[24107] in APO-L
[APO-L] Younger Americans Prefer Donating Time
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Derek Cashman)
Tue Jan 13 11:20:16 2004
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 08:20:04 -0800
Reply-To: Derek Cashman <derek_cashman@yahoo.com>
From: Derek Cashman <derek_cashman@yahoo.com>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Here's an interesting article that was just posted to
the AP Newswire this morning,... thought you might
find it interesting.
Younger Americans Prefer Donating Time
By BOBBY ROSS JR., Associated Press Writer
DALLAS (AP) - In Brian Bennett's view, volunteering
one's time is even more important than giving money.
The 35-year-old advertising salesman donates hundreds
of hours a year as assistant scoutmaster of a Boy
Scout troop in Dallas. "I spend time on it every
single day," Bennett said.
Like Bennett, a majority of Americans — particularly
the younger generation — see volunteer work as a
better gift than writing a check, according to a
national survey released Tuesday.
In the random telephone survey of 1,000 Americans,
more than 50 percent identified volunteering as more
important than giving money, while 22 percent chose
money as more important.
"This research suggests that there's an emotional,
visceral connection to volunteering that just cannot
be duplicated by writing a check," said Brad Hewitt,
senior vice president of charitable programs and
volunteerism for Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial
for Lutherans, which commissioned the survey.
Younger and older Americans held decidedly different
views: Fifty-eight percent of adults aged 18-34 said
giving time was more important. Just 29 percent of
those aged 65 and older agreed.
Harris Interactive Inc. conducted the telephone
interviews between Nov. 20 and Dec. 4. The overall
results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3
percentage points.
Most experts said the findings weren't surprising.
"Older people have more money to give, and they are
more likely to have a history of giving than young
adults," said Mark Hager, senior research associate at
the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy in
Washington. "Older Americans may also have a better
understanding of how important money is to charities."
America's young adults aren't stingy, though — just
skeptical, other experts suggested.
Younger Americans have grown up at a time when
scandals have tarnished institutions from Enron to the
Roman Catholic Church, said Kurt Senske, CEO of
Austin-based Lutheran Social Services of the South.
"They've been so inundated with these scandals that
they're skeptical about whether or not their money
would be put to good use," Senske said. "So what we're
seeing is we're more likely to get donations if the
younger generations volunteers first."
Despite the differences in their views, younger adults
and seniors volunteered at about the same level in
2003. Forty-four percent of those 18-34 volunteered
with a nonprofit, school or church, compared with 39
percent of seniors, according to the survey.
At least one expert was skeptical about the survey's
findings.
"Surveys of this type are notorious for eliciting
responses that the respondents think are appropriate.
In this day and age, folks tend to believe that it is
more caring to actually contribute time than money, so
that's the response they got," said Charles E. Zech, a
Villanova University economics professor and author of
"Why Catholics Don't Give ... and What Can Be Done
About It."
=====
Derek J. Cashman, Ph.D. (derek_cashman@yahoo.com) (derek.cashman@vcu.edu)
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
MCV Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University
Technology & Electronic Communications (TEC) Coordinator
National Media & Technology Committee
Alpha Phi Omega; Region III
"A Drug is any substance which, when injected into a rat, produces a publishable, scientific paper."
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes
http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus
