Wednesday, July 8, 2009

UC San Diego Extension Researches Global Volunteer Service


My recent research efforts lead me to an interesting summary of a survey conducted by the University of California San Diego Extension on global volunteer service. I have not read the full report (as I can’t find it available in PDF format online) so I am simply copying and pasting below the most interesting findings from the UC San Diego Extension press releases that I found.

“Two-thirds of high school students and about half of the college students surveyed say they have participated in discussions in the past year related to traveling to other regions to provide volunteer service, whereas less than half of the adult population, and only one-quarter of retirees, say they have done so.”

“About 40 percent of Americans say they're willing to spend several weeks on vacations that involve volunteer service, with another 13 percent desiring to spend an entire year.”

“Overall, the survey found that over two-thirds (69 percent) of Americans have participated in donating money or time to a global cause, up from the 48 percent in a spring 2008 poll conducted by UC San Diego Extension.”

“While 26 percent of Generation Y want to hop on a plane and help out in Africa or Europe, about 36 percent of retirees and baby boomers would choose staying in North America for their volunteer vacations.”

The overall top ten international desired destinations for volunteering are:

1. Africa (17%)
2. East Asia (12%)
3. South America (9%)
4.(tie) Mexico (8%)
4.(tie) Western Europe (8%)
6. Eastern Europe (7%)
7. Central America (6%)
8. Pacific islands (5%)
9. Australia (4%)
10. Middle East (3%)

You can access the UC San Diego Extension press releases and other articles relating to this research here.

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