2012 Volunteering in the United States — 2013-02-22

The volunteer rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 26.5 percent for the year ending in September 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 64.5 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2011 and September 2012. The decline in the volunteer rate in 2012 followed an increase of one-half of a percentage point in 2011. These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the September 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS). The supplement was sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organization. For more information about the volunteer supplement, see the Technical Note.