On April 20, 2017, Independent Sector announced that the latest value of a volunteer hour was $24.14 – up 2.5 percent from 2015. That figure, estimated from data collected in 2016, showed the incredible contributions volunteers made to our communities and our country. The state of Oregon showed a value of $24.15 in 2016, which was a 6.2% increase from 2015.  Findings for 2017 will be released later this month.

Currently, 63 million Americans volunteer about 8 billion hours of their time, talent, and effort to improve people’s lives and the natural world. With the new value of volunteer time, these Americans are contributing approximately $193 billion to our nation. According to data from the Corporation for National and Community Service, religious organizations were cited as the type of organization that volunteers worked in the most (34%), followed by educational or youth service (26%), and social or community service organizations (15%). (Yea, Soroptimists!)

“Volunteerism empowers people to support causes they care about. When changemakers work together to tackle tough problems, our world becomes a better place,” said Tracy Hoover, CEO of Points of Light. “By sharing concrete data that highlights the impact of volunteers, we can inspire and mobilize more individuals and organizations to realize their potential and power to become active participants in sparking change.”

An interactive map is available on the Independent Sector website.  Also included in the map is the complete data set for the value of volunteer time for all 50 states and DC from 2001-2016. To access state-by-state values of volunteer time and learn more about the national figure, visit independentsector.org/volunteer-time.