Volunteer Demographics Report (2026)

Q: Why do men volunteer fewer hours on average than women?

Women participate at higher rates, but men tend to volunteer more hours when they do engage. This may reflect occupational and family roles: women often volunteer in frequent, short engagements (e.g., weekly school shifts), while men may take on longer-term project roles.

Q: Is Gen Z volunteering more or less than older generations?

Gen Z is the fastest-growing cohort among younger volunteers, especially online and in student-led initiatives. However, Gen X (27.2%) and Millennials (29.4%) lead in overall formal volunteering rates nationally. Gen Z is growing fastest but still lags older generations in absolute participation.

Q: How has virtual volunteering changed the profile of volunteers?

Virtual and hybrid volunteers give more hours per year (95 vs. 64 hours in-person) and skew younger (six in 10 are under 55). Virtual roles expand reach beyond immediate service areas.

Q: Why are informal helpers important for nonprofits?

137.5 million Americans (54.2%) help neighbors informally. These informal helpers are a pipeline to formal volunteering and often become donors. Nonprofits that advertise in community spaces and remove friction can convert informal service into formal commitment.

Who volunteers in America—age, gender, race, education, and participation patterns. 75.7M volunteers, 28.3% participation rate, generational shifts, virtual volunteering growth & more.

American volunteering is undergoing a profound demographic transformation. After a historic pandemic low of 23.2% participation in 2021, 28.3% of Americans (75.7 million) volunteered their time through an organization as of data collected in 2024 —a remarkable 5.1 percentage point increase between 2022 and 2023, representing a growth rate of more than 22 percent in just two years , and part of our volunteer demographics statistics hub. Yet who volunteers, how much time they give, and where they serve is shifting fast. This report synthesizes the latest research on volunteer age, gender, race, education, and emerging participation patterns to help nonprofit and faith-based leaders understand—and reach—today's volunteers.

Methodology & Honesty Note: This report draws exclusively from peer-reviewed research, government data (AmeriCorps, U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics), and benchmark studies from Independent Sector and Gallup. Every statistic is sourced and cited inline. We omit estimates, third-hand aggregations, and data more than 3–4 years old unless specifically flagged. Preliminary 2025 volunteer-hour value data is used where noted. This is a living report, updated annually. This report is educational, not legal advice.

Key takeaways

75.7M Americans volunteered formally (2023–2024)

30.9% Women's formal volunteering rate vs. 25.6% for men

$36.14/hr Volunteer hour value (2025), per Independent Sector

27.2% Generation X formal volunteering rate (highest)

The Formal Volunteering Rebound: By the Numbers

Americans gave 4.99 billion volunteer hours in the year ending September 2023, valued at roughly $167.2 billion . This represents a dramatic recovery. By 2019, the rate had climbed to 30% , then from September 2020 to September 2021, just 23.2% of Americans participated in formal volunteering during the acute pandemic shutdown. The rebound is now undeniable: the formal volunteering rate jumped from 23.2% in 2021 to 28.3% in 2023, marking the fastest two-year growth on record .

Formal volunteering rate rebound post-pandemic — U.S. Census Bureau & AmeriCorps

Gender Patterns: Women Lead, but Hours Tell a Nuanced Story

Women formally volunteer at higher rates than men, 30.9% versus 25.6% . However, the picture is more complex. Women tend to volunteer more than men, with 5.1 percent of women volunteering on an average day compared with 3.2 percent of men , yet the average hours of male volunteers are greater . This pattern—higher female participation rates but higher male average hours per engagement—has held steady for over a decade and is critical for recruitment and program design.

30.9%

25.6%

Gender gap in formal volunteering rates — AmeriCorps & U.S. Census Bureau

Age & Generational Shifts

Age remains the strongest demographic predictor of formal volunteering. In the US, the age cohort of 35–44 years had the highest uptake at 32%, followed by the 45–54 years group at 26% . Generation X (ages 43–58 in 2023) maintains the highest rate of formal volunteering across all generations , and people ages 16-17 had the highest rate of all age groups at 28%, followed by people ages 45 to 54 at 27% . Youth re-engagement is notable: 17% of 18-34-year-olds who didn't participate in any volunteer activity in 2022 planned to start in 2023 .

Among younger adults, around 24.5% of Gen Zers and 29.4% of Millennials report volunteering for nonprofits . While Gen Z is the fastest-growing and largest group of volunteers (42%), driven largely by growth in student-led Red Cross clubs , the data varies by source and organization type. Gen X leads in formal volunteering (27.2%) while Baby Boomers dominate informal helping (58.7%) .

Gen X (formal) 27.2%

Ages 35–44 32%

Millennials 29.4%

Gen Z 24.5%

Volunteering rates by generation & age cohort — Volgistics (2026), AmeriCorps

Education & Income: The Participation Divide

Formal volunteering scales sharply with education and household income. Volunteering rates rise with education level. Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher are roughly twice as likely to formally volunteer as adults with a high school diploma or less . Volunteering rates also rise with household income. The pattern is consistent across every recent biennial release. People with more time and resources volunteer more, full stop . This creates a structural challenge for nonprofits seeking diverse volunteer cohorts: those with less than a high school education and people with family incomes of less than $25,000 participate at lower rates, even as they may benefit most from nonprofit services.

Bachelor's degree or higher ~2x higher

High school diploma or less Base rate

Volunteering participation by education level — AmeriCorps & U.S. Census Bureau, 2024

Race & Ethnicity: Emerging Participation Gaps

Data on race and ethnicity in volunteering remains sparse compared to age and gender, but emerging trends show variation. People who identified as Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic show lower formal volunteering rates in recent Census data. Nonprofits and faith-based organizations—which together receive nearly a third of all volunteer effort—should account for this gap when designing inclusive recruitment. Targeted outreach with identity verification safeguards and reference checks can help build trust across communities historically underrepresented in formal volunteering.

Virtual & Hybrid Volunteering: A Growing Cohort with Higher Engagement

For the first time in 2023, the Census Bureau measured virtual volunteering separately. 18% of formal volunteers (13.4M+ people) served fully or partly online — and those virtual/hybrid volunteers gave more time (95 hours/year vs 64 for in-person only) . Six in 10 virtual and hybrid volunteers were under the age of 55 , indicating that digital participation attracts younger, more dispersed volunteers.

This shift has profound implications: Virtual roles drew younger, more geographically distributed volunteers. Programs that added virtual options expanded their candidate pool beyond their immediate service area . Organizations offering streamlined volunteer onboarding and hybrid scheduling are seeing measurable recruitment gains.

18%

Virtual & hybrid volunteering participation — U.S. Census Bureau & AmeriCorps, 2023

Informal Helping Surges Beyond Formal Volunteering

While formal volunteering draws headlines, informal helping—mowing a neighbor's lawn, watching someone's kids, bringing groceries—is outpacing formal engagement. Informal helping (helping a neighbor, picking up someone's mail, watching someone's kids) reached 54.4% of Americans. Informal helping is now higher than its pre-pandemic baseline . There has been a statistically significant increase of 3.4 percentage points in the national informal helping rate, with an estimated 137.5 million people — or 54.2% of Americans — helping their neighbors informally between September 2022 and 2023 .

This distinction matters for nonprofits: informal helpers are a latent pipeline. When donation rates dwindle overall, those who volunteer maintain their giving behaviors and are more likely to be retained as monetary donors. When monetary donation rates were at their lowest, volunteers made up over half (55%) of donors . Reaching informal helpers through community events and nonprofit technology platforms can convert informal service into formal commitment.

Family Status, Religion & Volunteering Motivation

The older generations—Baby Boomers and Gen X— are more likely than Gen Z or Millennials to volunteer , but the most likely person to volunteer is a woman between the ages of 34 and 55, with a child under the age of 18. This is true for both formal volunteering (volunteering through an organization) and informal volunteering . Parents with young children serve as powerful volunteer pipeline anchors for schools, youth programs, and faith-based organizations.

Religion remains a primary motivator. Around 32% of all volunteers in America are involved in religious organizations. Approximately 25.7% of volunteers are volunteering for sport, hobby, or cultural groups, and 19.2% spend their time volunteering for educational organizations . Faith communities should recognize this advantage: they already reach one in three volunteers and can leverage that trust for volunteer screening and retention.

Religious organizations 32%

Sport, hobby, cultural 25.7%

Educational 19.2%

Top volunteer activity categories — TeamStage, 2024

The Economic Value of Volunteering: Growing Recognition

Independent Sector, with the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland, announced on April 21, 2026 that the estimate for the value of a volunteer hour was $36.14 in 2025 — a 3.9% increase from 2024 . This reflects not only wage inflation but growing recognition of volunteer impact. Applied across the 75.7 million formal volunteers: an estimated 4.99 billion hours of formal volunteering were recorded, generating $167.2 billion in economic value between September 2022 and 2023. For church and nonprofit leaders, this benchmark supports grant applications, impact reports, and donor cultivation.

Value of volunteer time per hour (annual growth) — Independent Sector & Do Good Institute, 2026

What This Means for Your Volunteer Program

The demographic data is clear: volunteers are more educated, older, female, and geographically dispersed than ever. Yet nearly 55% of Americans now help informally, and formal volunteering is climbing toward pre-pandemic levels. Here's how to act on these insights:

Diversify by channel. 18% of formal volunteers now serve online, averaging 95 hours/year . Launch hybrid roles to reach younger, geographically distant volunteers. See organizing guides for implementation examples.
Target the 35–54 sweet spot—and parents. Women aged 35–55 with children remain your highest-conversion demographic. School-tied programs (see school volunteer screening best practices) tap this pipeline directly.
Screen thoughtfully. Women volunteer at higher rates than men. Women's formal volunteering rate is roughly five percentage points higher than men's, a gap that has held steady for more than a decade . When recruiting men, emphasize concrete outcomes and shorter-term roles. Use identity verification and reference checks to build trust across underrepresented demographics.
Build bridges from informal to formal. 137.5 million Americans help neighbors. Advertise formal opportunities in community settings, local media, and event-based recruitment. Affordable FCRA-compliant screening ($5 per check, no monthly fees) removes friction.
Invest in education + income diversity. Adults with high school diplomas or less volunteer at half the rate of college graduates. Partner screening vendors that remove barriers—fast turnaround, plain language, and transparent identity verification—level the playing field.
Measure and communicate value. Volunteer hours in 2025 were valued at $36.14 each . Use this benchmark in annual reports and donor communications.

VolunteerBadge helps nonprofits and churches remove one critical barrier to scaling: screening. Our identity-verified FCRA-compliant background checks cost $5 per volunteer with no monthly or per-organization fees—making secure screening accessible to small teams. Pair screening with streamlined workflows and you unlock the full potential of today's diverse, dispersed volunteer force. Get started free.

Download the data

⬇ Download the data (.xlsx)

Frequently asked questions

Q: What's the difference between formal and informal volunteering?
A: Formal volunteering is service through an organization—a nonprofit, school, faith community, or civic group. Informal helping is direct service to neighbors: mowing a lawn, watching kids, or bringing groceries. Formal volunteering is helping others through organizations like food banks and other non-profits. Informal helping includes activities like mowing a neighbor's lawn or bringing them groceries .

Q: Why do men volunteer fewer hours on average than women?
A: The data shows women participate at higher rates, but men tend to volunteer more than women, with the average hours of male volunteers greater . This may reflect occupational and family roles: women often volunteer in frequent, short engagements (e.g., weekly school shifts), while men may take on longer-term project roles. Neither pattern is universal; organizations should offer variety.

Q: Is Gen Z volunteering more or less than older generations?
A: It depends on the source and organization. Gen Z is the fastest-growing and largest group of volunteers (42%), driven largely by growth in student-led Red Cross clubs in some analyses, but national Census data shows Gen X (27.2%) and Millennials (29.4%) leading overall formal volunteering rates. Gen Z is growing fastest among younger cohorts and online, but still lags older generations in total rates.

Q: How has virtual volunteering changed the profile of volunteers?
A: Significantly. Virtual and hybrid volunteers reported engaging in more hours of service per year (95 hours) than those who volunteered solely in-person (64 hours). Six in 10 virtual and hybrid volunteers were under the age of 55 . Virtual roles attract younger and geographically dispersed volunteers, expanding your reach beyond your immediate service area.

Q: What's the economic value of a volunteer hour in 2026?
A: The estimate for the value of a volunteer hour was $36.14 in 2025 . This figure, updated annually by Independent Sector with the Do Good Institute, helps nonprofits quantify volunteer impact for grants, reports, and donor communications.

Q: Why are informal helpers important for nonprofits?
A: The national informal helping rate has increased 3.4 percentage points, with 137.5 million people — 54.2% of Americans — helping neighbors informally . These informal helpers are a latent pipeline to formal volunteering and often become donors. Nonprofits that advertise in community spaces and remove friction (fast screening, clear onboarding) can convert informal service into formal commitment.

Sources & references

Article history: First published August 2026. Last updated August 11, 2026. This is a living report, refreshed annually with new AmeriCorps, Census Bureau, and Independent Sector data releases. This report is educational, not legal advice.