Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering

By The Corporation for National Community Service

Baby boomers—the generation born between 1946 and 1964 (number 77 million in the US) —represent a potential boon to the volunteer world. Based on U.S. census data, the numbers of volunteers age 65 and older will increase 50 per cent over the next 13 years and will continue to rise as the youngest boomers will not reach age 65 until 2029.

The volunteer potential of this group is vital to the nonprofit world, not just because of the generation’s size but also because of their relatively high education levels, health and wealth.

Boomers today have a broad range of skills, talents and experience—as well as attitudes, expectations and needs that are different from previous generations. Harnessing those skills and accommodating those expectations will be critical to solving a wide range of social problems in the years ahead.

To attract boomers as volunteers, nonprofit groups need to “re-imagine” roles that cater to their skills and desire to make their mark in their own way. This is vitally important to ensuring that the potential of this vast resource is tapped to its fullest.

The importance of volunteer retention should not be underestimated. Boomers today have the highest volunteer rate of any age group.

They also volunteer at higher rates than past generations did when they were the same age. Because 30 per cent of boomer volunteers choose not to return as volunteers in the following year, a key aspect of keeping volunteer rates high is to learn how to retain existing boomer volunteers.

KEY FINDINGS of this report (from data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2002-2006):

Baby boomers in their late 40s to mid-50s have higher volunteer rates than past generations had at the same ages. Two reasons for this difference in volunteering: they have higher education levels compared to older generations and they are more likely to have school-aged children at home.

Research shows that volunteering rises with increases in education and that adults with children under 18 years of age living at home are more likely to volunteer than adults without school-aged children at home.

Baby boomers appear to have different volunteer interests than past generations, although both generations tend to be most likely to volunteer with religious organizations. Previously volunteers of the same age were most likely to volunteer with civic, political, business and international organizations; boomers are most likely to volunteer in educational or youth service organizations.

Each year, approximately 3 out of every 10 boomer volunteers drop out of volunteering, with recruitment efforts falling short of fully replacing those volunteers who chose not to continue. On average, only 83.2 percent of the volunteers who dropped out were replaced with new volunteers.

Boomer volunteers with the highest attachment to volunteering also have the highest retention rates. For volunteers who serve 12 or more weeks per year, the volunteer retention rate is 79 per cent, while only 53 per cent for volunteers that serve two weeks or less per year.

Volunteer retention is related to the type and nature of volunteer activity. Volunteer retention rates are highest for boomerswhose volunteer activities are professional and managerial, engaging in music or some other type of performance, and tutoring, mentoring, and coaching. Volunteer retention is lowest for volunteers who engage in general labor or supply transportation.

Volunteer retention rates are related to the ways baby boomers become volunteers. Those who are asked by the volunteer organization to volunteer have the highest retention rates, while those asked by their employer to volunteer have the lowest retention rates.

The full report can be accessed at www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/07_0307_boomer_report.pdf.

Last updated: July 3, 2008