[24108] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] Younger Americans Prefer Donating Time
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael Gallagher)
Tue Jan 13 14:49:39 2004
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:49:40 -0500
Reply-To: Michael Gallagher <famtree@UDel.Edu>
From: Michael Gallagher <famtree@UDel.Edu>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Also, younger people may be more capable if it is physical stuff like
Habitat for Humanity. In terms of not giving to scandalous institutions---
who donates to a for-profit corporation? In terms of Roman Catholic giving,
this is my experience from my diocese's (cdow.org) newspaper, "The Dialog."
Giving is down, perceived because of the scandals. The Diocese of
Wilmington reported that it was 100% compliant unlike others, but there are
2 flaws in this: it issued the statement; & the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops hired a firm to do the national study (this assumes bias,
but I think beyond pleasing the customer, non-profits can't spend the
amounts needed for bribes anyway, & there haven't been any reports to my
knowledge as such). In those dioceses that had scandal noncompliance
issues, sure, that's a bigger concern. Even the CDOW had a few incidents
(in 1965 I think).
This article by the AP puts to rest (again) the BSA myth of "an hour a
week." This slogan was put on buttons in the '50s & '60s (I think) to
promote volunteer ScoutERing. While I have to admit I don't spend an hour a
week on Boy Scouts on average, if I had a consistent schedule I would
probably be spending more.
The article raises the issue of human capital surplus or adequacy &
financial capital shortages. Every nonprofit organization eventually faces
this.
It is important that we volunteer, as we all should know from APO & for many
of us other organizations.
Michael Gallagher
----- Original Message -----
From: "Derek Cashman" <derek_cashman@yahoo.com>
To: <APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 11:20 AM
Subject: [APO-L] Younger Americans Prefer Donating Time
> 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."
>
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