An upsurge in volunteerism is creating pressures and opportunities for nonprofits to better manage volunteers. 63.4 million Americans over the age of 16 volunteered in 2009, an increase of almost 1.6 million from the previous year.

Despite difficult economic times, the number of Americans volunteering in their communities jumped by 1.6 million last year, the largest increase in six years, according to a report released [June 15, 2010] by the Corporation for National and Community Service.[...] Previous research would suggest that volunteering should drop during an economic downturn, because volunteer rates are higher among job-holders and homeowners. Instead, volunteering increased at the fastest rate in six years, and the volunteer rate went up among all race and ethnic groups.[...] Overall 63.4 million Americans (age 16 and older) volunteered in 2009, an increase of almost 1.6 million since 2008.[...] Rates increased among African Americans, especially women, this year more than among other groups. The rate of volunteerism among African Americans climbed from 19.1% in 2008 to 20.0% in 2009, and increased by 1.6% among African American women.

Corporation for National and Community Service. (2010, June 15). New federal report shows greatest spike in volunteers since 2003. Retrieved from http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/assets/resources/2010_VIA_press_release_FINAL.docx

[A] tide of citizen interest is in danger of saturating our current volunteer management system. Our challenge is to ensure that nonprofit organizations quickly "right size" their volunteer business model and management infrastructure to ensure that this wave of service translates into real results.[...] Statistics show us that only a small percentage of local agencies can fund or support paid volunteer management staff.[...] Volunteers increasingly seek roles that help them develop or hone skills. However, our current volunteer infrastructure is primarily built around low-skilled jobs and functions.

Nunn, M. (2009, December 1). It's time to fundamentally change the volunteer engagement system. In: Seven nonprofit seers predict what's ahead. The NonProfit Times. Retrieved from http://www.nptimes.com [posted 7/1/2010]

The Millennial generation,1982-2000, volunteer at higher rates than previous generations.

Young adults who grew up in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks and saw the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina are volunteering at home and abroad in record numbers. The generation that learned in school to serve as well as to read and write, the Millennials were the first global Internet explorers even as they pioneered social networking for favorite causes at home.... Surveys show people born between 1982 and 2000 are the most civic-minded since the generation of the 1930s and 1940s, say Morley Winograd and Michael Hais, co-authors of Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics.... The Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees Ameri Corps and other programs, says volunteer rates for ages 16-24 nearly doubled from 1989 through 2005, from 12.3% to 23%.... Although the volunteer rate for young adults declined to 21.9% in 2008, nearly three in five 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed by the Harvard University Institute of Politics said they were interested in public service.

APRIL 13, 2009, 'Civic generation' rolls up sleeves in record numbers, by Andrea Stone, USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/. [posted 4/17/2009]

The sudden flood of volunteers from the ranks of the unemployed has been a mixed blessing for nonprofits.

Many who run nonprofits have marveled at the sudden flood of bankers, advertising copywriters, marketing managers, accountants and other professionals eager to lend their formidable but dormant skills. The Financial Clinic, which counsels the working poor on economic matters, recently dispatched an M.I.T.-educated ex-Wall Street type to help people in Chinatown prepare their tax returns.... But others grumbled that the current love affair with volunteerism, encouraged by President Obama's nationwide call to public service, can be a mixed blessing. Smaller organizations, with staffs of fewer than 20 and no full-time volunteer coordinator, have struggled to absorb the influx, especially since many of them have simultaneously had to cut back on projects in the face of dwindling donations and government grants.

MARCH 16, 2009, From Ranks of Jobless, a Flood of Volunteers, by Julie Bosman, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com. [posted 4/17/2009]

There is a high turnover rate among baby boomer volunteers.

Baby boomers are volunteering at higher rates than previous generations, but 31 percent of those who volunteer one year fail to return the following year, according to a study released this month by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Nonprofit groups and others that use volunteers must find a way to bring that attrition rate down, says a report on the study that was presented here to a joint conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging. "Volunteer turnover should be seen as just as undesirable as turnover among paid employees," it says. "For most businesses and nonprofits, a 30-percent employee turnover rate would be an indication of a workplace problem." The study also tracked baby-boomer volunteers over two-year periods from 2002 to 2006. It found that on average 31 percent did not continue volunteering the second year - and that the replacement rate, or the percentage of baby boomers who began volunteering that year, was only 27.2 percent. "Our nonprofit sector is doing an insufficient job of providing the kinds of opportunities and the kinds of management that boomers need in order to stay engaged and to stay fulfilled," David Eisner, chief executive of the corporation, told conference participants.

MARCH 22, 2007, Boomer Volunteers Often Give Up Duties, Study Finds, by Suzanne Perry, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://philanthropy.com.[posted 4/24/2008]

Managing volunteers to grow long term with an organization could help stop the flow of volunteers leaving nonprofits.

Some experts say that with all the perennial hand-wringing over the problem of volunteer recruitment, perhaps not enough attention has been paid to the grooming of long-term volunteers like Mr. Hale. Why do they stay when other volunteers quit? How can charities keep more of them? The decades-long increase in the number of volunteers has recently showed signs of slowing, and charities lose roughly one of every three volunteers a year, says Robert Grimm, director of research and policy development at the U.S. Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that encourages volunteering. He calls this phenomenon the "leaky bucket" that's costing nonprofit groups an estimated $30-billion annually. He believes organizations that lower volunteer turnover rates and master the grooming of long-term workers will reap increasingly large benefits. A skilled volunteer who comes back year after year can be just as critical to an organization's health as a comparably experienced and talented paid employee, he says. But finding volunteers like Mr. Cori, who are willing to stick with one organization over the long term, requires what Mr. Grimm, the federal researcher, calls a "talent management" approach to dealing with volunteers. Find out what stokes a person's passion or gets their creativity flowing, he suggests, then plug the person into a role where those specific passions can flower.

FEBRUARY 7, 2008, Taking the Long View: Charities that Cultivate and Keep Volunteers Over Many Years Stand To Reap Big Benefits, Experts Say, by Eric Frazier, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://philanthropy.com. [posted 4/24/2008]