AmeriCorps—also known as the Corporation for National and Community Service—is an independent government agency that researches and promotes volunteering and civic engagement. AmeriCorps just released its latest report, Renewed Engagement in American Civic Life, giving valuable insights into the current state of civic engagement in the United States.
But what does this report mean for your nonprofit organization, and how can you take advantage of this new volunteering momentum? Read on for an easy-to-understand summary of AmeriCorps’ findings and suggestions for how you can apply this information to optimize your organization’s programs.
How Does AmeriCorps Conduct Its Research?
AmeriCorps’ main method for conducting research is the Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement (CEV). Since 2017, AmeriCorps has leveraged U.S. Census Bureau resources to distribute the CEV every other year.
The CEV measures data for 5 areas of civic engagement:
- Organizations
- Neighbors
- Politics
- Friends, Family, and Social Issues
- Economics
Approximately 45,000 American households receive the CEV during each biennial cycle, and their responses are then used to create statistics relating to civic engagement and volunteerism on the national, state, and metropolitan area levels. The current AmeriCorps report is based on the 2023 CEV.
The Top 10 Key Takeaways from the Latest AmeriCorps Report
What is the current state of civic engagement and volunteering in the United States? Here are the key takeaways from AmeriCorps’ report:
Organizational engagement is on the rise.
As the report’s title implies, American civic engagement has largely bounced back from the dip it took during the COVID-19 pandemic. AmeriCorps tracks three metrics for organizational engagement: formal volunteering, charitable donations, and affiliation.
In 2023, more Americans connected with civic organizations, like nonprofits, clubs, and neighborhood associations, than in the past, and 25% of Americans (62.9 million people) belong to some sort of civic organization. Charitable giving is the number one way that Americans engage with organizations, with 49% of Americans ($121.8 million people) giving $25 or more to nonprofits between September 2022 and September 2023. Donation rates are also on a slight uptick—the first in CEV history. That means that now is the time to increase your fundraising efforts and engage new donors!
Formal volunteering is growing faster than ever.
Volunteering rates have risen by a staggering 5% in the last two years—the quickest jump ever recorded. 28% of Americans (approximately 75.7 million people) volunteered for 4.99 billion hours in the one year between September 2022 and September 2023, generating $167.2 billion in economic impact. Your nonprofit must take advantage of this upswing in volunteerism interest with targeted recruitment strategies.
Image from AmeriCorps Volunteering and Civic Life In America Research Summary 2024
Virtual volunteering remains popular.
Although pandemic restrictions have eased, virtual volunteering opportunities remain an attractive option for many Americans. 18% of Americans who volunteered in 2023 did so online. Continue to invest in online opportunities and engage your virtual volunteers. There is clearly an interest in virtual volunteering, and if you can tap into it, you can attract volunteers from across the country and even all around the world!
Rates of informal helping are rising for the first time.
Formal volunteering isn’t the only way that Americans make their communities a better place. Informal helping, like watching your friend’s dog or mowing your neighbor’s lawn, has also seen a significant increase. For as long as the CEV has been measuring data, the rate of informal helping in America has consistently hovered around 51%. However, in 2023, that number jumped 3 percentage points to 54%.
According to the 2023 CEV:
- 3% of Americans help others every day
- 8% of Americans help others a few times per week
- 14% of Americans help others a few times per month
- 12% of Americans help others once a month
- 18% of Americans help others less than once a month
137.5 million people are looking to do good—and counting! With thoughtful marketing, recruitment, and fundraising efforts, you can turn these people into organizational supporters.
Taking action with neighbors is at an all-time high.
Americans are organizing with their neighbors and taking action to improve their local communities and address political and social issues. Community organization rates declined steeply during the COVID-19 pandemic, but between September 2022 and 2023, those rates soared to 22% of Americans (approximately 54.5 million people)—the highest rate the CEV has ever measured for this category.
More and more Americans are looking to invest in their communities and rebuild after the upheaval caused by COVID-19, and your organization can harness this renewed interest in community organizations to help achieve your goals.
The neighbor-to-neighbor connection has decreased.
While formal community organizations are reaching new heights, social contact with neighbors is experiencing a decline. 57% of Americans report talking with their neighbors at least once a month, with only 8% speaking to their neighbors daily.
While these statistics could point to an increase in isolation among Americans, AmeriCorps’ other findings about increased volunteering, informal helping, civic engagement, and community organization paint a different picture. It seems that when Americans are looking to make an impact, they now want to do so on a larger scale—addressing issues that impact broader communities.
Americans are avoiding talking about social and political issues with neighbors, friends, and family.
It is no secret that American culture has grown increasingly divided—especially in the wake of the contentious and dramatic 2024 national election—and AmeriCorps’ report found that:
- The level of discussing politics, social issues, and local affairs with neighbors has decreased, falling from 33% in 2017 to approximately 29%.
- 10% of Americans engage with their neighbors on complicated political or social topics less than once a month.
- Although 83% of Americans talk to friends and family multiple times a week, the rate of Americans who discuss political and social issues with their family members has dropped from 39% in 2017 to 31% in 2023.
- The rate of political social media engagement has been on a general decline since 2017. While 2021 saw a slight increase in Americans posting about their political views online, that number dropped back down in 2023.
Political and social discussions are a key part of civic engagement, and it is discouraging that they are on the decline. However, your organization can play a pivotal role in encouraging these meaningful conversations within your community.
Americans are engaging with the news less.
The rapid 24-hour news cycle, the rise of misinformation, and poor media literacy have had a significant impact on American’s engagement with the news. In 2017, 75% of Americans engaged with the news—either through television, radio, or printed media—at least a few times per week. This number has dropped by 12% in the last 6 years, reaching 63% in 2023. While your organization cannot singlehandedly reverse this trend, you can emphasize keeping your supporters informed, engaged, and up-to-date on media literacy best practices.
Consistent political engagement remains low.
For many Americans, politics begins and ends with voting, and AmeriCorps’ research backs up that claim:
- 53% of Americans voted in the 2022 midterm elections, which is pretty consistent with previous CEV data.
- Only 9% of Americans have contacted a public official, such as a mayor, state representative, or senator—down 1% from the 2021 report. Of the people who reach out to public officials, 83% voted in their most recent local election.
- 7% of Americans donate to political organizations, making political donations the least prevalent activity among the civic engagement actions the CEV measures.
- While the rate of attending public meetings dipped down in 2019 and 2021, they were on the rise again by 2023. 9% of Americans (23.8 million) report attending local meetings, like their school board or city council.
While Americans seem under-engaged politically, they remain invested in social issues and their communities, and your organization can capitalize on this interest by targeting your messaging to focus on local concerns.
Americans are voting with their dollar.
More and more Americans view their economic activity as a way to support their civic, political, and social goals. The CEV discovered that the rate of Americans purchasing from companies whose values they agree with—and boycotting those that don’t align with their beliefs—rose from 14% in 2017 to 17% (44 million people) in 2023.
In addition to voting with their dollar, Americans seem invested in their employers’ civic engagement. Corporate volunteering has risen by a remarkable 5% since 2021, and 90% of Americans said that their workplace positively impacted their community.
Your organization can harness this politically motivated economic engagement, turning it into ticket sales, the purchase of goods, and donations directly to your organization.
Better Manage Volunteers with VolunteerHub
While interest in volunteerism is at an all-time high, many nonprofit organizations are still struggling to recruit volunteers—leaving community needs unmet. VolunteerHub can help!
VolunteerHub is a comprehensive volunteer management software solution that can assist you at every stage of the volunteer lifecycle, from recruitment to recognition. VolunteerHub’s intuitive, all-in-one platform helps you:
- Turn a rising interest in informal helping into formal volunteering
- Leverage increased community organization to create valuable partnerships with civic organizations
- Find, recruit, and retain new volunteers
- Convert supporters into donors
- Streamline the organization and execution of programs and events
- Give volunteers a sense of ownership through self-service features
- Automate communication with volunteers, donors, and other supporters
- Make volunteers feel appreciated with rewards and appreciation options
- Save your organization time, money, and energy
