1. DOES VOLUNTEERING COUNT?
CAN WE COUNT VOLUNTEERING?
LESTER M. SALAMON
Johns Hopkins University
Stop and Think
Conference Porto Alegre, Brazil | 21 May 2012
2. WHY DOES VOLUNTEERING COUNT?
• An enormous “RENEWABLE RESOURCE” for
societal problem-solving.
3. VOLUNTEERING’S IMPACT?
ECONOMIC CAPITAL: financial resources
PHYSICAL CAPITAL: equipment, services
HUMAN CAPITAL: skills, attitudes
SOCIAL CAPITAL: SOCIAL
RESOURCES/TRUST
4. VOLUNTEERING’S IMPACT?
CONOMIC GROWTH DEPENDS ON SOCIAL
CAPITAL
dam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments:
“Hidden hand” of the market depends
on the sentiment of “SYMPATHY”
rancis Fukuyama: “Trust” the key to prosperity
5. VOLUNTEERING’S IMPACT?
Nonprofits foster SOCIAL CAPITAL
“Feelings and opinions are recruited, the
heart is enlarged, and the human mind is
developed, only by the reciprocal influence
of [people] upon one another.... and this
can only be accomplished by associations.”
-Alexis de Tocqueville
6. VOLUNTEERING’S IMPACT?
VOLUNTEERING Builds TRUST
The ETHOS of Volunteering:
Recognition of a common good
Individual responsibility to common good
Necessity of active personal involvement
Inclusive/trusting world view
Individuals and social context interconnected
Source: Reed and Selby, 2003
7. VOLUNTEERING’S IMPACT?
VOLUNTEERING ASSOCIATED WITH TRUST
views of neighbourhood by whether respondent participated in formal volunteering
Source: 2005 Citizenship Survey, U.K.
8. VOLUNTEERING’S IMPACT?
VOLUNTEERING ASSOCIATED WITH TRUST
social networks by whether respondent participated in voluntary activities
Source: 2005 Citizenship Survey, U.K.
9. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
• An enormous “renewable resource” for societal
problem-solving.
• Gross lack of reliable data.
10. METHODOLOGICAL CHAOS
Small samples
Impractical “recall period” (1 year)
No info on hours volunteered
Uneven use of prompts
Limited coverage/classification of activities
Divergent definitions
Neglect of direct volunteering
11. METHODOLOGICAL CHAOS
Competing realities: UK
Volunteer
Survey Definition rate
National Survey of • Formal volunteering 48%
Volunteering UK, 1997 • Informal volunteering 74%
European Quality of Life • “volunteering and
Survey, 2007 charitable activities” 31%
Gallup Worldview • “Organizational volunteering” 29%
Survey, 2010 • “Helping strangers” 52%
Harmonized European • Organizational work 2%
Time Use Survey, 2009 • Informal help to others 10%
12. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
“What isn’t COUNTED doesn’t COUNT.”
“What can’t be MEASURED can’t be MANAGED.”
13. SECURING VOLUNTEERING’S FUTURE
BARRIERS
INF
ICY RAS
POL TR UCT
U RE
IMPACTS
ON ON ON
BENEFI- VOLUN- SOCIETY
CIARIES TEERS
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14. JOHNS COMPARATIVE NONPROFIT SECTOR COUNTRIES
HOPKINS COMPARATIVE NONPROFIT SECTOR PROJECT
Denmark The Netherlands
Sweden
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Belgium Finland
United Kingdom Norway
Austria Poland
France
Italy Romania
Germany
Canada Slovakia
Russia
Hungary
United States Ireland
Spain Japan
Mexico
Portugal
Morocco Turkey Korea
Israel
Colombia The Philippines
Ghana Lebanon India
Brazil Egypt Kenya Thailand
Pakistan
South Africa Tanzania
Chile
Argentina Uganda
Australia
New Zealand
Peru
15. NONPROFIT WORKFORCE AS A SHARE OF ECONOMICALLY
ACTIVE POPULATION, by country
Source: Salamon et.al., Global Civil Society, Kumarian, 2004.
16. NONPROFIT WORKFORCE AS A SHARE OF ECONOMICALLY
ACTIVE POPULATION, by country
Source: Salamon et.al., Global Civil Society, Kumarian, 2004.
17.
18. CONTRIBUTION OF NPIs & SELECTED INDUSTRIES TO GDP,
Brazil, 2002
Textiles 0.4%
Manufacture-
cars, trucks, buses 0.5%
Nonprofit
sector
2.3%
Transportation 2.6%
Manufacture &
maintenance – 2.8%
machines & engines
% of Value Added
Source: IBGE/National Accounts 2002 (values in basic prices)
19. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
Volunteer Contribution
7.2% 7.3%
NPIs only
6.2% 1.2%
2.0%
4.8%
5.2%
4.9% 5.0%
1.0% 4.7%
4.2% 0.8% 1.0%
1.4%
2.3%
1.3%
6.1% 6.1%
2.3% 5.2%
3.8% 0.4% 4.2% 4.2%
1.3% 3.3%
2.9% 2.6%
1.9%
1.2%
Czech France New Japan Mozambique
10 -
country Republic Brazil 2002
Australia
1999 Zealand
Belgium
2001 2004 2003
United
States
Canada
2000
average 2004
2002 2004 2003
Source: Nonprofit Organizations in Brazil, Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies 2010
20. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
44 percent
of nonprofit
workforce in
CNP
countries
Source: Salamon et.al., Global Civil Society, Kumarian, 2004.
21. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
Volunteer Input
as a share of
total private
philanthropy, Value of Charitable
36 countries volunteering, giving,
68% 32%
Source: Salamon et.al., Global Civil Society, Kumarian, 2004.
22. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
CONTRIBUTION TO GDP, VOLUNTEERS VS. SELECTED INDUSTRIES, CANADA
GDP Contribution Billions of Canadian $
$14.1 billion
$12.8 billion
$6.1 billion
Volunteers Motor vehicle Agriculture
manufacturing
23. IF VOLUNTEERS WEREAA NATION…
IF VOLUNTEERS WERE NATION…
“VOLUNTEERLAND”—THE WORLD’S SECOND MOST POPULOUS NATION
China 1,023.5
VOLUNTEERLAND 971.0
India 756.5
United States 239.7
Indonesia 162.4
Brazil 127.7
Russian Federation 121.6
Japan 109.4
Bangladesh 101.3
Pakistan 92.8
Millions of people 15 years or older
24. IF VOLUNTEERS WERE A NATION…
“VOLUNTEERLAND”—THE WORLD’S 7TH LARGEST ECONOMY
United States 12,580
Japan 4,229
Germany 3,329
China 2,303
United Kingdom 2,280
France 1,457
VOLUNTEERLAND 1,348
Canada 1,134
Spain 1,130
Italy 1,097
US$ billions, 2005
25. A COMMON APPROACH WILL…
Clarify Scale and role
Benchmark progress
Permit comparisons
Boost visibility and respect
Improve infrastructure / management
Encourage public policies
Stimulate volunteering
26. WHY MEASURE VOLUNTEERING?
“The General Assembly calls on member states to…
[establish] the economic value of volunteering….”
UN Resolution on the Year of the Volunteer, 2001
“A major constraint continues to be a limited availability of
specific data on volunteer contributions…”
Report of the Secretary General on
Implementation of the Year of the Volunteer, July 2005
31. APPROACH
• Labor force survey platform
• Broad definition—but no mention of
“volunteering”
32. DEFINING VOLUNTEERING
A BROAD DEFINITION
“Unpaid non-compulsory work;
that is, time individuals give
without pay to activities performed
either through organizations or directly
for others outside their own household.”
33. APPROACH
• Labor force survey platform
• Broad definition—but no mention of
“volunteering”
• Short survey module
• Four-week reference period
• Activity focus
• Short intro statement – prompts as fall-back
34. SECURING VOLUNTEERING’S FUTURE
BARRIERS
INF
RAS
POLICY TR UCT
U RE
IMPACTS
ON ON ON
BENEFI- VOLUN- SOCIETY
CIARIES TEERS
WH
VA
WH
WH
LU
HO CH?
ER
MU
AT
E?
O?
W
E?
?
40. IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS
OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF ILO MANUAL FROM:
European Commission
Council of the European Union
European Parliament
European Economic and Social Comm
DG Employment
EYV Alliance”
UN Volunteers “State of the World
Volunteering Report”
43. THE WORK HAS JUST BEGUN
• MOBILIZE volunteer community
• DISSEMINATE Manual, Fact Sheets
• ENGAGE policy circles
• APPROACH statistics agencies
• BUILD ON THE FOUNDATION: broader
impacts, strengthened infrastructure,
enabling policy
• ASSEMBLE/DISSEMINATE /DISCUSS data
44. THE WORK HAS JUST BEGUN
“What isn’t COUNTED doesn’t COUNT.”
“What can’t be MEASURED can’t be MANAGED.”
Let’s not lose this
OPPORTUNITY
