Study: Iowa City Ranks Third in Volunteer Commitment, Iowans Have Increased Time Given to Charity

Iowa City and Iowa rank high in the ranks of volunteers.

Among 75 similar sized metros nationally, Iowa City was ranked number three in the nation,  according to the Volunteering and Civic Life in America (VCLA) report released yesterday. Their findings show that Iowa City residents have a volunteer rate of 49.1 percent and average 57.6 volunteer hours per year. 

Meanwhile, Iowa ranked No. 3 among all states last year in the amount of time given to volunteering, according to a report from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

More Americans volunteered in 2011 than at any time in the previous five years, the Chronicle reported. About 64.3 million Americans volunteered at charities last year, providing 7.9 billion hours of service valued at $171 billion. 

Iowa had been ranked second for the past two years but dropped to third place as Idaho jumped eight spots in state rankings, landing at No. 2. Utah was No. 1, and Minnesota and South Dakota rounded out the Top 5.

Iowans, though, appear to have taken seriously a plea from Gov. Terry Branstad for every resident to volunteer at least 50 hours a year. The state average for volunteer hours in Iowa was 41.9 last year, the Chronicle reported, up nearly eight hours from the state’s average of 34.2 a year earlier.

From the story:

The 1.5 million additional volunteers boosted the national rate to 26.8 percent of the population, a half percentage point higher than 2010. But the dollar value dipped by $2 billion as the average hours American volunteered in a year dropped to 32.7 from 33.9, the Corporation for National and Community Service reported. 

Robert Grimm, director of the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Maryland, said the increase was mainly the result of the growth in the American population, not a response to the economy or other factors.

National volunteer rates hit their peak of nearly 29 percent from 2003 to 2005, but have been stuck at around 26 percent ever since, according to a survey of about 100,000 people age 16 and older conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.