errands, and other things to lend a hand.
- The rate of Americans informally helping others remained stable between 2019 and 2021. Nearly 51% of Americans or 124.7 million people informally helped their neighbors between September 2020 and 2021.
2021 Kentucky Highlights:
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796,199 formal volunteers contributed 53.8 million hours of service through organizations worth an estimated
$1.3 billion
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22.6% of residents formally volunteered through organizations
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96.6% of residents talked to or spent time with friends or family
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51.1% of residents informally helped others by exchanging favors with their neighbors
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71.0% of residents had a conversation or spent time with their neighbors
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20.1% of residents belonged to an organization
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44.7% of residents donated $25 or more to charity
Interested in Volunteering?
Contact your area volunteer center or
local United Way. Nationally, the estimated value of a volunteer’s time is $33.49 per hour, according to the
Independent Sector, an advocacy group for volunteers and community service groups. The estimated value of a volunteer’s time in Kentucky is $28.53 per hour.
Volunteer Insurance Policies from CIMA
Click on the links below to complete the online application for the type of insurance policy needed.
For more information, call CIMA at (800) 222-8920.
Interested in becoming a AmeriCorps member?
Feed your volunteer spirit by serving others full-time or part-time as an AmeriCorps or AmeriCorps Seniors member. Learn more about
National Service in Kentucky.
Kentucky State Service Plan
Serve Kentucky engages Kentuckians to volunteer to help their neighbors and impact our communities across the Commonwealth. We oversee AmeriCorps programs and work with local partners to support and promote service and volunteerism. Learn more about our plan to engage all Kentuckians, to deliver opportunities for good people to do great things.