July 16, 2007 | Read Time: 3 minutes
More than half of adults age 55 and older who don’t currently volunteer plan to do so either now or in the future, says a report released today by VolunteerMatch, a San Francisco group that links people with charities.
In a survey based on telephone interviews with 507 individuals who were age 55 to 75, 52 percent of people said that retirement heralded a “new chapter” in life during which they planned to be involved in community activities and set new personal goals, while 37 percent said it was a time to “take it easy” after years of employment.
Of those who reported being “very” or “fairly” interested in volunteering, 45 percent were college graduates, 42 percent were or had been professionals or managers, 41 percent were women age 55 to 64, and 39 percent attended church.
When people were asked which barriers kept them from volunteering, 39 percent said they had not found the “right opportunity,” 36 percent said health concerns or physical limitations, and 22 percent said they “prefer to give back in other ways.”
In the report’s introduction, the authors note that volunteering among people age 45 to 64 has increased nearly 30 percent since 1974. But the authors also observe that as more charities are being created, an ever-greater number of volunteers are needed. What’s more, two-thirds of charities say they face trouble recruiting sufficient numbers of unpaid workers.
“To what extent these trends will converge or collapse as the boomers venture into their ‘retirement’ years is still unclear,” says the report. “What is clear, however, is that change is coming.”
Among the other findings:
Of those adults age 55 and older who do not volunteer, 32 percent said they would consider volunteer activities that helped them “learn new skills or explore new interests,” while 21 percent would prefer duties that dovetailed with their existing job skills. While 81 percent of non-volunteers said that working on a cause they care about would be paramount in choosing whether [note]or not [noteEnd]to volunteer, logistical factors also played a role, with 71 percent citing volunteer activities that were convenient and 69 percent citing activities that suited their schedules. Current volunteers age 55 and older registered with VolunteerMatch donated 226 hours per year on average, more than any other age group; for example, volunteers age 30 to 39 contributed 132 hours. While 53 percent of older volunteers said they expect to contribute more time to charitable causes over the next few years, just 9 percent said they intend to contribute fewer hours. At the same time, older volunteers are twice as likely as those younger than 55 to shun activities that they don’t find “interesting and challenging.” In an online survey of staff members at 1,000 nonprofit groups that use VolunteerMatch, 81 percent said their organizations engage volunteers ages 55 to 64, while 62 percent said their groups also work with volunteers age 65 to 74. In-depth interviews with 20 coordinators of volunteers revealed that while they viewed older volunteers in a positive light[—]calling them more reliable, self-confident, mature, and committed than their younger counterparts[—]they also believed that older volunteers could be obstinate, opinionated, less flexible with regard to assignments, and more interested in chatting and socializing than others.
Online recruiting could be an effective way for nonprofit groups to reach older Americans, the report said. In an online survey of 2,316 people registered with VolunteerMatch, 61 percent of respondents age 40 and older said they had donated their time to a group found via the online service, while an additional 29 percent said they planned to do so within the next year.
The data was compiled by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the report, “Great Expectations: Boomers and the Future of Volunteering,” was supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the MetLife Foundation. It is available online at VolunteerMatch’s Web site.
