2011 Volunteering in the United States — 2012-02-22

The volunteer rate rose by 0.5 percentage point to 26.8 percent for the year ending in September 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 64.3 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2010 and September 2011. The increase in the volunteer rate in 2011 followed a decline of equal size in 2010. These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the September 2011 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.